Show Commentary of the Haflinger World Show on ... - Haflinger Tirol

<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>.