The Haflinger is an ideal all-around horse which has been developed and maintained as an ideal family pleasure horse by careful selective breeding. While the Haflinger Horse in the United States and Canada has been seen exhibited largely as a draft pony until recently, the horse is by no means meant to be a draft type animal. They are ideally suited for both riding and carriage driving. In addition, their uncomplicated personality and great strength make them ideal for light farm work. They are still referred to as “the tractors of the Alps” where they are regularly used in working the small family farms in the steep rugged terrain of the Alps. Their sure footedness and steady nerves have also made them very popular with the military in Austria, where over 100 Haflingers serve the mountain troops to this day. They are long strided, smooth gaited (although they are not “gaited horses” as in the way of Tennessee Walking Horses or American Saddlebreds), and they jump like deer. They will work tirelessly in the fields, longer than you want to walk behind them. Easily recognizable by their golden color and heavy white manes and tails, the Haflinger is a breed with a long history. Much research has been done in attempting to answer the question as to his exact age and origin. Late medieval writings mention a race of horses found in Austria’s Tyrolean Alps, a light animal, possessing Oriental characteristics, made for riding and packing. The horse exhibited good conformation, a strong constitution and a very uncomplicated personality. The Haflinger is regarded as an Austrian breed, with its name coming from the tiny village of “Hafling.” (Hafling is now a part of northern Italy, since being relinquished following World War I.) The breed as it is known today really began in 1874 with the birth of the stallion 249 Folie, a colt by the half-Arabian 133 El Bedavi XXII and out of a refined Tyrolean mare. 249 Folie became the first registered Haflinger stallion and the patriarch of the race. Today, all purebred Haflinger stallions must trace directly to him through one of the seven stallions lines found within our breed: A, B, M, N, S, ST and W. 

The naming of Haflingers is unique in that males born must be registered with a name beginning with the first letter of the sire’s name, thereby making for easy identification of his line -- female Haflinger names must begin with the first letter of their dam’s name. Each of these lines is very carefully maintained in Tyrol Austria, to insure the worldwide continued existence in the breeding population. If you meet a Haflinger with initials after his name, those initials represent the farm where he was bred and/or is owned. Since the name of the horse must start with a certain letter, the use of farm names is difficult -- so suffixes are used instead. 

The first Haflingers brought to the United States arrived in 1958. They were imported by Tempel Smith of Tempel Farms in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Smith purchased a top stallion and a number of mares in the Tyrol. These horses provided the foundation for Haflingers in North America. After Mr. Smith’s death, the Haflinger band was dispersed across the United States. Haflingers bred at Tempel Farm still regularly appear in pedigrees today. 

Since Mr. Smith, many other people have imported Haflingers to both the United States and Canada. Each year in September, the Select Filly Sale is held in Ebbs, Austria and many, many fine young Haflingers come into North America from there. In addition, regular importations of registered Haflingers from such places as England, the Netherlands and Germany occur. 

While not considered a “color breed” the Haflinger has been selectively bred for so long that they only come in one color -- or rather only in various shades of one color. All Haflingers are some shade of chestnut, from very light blonde to liver, with light manes and tails, white to flaxen. Most will have some white marking on their faces, although this is not a breed requirement. White markings on the legs are seldom seen and are really not desirable but are permitted. Some dappling in the coat is also permitted. 

While most (not all) Haflingers are technically ponies, being 58 inches or under, the World Haflinger Federation has taken the stand that the breed shall be called the Haflinger HORSE. Indeed, in personality and movement, it is indeed a horse.