What we know already

Ok, so everyone pretty much knows of our quest to find my Haffie Nell's past but here's a small list of what we already know about her.

• She came to us with the name "Nell". We think her previous owner said that she had a different name they couldn't pronounce but sounded like Nell.
• She is an older mare. Not sure of exact year but sold to us as 16 making her a 1992 horse. She may be older or younger but has suffered malnutrition which has affected her teeth.
• She has a Westfalen haflinger brand with 99. beneath it. This may be the year she was foaled or the year she was branded.
• She was bought from a Dealer in early 2007 and has lived in Cornwall ever since. She may have been hanging around Britain for a while or she was imported by the dealer.
• She has had foals. From the shape of her ribs and udders she is suspected to have been a broodmare at some point in her life.
• She is well broken in English riding style. She is a bombproof ride which suggests she has been broken for a while now.

My opinion on Haflingers

Ok. So I was searching for haflinger forums on the off chance that I might find some more information on Westfalen Haflingers. No such luck but I came across a thread on the Horse and Hound forum about them. Someone was asking about them for her friend's begginer child and many of the members told her some stuff that would make most haffie owners annoyed to hear. Here's my opinion on some of the things mentioned.
"I would not think of them as being a child's or nervous rider's pony" This, I would say is true. They are very strong willed and need a rider who knows how to deal with strong personalities.
"Hafliners are like our strong natives and can easily carry 15 stone all day out hunting!!." Very true. I'm roughly 12 stone and Nell easily carries me for three hours without breaking a sweat. They're very hardy.
"The ones I've known have all been very bombproof, but also a bit stubborn and strong." Again, True, or at least of Nell. She's solid as a rock and willing to do whats asked of her but she knows what she wants and stops dead in the middle of the road if she doesn't get her own way.
"Majority have bad feet, a lot are awful on the ground, certainly not child friendly, and many are a pain in the ass to ride too." I could agree with the bad feet thing but Nell was neglected so it was probably malnutrition that caused brittle hooves. To our knowledge however, she's never been lame and she's as sure footed as they come. As for on the ground, yes they are strong and they know it. But it all comes down to how much groundwork has been done with them. Nell was very bolshy on the ground when we got her but now she's good as gold. She still has a few moments but never as bad as she was.

In a nutshell:
Are they good first ponies? No. Although there are a few, they are very strong willed so are more suited to riders who can deal with stubbornness.
Are they any good at competing? Yes, definitely. Haflingers are great to be shown in any discipline and excel in anything from halter through jumping to endurance or western.
Have they got good tempers? Yes, in general they are quite sweet and bond well with their rider. My Nell has a nasty bite though and bad habits are very difficult to get rid of in Haffies.
Do they have any breed related health problems? Not really although some have been known to have bad feet and as most haflingers are long in the back they can get tender in that area. Otherwise though, they are built like a brick outhouse and are tough as nails.

If you find the right haflinger for you, they promise many years of safe riding, comical moments and are probably the most quirkiest and fun horses you'll ever own or ride.

History lessons

I was browsing the net for Haffies the other day when I came across something rather unexpected. I discovered an old show picture of a stallion named Aristo.

Lo and Behold there on his quarters was a familar firebrand. I had noticed the mark during the spring after Nell shed her winter coat and we had been searching for a lead on what it may have meant. Suddenly out of the blue we find Aristo bearing the same mark and the excitement starts to build. Finally we have something on our horse without a past.

Whether it was fate or purely amazing luck a few moments later I came across this:

This is the brand for Westfalen Haflingers. Unfortunately the site is all in German so I cant tell you what that means. We sent emails to people who seem to have a connection in the hopes they understand english and can tell us more about the brand.

It is strange to think that my Nelly Noodles came all the way from Germany. We always had an incling that if she was british she would have come with more history and its not unusual for dealers to buy horses abroad and sell them for more over here. It is a shame that all her past was lost along the way but now at least there is a chance of finding out who bred her if there is a registry. I always wondered why Nell never really listened to me. It was probably because she speaks German! ;)

The most wonderful thing so far about finding her brand is that we now have proof that she is PURE haflinger. I always knew there must have been a mistake when we got the passport saying she was a cross. Hopefully on these facts and pictures alone we will be able to re-register her.

I'll update you as we get more information but even if we don't it has been wonderful just knowing where she came from.