OUR STORY
1994 to today
Lifelong residents of the beautiful Finger Lakes town of Skaneateles, New York, we introduced Haflingers to this neck of the woods with our first Haflinger, Nyx Napoleon, purchased on a whim in 1994. As our family was leaving the Great New York State Fair we saw three of the cutest Haflinger weanlings romping together in one stall at the Breed of Horses tent. Fifteen minutes later, with cotton candy in one hand and check-writing pen in the other, we were Haflinger owners. Nyx came home to our farm where he joined a Morgan pony and Quarter Horse. Needless to say, the disposition and train-ability of the Haflinger breed, as well as the people and places we've experienced along the way, have held our interest beyond our wildest dreams.
For over 25 years, we've been breeding, buying, and competing registered Haflingers to blue ribbons and championships across disciplines and state/international lines. This includes breed, open, and recognized shows where our horses have shown in halter, dressage, trail, western, English, jumping, pleasure driving and combined driving. We've also imported several horses from Europe, with two of our mares placing at the 2015 Haflinger World Show in Ebbs, Austria. Our best memories, however, have been making friends with Haflinger owners and breeders across the globe.
In our own breeding program, we've used both domestic and imported semen to enhance the genetic pool in the U.S. and are proud to be responsible and conscientious breeders. You'll easily identify horses bred on our farm or imported by us by the YES suffix attached to their names. Of note is the first American-bred AHR Gold Classified Stallion -- Niagara YES (Notting Hill x Loreta NTF) -- bred by Twin Birch using frozen semen.
Our resumes include the creation and hosting of the New York Gold Classic (the first double-judged Haflinger show in the country) and co-creating the first pointed Haflinger circuit, later to become the Haflinger Championship Challenge (HCC) series, still going strong today. As current members of the American Haflinger Registry (AHR), Haflinger Breeders Co-op (HBC), American Haflinger Alliance as well as past chairs/officers of the AHR Futurity, Haflinger Owners Promotional Enterprise, New York State Registered Haflinger Association, AHR National Sport Horse Show, and AHR National Board, we always enjoy promoting and serving on behalf of the Haflinger horse.
Look us up next time you're in the Central New York area or at an event!
Dirk & Karen Young
Twin Birch Farms