That being said, I don't hesitate to identify him as a Haflinger, a statement many of you would probably dispute since I don't have any registrations papers. I do have a breeding certificate since I purchased him from his breeder and have a written statement about his mother's background on the off chance that at some point the AHR would recognize half Haflinger animals, as I do have that proof in hand, his poppa's breeding certificate. Does it matter to me that I don't have papers? Maybe a little...but since he is a gelding and I live on the west coast and will probably never attend or show in a recognized show, what does it matter? He is still a wonderful young animal that is a credit to his breed.
I do have my eye on a registered mare, not to breed but because she is a wonderful driving animal, and I am totally in love with haflingers.
I have been active in the Appaloosa association because I owned, bred and showed Appaloosas, but I have to comment that I have not been particularly inspired to put my money down to join the Haflinger group, actually didn't even know IF I could join since I don't own a registered animal. From an outsider's point of view, it doesn't look like they are very interested in recruiting any new members, what are the incentives? How would it benefit me in the long run?
Maybe that could be a focus of those of you that are involved in your group, what can you do to get those of us that are on the fence to join up and participate?
I have felt there is a 'them and us' mentality regarding registered and non registered horses and owners, too bad. It seems like it should be an 'us' mentality, we all love these lovely golden animals and wish the very best care, training, husbandry, etc etc. Maybe that can be the goal, develop the 'us', concentrate on the real focus, horses, not papers...
I sometimes fear there will be a mentality developed that was shown by a breeder of the breed of dog I have, I wont' say what breed, don't want to point fingers, but this breeder goes so far as to require that puppy buyers sign a legal document that they will not breed their dogs, period, or they will owe her a huge sum on money. She is so sure that only her breeding decisions are correct, that no one else has the mental power to make a decision about proper conformation, etc, that she insists on this provision. I didn't buy my dogs from her, even though I don't breed my dogs, I could not abide her omnipotent attitude.
We have to agree that Haflingers have come from animals that were not registered, at some point they were just animals that someone liked and bred to lock in that type. So even if you have papers, if you go back far enough, they were unregistered, doesn't make them any more or less valuable, just like my little Guthrie isn't less valuable to me because his mama's papers weren't transferred and were lost her owner.
This has been an interesting discussion, nice bunch of people, I think I like you, lol.
Lee
--- In haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com, "chuck.hendershot" <chuck.hendershot@...> wrote:
>
> I think that we are missing an opportunity and it sounds like disenfranchising a number of non-registered Haflinger owners, which I believe is a big mistake for AHR and the breed.
>
> I guess the thing in this discussion thread that bothers me the most is feeling that we do not want to involve the non-registered owners and purposely exclude them from shows and events. As a breeder and a business person this does not make sense. These owners have been exposed to the versatility and calm nature of the Haflinger and are going to be easy sale opportunities as they look to add to their herd or excuse my term but upgrade to a fully registered animal. While they know the quality of the horses we certainly are not showing these owners and prospective clients the quality of the people involved wit the Haflinger breed. So from my standpoint we have a challenge to work on and I hope that I always welcome a Haflinger owner and try to open the breed to everyone. I may try to sell you a registered animal, but that is what we do, not because I think your animal is less capable because someone else did not care to suppor the breed by registering their animals.
>
> As a breeder, I agree with Emily that we do not want to do anything that would dilute the breed. We work very hard to produce atheltic and versatile animals with each generation improving from the last. However, I also see the advantage to preventing non-registered animals from becoming breeding stock either to compete against our produce or as foundation stock for an attempt to establish a new breed like the "Spotted Haflinger" which has no requirements or breeding standards. I would be certainly interested in trying to develop a policy or standard for including the non-registered animals within the Haflinger family, especially in exchage for an agreement that the animal would not be bred or if sold that the animal would not be sold to an owner who did not agree to sign the agreement not to breed the animal.
>
> From an AHR standpoint I can see several opportunities to win in this situation. The first would be an increase in overall membership. Second would be a service for all breeders (large and small) by putting some control over the breeding of non-registered animals. Since we can not stop the "Spotted Haflinger" people from using the name, we certainly do not have any control over the non-registered animals from using the name. If we bring them into the family we gain some control and I can only see this helping the prices for registered animals. Third, a service could be provided for helping any owner that wanted to attempt to prove the "purity" of its animal for registration for a fee. If successful we add to the registry and gain a registration fee.
>
> I guess my biggest problem with this thread is that the response to people who would like to get more involved with the Haflingers and represent future clients who could buy our poduce is why we cannot do what they are suggesting. We real support their impression of the registered owner and breeder as "snooty" when we should be trying to figure out how to brng them into the family. I would like to see the AHR Board or the membership committee take the non-registered Haflinger owner as a project, to develop some guidelnes to nclude them in the association and not alienate them from the breed. Then I hope we can sell you a registered animal in the future, not because it is necessarily a better or more lovable animal, but because you love Haflingers and enjoy the people associated with these wonderful, athletic and versatile horses.
>
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