Breeding Objective Haflinger Breeders' Association Tyrol

Breed

Haflinger


Origin   

The Haflinger breed was founded with the stallion 294 Folie out of an indigenous small horse and the oriental half-blood 133 El`Bedavi XXII (1868). 


Descent

After the stallion Folie cross breeding with another breed is not permitted on the stallion side. For mares the closing of the stud book from 1920 is valid. Purebreeding is a primary target of the breeding objective of the Haflinger Breeders' Association Tyrol which also maintains the original stud book. Therefore at the moment stallions and mares must be purebred for 20 generations or more. Any addition of foreign blood has been forbidden since the beginning of the stud book and therefore 0.0% foreign blood is valid.   

External Appearance

Colour

Chestnut from light chestnut to dark liver chestnut with light mane and tail. Colour impurities in the basic colour, such as roaning or dappling are undesirable and are judged negatively up to exclusion from books I and II.

Markings

Head markings are desirable but not a prerequisite, too many markings are undesirable and can lead to exclusion. Leg markings are not desirable but up to one half leg marking not negatively judged, two leg markings with one point deduction, three leg markings two points and four leg markings means exclusion from book I and II. Leg markings above the hocks is also exclusion from book I and II.  

Size  

The required size is from 140 to 150 cm. The minimum size must be achieved; non-achievement leads to exclusion from book I and II. The maximum size may be exceeded in the case of a good exterior evaluation.  


Type

The desired appearance is of an elegant and harmonious horse. For this there must be a dry and expressive head with large eyes, well formed neck, a sufficiently long and supple mid-section, a good, not too divided or short, croup, distinctive muscles and correct and +defind limbs with good joints. Stud stallions and mares must have clearly defined gender features. Undesirable is a stout, plump non-athletic appearance, a couse head, unclear contours, undefined joints and a stout foundation with a lot of fringes and a lack of gender features. 

Body Structure

  1. The head should be noble and lean and the size in harmony with the horse, with large forward pointing eyes and wide nostrils. The head should have sufficient neck freedom, correct positioning of the ears and good cheek freedom. 
  2. The neck should be medium long and taper towards the head, with no bulky lower line and not too wide.
  3. Pronounced withers reaching well into the back, large diagonal shoulders and sufficient depth of chest are the distinguishing features for the forehand.  
  4. The back should be middle long and muscular and unify swing, load bearing capacity and balance in movement.
  5. The hindquarters should have a long, slightly sloping but not too drawn or divided, strongly muscled croup. The tail should not be set too low.   
  6. As a whole a harmonious distribution of the the forehand, mid section and hindquarters is the aim. 
  7. The foundation should be especially convincing with correctly positioned and clearly pronounced joints, with a broad and flat knee joint and a broad and powerful hock. Desirable is a straight limb position seen from the the front and rear, seen from the side a straight standing foreleg and a hindleg angled at 150° at the hock and a hoof angle of approx. 45° to 50° to the ground. The pasterns should be long and well developed. The hooves should be round, distinct and hard. 
  8. The gait should correct, supple and in rhythm with no serious faults. 
  9. The horse should have good ground-covering with a not too flat gait. 
  10. In particular an excellent character without fault  and a well balanced temperament is a breeding objective.  

Undesirable is 

  1. A lack of harmony in body structure and lack of gender features. 
  2. A head that is course or too big, a roman nose but also a too wide or too small head. Also mouth faults such as a sparrow or sow mouth. The ears should not be too long.  
  3. In particular a short, heavy or deep-ser neck structure.  
  4. A short or too long, a soft or too stiff back and a solid or arched kidney area as well as too little depth of chest and high drawn flanks.
  5. A short or straight croup with high set tail or a too broad or strongly divided croup.  
  6. Incorrect limbs such as the following; small, thin or restricted joints, weak or too massive cannon bones and short, steep or too long or soft pasterns as well as too small or steep hooves, in particular inward or outward pointing frogs and the following: pigeon toed, splay footed, knocked knee or bow legged front legs, narrow or wide at the hocks.

Furthers backwards or forwards bending, steep or sickled hocked, cow-hocked or bandy legged limb positions. 

 

Movement

Basic Gaits

Desirable are hard-working, rhythmic and ground-covering basic gaits (walking 4-beat, trot 2-beat, canter 3-beat).
The movement in walking should be relaxed, energetic and elevated with a clear up and down of the feet. Movement in trot and canter should be supple, swinging, lightfooted and have a clearly recognisable suspension phase with a natural straightening and balance.   
The clear thrust of the foot should be transferred from an active working hindquarter over a loosely swinging back, free from the shoulder to the anticipating forehand.  Some knee action is desirable. In particular the canter should demonstrate a forward and upward bounding sequence.  


Undesirable are particularly short, flat and rigid movements with a stiff back, sluggish, falling on to the forehand or out of beat movements as well as pitching and swaying or obvious thrashing, turning, close to the ground pigeon-toed or far from the ground or splay-footed movements and too high knee action.


Internal characteristics and health 

Desirable is a horse with strong character, good-nature, sturdiness, an all-rounder, eager and willing to perform, easy to feed, resistant, easy to acclimatise that can be used for all purposes. 
This is especially true for riding, driving, vaulting as a hobby less than in the competitive area , but also for pulling and carrying. 

    
To identify the performance tendency the following is examined as a foal and at the age of one year before entry in the stud book:

  1. Character and temperament
  2. Exterior
  3. Basic gaits (walking and trot)
  4. Health deficiencies 

Stud book entry and selection

Again before entry into stud book the following features will be judged by international Judges only (from the list of the World Haflinger Federation) for entry into the studbook:

  1. Character and temperament
  2. Exterior
  3. Basic gaits (walking and trot, also canter desirable)
  4. Health deficiencies

For selection and entry into the stud book free-running can also be examined. 

Entry in stud book and stallion selection are just as final as the previous stud book evaluations, the evaluations will no longer not be changed up or down after the fact or at a later presentation. Failure to reach the minimum number of points is a final elimination.   
Measurements for stud book entry are taken at the age of 3. These measurements correspond to the minimum and maximum measurements given in the breeding objective. Failure to attain the minimum height means a final exclusion from the main stud book. Presentation of horses from the Tyrolean breeding region can only be made up to the age of 4 at which age the minimum requirement is increased. 

A final measurement is made at the age of 6 and noted in the stud book.