06/09/2026
Haflinger history Tuesday--Did you know...that many people think their horses are related to someone else's because their name starts with the same letter, but that isn't always the case. It all depends on if the lines go back to Austria or Holland or Germany or elsewhere. There are even different lines within those countries that begin with the same letter. Eventually, way back in the pedigree, the lines usually do cross somewhere, but that's not even always easy to find unless you go way back through the genealogy tables. For example, there is a very strong "R" mare line in North America, but some of those lines go back to Dutch breeding and some of those lines go back to Austrian breeding. Our Rosie (R Noble Rose APF) mare is out of Radiant Rose NTF, who is is out of Ramblin Rose NTF who is out of the Dutch imported mare Rosie NTF (Mando x Rozalien uit de Polder/Salto) who pedigree on both sides is almost entirely Durch breeding. In contrast, Rivella TOF and our Westfalen Premium mare Ricola DTA (out of Ricarda II GF) go back to the full sisters Riva and Ranka (Andrit x Ricky/Strumer), which go back to entirely Austrian bloodlines.
On the stallion side people with horses descending from Afghan III NTF and Aristocrat TOF are closely related, because both stallions are by the Austrian stallion Afghan II. To make things more confusing, Aristocrat's dam is Rialta, who is by the stallion 1293 Sturmer, (not to be confused with the stallion Strumer mentioned above.) Afghan III's dam is Miralda who is also by 1293 Sturmer, and, Miralda's dam, Mucky is by Stuber, who goes back several generations to different St -line stallions, but can be found in Sturmer's fourth generation.
On the Dutch side of A-line stallions we have Arno van het Nieshof and Alfa of Genesis. However, even though both of these stallions were imported from Holland, both of their sires were born in Austria. Arno is by Afloyd, so even though he was imported from Holland his sire lines go back to almost entirely Austrian bloodlines, with liz. Afghan in his 5th generation on the sire's side and Afghan II in the fourth generation on his sire's damsire side, while his dam side is predominantly Dutch with some German bloodlines, but with liz. Afghan appearing in her fourth generation on the damsire side. Alfa is by Allacher who is by Alpenstein, so his sire side also goes back to all Austrian bloodlines, while his dam side goes back to predominantly Dutch but also German and Austrian bloodlines, with his dam having Afghan II in fourth generation of her pedigree on the sire side, and liz. Afghan in the fourth generation on the damsire side.
To make things more confusing, there was an Afghan II born in 1982 (by the Austrian stallion Alpha) who was either sold to France in utero or after he was born. He is not the liz. Afghan II (born in 1980 in Austria) that is the son of liz. Afghan mentioned here, but both are pictured below. (As an aside, Riva and Ranka have liz. Afghan in the fifth generation on their dam side.)
So, if you think your horse is related to another horse, delve into the background of their pedigree to find out for sure. You can do a pedigree search that goes back five generations on the AHR website. Responsible breeders try to stay away from inbreeding (which is typically considered breeding within three generations), but experienced breeders don't mind line breeding if it is to the right horse and far enough back in the pedigree. I believe that a lot of our success has been because we have selected horses over the years with liz. Afghan in the pedigree, both in our mares and in the stallions we breed to. (Even Brenner has liz. Afghan in the sixth generation of his pedigree on his sire's dam side, as well as in the fifth generation through his dam's damsire side.) But, Afghan appears closer to the front in the pedigree of our mares and further back in the pedigree of the stallions we breed to. Having liz. Afghan in the pedigree was and is still extremely popular, as liz. Afghan was considered to be the father of the modern Haflinger, and he threw a distinctive type and athleticism that many experienced breeders still look for today. (Photos taken from Haflinger Horse: Origins, Breeding and Care by Otto Schweisgut.)
