Our Philosophy regarding our Walers

Our Stud philosophy is to breed the most wonderful natured Walers of showing quality. Show quality is a step above breeding quality in our minds. We will only breed horses that can be competitive in the show ring regardless of whether they make it there or not. The show ring is an excellent independent judge of quality, temperament and movement and we appreciate feedback from judges and affirmation of our breeding program is seen in the results. We value temperament above all else, such as height and colour. Conformation is a very close second in our Walers, as well as retaining the types as close as they were when they were originally bred for War. Because the majority of Walers were used for soldier’s mounts, the stockhorse types, agile, quick, and very rideable, are favoured in our breeding programme, over the larger, rarer, draught type Walers, that were used for artillery.

However, we are also very conscious of the fact that the times of wars being fought on horseback are long passed, so the original purpose of the Waler breeding programme is obsolete. Whilst we respect and never stop commemorating the military use of the Waler in the past, we feel that the future cannot be in breeding horses for military parades, which is the only military use of Walers today. In our opinion, the lack of a use for and interest in, Walers was a huge issue for the ongoing survival of the breed, and probably was the reason they were nearly lost in the 1970s. We feel that Walers must evolve and change with the times, as a horse that serves no purpose makes breeding it pointless other than the pure joy of it, which in turn forces their long-term extinction. Therefore, Walers today must be competitive in today’s disciplines. They are competitive in endurance and camp drafting, given the station and outback roots , but our stud philosophy is to also make them relevant in the show ring, a place they have struggled in the past. Other Waler studs are doing a good job in promoting them in other areas, but as we do not hope to be a jack of all trades, we focus on showing as our specialty.

Therefore, our Walers must be show types in line with show trends (within reason). Our Walers are specially selected with lovely smooth shapes, with extensive length of rein, and quality shapely fronts. Importantly they must have good legs for show ring success and long term soundness. The most difficult trait to breed consistently is a show mover, particularly so in Walers, as they were not previously bred with that in mind. However, with the addition of the bloodline of Trublu Trail Blazer, who possesses lovely floating movement, we think these days are over. We hope to breed this stunning movement into future generations. Trublu Trail Blazer also possesses excellent conformation that is passed onto his foals, so we think the future of show Walers is bright. Certainly, they are being noticed by the rest of the showing world, which was not the case five years ago at all where the words ‘show quality’ and ‘waler’ were never used by an outsider in the same sentence. Times are changing and the showing world is starting to notice!

We look forward to a bright future with our show Walers and presenting to the show ring a competitive show horse in 2017 and beyond.

Our breeding philosophy for Walers

We are firm believers in Walers and proud of their history. We aim to entrench these horses in Australian culture as well as surviving into the generations beyond. We breed with temperament in mind as, without it, no other attribute is worthy of breeding on. Our value-add is our focus on breeding quality horses, and we believe we have the eye to select the right Walers to fit this philosophy.

We ensure as much as possible, that our breeding stock is performed in the show ring to prove their worth. Along with this, some youngstock needs to be shown to prove the quality of the production. When it all boils down to it, it is your offspring that is the what makes your stud name worthy of mention. Our breeding stock must ‘breed up’ mares and stallions, as there is little point in breeding if you are not breeding something better than yesteryear.

We believe that every Australian should own their own Walers with quality conformation so they can be used in whatever discipline the buyer chooses. We also offer our stallions for a very reasonable stud fee in line with this philosophy. Our Waler horse stud aims to provide people an affordable option if they want to use the desirable qualities of Walers in their bloodlines through either stallions or youngstock. All foals bred from our stud will be eligible for at least part-bred registration with one of the Waler societies. If your horse is also an eligible Waler, the foal can be fully registered as a Waler horse with the relevant society.