| Willow Brook Farms, LLC |
| World Class Haflinger Horses |
| Willow Brook Farms, LLC |
| World Class Haflinger Horses |
| THE BEGINNING |
| The Haflinger's history begins in Tyrol, Austria in 1874. In The village of Hafling, |
| the first registered Haflinger was born.......his sire was a royal Arabian stallion |
| and his dam was a native Tyrollean mountain horse. Named, rather unromantically, |
| "249 Folie", he inherited his mother's strength, disposition and stamina...while his father |
| passed along an elegant grace and unbreakable spirit. |
| All purebred Haflingers trace their lineage to this stallion. |
| In 1875, the Austrian Imperial ministry of Agriculture established an objective |
| Haflinger breeding program, with stallions selected and owned by the government. |
| All mares (which could be privately owned) had to meet a series of difficult |
| qualifications before being allowed access to a Haflinger stallion. |
| THE CONTINUATION |
| After the war, the Austrian government resumed its role as caretaker of the breed. |
| Three stallions were acquired, each with its own standards, forming what were, and |
| still are, known as the "A-line", the "B-line and the"M-line" based upon the first |
| initial of each stallion's name. |
| Today, there are seven stallion lines: A, B, M, N, S, ST, and W. |
| Presently, five of the lines are represented at Willow Brook Farms. |
| Okay ....so five |
| minutes after birth |
| he's not exactly pretty. |
| Two days later ...... and |
| a whole lot better to look at. |
| TODAY |
| With the end of that war, original breeding goals and standards returned, |
| and have been stringently enforced ever since. The first Haflinger was |
| imported to the United States in 1957. Several Haflinger breeding operations |
| have since been established here, but.... of the six plus million horses |
| of all breeds which now exist in this country, fewer than 20,000 are |
| registered Haflingers. |
| Such relative rarity and such uncompromising breeding standards make |
| a registered Haflinger one of the most sought after horses in America today. |
| Autumn arrives on the |
| Northwest Pasture. |
| THE HAFLINGER STANDARD |
| Once Seen ..... Never Forgotten |
| Willow Brook Farms, LLC |
| 41 Geer Mountain Rd., P.O. Box 15 |
| South Kent, CT 06785 |
| (860) 927-5209 (Ofc.) (860) 927-5332 (Fax) |
|
All
Haflingers are a shade of chestnut, with either a white or flaxen mane and
tail. They range in size from 13.2 hands (54 inches) to 15 hands (60
inches), and fall into two basic types. "Old style" which are shorter, somewhat "drafty" and are used primarily for pulling carts and "new style" which are more refined, taller and are used for dressage, endurance racing, trail riding, jumping and long distance competitive rides. |
| Both styles are to be found at Willow Brook Farms. |
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