New Zealand Haflingers

New Zealand Haflinger History

The history of the Haflinger Horse in New Zealand is very limited.  The first Haflingers to enter the country arrived by air in February of 2002.  The next shipment of Haflingers arrived on the 4th April, 2002.   First to arrive were a filly and a mare who headed off to start a new life in Oamaru, down in the South Island.  They were followed not long after by two weanling fillies and a yearling filly who arrived together on the same boat out of Australia.  Bunderra Rianna and Bunderra Lorelei hopped on to a float down to Sea Hill Farm in Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula, while Bunderra Lee headed on up to Dairy Flat, just north of Auckland.

Late in 2004, Lee, Rianna and Lorelei were joined by another three haflingers.  Rosebud and Ardglen came in together, with Rosebud joining Rianna and Lorelei at Sea Hill Farm, and Ardglen going down to the South Island to his new home, and a new name of Amberg.  And then on Christmas Eve, Winterthur joined Rianna, Lorelei and Rosebud at Sea Hill Farm.  Rianna has since moved on down to the South Island, to the same farm as Amberg.

 In 2005 another mare was imported, Strizzi was imported in foal to Willem, and the first NZ born Haflinger arrived on Jan 2, 2006 a filly foal named Suzzi.

There is another mare due to be imported into New Zealand, once she has had one foal and is again in foal.  Slowly but surely the number of Haflingers in New Zealand is increasing

Rianna and Lorelei come off the boat	Strizzi and Suzzi

Australian Haflinger History

In Australia, the majority of the Haflinger studs are located in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, approximately 1½ hours drive north of Sydney.  The Hunter Valley is also known as a good wine growing region, and when I was last over there, while doing a wine tasting tour of the area, I bumped into one of the people over there who owns Haflingers.  He does wine tours with a Haflinger drawn cart.  See Paxton Brown Carriages. 

The first seven Haflinger horses imported into Australia were brought in by the Dalgety Land Company in 1974.  Since that time, the number of Haflingers in the country has increased rapidly.  Of two of the Haflinger studs in the Hunter Valley, Arkley Haflinger Stud began in 1979, and Bunderra Stud in 1985.  In fact, Arkley Haflinger Stud still have one of the surviving mares originally imported in 1974, MERINDA.  She is currently 30 years old and still looks great.

There are two breed registers in Australia, the Haflinger Horse Society of Australia, and the Australian Haflinger Horse Breeders Association, and they control the standards and registration of the breed within Australia.  Currently in New Zealand, the Australian Haflinger Horse Breeders Association controls the standards and registration of the breed within New Zealand, and this will remain in place until there are enough Haflinger owners within New Zealand to begin our own breed registry.

Ambassador looking out his stall door	Merinda dozing in the sun

NB:- Australian information on this page sourced from Arkley Haflinger Stud Website (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~resort/arkley.htm) and Bunderra Haflinger Stud Website  (http://www.haflinger.com.au)

U.S. and G.B. Haflinger History

The first Haflingers in the United States of America arrived in 1958.  Tempel Smith of Tempel farms in Illinois imported them from Austria to begin the first breeding programme in the US.  There are currently two breed registers in the United States, the Haflinger Breeders Organisation (HBO) and the American Haflinger Registry (AHR).  

The first Haflingers into Great Britain arrived in the 1960's.  There is one breed registry in Great Britain, the Haflinger Society of Great Britain, which began in 1970.

NB:-  American information sourced from the American Haflinger Registry Website (http://www.haflingerhorse.com), and the World Haflinger Federation Website (http://www.haflinger-tirol.com/).  British information sourced from the Equiworld Website (http://www.equiworld.net/uk/horsecare/Breeds/haflinger/), and the Haflinger Society of Great Britain Website (http://www.haflingersgb.com).

Austrian Haflinger History

Austrian Haflinger in the Tyrol, 2000

Once upon a time there were no Haflingers.....

As a current Haflinger owner, all I can say is the world must have been an empty place without these little golden horses.  However, there was an Oriental breed of horse in the Southern Tyrolean Mountains of what we now call Austria and Northern Italy.  In those days, many of the farms and villages in the area were hard to get to, with paths that were steep and narrow, and the villagers required agile and sure-footed horses both to ride and to use as a pack animal.  This horse was a small, noble chestnut horse¹.

The first official documentation of the present day Haflinger (which is named for the Tyrolean village of Hafling) was in 1874 when the foundation stallion 249 Folie was born.  His sire was the half- Arab stallion, 133 El' Bedavi XXII, and his dam was a refined native Tyrolean mare¹.  All modern purebred Haflingers can trace their ancestry directly to Folie through seven different stallion lines:  A, B, M, N, S, ST, and W¹.  This mixing came from Arab blood, brought back from the continental wars with the Turks³.

Stallions have been registered for over 100 years in Austria, with government-organised breeding for the last 50 years³.  The first Haflinger Stud Book was started in North Tyrol in 1921².  There are numerous Haflinger breed societies throughout the world, but most of these societies follow the rules and regulations placed forward by the World Haflinger Federation.  The World Haflinger Federation was founded in 1975, and currently has 22 member organisations in 18 different nations and 4 continents⁵.  Member countries include Australia (Haflinger Horse Society of Australia and Australian Haflinger Horse Breeders Association), Austria, Canada, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark (Dansk Tyroler-Haflingeravl and Haflingeravisvoreningen Danmark), France, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tyrol and the USA (Haflinger Breeders Organisation (HBO) and American Haflinger Registry (AHR)).

The breed has seen changes in type over the years, especially during World War II when pack horses were in high demand for military service.  A shorter and draftier Haflinger was required¹.  However, following the war, the height and refinement of the breed was returned, and emphasis was placed on developing a small versatile horse for riding and driving, with a strong constitution, solid conformation with substantial bone, and an uncomplicated personality¹.

The personality of the Haflinger was developed over many years, as they lived and worked along side the villagers in the Tyrolean mountains, as pack or riding animals.  This also helps account for the versatility of the breed, with Haflingers used for draft work, as pack animals, in light harness and combined driving, western and trail riding, endurance, dressage, show jumping, eventing, vaulting and in therapeutic riding programs¹.

Haflinger Stallion up the Haflinger Alm, Ebbs 2005	Western Demonstration at the World Haflinger Show, Ebbs 2005	Vaulting Demonstration at the World Haflinger Show, Ebbs 2005

NB:- information on this page sourced from