06/02/2026
Haflinger history Tuesday--Did you know that while Austria has studbooks for purebred Haflingers only, Germany has studbooks for both purebred Haflingers and Haflinger/Arab crosses called Edelblut Haflingers? Edelblut translates into "noble blood."
As I've mentioned in the past, Arabian blood was introduced to the Haflinger breed in Austria at different times throughout history to try to add new bloodlines to diversify and expand the gene pool. This was apparently not successful in Austria as they were not happy with the results. However, in Germany, while there are still purebred Haflinger studbooks, there are also studbooks that allow a percentage of Arabian blood. Edelblut Haflingers can look identical to sporthorse type purebred Haflingers, depending on the percentage amount of Arabian blood they carry. Often times people advertising Edelblute stallions will list the percentage of outcross blood in their advertisement. 0.0% (0,0%) equals purebred, while any other percentage above that indicates the amount of Arab blood in the pedigree.
In the United States, the amazing German imported Edelblut Haflinger gelding, Lutz (Argument x Mandy/Davis van de Wellenhof) owned/trained by Bettina (Tina) Hinckley and ridden/trained/shown by Susanne Hamilton, brought the spotlight to Haflingers at the USDF Region 8 Championships in September 2016 when he won first place in both the Prix St George open (out of 38 horses!) with a score of 71% and Intermediare I with a score of 73.6% in very large classes over some incredible Warmbloods. Sadly, Lutz foundered in March 2017 and passed away in April 2017. Below are some photos of Lutz and Susanne, as well as some photos of a few Edelblut stallions standing in Germany. First six photos below are Lutz ridden by Susanne Hamilton. Photos provided by Petra Kerschbaum. (I have tried to include breeder, owner, pedigree and photo credits when I could find them.)
