working haflingers

[Rick H.]

I’m looking for opinions from those who have worked haflingers. I’m looking to get a work horse again, perhaps a team. I don’t really need a big horse as at this time. I don’t have much real heavy work to do. Mostly I just want some working animals again for what little I have to do and to teach my two youngest sons how to drive and work horses. They are 14 and 13 and were small when we had our last horses. I’ve worked with Belgians, Percherons and one Clydsdale in the past. So my question is, ” how are they as a smaller work horse?” Thanks for any first hand feed back anyone has.

[tsigmon]

I know everbody has their favorites and every breed association claims theirs to be the best at what ever they do. I have three Haflingers and enjoy them alot. Each one has a different personality to deal with which I think is true in every breed. At the present ,I have three which I use on our farm and can hook and use them as a single, team,or three abreast in any combination or in any position . They have pulled logs,flex harrows ,grain drill , disc, mowing machine,hayrake, cultivator, sled , wagon ,walking plow,riding plow and anything else I have decided to hitch to. They range from 975 lbs. to 1075 lbs. and are basicly air ferns to keep. Even when working hard and regular it doesn’t take much to keep their weight and energy up. You can get an idiot in any breed but I have seen very few in the Haflinger breed.A friend of mine (and a good teamser in my opinion) took in a team to put some miles on last fall and they were nuts, both on the ground and harnessed. Fairly good for one minuet and crazy as an outhouse rat the next. There are several advantages of Haflinger size horses …. they are easy to harness…most are easy keepers… handy in tight places….most farrriers don’t mind working on these sized animals if you are not capeable of doing your own hooftrimming/ shoeing …. they fit in good in smaller gardens … and you can always hook more up if you need to. We had a team of Percherons @ about 2100 lbs each , loved them and miss them but they were over kill for most of what we do. I may get big horses again if I find the right mares .. not because I would need them but because I would want them.

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