Waler

The name 'Waler' is derived from the term 'New South Waler', a horse bred in New South Wales, and Australia's first colony. It was coined as a term for colonial bred horses used both in Australia and as remounts for the British Army in India. Rajahs also bought Walers for military and recreational use such as polo. Walers, through the flourishing remount trade, were sold to India from the 1840's to the 1940's and were supplied to the Australian Army for the Boer War and World War I, where their feats of endurance and courage became legendary. Although again supplied to the Army in World War II, the horses were not sent overseas, mechanization having transcended their use.

In 1788, the First Fleet, of eleven ships brought out two stallions and four mares and foals from the Cape of Good Hope, English horses having perished on the perilous sea journey. Subsequent ships also brought out Cape horses, such as the Britannia which landed in 1795 with thirty-three horses. English horses also began arriving safely, the influential thoroughbred stallion, Rockingham, was brought out in 1799. About this time, the Governor of New South Wales asked for more heavy horses, specifying Scottish Clydesdales. Timor ponies were shipped over from northern Islands.

Increasing demand for saddle and work horses led to the migration of the best of old English breeds, which combined with the Cape horses and the Timor pony, went into the melting pot that produced a unique Australian horse, the Waler. The notable English breeds were Thoroughbred, Clydesdale, Suffolk Punch, Cleveland Bay, Lincolshire Trotter, Norfolk Roadster, Yorkshire Coacher, Hackney, Arab and Percheron, which although a French breed, had its own English studbook, including Shire, and native British ponies.

An important progenitor of the Waler was the Timor Pony. Brought to Australia early and used with great success, due to its hardiness, stamina and agility, by explorers such as George Grey, in the 1830's, the later Governor of South Australia. The Territorian gentlemen - outlaw 'Diamond' Jim Campbell broke in a hundred Timor ponies in 1908. These ponies were from wild herds on the Coburg Peninsula, where they had been established in the early the nineteenth century, and to this day remnant herds still survive. The Cape horse, another Waler ancestor, consisted largely of Basuto Pony, with influences of Java Pony Arab and Barb.

Owners of large properties bred horses by the thousands for the lucrative remount trade, now and then releasing a Thoroughbred sire to maintain standards and because squatters were fond of bush racing. However, the Waler was an established type, throwing true to type as standards of endurance, weight carrying capabilities, conformation and temperament were strictly monitored by breeders for the fastidious horses-buyers and out crossing was rarely necessary. No studbook was ever formed although station records were carefully kept, so the Waler was originally known as a type rather than a breed.

Mounted on their strong robust Walers, the Australians established an enviable reputation for their horses and horsemanship, with their exploits in south Africa during the Boer War. There it was realized that a horse with fast walk, that went into an easy canter, was the best type for the military as equipment was not shaken off, and distances were covered more rapidly. Waler horses were not prone to sore backs, whereas the English troops moved about at the trot and suffered from sore-backed horses. The Waler is known for its long striding walk and for its wonderful jumping ability, proven over obstacles in South Africa and World War I. World War I saw 121,324 horses sent overseas and the Light Horse again proved themselves with feats of endurance and bravery in the sands of the Middle East, establishing the Waler as perhaps the finest mount on the history of cavalry. One of the most courageous charges was that of the 4th and 12th Regiments at Beersheba, where after a full night march and a day's fighting with no water, they galloped across a burning plain at the entrenched and heavily armed Turks, winning the day and the water of the wells of Beersheba. A monument in Sydney was erected by returned soldiers, who, due to quarantine and army economies, had to leave their horses behind… "by members of the Desert Mounted Corps and friends, to the gallant horses who carried them over the Sinai Desert into Palestine, 1915 - 1919. They suffered wounds, thirst, hunger and weariness almost beyond endurance, but they never failed. They did not come Home".

At home, Walers proved the ideal stockhorse, but with the phasing out of the remount trade in the 1940's, ceased to be commercially bred. Many breeders destroyed their stock, however a few simply abandoned them to run wild in the great unfenced back country. Within a seemingly short space of time, by the 1960's and on, the Waler, incredibly, had virtually disappeared on the domestic scene. Mechanization had led to the decline in use of horses on the land and there was a time when they were not sought for recreational purposes. By the time horses regained popularity, riders wanted purebreds, such as the Thoroughbreds, Arabs, Quarterhorses and so on, abandoning the old fashioned, heavy colonial bred with studbook papers. The Waler, once lauded with praise, became an anachronism and had almost become extinct.

Walers running wild, those descendants of remounts became the chief source of retaining and re-establishing Australian horses, not as a type, but as a breed with over two hundred years of breeding. The crusade to save them became the work of The Waler Horse Society of Australia Inc., which has since 1986, saved enough Walers to begin the Studbook. This happened at a crucial time, for the eradication of all feral animals was well under way (Government decreed) and another five years would indeed have seen the extinction of the Waler as they have probably all gone from the bush.

The horse that opened up Australia with explorers, surveyors and settlers, carried our loads, worked our stock and bravely carried our ancestor into battle, now finally has a just and secure future, backed up by a Studbook. They are not many in number, but have dedicated guardians who all know the worth and preciousness of "the great-hearted ones".

More information? Click Here

List of Breeds? Click Here