Working to save Walers

Jessica Liston: Photo by Damjan Janevski.

By Jessica Micallef

After being introduced to the Waler horse five years ago, Jessica Liston was inspired to do everything she could to save the breed.

Widely used by the Australian Army in the 1900s, there are now less than 500 Waler horses in Australia.

“When I met them, I was really inspired to research more and find out about their history,” Ms Liston said.

Earlier this month, Ms Liston embarked on a trip to the Northern Territory to visit and relocate a herd of Walers.

She set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $20,000 to assist with the transportation of the horses to her Clarkefield property where she already has several Waler horses.

Ms Liston said the campaign had been received warmly by the public.

“We’re really fortunate – it’s just hit that mark so it’s really exciting that it’s becoming a reality,” she said.

“We made a plan with the local people there and the indigenous community to all work together to be able to catch the horses … and transport the horses to Victoria.

“Anything over $20,000 will go to employing the indigenous community to handling the horses up there and to really assist in … getting these horses into great horse homes.”

To donate: bit.ly/2GBEGxb

 

 

Jessica Micallef