History of the Breed
Late medieval writers refer to a race of small mountain horses south of the Alps in an area called Tyrol. It is supposed that through invasions, conquests, and returning survivors of the Crusades, Arabian horses were brought into the Tyrol area and crossed with the native stock, gradually producing the hardy, tractable, strong, and sure-footed animal so necessary to life in this rugged mountain range. The breed's name originated from the village of Hafling in the Tyrolean mountain region of Europe, which was formerly part of Austria until relinquished to Italy at the end of World War I. The breed was created in 1874 with the birth of the Stallion 249 Folie, from a cross between a mountain mare and an Arabian Stallion. Since then all stallions and mares are traced back to this first registered Haflinger stallion. To be accepted into the breed books, Haflingers must be purebred and must trace all the way back to the foundation sire. Today, there are seven bloodlines from which all Haflingers can be traced. The seven lines are A, B, M, N, S, ST and W.

The Haflinger in America
In 1958, the first Haflingers were imported from Austria by the late Temple Smith of Chicago, Illinois who was also known for his Temple Farm Lippizanners. Today there are over 20,000 registered purebred Haflingers throughout North America. The American Haflinger Registry is the only registry serving the Haflinger Breed in the United States. This registry actively supports the breed and maintains American pedigree's to the World Haflinger Federations standards. Here in America and in Austria, there are breed inspections of mares and stallions annually.

Breed Standards
The Haflinger is first and foremost a purebred race. He has been bred to be useful, versatile and most importantly, bred to be good-natured, willing and intelligent. Quiet temperament is important and especially desirable is the horse’s dependable personality, its uncomplicated character. Because the horse is so versatile, the breed specifications as issued by the World Haflinger Federation in Innsbruck, Austria are flexible enough for all.

Height: Mares 52-60" at the withers, Stallions 56-60" at the withers
Head: Broad, noble and lean, frequently dished; wide-spaced, soft eyes. Most often will display white blazes, stripes, strips or stars.
Coat: All shades of chestnut; light tan to a dark chocolate, some with dappling. No solid white patches are to appear anywhere above the hocks.
Mane/Tail: Ideally white or flaxen.
Legs: Straight and correct, broad and strong hocks and correctly angled hind legs.
Feet: Round, healthy and hard.
Stride: The Haflinger stride should be long, elastic and rhythmic.

Uses of Haflingers
The truth of the Haflinger is its honest versatility. Today in the United States, Haflingers are found doing farm chores, logging and pulling, as well as trail riding, driving and multi-disciplined exibitions. They are found in both light harness put to two or four wheeled carriages or in pleasure and draft show rings – in heavy harness with hitch wagons. They do equally well under English or western tack, make excellent junior hunters and can be found in eventing and dressage. The World Champion Haflinger stallion, Afghan II of Austria, is renown for this ability to jump 5 1/2 feet. As a family horse, the Haflinger is hard to beat. When carefully trained, they are child-safe but also strong and large enough for most adults to ride. The versatility of our breed is incredible. There is a Haflinger for everybody!