Read Essays and Stories from our BriarCroft blog chronicling farm and family life in Whatcom County
Our Gold rated mare Noblesse BCH (L) and 2008 Waldheer van
de Wortel fillies BriarRose BCH and Narnia BCH meet a visitor to the farm (R)
photo of Waldheer van de Wortel and Jessica Heidemann by Poulson Photography
Our stallion,
Waldheer, won first place in open novice division in a
recognized USEA 3 day event
at the Northwest Equestrian Center Horse Trials October 2004 with trainer,
Jessica Heidemann riding
and was featured as a first level
dressage demo horse
in a Lendon Gray Dressage Symposium entitled "Dressage for Non-Warmblood Breeds".
Jessica Heidemann
of Cain Lake Stables in Sedro
Woolley has
competed at the 2005 Eventing World Cup in Sweden with her warmblood gelding French Twist and
at Rolex in 2005 and 2006, placing in the top twenty.
Visitors to our farm can stroll over well-tended rolling pastures of an old dairy farm with the majestic peaks of the Canadian Rockies to the north, and Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters to the east, and enjoy traditional farm buildings once again filled with hay, grain, and the sounds and smells of our Haflingers. Our family is Dan (an attorney working for local county government), Emily (a family physician), and our children Nate, Ben, and Lea. Stewardship, shown in care of the land and rehabilitation of the older buildings, extends to our breeding program and our desire that people who purchase Haflingers from us will love and enjoy these horses as we do. Haflingers are a loving and gentle breed, with great grace and beauty, heartwarming to the soul and a delight to the eye. To own a Haflinger is to rediscover the joy of a having a horse become part of your family. We prefer to keep our herd small
so that daily handling is routine for our horses and from
their first day, they learn to trust and respect people
of all ages. They are trained in ground work and
manners up to age three, when they receive professional
schooling under saddle with a dressage trainer, teaching
them the fundamental basics that will serve them in any
discipline in the future. Our goal is to raise
truly versatile Haflingers on our farm. We have several special Haflingers for sale each year, from weanlings to trained bred mares, with prices starting at $2000 for weanlings. We provide our buyers with complete health history and training history on horses we offer for sale, and believe that the right match with a future home is the most important and gratifying aspect of raising Haflingers. Please check our sales page link below for BriarCroft Haflingers currently offered for sale. We have video of our horses available on request. BriarCroft Haflingers can be found from Hawaii to Utah to Kentucky and most western states. A listing of our past sales can be found on our sale page.
We are a member of the American Haflinger Registry and the Western Haflinger Association. Our farm hosts a free on line Haflinger Horses Community for national news, events, features, and ads at www.haflingerhorses.com
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Noblesse BCH photo by Kelsy Smith
 Join the Haflinger Friends internet discussion group! This is a supportive, encouraging community of Haflinger owners and enthusiasts who wish to share information about Haflinger health, nutrition, breeding, genetics, training, promotion and just plain old fashioned enjoyment. |
(L) Wheaton and our old Amos
(C) Sharing a kiss with a 3 month old foal
(R) Lea and Wheaton
Our hay barn at BriarCroft, built in the early 1900s from old
growth timbers recycled from a nearby sawmill--drawing and watercolor by Dick
Laninga
Official barn cat Jose who is learning to ride horseback at the
walk, trot and canter, as well as over jumps
BriarCroft, our breeding farm in scenic northwest
Washington, began in 1985 with the purchase of our first
Haflinger filly. We now have a herd of top quality
Haflingers, including several broodmares producing
exceptional foals each year. These Haflingers have been
carefully selected from the offspring of Austrian and
Dutch imports to combine the best features of the
Haflinger breed: calm, quiet temperament, excellent
conformation, beautiful smooth movement, and correct
color. Our Haflingers have done field work with harrow,
manure spreader and plow, 30 mile mountain trail rides,
won in dressage and jumping events, and served as
schooling horses for students.
©1998 Mandi Hickman
In addition, we participate in the American Haflinger Registry Inspection/Classification Program, with our mature Haflingers being evaluated by an international team of Haflinger experts according to breed standards set up by the World Haflinger Federation. We feel the input from this group of judges is essential to ensure the quality of our breeding program, as well as to provide that information to potential buyers considering a particular Haflinger from our farm. So far twelve of our horses have scored very well, with the average score being a silver-rated 75, with one mare born on our farm rating a rare "gold" score of 81.
