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Aristocrat TOF-- Haflinger Stallion

written by Jennifer Rousseau of Tudor Oaks Farm

Aristocrat TOF was imported from Austria by Tudor Oaks Farm in early 1993. He is a son of Afghan II and Rialta, bred by Otto Schweisgut himself and born at the famous Fohlenhof in Ebbs, Austria. His breeding record over the past 12 years in incomparable: He has sired 2 gold and 14 silver stallions and mares, as well as too-many-to-count National Champion stallions, mares and geldings. He is the only “Elite” stallion in North America, having achieved the required number of Gold and Silver offspring through the AHR inspection program. However, while most Haflinger owners and breeders are familiar with Aristocrat’s accomplishments in the breeding shed, not many know that he has had a fairly extensive show career, in four different disciplines.

Tudor Oaks Farm focused right from the get-go on the importance of showing their Haflingers against open breed competition at recognized horse shows. Therefore, Aristocrat’s early horse show experiences were at United States Dressage Federation shows at the Introductory and Training Levels as a three and four-year old. From the beginning he was a pleasure to train, in fact, mush easier to ride and drive than he had ever been to lead or work with on the ground. He had a natural balance, which combined with his signature “sparkling” charisma, translated to tremendous crowd and judge appeal wherever he showed. He won or ribboned every time he went to the ring, with dressage test comments ranging from “Cute pony!” to “Lovely Gaits!” Shortly after he began his show career he was nicknamed “The Sparkle Pony”, a name that he still answers to in the Tudor Oaks barn to this day.

Aristocrat adapted to his training in harness just as smoothly as he did to the saddle and bridle. His work ethic is the best of any Haflinger I have ever trained. He immediately made an impression in driving circles, beginning as a single at the Barrington Driving Show and eventually progressing to the lead horse in a Unicorn turn-out that we prepared for the American Driving Society’s demonstration at the first-ever “Equitana USA” in Lexington, Kentucky, and finally as a co-leader in the Tudor Oaks Farm Four-in-hand and Coaching Team at the Canadian Carriage Classic and Walnut Hill Driving Shows. Wherever he appeared, this “Sparkle Pony” impressed judges and spectators alike.

Over the past five years Tudor Oaks Farm has showcased Aristocrat’s incredible talent over fences by sending him off to various United States Eventing Association and United States Equestrian Federation competitions. He has competed at Novice and Pre-novice Horse Trials with consistent placings in very large fields of entries, predictably going clean on both cross-country and stadium. One of the highlights came in the dressage phase, where at one event he scored a perfect 10 for his entry on centerline! He also ribboned amongst the “big, brown horses” in the Training Jumper division at the USEF shows, resulting in a whole new generation of cute little girls in pigtails and jodhpurs tugging on Daddy’s hand and saying, “I want one just like that!”

The balancing act of maintaining a very active breeding schedule in conjunction with a full training and showing schedule has not always been easy. Aristocrat has thankfully always had a very strong libido in the breeding shed; a necessary attribute for a stallion breeding exclusively by collected/shipped semen. This can complicate matters, however, when showing against other mares, stallions and geldings in the close confines of the warm-up ring at the horse show. From the start, we tried to differentiate between his different jobs through routine and equipment that was exclusive to the task at hand. When we are preparing him to breed, we tie him to the left-hand bars of the stall to wash him up. We use a chain shank, with the chain through his mouth, to lead him to the mount. This is always a right-hand turn out of the stall. When we ride or drive him, we tie him to the front bars of his stall to brush him and put his equipment on, then we exit the stall with a left-hand turn and mount or put to the carriage out in front of the barn. This system, along with simply being aware of our surroundings whenever we are working him in a group, has served us very well. He knows and understands that when the chain is in his mouth and we turn right-handed out of the stall, it is for the purpose of breeding. He also knows and understands that when we put his bridle is on, it is time to go to work in a different way. He still occasionally puffs up and struts like the big stallion he knows he is when he is under saddle, but he is totally controllable and will resist all temptation when he is reminded by the rider of what he’s supposed to be doing. Perhaps due to the blinkers on his driving bridle, he has never uttered a word or made any stallion gestures in harness.

One interesting challenge along the way has been to combine dedicated customer service for our breeding customers while our breeding season overlaps with our traveling show schedule. This has required some advance research and planning for the possibility of having to collect semen and ship it while we are on the road. When Aristocrat was invited to Breyerfest, the annual celebration of Breyer Horses and collectors held at the Kentucky Horse Park, he had to take a break from his daily routine of posing for photos and autographing (with some help from me) his models, to go across the street to the Haygard-Davidson-McGee Veterinary Clinic for a quick collection for shipment. There we were greeted by the vet and a Belgian “jump-mare”; quite a novelty for Aristocrat who usually only ever collected on a breeding mount. Another year, at the GLHA Stallion Parade in April, we whisked him over to the Michigan State University facility, where the breeding mount and normal routine made him feel right at home. We usually travel with an empty Equitanor wherever we go before August 15, just to be on the safe side.

For those who wish to show and breed with their stallion, we recommend establishing specific routines for each job, and sticking to protocol no matter where you are. Even though Aristocrat has now reached the ripe old age of 15 we stick to the plan and leave nothing to chance. He continues to be the best Haflinger I have ever ridden or driven, and remains on my top five list of best horses ever, in a career of over 30 years in top-level competitive horses.