Conesville family receives Reserve World Champion at Haflinger World Show
Mike and Jackie Woodward of Conesville attended the 2015 Haflinger World Show in Austria where their horse, Sinna, received Reserve World Champion.
CONESVILLE – More than 700 haflinger horses and their owners gathered at Fohlenhof Ebbs stud farm in Austria during the 2015 Haflinger World Show. At the end of four days, the best horses in 23 countries were named in 40 categories. Mike and Jackie Woodward of Conesville attended the show with their horse, Sinna, and came back with a Reserve World Champion title in the nation class.
Last July, the Woodward family traveled to New York where they met the president of the World Federation who invited them to the World Show, which is held every five years. That September, they traveled to Austria for a filly sale where they met Sinna and purchased her. Sinna stayed in Austria until just recently when she came home to Coshocton County to stay on the Woodward farm.
Mike and Jackie flew to Austria on May 27 for the show and stayed for 12 days. Approximately 100,000 people from all over the world attended the World Show. There are three judges at the Haflinger World Show whose job is to choose the elite horses from each country. They inspect and classify each horse based on the World standards. The horses are judged only on form and how they move in the ring.
During the World Show, Mike and Jackie worked with Sinna twice a day preparing her for her debut in the ring. Mike also showed another horse, Fly Away, owned by Max and Patty Montonya.
When the winners were announced in each country, the Grand and Reserved World Champion prance around the ring while that country’s national anthem is played.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Jackie. “The Fohlenhof office is like our Disney World. It’s like our Olympics. The opportunity was just so surreal, and it was the first time the United States had been represented. It’s everything we’ve worked so hard for. We’re doing what we love.”
Sinna will be on the Woodward’s show string after the end of this year when she has had time to settle in to her new home.
Mike grew up raising haflingers since 1976. Jackie came into the haflinger arena in 1999 when they just started evolving into riding horses. They market, train, and sell pleasure haflingers on their farm in Conesville.
beth@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: People & Places
Photo copyright Bob Schouten