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<strong>Haflinger</strong> weltausstellung 2010<strong>Haflinger</strong> Pferdeat 17 years <strong>of</strong> age bolsters all <strong>of</strong> our confidence, I think. If one showspoorly as a yearling, or doesn’t place well as a three year old, or evenisn’t at <strong>the</strong> top <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> heap as a nine year old, it doesn’t mean that onehas reached <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> line. The true quality <strong>of</strong> a breeding mare ina breeding show is demonstrated with <strong>the</strong> progeny which can only beimpressively demonstrated later in life. But she is actually <strong>the</strong> secondgeneration in this progeny <strong>of</strong> mares, and when you see <strong>the</strong> charm, <strong>the</strong>eye, <strong>the</strong> alert expression, <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>rly figure – perhaps her back is alittle but-weak, along with <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r mares behind her, but possessingplenty <strong>of</strong> charm and mo<strong>the</strong>rliness – that is what we want to see in<strong>Haflinger</strong>s. We don’t want a small warmblood horse, we don’t wantan oversized Arabian, we don’t just want a show horse – we want amo<strong>the</strong>rly, hard-working, leisure horse with charm and perfect character.I believe this family represents this in particular, and naturallyso does <strong>the</strong> following mare, Aspirina, owned by <strong>the</strong> Berchtold familyfrom Innsbruck, who was world reserve champion mare at <strong>the</strong> lastworld show. Today she is included in this generation line and is probablyvery, very proud <strong>of</strong> her daughter, <strong>the</strong> mare A<strong>the</strong>na, who won <strong>the</strong>overall youth champion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Haflinger</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Show</strong> 2010. And that,too, is a success – not just winning once for beauty, not just becomingworld champion horse a single time, but above all maintaining a focuson this quality to which <strong>the</strong> judges here have attested and praisedand thusly named her world champion mare, and passing this qualityalong to <strong>the</strong> next generation. A true world champion must alsobe evidenced in her progeny. Without equally successful progeny toconfirm <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> genetic line, success in <strong>the</strong> breeding linecannot be ensured. When one looks at this presentation, <strong>the</strong>n perhapsfor <strong>the</strong> breeders on <strong>the</strong> outside, one can see exactly what horsebreeding means – namely, thinking in generations. I mainly wantedto retract that one can clearly see exactly <strong>the</strong> same type in this family.Often one hears that when a horse is hollow, <strong>the</strong> stallion owner is toblame. And when <strong>the</strong> foal is bad, <strong>the</strong>n it is <strong>the</strong> stallion’s fault; when<strong>the</strong> foal is good, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> breeder deserves <strong>the</strong> credit. unfortunately,<strong>of</strong>tentimes <strong>the</strong> mare is completely forgotten.And when one sees <strong>the</strong>se horses in <strong>the</strong> ring and looks at both generationlines, one sees four and five generations <strong>of</strong> horses who logicallyeach had a different fa<strong>the</strong>r. These five mares with <strong>the</strong>ir five differentfa<strong>the</strong>rs, and <strong>the</strong> next four, also with four different fa<strong>the</strong>rs. But lookat <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>iles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se horses! Are <strong>the</strong>y not all very similar, are <strong>the</strong>ynot all nearly <strong>the</strong> same type and model? If <strong>the</strong> stallion was <strong>the</strong> mostimportant thing, <strong>the</strong>n each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se mares should look like <strong>the</strong>ir sire.When <strong>the</strong> mares look like <strong>the</strong>ir mo<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>ir grandmo<strong>the</strong>r, and <strong>the</strong>irgreat-grandmo<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>n you will see what I’m trying to say. Pleasealways consider <strong>the</strong> mare in breeding, not just <strong>the</strong> stallion, sincea great maternal line in breeding will ensure successful progeny,<strong>the</strong> genetic safeguard over generations, <strong>the</strong> actual prerequisite forsuccess in breeding – this is what is proven with <strong>the</strong>se two generationlines. I wish to thank <strong>the</strong> following people for <strong>the</strong> presentation<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se horses: <strong>the</strong> Berchtold family, Donny Verkammen, GerhardBerger and <strong>the</strong> Fohlenh<strong>of</strong> Ebbs for a really beautiful overall presentationthat has shown us that true breeding success can only comefrom a distinguished maternal line, not by chance or from <strong>the</strong> greateststallion on earth. Rarely will a world champion be born to asecond-rate mare.173
<strong>Haflinger</strong> Pferde <strong>Haflinger</strong> weltausstellung 2010To this end, I implore breeders to be considerate in <strong>the</strong> future; thisis why we discourage crossbreeding with o<strong>the</strong>r breeds. We wish tocontinue pure-breeding and <strong>the</strong>reby ensure <strong>the</strong> genetics over <strong>the</strong> resulting20 generations without undesired or uncalculated effects. Wehave achieved everything we want through pure-breeding. We haverefined <strong>the</strong> perfect leisure horse; when one examines <strong>the</strong> breedinglineage, <strong>the</strong> effortlessness and elegance, it is clear that we’ve establisheddominance with breeding. Let us not bring defects into<strong>the</strong> breed from crossbreeding practices which would divide futuregenerations.In our next presentation we will be looking at some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> maresagain, namely those <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first family. Now we will see <strong>the</strong> mareswith <strong>the</strong>ir progeny; this is <strong>the</strong> first high point in a breeding showwith this interesting presentation. Because it is not just importantto maintain quality over generations, but it is perhaps even moreimportant that <strong>the</strong> mare inherits <strong>the</strong> dominant quality. Not a goodfoal here, a bad <strong>the</strong>re, and no foal at all for <strong>the</strong> third, but ra<strong>the</strong>rfor a breeder it is most important for <strong>the</strong> breeding stock to presentconsistent quality dominance. So it was for <strong>the</strong> winning family thathas been selected, and it was my personal joy to see this honor conferredon <strong>the</strong> mare Astra, a mare that is very close to my heart. Sheis in <strong>the</strong> ring with three stallions from various age categories, one<strong>of</strong> whom is <strong>the</strong> stallion Newstyle placed at Johann Maier in Wiesingfrom <strong>the</strong> Tyrolean association. I pray that this handler <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> stallionresist from any actions that may make us laugh. Normally he is <strong>the</strong>one who sees to it that everyone is in stitches from laughter; thankyou Johann Maier, because without laughter and humor, breedingwouldn’t be any fun. Too much seriousness with animals leads oneto view situations from a single angle and probably lose sight <strong>of</strong>o<strong>the</strong>r important aspects. Maier Hansi is most certainly a true horselover, an ardent <strong>Haflinger</strong> breeder, and he also ensures that we areentertained and gives both presenters and visitors <strong>the</strong> chance to relax.A sincere thank you for that as well, dear handler <strong>of</strong> Newstyle.Behind <strong>the</strong>m, I’m especially pleased to inform you that we havea breeding partnership that travelled a long, long way to be heretoday. I believe it’s nearly 1400 km that this horse has travelled,1400 km down from central Sweden and it will be ano<strong>the</strong>r 1400km back; nearly 3000 km combined to attend this <strong>Haflinger</strong> worldshow. When we Tyroleans say, ugh, it is so important to leave <strong>the</strong>show three hours earlier, and I would prefer to be home on Sundayafternoon ra<strong>the</strong>r than here in a tent. What do you think that <strong>the</strong>Thorné and Andersson families will say when tomorrow <strong>the</strong>y headback north in <strong>the</strong>ir truck ano<strong>the</strong>r 1400 km back to Sweden, probablynot to arrive home before Tuesday evening! For this, our deepestthanks! Not just for <strong>the</strong> presentation <strong>of</strong> this beautiful stallion, but forgiving us and all <strong>the</strong> breeders renewed motivation to walk through<strong>the</strong> valley, begin anew and forget our daily cares; this, I believe, iswhat we all need.Only when we truly believe in this breed, when we place our personalaffinities in <strong>the</strong> background, when we dedicate ourselves tothis breed ra<strong>the</strong>r than individual persons, only <strong>the</strong>n can we achieveas much success with breeding in <strong>the</strong> future as we have to date. Tothis end, I want to ask also this in <strong>the</strong> future: Nachtmann, himselfa stellar model, will hopefully produce many <strong>of</strong>fspring in Swedenwho will develope into good mares and stallions.174The last stallion in this family with <strong>the</strong> number 102 is a yearlingstallion and while he shows <strong>the</strong> same vibrancy, requires more timeto develop. A yearling stallion from <strong>the</strong> herd will naturally not give<strong>the</strong> impression <strong>of</strong> a full-grown stallion as yet, but one can observe<strong>the</strong> good breeding that will hopefully develop later, and <strong>the</strong> potentialis certainly recognisable.Now we come to <strong>the</strong> female animals in this group led by <strong>the</strong> mareAspirina who we’ve seen earlier, because this mare owned by <strong>the</strong>Berchtold family from Innsbruck was also in <strong>the</strong> generation group.This family <strong>of</strong> breeders is most likely very proud, as this group <strong>of</strong>mares has three individual progeny alongside <strong>the</strong> former reserveworld champion Aspirina, <strong>the</strong> number 315 Alexandria, who is overallworld champion mare in 2010. And here we have exactly <strong>the</strong>model that we are aiming towards. I also believe what I said with<strong>the</strong> stallions: more than athleticism, though this is naturally importantbecause we breed for sport uses, but <strong>the</strong> versatility is also veryimportant. In <strong>the</strong> show I always say <strong>the</strong>re are different breeds <strong>of</strong>horses for different usages: <strong>the</strong>re are baroque horses, like Lipizzanersor Andalusians for baroque styles <strong>of</strong> riding, <strong>the</strong>re are Arabiansfor long distance rides, imprecise but fast and a little crazy. Thereare trotters that are meant only to trot on <strong>the</strong> race track and have o<strong>the</strong>rwiseno duties, <strong>the</strong>re are pure dressage horses and show jumpersthat are specialised warmbloods, <strong>the</strong>re are special horses to drive,<strong>the</strong> Kladruber, for example, a classic old Austrian horse breed. Thereare ponies for <strong>the</strong> children and coldbloods for working. Why do weneed seven, ten, or fifteen different breeds when we can have onebreed that combines all <strong>the</strong>se characteristics – that is <strong>the</strong> <strong>Haflinger</strong>.
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