Waler Tales
Our horse and human stories to inform, inspire and delight. Australian made entertainment and education! How lucky we are to have such a unique horse, developed in Australia for Australian conditions and once world famous. Please enjoy interacting with our stories and share your own. Our Walers are living history, a remarkable journey of discovery awaits you.
Where we can we have included an individual horse story to acknowledge each Waler individually. We believe our Waler horses hold a special place in our hearts and our history, and they should not be forgotten. By recording their individual stories, we introduce them in a way that helps you engage with them more personally than is otherwise possible. We would love to add to this collection for horses in our database.
One Year On
Please help us celebrate our first year of the new website by visiting us often to learn and enjoy, sharing links from our pages, and making contact if you know anything more about the Walers that are in our database, or should be.
Todd River Downs Horse Capture
For those interested here is the timeline of steps taken along the journey to capturing and bringing to Victoria horses from Todd River Downs, NT. In addition, a diary of milestones noted in their first year of captivity.
200 years of Waler history & my aspirations for them in 10 minutes
For those who want to bone up on the Waler project as I see it today, with an historical summary for context.
Continue Reading 200 years of Waler history & my aspirations for them in 10 minutes
Old Bloodline Walers
Mares Topsy, Bess and Hale (along with Topsy’s filly foal Indi and Hale’s colt foal Pinjee in utero), and gelding Tommy, were captured in June 2019 along with 16 others on a remote outback property in the NT, from horse herds roaming wild.
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GoGo Adventures (part4)
Day two was a long hot slog. Filthy hot. Open country with a barely a tree and that barely up to your knee.
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Brigadier’s Story
Brig was from Mt Riddock Station north of Alice Springs. Reg Wilson obtained him for me in 1987 shortly after I left the Northern Territory to move back to Canberra.
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Timor Ponies at the Summer Royal
Let’s celebrate history in the making! Timor Ponies at the 2024 Summer Royal Show held at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre.
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Active Engagement With Waler Horses
It is in particular on Mollie’s behalf that I write this post as she represents the future: will we still be able to find an old-fashioned girl like Mollie in twenty years?
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Photographing Walers: a Hobby
Mike’s first visit to take photos was in May 2011, during a very wet period where my driveway was just mud so he had to walk from the front gate as his car was not a 4WD.
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GoGo Adventures (part3)
There was a set of yards shaded by a few pretty trees (only the boabs get big there, don’t like to boast but we do have proper trees in Tassie but one wouldn’t say that up there) and in the yards were a lot of wild horses – they’d been mustered by chopper a day…
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GoGo Adventures (part2)
Next morning we walked to the Fitzroy River. Normally the bridge is high above it, but now a raging yellow torrent gushed over it. Trucks and cars stranded either side.
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Brigadier
Waler Database @ FaceBook. Image: Young Brigadier in yards, Ros Sexton photo. Brigadier was caught on Mt. Riddock, N.T. as a youngster in the late 1980’s. At some stage during yarding or trucking he got a bad injury to his jaw, dislocating it. Mt Riddock was totally shot out soon after, so the few of…
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Horses’ Birthday at Collingwood Children’s Farm 2023
I have been visiting Collingwood Children’s Farm with Walers for the Horses’ Birthday Family Day on the first Sunday in August since 2006. It is always a great day out for Walers and visitors alike…
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Fraser Island/ K’Gari Horses
From the early 1860’s there was a big timber industry on K’Gari, requiring many work horses. Cattle were also run there, 140 taken there in 1901 due to mainland drought (and many sheep too).
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Bill the Bastard
Most of us know the story of this gutsy horse, a chestnut stallion, but here’s a bit for those who don’t…
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GoGo Adventures (part1)
At the time of saving Walers in the 1980’s and 1990’s, most if not all came from Central Australia. We needed to seek new genes to prevent a genetic bottleneck.
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The Getting of Mt Weld Governess
Mt Weld Governess travelled as a yearling almost five thousand kilometers from her home in Western Australia to Queensland.
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ANZAC Day at Collingwood Children’s Farm 2023
A beautiful sunny day, and hordes of interested visitors to Collingwood Children’s Farm made it a busy day for our two Waler mares Coolibah and Piperita.
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TW Homelands Piperita, most affectionately known as Pipi
How did our family get involved with Walers? As seems to be the way with Walers, one thing just led to another, and Piperita and Coolibah joined our family.
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Inaugural Victorian Brumby Show
Angela Tiede recalls the debut of Fisher and Pearl at the inaugural Victorian Brumby Show in 2009. Fisher and Pearl are foundation Newhaven station Walers, which means they can also be brumbies for the purposes of showing. So, why not enter the first brumby show run by the Victorian Brumby Association?
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It Seemed Sensible at the Time
Documenting history is a key focus for this website so I have decided to share a project that seemed sensible at the time, just after I had got involved with the Walers.
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Stockman’s Challenge for Beginners
I have claimed that my stallion Classic Ezekiel is an all-rounder, and so he is. We started our competition partnership in breed classes at Agricultural shows, added adult riding rings to our repertoire, then stockman’s challenges and working equitation events.
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TW Homelands Young Stock Purchase
A time never forgotten, and the horses constantly remind me of Doug and Mary Treasure and their wonderful contribution to the Walers through their breeding programme.
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Waler Horses in an Educational Setting
In 2016 I approached Salesian College Rupertswood with a plan to incorporate Waler horses into the equine programme they were looking to establish.
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Ballawinnie
Ballawinnie was bred in Tasmania by Janet Lane, and given her name thanks to the map of Tasmania on her forehead.
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Walers at Lancefield Show
I approached the show society for their 100th show in 2010 to see if cob classes could be run, which would be a way of getting Walers to the show without restricting events to a breed.
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The Jericho Cup Weekend
A long weekend in Warrnambool to talk all things Waler in the lead-up to the running of The Jericho Cup on the fourth Sunday after the Melbourne Cup.
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The Story of Two Rescued Waler Ponies
In November of 2018, amid serious bushfire in central east Queensland, two little brumby colts were caught in yards when cattle were mustered to save them from the fires.
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Food for Thought
The Waler story is fascinating, broad-ranging, inspiring, and sad, but far too little known. Fortuitously, once you start exploring, it is very difficult to stop!
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Waler Poem – Rupertswood
A poem written by a student at Salesian College Rupertswood for a competition to win a place on the podium to read the poem at their 2017 ANZAC Day Service.
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Sarie Marais
Happy (Sarie Marais), once a rogue and originally from Wilpena Pound, had been pulled off the meat truck at several stations to see if anyone could ride her.
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Tales of Took
Hyland Quambatook (or Took as he is known to friends) was born on the 26th of September, 2011. He is the first foal to be born at the Hyland Walers stud.
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Honest Archer
On June 25 at our local Mount Larcom Show, Providence Archer, Faith and I all made our debut show appearance. In 33 years of horse ownership I never imagined I would take a horse to a show. I’m a bush rider, my horses are paddock ponies, both of us too rough for the ring. Or…
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Getting Out of Dodge
Waler meetings often became an adventure. Who’d a’thunk it. Many years ago, Jac and I went to a Society AGM followed by an SGM. It was to haunt us for some time but now we laugh about it.
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Enoch
Newlands Enoch was bred by Angela Tiede at her property “Newlands” in Darraweit Guim, Victoria. He was born on 14 January 2015 and is such a social and endearing chap he has his own Facebook page.
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Faith
Classic Faith was bred by Angela Tiede at Clarkefield, Victoria. She was born on 11 August 2016 and has been started out under saddle, riding out at home and at adult riding rallies.
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Pearl
Newhaven Pearl was born on Newhaven Station, bordering on the Southern Tanami Desert area of the NT, during an extended period of drought. Dam and sire unknown.
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Rigoletto
Newhaven Rigoletto was born on Newhaven Station, bordering on the Southern Tanami Desert area of the NT, during an extended period of drought. Dam and sire unknown.
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Virtuoso
Virtuoso is a Newhaven conceived foundation foal out of foundation mare Newhaven Lakme and an unknown Newhaven stallion, born in 2005. Standing at approx 14.2, he is truly a gentleman, with a floating trot and rolling canter.
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Coolibah
TW Homelands Coolibah was bred by Doug and Mary Treasure at their property “Homelands” in Stratford, Gippsland, Victoria, and was purchased as an unhandled foal.
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Piperita
TW Homelands Piperita was bred by the Treasures at their property “Homelands” in Stratford, Gippsland, Victoria, and was purchased as an unhandled 2yr old.
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Fisher
Newhaven Fisher was born on Newhaven Station, bordering on the Southern Tanami Desert area of the NT, during an extended period of drought. Dam and sire unknown.
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Ezekiel
Ezekiel is a handsome (almost pretty), gentle soul. Black/brown, approx. 14.3hh, he was born in August 2007. He is a solid boned dynamo on the lighter side of medium, more of a refined Officer type, with striking presence.
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Dardanelle
I first met wild captured Waler stallion Dardanelle in Victoria in 1989. Dardanelle led the 1990 Anzac Parade through Hobart with a brass band, the first time a horse had been in the parade since 1949. He marched with our last Light horseman, 94-year-old Ray Chatterton, who said to him ”I’ve travelled many a mile…
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Aria
Classic Aria was bred by Angela Tiede at Clarkefield, Victoria. She was born on 9 September 2011 and started under saddle in 2015.
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Todd River Downs Photo Record
A photographic record of the capture of horses on Todd River Downs station in June 2019, recording the transition of some of these Walers from a wild to a domestic life.
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Boyd Exell Harness Clinic
Back from an exciting and very stimulating clinic with Boyd Exell held at the Greenvale Equestrian Park. We had only just managed to secure a lesson by someone dropping out, all positions were filled within 4 hours of the bookings going on-line.
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Angela Waler Journey
All I did was stop at the Castlemaine market one Saturday to buy some apples. A Waler breeder from Tylden was there and the rest is history as they say. I asked if I could visit their horses sometime, as although I had heard about them I had never met a Waler horse. No problem…
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OBW Topsy
Topsy was born on remote traditionally owned land on the edge of the Simpson Desert, Northern Territory. Dam and sire unknown.
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OBW Tommy
Tommy was born on remote traditionally owned land on the edge of the Simpson Desert, Northern Territory. Dam and sire unknown.
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OBW Indi
Indi was born on 28 October 2019 at Darraweit Guim, Victoria to mare Topsy, following Topsy’s capture that June. Sire unknown.
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OBW Hale
Hale was born on remote traditionally owned land on the edge of the Simpson Desert, Northern Territory. Dam and sire unknown.
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OBW Bess
Bess was born on remote traditionally owned land on the edge of the Simpson Desert, Northern Territory. Dam and sire unknown.
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Mega
Mega was born on The Garden Station in approx 1989, rescued as a young foal and serving as a Waler ambassador for over a decade at the Collingwood Children’s Farm in Melbourne.
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OBW Pinjee
Pinjee (pronounced Benjie) was born on 4 November 2019 in Taradale, Victoria to mare wild captured Waler mare Hale, sire unknown. Pinjee is a rare boy indeed, we know of no other stallion from Todd River Downs.
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Our Newhaven Horses
You wonder at the funny turns life offers to you, one day you are set on a definite path and the next onto a trajectory never considered before. My introduction to Newhaven horses was one such trajectory, taking us on a fantastic mission and adventure.
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Walers at Collingwood Children’s Farm
Rare breeds and a special place in the hearts and minds of regulars and chance visitors alike, where better to put Waler horses to use?!