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.  Delta and Orchid were the first to arrive, 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 on the 4th April, 2002.  The weanlings, Rianna and Lorelei hopped on to a float down to Sea Hill Farm in Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula, while 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 Amberg came in together, with Rosebud joining Rianna and Lorelei at Sea Hill Farm, and Amberg going down to the South Island to his new home.  And then on Christmas Eve, Winterthur joined Rianna, Lorelei and Rosebud at Sea Hill Farm. 

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.  These two currently reside in Whangamata.

Late in 2006 Rose D'Amour arrived in New Zealand, and lives north of Auckland, where she has been joined by Restless, and her NZ born colt Waldmeister.

In 2007 Oo-la-la arrived in New Zealand and made her way down to Taranaki to join Lorelei and Winterthur.  Ooly had a foal at foot, Ashkenaz, and she was in foal to Ambassador once again, and in 2007 Ace was born.  Also down in Taranaki, Lorelei had a filly foal, Lil'Elmo by Winterthur.

The year of 2007 really marked the start of the Haflinger breed in NZ, with the country's first NZ bred foals on the ground - Lil'Elmo and Ancova Albert, as well as some part bred NZ Haflingers.  May it mark the start of many good things.

2008 saw Oo-la-la join Lee up in Dairy Flat, while Lil'Elmo went to a new home in Reporoa.  There is also a new Dutch gelding in the country who is trained to harness.  This brings the grand total of Haflingers currently in the country to 19.

Austrian Haflinger History

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 continents⁴.  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.

NB:- information on this page sourced from