The history of the Haflinger horse traces to the
Middle Ages. Origins of the breed are uncertain, but two main theories are given. The first is that Haflingers descend from horses abandoned in the
Tyrolean valleys in central Europe by East
Goths fleeing from
Byzantine troops after the fall of
Conza in 555 AD. These abandoned horses are believed to have been influenced by Oriental bloodlines and may help explain the
Arabian physical characteristics seen in the Haflinger. A type of light mountain pony was first recorded in the
Etsch Valley in 1282, and was probably the ancestor of the modern Haflinger. The second theory is that they descended from a
stallion from the
Kingdom of Burgundy sent to
Margrave Louis of Brandenburg by his father,
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, when the
Margrave married Princess
Margarete Maultasch of the Tyrol in 1342. Whatever its origins, the breed developed in a mountainous climate and was well able to thrive in harsh conditions with minimal maintenance. The breed as it is known today was officially established in the village of Hafling in the
Etschlander Mountains, then located in
Austria-Hungary. The Arabian influence was strongly reinforced in the modern Haflinger by the introduction of the stallion El Bedavi, The small original
gene pool, and the mountain environment in which most original members of the breed were raised, has resulted in a very fixed physical type and appearance. After the birth of Folie in 1874, several Austrian noblemen became interested in the breed and petitioned the government for support and direction of organized breeding procedures. It was 1899 before the Austrian government responded, deciding to support breeding programs through establishment of subsidies; high-quality Haflinger fillies were among those chosen for the government-subsidized breeding program. Since then the best Haflinger fillies and colts have been chosen and selectively bred to maintain the breed's quality. Horses not considered to meet quality standards were used by the army as pack animals. By the end of the 19th century Haflingers were common in both
South and
North Tyrol, and stud farms had been established in
Styria,
Salzburg and
Lower Austria. In 1904, the Haflinger Breeders' Cooperative was founded in
Mölten, in South Tyrol, with the aim of improving breeding procedures, encouraging pure-breeding and establishing a
studbook and stallion registry.
World Wars World War I resulted in many Haflingers being taken into military service and the interruption of breeding programs. After the war, under the terms of the
Treaty of Saint Germain, South Tyrol (including Hafling) was ceded to Italy, while North Tyrol remained in Austria. This split was extremely detrimental to the Haflinger breed, as most of the brood mares were in South Tyrol in what was now Italy, while the high-quality breeding stallions had been kept at studs in North Tyrol and so were still in Austria. Little effort at cooperation was made between breeders in North and South Tyrol, and in the 1920s a new Horse Breeders' Commission was established in
Bolzano in Italy, which was given governmental authority to inspect state-owned breeding stallions, register privately owned stallions belonging to Commission members, and give prize money for
horse show competition. The Commission governed the breeding of the Italian population of both the Haflinger and the Noriker horse. In 1921, because of the lack of breeding stallions in Italy, a crossbred
Sardinian-Arabian stallion was used for the Haflinger breeding program, as well as many lower-quality purebred Haflingers. If not for the presence of Haflinger stallions at a stud farm in
Stadl-Paura in
Upper Austria after World War I, the Haflinger might well not exist in Austria today. Despite these stallions, the Haflinger breeding programs were not on solid footing in Austria, with governmental focus on other Austrian breeds and private breeding programs not large enough to influence national breeding practices. During this time, the breed was kept alive through crosses to the
Hucul,
Bosnian,
Konik and Noriker breeds. The
Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s dampened horse prices and had an unfavorable effect on Haflinger breeding, but from 1938 onwards markets improved as a result of the buildup for World War II. All crossbred horses and colts not of breeding quality could be sold to the army, and higher subsidies were given by the government to Haflinger breeders. However, the demands of the war also meant that many unregistered mares of Haflinger type were
covered by registered stallions, and the resulting progeny were registered, resulting in a degradation of breeding stock. In 1935 and 1936, a breeding program was begun in
Bavaria through the cooperation of the German agricultural authorities, military authorities and existing stud farms. The first government-run German Haflinger stud farm was established in
Oberaudorf with brood mares from North and South Tyrol, and several private stud farms were established elsewhere in the country. The combination of a high demand for pack horses and variable amounts of breed knowledge of the purchasers led to the purchase of both high- and low-quality horses, which had mixed results on breed quality. Purchases by Bavarians also resulted in a further depletion of Austrian and Italian stock, already low from the population depletions of both world wars. However, the
German Armed Forces were ready purchasers, and the purchasing and breeding continued. Despite some claims that only purebred horses were registered, many well-known Bavarian studs had crossbred maternal lines. During World War II, Haflingers were
bred to produce horses that were shorter and more
draft-like for use as
packhorses by the military. After the war, breeding emphasis changed to promote refinement and height. Post-World War II Tyrol, including the breeding center at Zams, was under the control of American forces, who slaughtered many horses to provide
meat for hospitals. However, the troops did allow the breeding director to choose 30 stallions to be kept for breeding purposes. Those horses were relocated to the French-occupied Kops Alm high pasture in
Vorarlberg, but they were subsequently stolen and never seen again. In other areas of Tyrol, all one- to three-year-old colts had been requisitioned by military breeding centers, and therefore it was necessary to treat colts not even a year old as potential breeding stallions. In the years after World War II, some observers feared that the breed was dying out because of indiscriminate crossing with other breeds. At conferences in 1946 and 1947, the decision was made to breed Haflinger horses from pure bloodlines, creating a
closed stud book with no new blood being introduced. The Tyrolean Haflinger Breeders' Association established its own stallion center and prohibited private breeders from keeping stallions, thus ensuring that the association maintained 100 percent control of breeding stallions. In Bavaria, several young stallions had been saved and breeders could privately own stallions. Bavarian and Tyrolean breeders maintained close ties and cooperated extensively. North Tyrolean breeders were also able to acquire several high-quality older stallions and lower-quality young stallions from South Tyrol. In 1947, the Federation of Austrian Haflinger Breeders was established as a governing organization for the provincial associations. At this time a large-scale
breed show was held, attended by visitors from Switzerland, who soon after their return home sent a purchasing commission to Austria and were instrumental in founding the Haflinger population in Switzerland. Southern Tyrol had no difficulty in selling its horses, as all of Italy was in the market to purchase horses, and breeding populations spread as far south as
Sicily. Between 1950 and 1974, even as the overall European equine population was dropping due to increased mechanization, the Haflinger population was increasing. In that time period, the population of registered Haflinger brood mares rose from 1,562 to 2,043. This was mainly a result of the increased marketing of the breed, and happened even as
Norwegian Fjord horses were exported to Germany, reducing the resources available for Haflinger breeding programs. Through well-planned marketing campaigns, the Haflinger became the dominant small-horse breed in the region. In 1954, Yugoslavia and Italy purchased breeding stock from North Tyrol to establish their own Haflinger programs and in 1956 the German Democratic Republic followed suit. The first Haflingers were exported to the United States from Austria in 1958 by Tempel Smith of Tempel Farms in
Illinois and into Czechoslovakia in 1959. Tyrolean Haflingers were purchased by the Netherlands and Turkey in 1961. In Turkey they were both bred pure and crossed with the
Karacabey breed. In 1963, the first Haflinger was exported to Great Britain, in 1969 two Haflinger mares were presented to
Queen Elizabeth II upon her official visit to Austria, and in 1970, the Haflinger Society of Great Britain was established. The first Haflinger was exported to France in 1964, In 1974, the first Haflinger was imported to Australia. The first Canadian Haflinger was registered with the United States breed association in 1977, and a Canadian registry was formed in 1980. Between 1970 and 1975, Haflingers were also imported into Luxemburg, Denmark, Thailand, Colombia, Brazil, southwest Africa, Sweden and Ireland.
21st century Although the Haflinger is now found all over the world, the majority of breeding stock still comes from Austria, where
state studs own the stallions and carefully maintain the quality of the breed. However, breeding farms are located in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and England. Haflingers are bred throughout France, especially in the provinces of
Brittany,
Burgundy, and
Picardy, with between 350 and 400 foals born each year. As of 2005, almost 250,000 Haflingers remained in the world. On May 28, 2003, a Haflinger filly named
Prometea became the first horse
clone born. Bred by Italian scientists, she was cloned from a mare
skin cell, and was a healthy foal. In 2008, Prometea herself gave birth to the first offspring of an equine clone, a colt named Pegaso sired by a Haflinger stallion through
artificial insemination. The American Haflinger Registry does not allow horses born as a result of cloning to be registered, although as of 2010 other nations' registries have not yet entered a decision on the topic. In January 2012,
Breyer Horses created a
model horse of the Haflinger. ==Uses==