Waler Horse Owners and Breeders Association Australia Inc

What we are doing. ?

This Association aims to maintain the form and performance of the original Walers by preserving those Waler descendents of the original horses that have adapted to the same essential conditions which promoted and preserved their attributes and use these as the Foundation for the continuance of the Breed. It is worth considering Wilkins as quoted by Daphne Machin Goodall, “A History of Horse Breeding”- “If conditions for life, under the influence of which the breed form occurred are consistent, then the type is fixed and there is a continuity of inheritance.

As soon as these essential conditions change so also will the form and the performance of the breed"
change. The durability or permanence of a breed is dependent only on certain conditions for life to which it is adapted; there is no such thing as absolute permanence of any form of breed.”

Why we are doing it. ?
The Waler horse is in integral part of our pioneering Australian heritage that is in imminent danger of being lost.The scarcity and inaccessibility of descendents of the original horses that contributed to the Breeds foundation, the previously reduced requirement for genuine working and stock horses, the pressures from pseudo- academic, political / bureaucratic and uncompromising conservation organizations, has resulted in the continued destruction of the remnant horses. If not for our efforts the legacy of these horses will be lost forever. The demand for such horses is increasing as people recognise the advantage and scarcity of honest, reliable, frugal and genuine horses for work, pleasure, and competition.

How we are doing it. ?
Identifying the Waler. We cannot recreate the old blood, the environmental conditions or the harsh selection processes that produced the original horses used for pioneering tasks and export, military purposes etc. Those horses that became known as Walers. We can, however, gather the surviving descendants of these horses and use them as the basis for the breed of the future and by so doing will insure a sound and proven foundation for the future of this BreedAll Walers have points in common – or typical to the Breed. These are the points we endeavour to preserve, and which justify the horse as a Breed as opposed to a Type. There was, and is, no typical or stereotyped Waler as such; and we recognise four types - all with characteristics in common.A breed may be defined as an animal which consistently displays inherited characteristics conforming to a Standard or Standards. The Waler as recognized by this Association conforms to this definition.
We do not accept the influence of ‘modern’ breeds that traditionally played no part in the evolution of the Waler, or horses of the same breed name as contributing breeds if they have not endured similar environmental conditions to those which produced the Waler.Originally formulated in support of the Waler Horse Society, these same principles are being honoured and preserved by this Association.

Locating a gene pool of qualifying horses.The majority of our Foundation horses were located in remote areas where they had been genetically isolated since the time that they were abandoned when no longer required, or had escaped, and subsequently avoided recapture.
Some will argue that horses sourced from unmanaged or feral environment must be inbred and inferior. This is not necessarily correct. The first consideration is the quality of the original horses introduced into the country and the specific area.
In a natural environment, inbreeding amongst horses is rare, and the species does not deteriorate with respect to that environment – in fact improves as a result of natural selection and the concentration of beneficial tested and adapted genes resulting from limited “inbreeding” (the results of which must therefore be “improvements” in order to survive and breed on in that environment). The inbreeding co-efficient amongst such horses is extremely low – far lower than that of the majority of domestic horses. Were this not the case, any species in such circumstances would inbreed and “deteriorate” to the point of extinction.

In a harsh environment the survivors are those best adapted to their environment, which in this case provides the same pressures inflicted upon for instance a true endurance horse. They have not been subject to conditions which require them to be pretty, or fast, or foolhardy in order to survive only with human assistance – these are the artificial criteria imposed by man. They have survived by being sensible, frugal, hardy; by having endurance and stamina, courage and practical ability reinforced by the absence of mans artificial manipulation for specific gains at the expense of the practical and desirable attributes for which the Waler was valued.
If our requirements are such that we can utilise these attributes it would make sense to take advantage of what quality old blood, many years of environmental pressures has produced and which are impossible to reproduce in a domestic situation today.When a possible source of Foundation horses is identified, the history of the location regarding possible breed influence, past management practices, is carefully researched and considered. Any documented evidence such as breeding records, and any reliable oral evidence is sought.

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