Profile
Origin: Austria
Colour: Always chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail.
Height: 13.2hh – 15hh
Conformation: Slightly dished profile, small ears, and large eyes. Haflingers are sturdy ponies, with well-muscled loins and hindquarters and strong legs.
Character: Gentle, intelligent and well-mannered.
Uses: Extremely versatile, they make great all-rounders.
The Haflinger breed was established by crossing the native Tyrolean pony with Arab blood brought back from the Continental Wars with the Turks. The home of the breed is the village of Hafling in the Etschlander Mountains.
Haflingers were first imported into Britain in the 1960s. In the South Tyrol, where the breed originated, stallions have been registered for nearly 100 years, and organised breeding by a government department has been in operation for more than 50 years.
The Haflinger is strongly built, with well-made limbs, good, sloping shoulders, and the best of feet, although the back, as befits a pony used for pack purposes, is rather long. An extremely sound pony, the Haflinger has an innate ability to work on the steep mountain slopes while maintaining its long-striding, exceptionally free action.
The mountain climate contributes to the hardiness of the breed. The ponies are not put to work until they are four, but it is not unknown for them to be still fit and active at 40 years of age.
A docile, frugal breed, which thrives on sparse rations, the Haflinger has great capacity for hard work under difficult conditions. The breed is used for many agricultural purposes, in draught, and under pack. In modern times it has become popular in many parts of the world as driving and riding pony, and is often used for work in forestry and woodland.
Haflingers are extremely versatile and make excellent family ponies, carrying both adults and children happily. They are extremely obliging, have a quiet and friendly temperament and will compete with considerable skill in most forms of equestrian activity.
For more information on the Haflinger visit www.haflingersgb.com
