COMMON HORSE BREEDS
| WALER HORSE
Origin: |
 Photos by Bob Langrish and supplied by the Waler Horse Society of Australia Inc. © |
History:
The Waler horse is most recognized as that used by the Australian Light Horse in World War I. It was developed from horses introduced with European settlement. By the 1840s Australian-bred horses had established a national reputation as the all-purpose horse used in the development of the colony of New South Wales. It became recognised internationally through its exports for the British Army in India where it became known as "the Waler" - the horse from New South Wales. It showed endurance, versatility and loyal personality coupled with a quiet temperament.
Horse breeding in the 1800s became a big industry across Australia and between 1861 and 1931 almost half a million Waler horses were exported to India, Africa, SE and E Asia. When mechanization began to take hold after World War II, horses quickly lost much of their usefulness and many Waler breeding establishments turned their stock loose on vast outback stations.
While many thought that the Waler was lost, the turned-out horses continued to breed and be bred on these isolated properties. In 1986 the Waler Horse Society of Australia was begun and a Stud Book and Horse Register were created. Numbers of Waler horses from these outback stations were carefully selected as the Foundation horses for today’s Waler breeding.
Characteristics:
A quality riding horse with commanding looks and presence, combined with natural courage, intelligence and stamina. Walers today are categorized into one of four types: pony, light, medium and heavy.
Head:strong and alert, wide between kindly eyes, open nostrils, nose straight to slightly Roman
Neck:strong and upright with good length of rein
Shoulders: strong, deep and sloping well back to a definite wither
Body: deep girth and well sprung ribs, medium-length back and strong hind quarters with full medium-set tail
Legs: strong short cannons (plenty of bone), sloping pasterns and large hocks; feathering is permissible
Feet: well shaped, hard and open
Color: mostly black, bay, chestnut or grey, other colours accepted except albino and cremello
Height: general range 14.2 to 16hh
Temperament: friendly, alert, intelligent
Qualities:good doers, versatile and comfortable riding horse, athletic and great stamina.
| Today: Registered Walers contain only the old traditional bloodlines without any modern breed influence. Though originally bred as a working and/or war horse, they are competitive in many equine pursuits including endurance, dressage, eventing, show jumping, stock work, trail riding and pony club. For more information please go to //www.walerhorse.com |
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