Tell me about Halflingers. What are they like in general? More like a Welsh or more like a Fjord? I have watched a few and they do seem quite athletic.
Are they stubborn, laid back, do they have a inner spicy streak?
I am thinking of getting one, there is an opportunity, so I want to know what I am getting into.
The purpose would be a horse for others to ride and for the grandchildren.
And company for the others. 
Like all things horse the answer is - it depends.
What type of riding horse they are depends greatly on the breeding of that individual Haflinger. Some are built more like a draft horse, wide and solid. Some are built more like an arabian, with the swan neck and fine legs.
The draft lines move like draft horses.
The arabian like lines are meant to be sport horses.
Haflinger owner present! She’s my SO’s to be honest but I know her pretty well 
I haven’t met any Welsh or Fjord in my equestrian life so I can’t tell you if haffies are similar. She’s 20 yo now and she’s been living with us since she was 7, very healthy and tough, she’s a complete doll but as you said with a bit of spice but only in a positive way. She can be a little stubborn but the trick is not to rush her, or try to coerce her. If you ask politely and respect her time she’s very willing to please you. Not a rocket on the long run but she can trail ride the whole day without any problem and she’very sure footed, we call her our yellow gecko. I mean really sure footed, you can trust her on the worse terrains. She’s fast on the sprint (way faster than my appendix lol, but we catch them after the first sprint). She 's kind middleway between old type haflingers (draft type) and new ones (smaller and lighter), so really built as a saddle horse. She’s 1,53 mt at the shoulder. She’s not spooky at all, quite curious by nature, she soon gets bored if she does always the same thing, what she loves more is to explore new places.
(from writing this post I realized how much I like ponies)
When I was looking at horses, I wanted a Fjord, but a few Haflingers popped up. The one I considered seemed very sweet and had a good work ethic. Even at thirteen-years old, he was smaller (height and build) than my Fjord. Personality, Fjords and Haflingers seem very similar: sweet and personable, with a “draft pony” streak to them (as I call it). I’m basing my response off the one Haflinger I met, however. I’ve met multiple Fjords.
Based off what has been said, Fjords are similar in that they can be stubborn and the more you force them to do something, the more they will fight you. That said, they are not mean. I think the key word is “stubborn.” If Haflingers are similar, you can generally work them through it with time and patience.
I grew up with a Welsh pony (I can’t remember what section it was). He was the most patient, perfect kids pony. From memory (since I was pretty little when we owned him), my Fjord is nothing like him apart from the very loving, personable personality.
If you can go meet one, I definitely would! I really like the “draft pony” (that’s what I call it) personality, i.e. mix of draft and pony. And as already mentioned, each breed and horse are definitely different. I didn’t go with the Haflinger because he was older than I wanted and he had been “cowboyed” on. That said, he was a cutie and I liked his personality a lot.
What I have experienced is that Welch are more horselike than Fjords or Haflingers.
F and H seem a bit more more small draft types.
Both F and H are rather similar, except the H have more of an edge to them, tend to be like F on steroids when it comes to the less agreeable resistance traits, F a little more in the agreeable side when things get tight.
As always, in all breeds we may find jewels, some that are gems all around.
If I wanted that kind of horse, I would look at all of those around and find what fits me best, not go by what breed it is and preconceptions about that breed.
A friend of mine had one, he was a bit stubborn once he set his mind to something. She said it was not an uncommon characteristic in the breed. There was a lot of finessing on her part to work around his mindset.
Friends have a Ride & Drive Halflinger gelding & he’s an absolute gem.
Doesn’t hurt he’s also a handsome piece of horseflesh 
Husband rides & mostly drives & has done everything from Western Dressage to Pleasure Driving & trail drives + a beach ride in a largeish group.
Wife is starting to drive him also & horse is an absolute Saint as she natters on nonstop whether she has the lines or not 
A Driving horse depends on voice & hands & her nonstop, irrelevant chatter could be an obstacle to his performance. But it’s not.
He’s the light Draft type, stocky.
They bought him from an Amishman who had him in a team, pulling a manure spreader.
Possibly the heaviest, clankiest piece of farm equipment invented.
His Handsome Self:
Fjord owner here with 16 years of Welsh cob experience. When I first started looking, a fjord was my first choice but I had researched Haffies and Gypsys. As @Bluey details, this was what I found as well looking online and talking to people familiar with the breeds. The haffies seemed to have more spice than fjords. We had one haul into ride a couple barns ago, and she was not what I would describe as laid back in anyway whereas that seems to be more of a default with the fjords I’ve met.
3 of the 4 haffies I have known have been bolters, both under saddle and in hand. The one I know now is a solid citizen. Make of that what you will.
Haflingers are not draft ponies. They are warmbloods. They can be a handful, but I’ve also seen a couple who are very good therapy mounts. We had one on the farm with a reputation that he was a PITA to catch. He hated to have his ears handled after having some sort of wart-like growths on them. One day it was my turn to catch him at suppertime. Someone said if I wasn’t back in 20 minutes they would send someone out. The entire round trip took about 5 minutes. I didn’t get behind his hip and start chasing him. I pulled the halter straight over his ears smoothly without moving them around. I think people tend to assume they will be a handful and are geared up for a challenge. The horse figures it out, of course. There is a lot to be said for staying calm and quiet.
The good part is that they bolt at reasonable speeds, some times just trotting very fast and tend to keep their wits around them more than other hotter horses that bolt heedlessly, that would keep running thru fences or over a cliff.
Owning one that is the more draft pony build and movement I think it is a fair way to describe them and people know what you mean. They can picture the shape and movement.
Yeah, that’s why I put it in quotation marks; and I was referring to my Fjord.
I didn’t mean to offend anyone.
Let us know if you decide to get the Haflinger!
When I would go to a driving show, it was always the haffies that bolted. (and I would go to several shows a year up and down the east coast. It got to the point where I would avoid being near certain drivers because it was just a matter of time before their haffie spooked)
I would get a pony, or a Fjord before I got a haffie.
One of the barns where I kept my horse banned any haffies from boarding there after having one that regularly got away and ran around the property.
Wow. How weird that they would ban a whole breed because of one specific animal.
The barn manager had had enough of that one Haffie that she never wanted to deal with the breed again.
The ones I have known have been very hard on fences.
Sounds about right. I’ve got a friend with nine horse on her property. 5 OTTBs, 1 QH, 1 paint, 1 draft cross and 1 haflinger (aka the fatlinger).
When all of them got loose and were running free through her neighbors fields recently, we knew who to blame because that fatlinger has never stayed in a stall or a round pen or a dry lot or a field she didn’t want to be in.
I mean, I adore her - she is gorgeous and very sweet and very affectionate and very smart (she’s very green under saddle and I am not experienced riding green horses, but she learned quickly and happily the couple times I rode her)
But also there is a reason I call her the fatlinger. She is extremely food motivated and smart enough to cause chaos… (I love her).
So basically in my very limited experience with haflingers, I would say that they’re very rewarding, challenging, but rewarding.
Childflingers. I have only known of two and not closely. The first was a beautiful mare at the AEC’s. She was exquisitely trained and I think placed very well at Novice or Beginner Novice.
The second was a rescue that was a first time horse for the owner and it had her number. The owner soon realized she was in over her head and sent it to a local NH trainer. The horse was pretty spooky but the trainer thought things were going pretty well. So she (the trainer) put her boy friend up as the crash dummy and the horse freaked out and bucked him off. Horse was sent to second NH trainer who worked with him and declared she wasn’t going to get on him. So horse was sold and last I heard the new owner saddled him up and rode him just fine. That was the last I heard of him so I hope he continued to be a solid citizen. The horse wasn’t mean or pushy but was fearful of people and was assumed to be abused.
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