Soames, who described himself as 'an old Africander" had set up a company to bring horses and cattle over from Australia to improve quality. He had trouble finding a ship to take them as by then ships were going the other way, via the Suez, depite him offering a good shipping fee. He managed to get a good ship before too long. It took about 24 days steaming, then 3 days by train to get to Johannesburg (he lived in the Rand where he farmed rather than mined). He included a few racehorses saying it was very risky getting them, and lots of carriage horses, hacks and strong ponies. He looked forward to a good profit after polishing the horses up once home.
Trade list (military numbers not part of this blog)...
1895 load of horses from Melbourne per Sonneburg for C.C. Strode.
1897 140 horses including one Thoroughbred stallion and one Suffolk Punch stallion, also that year people from Transvaal bid at the Toowoomba horse sales and Tattersalls Horse Bazaar buying Darling Downs remounts and gun horses. Another 120 in 1897 went over from Sydney on a German-Australian line steamer.
1899 the Kendal Castle took over 51 horses, cattle and sheep; a bad storm washed all the sheep off in deck stalls but the horses and cattle were ok.
Late 1902 8 for F. Hamilton went over to Durban.
November 1902 per Ripley 300 horses for mounted constabulary, steeplechaser Crusado for a hunter, 14 stallions for Imperial govt to go to J'burg via Durban, all sent by Kerouse & Madden.
1903 buyer selecting 'heavy ponies' for South Africa + Kerouse and Madden sent over 430 remounts and nine racing ponies + on the steamer (Gracchus) Sol Green, a bookie, sent racehorses, racing ponies and trotters + per Sussex 6 horses, 2 ponies and 1 blood stallion went to Durban and Cape Town + per Queen Louise 200 horses to Port Elizabeth.
In 1904 250 horses from Queensland went over for the Reid Brothers per Euryalus + 231 Qld horses including roadsters and ponies of top quality (one pony 'Commodore' was a champion).
1905, 500 horses for the constabulary were ordered, sent over in March 1906.
1911 3 horses to Capetown per Bechuana, April.
1921 52 horses per Delgardo Bay sent by Powell Bros.
1934 roughrider Jack Dempsey went over with 11 'outlaws' for a buckjumping display, one named King of the Ranges; due to quarantine he left them behind when he travelled back. Probably more went over at times, will add as found. That's not counting racehorses, quite a lot of those went over, from 1902 when the war finished, to much later e.g. a ship load in 1936.
With the horses sent to the Boer War of 1899-1902, we sent horses for the South African Constabulary. This was a unit raised to patrol British occupied territories and put under the guidance of Baden-Powell. He sent for men from Britain, Canada and Australia. They bought mostly Australian horses. William Nicholas Willis - a colourful character and at the time an M.L.C. (elected to upper house of govt) - had a contract to supply unlimited numbers of horses for this outfit. Butcher Kitchener soon intervened and turned the constabulary into a para-military force, making them unpopular. Many of the men, good fine fellows, subsequently died in conflict. Willis sent several shipments of horses over, he always chose the best, praised in the press. He was careful with shippers and they were invariably described as 'in splendid condition' on arrival. Veterinary Captain Taylor and Colonel Holdsworth inspected the many of the horses before shipping during the war. This trade went on after the war (the force went from 1901-1908). For an unknown reason Willis was an avid supporter of the Boer War and raised the first troops to go there from Australia, and greatly stirred up empirical feeling. Finally he moved there himself after Australia got too hot for him after suspicious business dealings. One shipload he sent in 1902 was 607 horses. Argus took a load of 550 over for him in May 1902, etc. Some of the Surrey's big load also went for the constabulary (which was in Transvaal and Orange Free State). He sent horses over until 1906. All up roughly 4,000 horses. He got them from Qld and N.S.W. Kitchener asked for small nuggety horses. Willis accordingly sought cobs, although he mostly sent remount types, slightly bigger.
A sound trade. One needs to bear in mind hundreds of thousands of horses went there in the Boer War (Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902), those not killed by misuse and war were left behind. A few were bought by military authorities to use for mopping up etc and some were bought by Alfred Cotton to sell to India. A few Australians also chose to stay there. Like all wars, very little news of atrocities made through news propaganda back home, but experiences there of seeing war crimes by British forces - particularly the notorious concentration camps where tens of thousands of women and children were starved to death, the army guards appointed being Australians - meant volunteers for WW1 were reluctant hence conscription was considered by parlt. War, people found, was not the dashing affair the naive had thought, on the contrary, a dirty business of cruelty in which the innocent suffer most. The only person who would send horses over for the constabulary after the war was Willis - despite wide appeals in the papers. No-one else wanted that trade but were happy to supply private people. Willis gave the impression he had an Australian government contract to supply horses but he had merely been using his position during the war to sell to government forces in S.A., and wrongfully used government telegram services to arrange his sales - other horse buyers couldn't compete with this, as telegrams were so expensive.
Can't find us sending horses directly to the First Anglo-Boer War of December 1880 to March 1881. Probably too brief a conflict for logistics to swing into action, but British forces had mounted troops such as the Hussars there who possibly had Walers taken from India.
In the Zululand wars 800 artillery and cavalry were sent for in 1879, from Madras straight down to South Africa, they were well trained and sent for in a hurry. Quite a few horses went from India to this war, probably many were Australian as Madras was a frequent destination for horse ships.
South Africa imported horses from Argentina for decades in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This would have an impression on the genes including those Cape horses brought to Australia, that went into breeding Walers.
Egypt... Apart from WW1 and our troops which are amply covered by others (we sent thousands there in WW1), we sent horses there at other times. Good trade, largely to the British there as it was British colony at that stage. In 1882- 1885 many shiploads went over and they got glowing reports, said to be the best horses the men had ever had. Artillery horses were sent for urgently in 1885, some to go to Sudan too. Sudan bordered Egypt and the war to get rid of colonials and replace the Khedive (ruler), possibly a colonial puppet, went on in both places for a long while (called wars of the Dervishes). In 1882 it was reported that 50 tons of horse fodder was sent from Bombay fortnightly for the army horses.
A few other loads. In 1921 150 mostly polo ponies but also some military horses, on the Rudelsburg, a British officer had come here to select them. In 1923 J.S. Love sent 712 horses to Egypt on the Hymettus from Townsville - Colonel Loch and Gamble of the Imperial Forces had come over to choose them. Colonel Loch had been in India and was a great fan of Walers. In January 1924, races were held as part of the festivies to celebrate the first Parliament there. The King of Egypt won two events with his horse named Australasian.
After WW1, 7,000 of our horses were set from France to Egypt for British forces. A further 6,400 were bought from the Australian government by the British govt. at 35 pounds a head (a good price) in late 1919 - these were already in Egypt after the Armistice because our boys had had them there for WW1. Much loved mounts that had been through a long hard war. An uprising in 1919 saved a lot being killed as mounted troops were suddenly needed; the continued British presence meant they were no longer redundant. So a lot ended up there one way or the other. It's possible they may have had a little impact on local equine genes, as many were mares. Some were sold to locals after use.
Sudan... heaps sent, although for British and Indian troops and the Sudanese who joined the cavalry; not as direct sales. Some went direct, most via India and Egypt. Horses were sent over from India from early 1880's until 1920 for the Dervish wars. Majority were Australian.
Sudan itself has an ancient horse culture and breeds. These days they have a healthy population of their own breeds - great horses. The Dongola horse which went into so many British and European breeds was from Sudan, Eritrea and Cameroon; in the Darfur area of Sudan their descendants live on.
There's a chance a little Waler blood has gone into the horses. Sudanese were top cavalrymen and knew a good horse. Their riding always gained high praise, whether riding with or against us. Many Walers went there and many stayed.
New Guinea... apart from WW1 and WW2, horses were sent there commercially at other times. A small trade but sound. Two shiploads of horses went over in 1878. The German steamer Prinz Waldemar took 40 odd horses there in 1908 (and a few to Manila on the same voyage). The western part of New Guinea was a Dutch colony so they bought horses from us, as did the Germans who had German New Guinea also called Kaiser Wilhelm Land, 1884-1914, with neighbouring islands. They'd been there longer but those are the official dates. The Germans there bought quite a few horses from us. In 1906 several families of German extraction went over to German New Guinea from Cairns to settle, they took horses among their livestock. Sadly when Australia annexed the territory as WW1 broke out, our army took all the horses from these families. It upset the women the most apparently.
In 1922 the Morinda too a load of horses over. In 1949 the Stella Maris took horses and sheep to Madang, she had previously been named Rahra, built in Hobart in 1944 for WW2 military use in the islands, her first captain was my grandfather, during the war, after the war she was bought by the Catholic mission in New Guinea and renamed Stella Maris for their ship lost during the war. Horses went over for plantation work at times, such as a load on the Lautoka in 1953. Others, listing as sighted.
Australia took the German territories at the beginning of WW1 and it became Papua New Guinea, finally gaining independence in 1975.
Hawaii... small trade in horses for us.
A horsey place where travellers from Australia reported a lot of people rode and women too, astride (1857 ) with special flowing riding habits that covered their feet when mounted; and the 'abundant' horses were good types. An 1844 shipping report also mentioned the abundant horses and bustling port. A traveller in 1870 also mentioned the women riders and that Mexican saddles were universally used (i.e. all made with a horn for roping), another in 1871 said vast numbers of semi wild horses roamed freely on the mountain slopes.
In 1849 Captain Jackson of the American ship Inez, reported in a Sandwich Island newspaper that he'd turned down 4 thousand dollars for his two Australian horses bought in Sydney for 20 pounds. Another 1849 report said in California the numerous horses were mostly Mexican, and not tall; and Mexicans there were experts with wild horses and lasso-ing, and all horse gear (saddles, large rowelled spurs with chains and bells, bridles, bits etc) were Mexican and horses were very cheap, about 8 dollars for a good mare. One can see these would have gone on ships to Hawaii, or direct from Mexico.
An article in a San Francisco newspaper was reprinted in the Sydney Stock & Station Journal in January 1913, by J. Monserratt. It reported the first known stallion on Hawaii was a chestnut stallion named Oregan from the NA state of that name, imported 1854-58, by Diamon - his progeny could run and also made good cattle horses. In 1852-54 a stallion named Admiral or the Thompson Horse (imported by a Mr Sam Thompson) and thought to be an Arabian, came in from Australia (probably origionally from India, thence Arabia). He was bay and his progeny 'tough as a hickory nut' and stayers. In 1854 a black Australian named Laurel came in, later sent to Guam (gender not given). Mentions a horse brought in from Chile and one from California supposed to be a Morgan. In 1869 a red roan stallion from Australia named Wonder
In 1928 an Australian polo team (Capt. Pearson, Curtis Skene, F. Beveridge etc) went to Honolulu for a month to play, with 39 ponies, all of which were for sale. The next stop was the US. Ten ponies had been sold ahead before they left. Some were sold on Oahu. In 1929 13 expensive polo ponies went over to the capital city/port, Honolulu, which is on the island of Oahu.
Trading ships came to and from Honolulu regularly - a regular trading stop-over on the 'frisco run from Australia. Horses were usually taken in small numbers as speculations or for private orders. They were not bought as remounts. Have found very few coming this way from Hawaii thus far. Our quarantine would have prevented horses coming from there at times. In 1899 a trotting stallion bred on Hawaii was imported to NSW. He was said the be "a fine stamp of a horse." His sire Marin, and dam Hadda, were both record breakers, trotting the mile in 2 minutes 10 seconds and 2 minutes 26 seconds respectively. His name was Salvator.
A report in an April 1914 Sydney Stock & Station journal said the horses on Hawaii were perfect cavalry horses, being strong and nuggety, but the army refused them as they were an inch too short. A knowledgeable American cavalryman who wrote the article was furious, saying these were bred from American and Australian horses and the army would not find better, especially for a tropical climate; condemning weeds his army was buying instead (sounds familiar, articles like this are not uncommon with horse breeding countries!) We sent a few racehorses there. Polo was popular.
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour there, over a million North American soldiers were sent to Australia for WW2. Colonel Robenson, a cavalryman, said all he knew about Australia was horses (hence we loved him madly), "I had a little Australian mare in the Philippines in 1914-15," said Col. Robenson. "She was the handiest and best little polo pony I ever rode, and the fastest thing on the island." He knew about Phar Lap and Carbine and about another Australian horse that won the 1904 Grand National. These horses were far more loved in Australia than any human - Carbine was seen off by a sobbing crowd of thousands when he left for the UK. Everyone had a picture of Phar Lap on the wall, with a black armband painted on his jockey Jim Pike as Phar Lap's death sent the whole country into terrible mourning. It must be said all these 'Australian' horses were bred in NZ! ... they had their careers here, and were taken to our hearts, Phar Lap brightened up the Depression. It's hard to explain to outsiders what the horse meant to Australia in those days. Horses were our heroes...
Colonel Robenson was also amazed at the welcome given to his troops in Brisbane and Darwin. source, News (Adelaide) April 1942. Little did we know. It was a terrible time for us.
Horses were also needed in Hawaii for cattle farmers. All travellers reported riding was a delightful way to see the beautiful countryside, with riding trails all over the place. Hawaii is a group of eight (seven inhabited) main islands, the biggest called Hawaii; they've had excellent horses on the islands for a long time and a great horse culture.
Hawaii lost its independence in 1959.
England... we didn't send many horses there directly, it wasn't feasible. It was a voyage of several months, hard on animals and costly. They also arrived as winter struck and were growing summer coats.
In 1896 it was estimated England imported about 40,000 horses annually, not enough. Supply didn't meet demand. As well as the army, needs like hackney cabs which in London alone used well over 10,000 horses, plus omnibuses, livery, deliveries etc. England mostly got horses from Canada and America, a quicker trip.
Walers went to England from India, Africa and Asia with troops and officers returning home from active duty, rather than directly. A surprising number ended up there. Usually troops were sent unmounted to India to be mounted there. Also sent home unmounted, their mounts re-issued to fresh troops. Some howeer returned to England with troops as there would appear to have been a lot of Australian horses with troops in England too. Some officers took privately bought Walers home.
In 1887 a consignment of Walers for hunters were sent to England for Lord Hindlip. They arrived in excellent condition.
An old dragoon (interview in Classic magazine) said the best horses his regiment ever had in England were Australian Walers. They must have gone via India, some travelling back with troops. For example in 1899 Major Thompson of the 5th Dragoon Guards bought 688 Walers for remounts and said they were splendid, but that he had to go 4,000 miles to get them (India to Australia). I was sent a lovely photo of a person's grand-dad with two solid Walers in England in the forces of WW1, years ago. Several people said the Waler created the real hunt horse again, as horses had got too light after the racing mad Charles Stuarts and while Arabs were the rage.
The Bathurst Post 15th November 1893. "The 5th Dragoon Guards, which left England recently for India for the first time in the history of the regiment, will on arrival be mounted on Australian horses. They will take over the 200 left by the 7th Dragoon Guards,100 from the 19th Hussars, 75 from the 18th Hussars, 75 from the 11th Hussars and 75 untrained remounts from the Remount Depot. The 11th and 18th Hussars will receive countrybreds, and the 19th Hussars, Arab or Persian remounts, in lieu of those given over."
In 1887 an article praising their Australian mounts for endurance (Bangalore to Mysore 180 miles in 51 hours, in very oppressive conditions) was published in several newspapers. Officer was Lt. Broad. Lancers and dragoon horses.
That year, 1887, a load of carriage horses and hunters went over on to England on the Riverina, 6 hunters had been ordered by Lord Hindlip who had been impressed with Australian horses when he was here and hunted with the Melbourne hounds. The rest were speculation. The horses arrived in splendid condition but apart from Hindlips, prices were woeful and didn't cover costs
Several racehorse were shipped over most years. In 1895 a trial load of strapping young hunter and carriage horses by TB sires and one Arab sire out of good solid mares, and some draughts, were sent over on the Celtic King and Maori King from Sydney. Although they were praised, prices were poor and costs too high for another experiment. Four were bought by the cavalry, an officer sternly saying in an interview we must in future send well trained horses, not wild ones, and that the price would be the same (it was low); and that he'd ridden Walers for years in India and they were the best.
Another drawback was that insurance declined to cover horses for the long trip to England.
Also in 1895 eight Clydesdales went over on the Southern Cross to London, they did not get good prices; and the same year on the Gulf of Lyons (sic Lions) 108 polo ponies, draughts and hacks (at least one being a jumper, winner of several races) went over for the Pastoral Finance Company and Anglo-Australian Horse Export Assoc. of Sydney; 45 (some reports say 54) died during bad storms en route. The remainder sold at Aldridge's Repository, again prices were disasterously low. This type of venture proved it was neither feasible nor humane to send horses all that way. Professor Galvani was in charge of the horses, hoping to create an export market. It was noted the season they arrived was wrong (our summer, their winter) and that in April-May (our autumn their spring) coach horses would be in demand.
In the same year, 1895, 18 top quality draughts were sent over on the Gulf of Siam. Eleven died on the way. In 1898 4 racehorses in chage of C. Quinn went over to London on the Damascus and arrived 'in splendid condition.'
"Questioned on the subject of remounts for the army, our guide informed us that in his opinion no horses came up to the 'waler' which, in army parlance, is an Australian - bred horse originally, of course, New South Wales." Chronical (Adelaide) January 1900; report of a tour of Aldershot, the army training camp for horsed units, Hampshire.
It was to India, under British control, we sent the most horses and it was practical. Indians needless to say made up the majority of regiments. Several shipments went directly to England from Australia but there was nothing in it financially, and the horses didn't like it. In 1897 Mr Dangar (the Suffolk Punch breeder) sent 6 good horses over for use with our mounted rifles in England, also en route there; the horses to be sold there after finished with. He bought the horses, being well known horses and weight carrying cavalry types, three from the Liverpool Plains. 32 horses altogether went over with these men to compete (1896-7) in a military tournament, all sold there after. Probably more will update at some stage.
About 250,000 horses passed through the Lathom Park Remount Depot in England alone, mostly English, Canadian and North American animals, during WW1. The horse ships were prey for German ships in the Atlantic.
Ships such as the Lothringen, seized at the beginning of the war here as prizes, were fitted out to carry horses and sent from Australia to India with horses; thence to carry horses from India to England throughout the war; many of these horses from India would have been Walers.
In September 1914 it was reported 7,000 horses were being shipped to England for the Expeditionary Forces from the Liverpool Remount Depot (Australia). These horses were for our own men. Steamers were specially set up, and on arrival the horses got a month to recover. Other reports said 7,000 of our horses went directly to France; after the war in his book "War Deeds of Horses," Major-General Sir Layton Blenkinsop criticised this, saying the horses had a hellish journey from Australia to Marseilles. On one ship of 600 horses, 195 died - the whole way they were crammed into the hold, standing on coal that was unchanged from the previous trip. An immensely long journey.
In 1917 a report was sent to the Minister for Defense in Australia, Senator Pearce, greatly praising Australian remounts. On inspection of Yeomanry in England the report said '...all the Imperial officers of high standing are mounted on Australian horses." and much more music to the ears. Most of the Yeomanry were usually on Australian horses so obviously we did send army horses there for English troops for WW1, something others who do military matters may have covered. In 1919 53 Australian horses were sold at Salisbury and got an outstanding 53 pounds and 6 shillings each.
Britain is an ancient horse culture and where we got our best horses from to create the Waler. It was a tribute to Walers to mount their regiments and horse their artillery, right at the end of the horse era. Colonisation however, is always wrong and always brutal. In studying this trade, it's been disturbing. Constantly finding atrocities where one least expects, and having to edit out shocked bits of blog (apologies).
Aden... Always an extremely busy port, horses were taken to the colony of Aden en route to Sudan at times, and supplied to the British army there, and sold to private people. Britain had held it since 1839 as a Province of British India. Water problems and little natural feed meant horses were not kept in large numbers. Aden and Little Aden are like small peninsulas either side of a large open bay.
In 1911 a pair of greys (white), lightly built, were selected by H.W. Wallder who normally only traded horses within Australia, they were bought in Victoria for the King of England's carriage - Wallder broke them in then sent them to Bombay and from there to Aden on the s.s. Umta. The King was at Aden on a visit and the horses did him proud. British troops were stationed there so horses would have come from India, probably mostly Australian, and on ships bound for Africa.
Of interest an officer of the Nizam of Hyderabad, who came to Australia in 1939 looking at horses - his troops were mounted on 2,400 Australian horses and they got an average of 250 annually - was born near Aden, Brigadier Byad El-Edroos. Like his father he served the Nizam. Polo was popular there.
Aden was a British colony as part of the India possession. It achieved full independence in 1963 but struggled along with ongoing UK brutality especially from the 'slithering snakes' - the despicable special forces; until it became South Yemen then part of Yemen. Oil money always went to the empires and kept Yemen poor. A vitally important strategic port then (and now) and coaling station (re-fuelling for ships en route to India etc). The majority of the population were Muslims but Sharia law was not used, normal courts of law instead. Now part of Yemen, and sadly Saudi Arabia is committing atrocities there. It's likely horses would have a dash of Waler in their genes from long term British occupation. In the book An Account of the British Settlement in Aden, Arabia by Captain Hunter, published 1877, he says horses were obtained from Somalia (good ponies), Egypt, and Cape horses were brought in, and light fiery horses from Arab sources although there were few breeders nearby so officers brought horses in from India. One would presume these were increasingly Walers as the trade kicked in. However we seem to have sent few there directly. One can imagine that through the ages this would have been a great horse port, for staging animals to and fro Arab countries and Africa, India, Indonesia etc. The Portugese, on excellent terms with Arab horse breeders, were active in this trade.
France and Belgium... we didn't export horses there, but sent loads during WW1 for our troops and many of the British and Indian troops had Australian horses - so in the WW1 era France and Belgium got Walers too. The Australian government brought no horses home after war. Thankfully, some got homes. In 1919 in France the Australian Surplus Board auctioned 6,753 good Australian horses and got an average of 35 pounds each - excellent money. A further 1,543 horses of lesser quality went for slaughter prices of 17 pounds each, and the top lot of 1,400 horses sold to the Belgium government at the super price of 55 pounds each. A further 7,000 Australian horses from France were taken to Egypt for British forces after WW1.
In 1947 France asked us for 2,000 all purpose horses. They bought at least 5,000 from Canada that year also. In October 1948 they declared all 16,000 cavalry horses for sale - the French army was being fully mechanised.
Vietnam... The French who had Vietnam (French Indo-China) came here with Annamese soldiers in January 1907 and bought horses. The papers admired the 43 Annamese who were fit and strong, dressed in eye-catching uniforms, and who most capably tried the horses out before purchase. Captain Sipiere was supervising purchases. They were very fussy, and only chose the best, mostly strong ponies. Their criteria was 13.2 to 15 hands. They paid top prices which was appreciated. They only bought mares, the Captain saying that after their army career they would go to stud for cavalry horses.
Vietnam was also known as Annam, Tonquin and Cochin China.
photo from Wiki re Tonkin
As we had a good market to Siam which was often at war with Annam (in Siam blog), this restricted sales to the French for obvious reasons, at times. Nonetheless, Saigon was much visited by those travelling on the Grand Tour (of Asia) including horse traders - it was a regular port of call. A few horse and ponies went on almost every ship and found their way into private hands there.
Reports by travellers of seeing carriages pulled by smart Australian horses.
Anyway for this army order it was good to trade at peace and they were great to deal with. The steamer Wimbleton took 250 horses (mostly big strong ponies) over for them, some going to Saigon and the rest to Hai Phong.
The northern area of Vietnam was called Tonkin/Tonquin/TongKing, it had the capital of Hanoi. The central part was Annam and the southern part of Vietnam was known as Cochin China, with the capital of Saigon.
There were various travellers reports, one in 1882 said it would be a good market for horses from Darwin and that French steamers ran from Marseilles via Reunion, Port Louis, then via French Indo China - thence across to New Caledonia, and that they were calling at Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney too. And return. One can see in this way Australian horses may have been taken to their colonies depending on the route (French Indo China and/or New Caledonia) by French steamers; their cargo was almost never fully reported in the news.
The people of Vietnam were good horseman as there were ponies in the area, for millenia. In colonial days some people went to France to the cavalry schools.
Of interest, in 1859 the Spanish sent men, mostly native troops (Filipinos) and horses from Manila (Philippines) to Cochin China to help the French fight an uprising, the Spanish troops were praised for their courage and honour in newspapers here, not committing atrocities. As we'd sent horses to the Spanish in Manila by then, it's possible some of the horses they took to Vietnam were Australian or bred from Australian horses.
In 1939 James Morrow of Wagga, took a shipload of racehorses to Saigon. (no doubt others went will add as found). Saigon was a frequent stop for ships en route to Hong Kong etc, passengers enjoying a break there.
On the whole a small market directly, but as the French helped the English in China at times with uprisings such as the Taiping Rebellion - despite their animosity elsewhere! - they bought some Australian horses there; and from Hong Kong, the Dutch East Indies, Shanghai etc which were close, and on the trade routes. The French attended the great horse sales in Shanghai, a lot of Australian horses were sold there and it was a short distance from Vietnam.
Vietnam gained independence after WW2, on September 2, 1945, a day annually celebrated - but the French let them have no peace - fighting them until 1954 when they handed the war over to North America (and, shamefully, Australia); next Cambodia (Pol Pot) and China took a turn kicking them. The country itself was divided. But they never gave up. Finally, they got peace.
Philippines...We sold to the Spanish in the Philippines, e.g. 25 horses went there in 1844 on the Trinidad; in March 1844 it was reported good Australian horses were fetching 75 pounds in Manila - a very high price (top quality horses were selling in India at the same time for 60 pounds). There were constant traveller and trader reports in the news. In 1851 a report remarked on the love of cards and other games such as chess, draughts, monte, backgammon and cock-fighting.
In 1866 twelve horses went over on the Koerier, in 1877 several shiploads went over from Fremantle. Many others, just reporting as seen in archives.
Various travellers reports spoke of Manila in glowing terms. One in 1876 described how beautiful and clean Manila was - the clean bright bay, buildings, convents, churches; the Spanish and Chinese, and native people who put on excellent plays. They went everywhere by carriage as no-one there walked if they could ride, the vehicles being barouches and victorias pulled by strong native ponies. Manila was the highlight of an eastern voyage. There were 11,000 troops there; an impressive review of troops was held for a visiting English Admiral. There were beautiful and touching processions to church, children and everyone dressed up and bearing religious icons, and a Virgin Mary, as it was near Christmas. All streets were clean.
Spanish officers came here in 1896 buying horses, many were sent from NSW and Victoria; in January 1897 they were back, buying artillery horses. Horses went on trading ships in small numbers but regularly, Spanish ships traded here with sugar and bought coal etc. Manila was a regular calling port for our trading ships. We imported tens of thousands of tons of sugar from there annually, a lot of coffee, and Manila cigars were popular.
Spanish cavalry, Escuadron de Lanceros Expedicionario. circa 1897.
Many of the horses would have been Australian. Due to a deliberate blockade by North Americans in 1898 causing famine, people were forced to eat the horses.
photo source
From early settlement Australia had a good regular trade to and from the Philippines, we bought Manila ponies in our early days, good strong ponies. Pony racing was traditional there, held in spring it was a huge event enjoyed by everyone and travellers went over for it. The Manila Jockey Club started in 1880. There was a strong social club culture in Manila. Spanish, British, Germans, French moved there as traders and settlers; all bought horses. Some of the chief Spanish military personnel were descendants of the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell who fled to Spain after the English persecution of Ireland - the flight of earls. Charles O'Donnell, Duke of Tetua, was the Spanish Foreign Minister at the time the Americans invaded the Philippines, he'd been often written up here in the news; hence a Catholic connection meant Spanish descended O'Donnells had moved there too, as they did to Cuba. O'Donnells from Australia moved there too. Trade was established between they and the Australian O'Donnells (Jack's family - Jack is below in the horse trader biography section of this blog - as well as Patrick O'Donnell's family) who traded horses and cattle. Australian O'Donnells sent cattle and horses there in the Spanish days, and after. In 1879 in the Australian newspaper it was reported the Ameer of Afghanistan's favorite cavalry commander was an O'Donnell. A horsey family exiled all around the world. Filipinos also moved to Australia during the horse trading days and after.
There'd been a horse culture on the islands for a long time, the local types being pony sized. Equine fossils 12,000 years old have been found there. The Moro Horse was a recognised type, perhaps even a species, tragically wiped out by Nth American invaders.
The Spanish and others there were good to trade with. Spain had the Philippines until 1898 when the people took it back in a successful rebellion - but as this happened it was invaded. The North American invaders then paid $20 million to 'buy' it from the Spanish. Filipinos bravely fought the Americans for a further 6 years or so. The occupiers became customers in the Philippines buying horses from 1898 until the occupation was over, late 1945. Lethal diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentry raged there during the time of invasion. Horse traders whose ships called there returning from India had personal possessions including their money 'confiscated' in port by American officials... it became avoided.
It's well known how terrible the invasion was. Torture, genocide. Horses treated appallingly. Australian reporters in the Philippines noticed most of the American army were barefoot and in rags and ordered to 'live off the land' - being supplied not with food but strong alcohol, encouraged to commit atrocities. Traders saw what was happening to humans and horses - indescribable. All major horse dealers ceased trading there from 1902 - an unspoken boycott. Traders had literally been robbed and bashed still on board ship, at the port, by Americans. Disease raged. People refused to sell if they knew horses would end up there. The Nth Americans got most of their army horses from their own country anyway, which also had a big horse trade.
A few Australian entrepreneurs, not major horse dealers, sold to there in a sporadic trade for polo, hacks, a few for the army, a few race ponies, racehorses, and griffins. There had been sales for tram horses until the system went electric in 1905. About 20,000 horses went over from 1898 to 1902, many from Port Darwin, some from Wyndham WA, the rest from Qld and NSW - one order was 7,000 ponies for the constabulary, as their men were short people, this order was filled in Qld as they could not afford NSW prices, having gone there first. Horses were sold to them but at abysmally low prices. An unviable trade. Private buyers there paid fair prices however. There were odd sales and the suspicious Major Brown sales of 1908 and its consequences (too long to go into here) which pretty much destroyed the trade. It trickled on to a little spike when Kidman sold them 1,200 odd army horses in 1913.
Needless to say - like after most invasions and occupations - things settled. A couple of horse traders persevered and set up a good market.
The port our horses went to was Manila. Australian Donald McInnes had a Horse Bazaar in Manila and lived there for a time, he went there about 1902. He left in 1909 but sent horses over for several more years from Townsville, at times going over with them; bio further down page. In 1923 Colonel Vane Agnew came over here buying polo ponies.
In the 1930's they were praising our horses highly, and sending for polo ponies. Trade and friendship were on a good footing.
In 1952 (after independence) at least 1,000 horses went over to the Philippines for the Filipino army who were fighting communists, a civil war. Lt-Colonel Jacobo Zobel, a noted polo player, and some officers came over to select the army horses. The horses travelled over by Philippines Navy ship L.S.T. 875, in several loads. Her Captain and crew were amazed at the welcome they got here, despite her being a smaller warship; including being entertained by an Admiral. Horses sold to the Philippines after independence for polo, racing and hacks.
In 1968 Americans of the police patrol at Clark AFP security base were on Australian horses, a very good late trade for us. This detail was on the 26th Cavalry Facebook page.
Guam... Hundreds of thousands of horses went over! e.g...
1846 - 3 per Sarah Scott
1856 - 2 per William IV
1864 - 1 horse on the brig Gazelle.
1879 - load on the Amur.
1881 - 67 on the Iris
1914 - 256 on the Hymettus in Oct + many other loads...
But! ... did these horses really go to Guam?! "Clearing out for Guam" was an Australian saying, it meant "going nowhere in particular" - an undisclosed destination.
A destination port had to be given by ships leaving Australia - those who wanted their destination private gave Guam. All big Australian ports had several ships leaving for Guam - daily - from 1840 - the port most given as destination. Very few, if any, were going there.
an amusing article on Guam from the 1856 Melbourne Punch.
We did sell a few horses there, but it's hard to know how many.
Horse traders in W.A. such as Avery liked the subterfuge of listing Guam as a destination - not wishing others to know where their lucrative horse markets were. It transpired Daniel Avery's horse ships usually went to Mauritius.
Spanish soldiers captured the notorious blackbirder Bully Hayes (an American slaver) on Guam, when he called there in 1875, making the Pacific safer for all. He was sent to America where the creature was freed. The first horse went onto Guam in 1673 from a galleon, a Spanish horse. It was the only horse there for a while and everyone loved it madly. The Spanish brought more horses in and Guam became a horsey place.
A Spanish colony for 400 years then taken by Nth America in 1898. Occupied by the Japanese briefly in WW2 then America again. The North Americans brought horses in from the Philippines. Some of these may have been Australian as they bought about 20,000 from us 1898-1902 there and some annually until they left after WW2. USA uses Guam as a massive military base, they put these in other people's countries, Australia too. They put toxic nuclear dumps on Guam, tested nuclear bombs nearby causing radiation illnesses that are ongoing and plan to use Pagan and Tinian Islands there - both populated - for target practice, in 2016, despite the indigenous Chamorro people of Guam, and Pagan, Tinian and other Pacific Islanders begging them not to. In WW2 North America took an official 10,000 horses from us free on the notorious "Lendlease" but the real figure is more like 20,000 horses. All these suffered terribly and died in their hands. They took over 2,000 of our horses to New Caledonia, most were dispersed to Burma, China and India (also to die of abuse by Americans), a few went to Hawaii, Guadacanal and Guam - on Guam they were eaten. Guam remains occupied by North America - article.
North America... To North America we sent a few horses and got some from them in early days, until quarantine halted imports from there. In 1802 we imported a horse from North America named Washington, presumed a Thoroughbred. 1849 3 horses went to San Francisco on the barque Spartan from Tasmania, 54 horses went there the same year on the Inchinnan from Sydney. A Suffolk Punch named Young Champion went over to San Francisco from Tasmania in 1850 and two other horses on the Ralph Thompson from Tasmania went there that year, plus a shipload on the Jane Frances. Three other horses went there from Tas. that year. Also that year 47 horses from Sydney went over with 11 grooms and a large amount of feed, on the Chaseley to California. There was a bit of a gold rush on there so some ppl took their own horses when they went. It was reported Tasmanian horses were getting top prices there.
In 1869 Mr Docker of Victoria imported the trotting stallion Daniel Boon from America. His breeding was not given. He was described here as a good roadster, and opinions were expressed in the news it was hoped these horses were being brought in as roadsters and not for the 'distasteful' sport of trotting races on tracks, which here were rife with corruption and associated with crime. However Daniel Boon won a few trotting races, and went on to breed horses both for harness and riding, several won show prizes as hacks, and several being auctioned at Kirks and finding their way to India as carriage horses. Docker had a station near Wangaratta.
In 1876 it was reported in the California Farmer that expensive horses had gone from California to Australia as Australians would spare no expense to breed fine animals, several stallions being bought by Lloyd and Rogers. The paper praised highly a brown stallion, 15.3hh, on its way to Australia. It was named Frank Medley Junior, of Patchen and Morgan breeding, bred in Oregan, bought by H. O. Rogers for George Hill for $3,000. In 1881 ten trotting horses were imported from San Francisco to Sydney on the Zealandia by Dr. John Weir, to be sold in Melbourne; their exhaustive pedigrees were published in the news and included Black Hawk, Morgan and Mambrino blood. One of the horses had been bought at Honolulu on the way here, by Elmo.
In 1886 Arthur Bennett went to America from NSW to study dentistry and took with him two 'splendid Hungarian ponies" one was Bonnie Carlisle by Bonnie Charlie (imp) out of mare named Whisk (imp) the other an imported mare with foal at foot by Bonnie Charlie, he cost 600 guineas in England and was described as the best pony sire in NSW. Bonnie Charlie, imported here in 1872, was probably the only Hungarian Pony to come to Australia, and he probably came from England, where many had been bought.
Senator George Hearst of California bought a few racehorses from us in 1887 and 1888. It cost a lot to send a horse over there - 50 pounds in the 1840's, more than a horse was worth then - so not many went, and it was a long trip for the horses.
As there was a regular run from Australia to San Francisco, a few went over at times, they could be given a break at Hawaii or left there for a good spell to be transhipped later.
Also in 1887 trotting enthusiast Mr Baldwin took four "spanking fillies" over to San Francisco and New York on the Zealandia. Their full pedigrees for several generations went into the papers here. They had English St Leger, Derby and Oaks winners up close, also VRC St Leger, Vic. Derby, Intercolonial winners etc. One dam, China Rose, was a champ. One grandsire was the incomparable Stockwell, another grandsire Goldsborough which threw Melbourne Cup winners, etc.
Ship the Almeda had a regular run there, she took a few valuable horses over in 1887, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1893 and 1899. In 1890 she left some mares in NZ to be bred to top stallions there such as Nordenfeldt, bred for American time, and to be shipped on once in foal.
In 1927 our first shipment of polo ponies to America arrived in New York and were praised as "the friendliest and cleverest ponies ever seen." In 1932 the Ashtons sold several polo ponies in America for $US4,000 each. In 1933 Mr. Lewis Hirshon of near New York came here to buy polo ponies and Thoroughbreds.
Another Australian polo connection to America was the famous Snowy Baker. Snowy was a champion boxer, swimmer and horseman, born in Sydney in 1884, who branched into film-making in the silent era. He always used lots of horses in his films, in one he starred as a bushranger. He was in the NSW Lancers for a time, from 1902, where he won at mounted games. In the 1920's Snowy moved to Los Angeles where he coached and played polo at the Riviera Club, which he bought a major share in not long after arrival there. He taught polo to people such as his friend Douglas Fairbanks, and also coached Douglas in whip cracking, a skill he needed for a movie. Snowy also made and appeared in several films over there. He always did his own horse riding stunts and loved to put lots in his movies. Snowy took his famous "wonder horse" to America, Boomerang. Boomerang, a grey, had been given to him in Ireland, and was an Irish polo horse. Snowy won the Santa Monica Steeplechase on a horse named Raffles. He also wrote for newspapers here and covered the 1932 Equestrian sports at the Olympics Games, which were held on the grounds of his Riviera Club. His emotional coverage of brave Lt.Col. Shunzo Kido's ride was memorable. The course that year was appalling, shockingly designed.
They didn't need to buy army horses from us as they bred their own and also had a big export trade.
Due to quarantine polo horses taken over to compete couldn't return home, so were sold there. We got a few trotters and pacers from there (Standardbreds) in the nineteenth century. When quarantine improved more horses went both ways but it was past the era of the army and utility horse. Very few Walers went there.
Fiji... Small but sound trade. Often spelled Feejee in early news, and the port of Lautoka as Lavtoka. Good ports although Horseshoe Reef became a ship's graveyard.
Photo: riding in Fiji... source
Here's a quick look through archives, would be more...
1870 brig Prince of Wales took 15 horses from Sydney, 4 died en route when bad weather carried her into the trades. Steamer Eagle took horses over (no numbers, 5 also died en route).
1871 horses per brig Carl - notes re this notorious trip in the ship list (moved to its own blog as no room left on this one).
1879 Marion takes a load from Norfolk Island but met cyclone; most died.
1881 horses on the schooner Opotiki went over from Sydney. 1889 28 draughts and one black Clydesdale stallion per Birksgate.
1891 the Waroonga took 70 horses over on one trip, + she took 107 on another trip the same year + she took 42 in April being 30 draughts and 2 stallions.
1894 6 horses per Arawa + 2 per Rotokino.
1896 69 horses per Taviuni.
1897 40 per Percy Edwards + some on the May + 8 per Birksgate + 40 per Ovalan landed 'in faultless condition.'
1898 load per Hauroto, reported arrived 'in perfect order.' + 30 per Ovalu condition also praised on arrival + 3 per Hippolas.
1889 draughts per Birksgate.
1899 38 horses per Manapouri.
1900 9 horses per Birksgate + 3 per Mambare.
1901 2 horses + 8 on the Manapouri.
1902 Some per Marion.
1903 8 horses per Rotokina, March + 3 per Birksgate left 30th Dec arrived Jan 1904.
1904 some horses taken over on the Boveric + 3 polo ponies for Dr Hall from H. Fisher went over per Illaru + 40 per Rockton in Nov.
1905 a dozen plantation horses and one hack + 31 in another load + 120 per Pilbarra, June, landed at Labassa. The Pilbarra broke down en route and was found by the Induna, the Warrego then towed her in to Vila, Vanuatu, for repair; all livestock arrived in good condition (sheep also aboard) + 4 per Hauroto.
1906 23 horses per Navus, June.
1909 7 horses per Warwick Edward, December.
1910 3 horses + 40 draughts on the ship Levuka to Suva.
1911, 80 draughts for Suva in two shipments of 40 per Levuka, August.
1914 shipload horses from the Hawkesbury, bred from Shire, Clydesdale and roadster plus a Clydesdale colt.
1950 An 'outstanding' Percheron colt from Alex Melrose's stud at Kadlunga, Mintaro, South Australia went over for the Colonial Sugar Refining Sugar Co., with an 'outstanding' half Arab colt from R. Legoe, Callandale, South Australia for the same company, to breed hacks.
Report in 1877 saying horses much in demand and getting good prices. Quarantine laws stopped us buying horses back until 1924.
Some Australians moved there. Tragically, some brought the first slaves there (also called indentured labour/forced labour) in 1864 53 men from the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) were loaded onto the Van Tromp, and put on John Campbell's plantation. Fiji people resisted becoming slaves until slavers forced them by trickery or at gunpoint. Fortunately British war ships patrolled to catch slavers, and got a surprising lot, some Australians, most Americans. One article in 1872 tells of an American slaver firing a 21 gun salute in the port to honour their own independence day. On the upside a few decent American captains and many Australians called there in the course of trade; they were treated hospitably and returned the courtesy and respect. The Australian journalist, Dr George Morrison, an intrepid man indeed, exposed this slave trade in 1882. There had been many accounts in the news here of the harrowing grief of families there, after slavers took their beloved family members. After landing from his travels examining this trade, at the Gulf of Carpenteria, Morrison, in his usual intrepid style, walked back to Melbourne. It took 123 days and he described it as a pleasant excursion.
A beautiful place often visited by Australians, Fiji has horses roaming about freely and offers riding for holidaymakers. Heaven. Fiji has been an independent nation since 1970.
Mauritius... A good market over many decades - early records show we took horses there in 1845, at least two shiploads that year, some from Adelaide, some from the Swan River (Western Australia). It was a good trade for Western Australian horses.
Horses from South Australia went over in 1860 and 1863 with the Baldock brothers (bio further down); probably other loads with them earlier.
Trade from Australia to Mauritius was regular and due to mails arriving, port reports from Mauritius regularly appeared in our newspapers. Not all ship cargoes were itemised. The horse trade to Mauritius from Australia went steadily on through the early nineteenth into the early twentieth century.
Races there were reported on, in 1840 - 30 horses raced that year. In 1842 it was reported all horses for that year came from France, the Cape, Muscat (Arabia), Malay Islands (Lombock specified) and Burmah, and that all were good but small and larger horses were wanted. This report may well have kicked off the trade there.
By 1844 racing went over 3 days. Racing at that stage was one meeting a year, in August (too hot much of the year). Racing grew as the population grew - migration grew quickly. French creole people were the most keen racing people it was reported in the 1870's. A lot of Australian jockeys went to Mauritius to ride over the years, some trained horses there too.
In 1870 the Duke of Edinburgh visited, among the festivities were races - an Australian horse named Satan won the Prince Alfred Plate worth a hefty 250 pounds, with the Governor and Duke watching.
The Maiden Plate was described as their Derby - a maiden for horses that had not won on Mauritius, hence some top quality horses were bought to compete in it. In 1878 an Australian horse named Doctor won it, in 1880 an Australian horse named Emperor won. It paid handsomely for the win - some 250 pounds.
View of harbour from the roof of Government House, Port Louis, Mauritius circa 1861- 1872 - lots of horses and carriages, probably hackney cabs, along avenue.
Photo by Francis Downes from the collection of the Governor of Mauritius and Cape Province, Sir Henry Barkly. Previously Barkly had been the Governor of Victoria, Australia where he was paid the highest salary in the British empire. A Scottish born conservative.
Photo source State library of Victoria, Australia.
Here's a rough idea of numbers of horses sent there from Australia, found with a quick look in Australian archives, there would have been far more...
1843 one horse per Trusty (with other stock) from the Swan.
1845 horses in cargoes there reported (probably two, maybe three ships), no horse numbers given, some shipped from Adelaide in the Unicorn by Davey & Robertson for Messrs Sampson; others from the Swan River in the Emma Sherrit (sic Sherrett) - reported carriage pairs in demand and entire half bred ponies, that English horses crossed to Timor Ponies were the most popular. Prices were high.
1846 - Cumberland, barque, takes a load of 41 horses and ponies plus sheep and cattle from Swan River.
1847 - 7 horses & 3 ponies per Arpenteur from Fremantle + horses & ponies per Nimble
1848 - load per Cumberland from Fremantle,W.A. + 11 ponies & 8 horses per Dispatch from W.A. (some of Brockman's among them).
1849 - the Fanny Fisher took a load of horses over from W.A., one 'docile piebald pony' sold on behalf of A.H. Stone for the grand sum of 37 pounds. It was pointed out that broken in horses commanded far higher prices than wild ones.
1850 30 per Woodlark from South Australia with 2 racehorses, Plenipo & John Bull.
1855 15 per Swan, from the Swan (Perth).
1860 the clipper ship Arabella took 27 there, leaving in April (there was a far bigger barque of the same name built a little later which was well known on the WA trading run). This Arabella sailed from Adelaide on this trip - she had an arduous trip of 79 days due to little wind - yet managed to get her horses delivered safely. A load went over with William Baldock from S.A.
1861 40 on the Leonie + 24 per Phantom. Load from S.A. with William Baldock.
1865 20 horses per Sea Ripple from Swan River + shipload per the Robert Passenger.
1868 69 horses
1869 shipments of 20 per Elizabeth, 22 per Eva Joshua and 19 horses per Rio.
1870 unspecified number on the Eva Joshua + 8 per Odalisk.
1876 horses from Fremantle.
1877 - 75 + 70 horses from South Australia + load on the James Service from Melbourne + load per Sea Ripple from Fremantle April + she took another load of 41 in May.
1878 load on the Bessie from Fremantle + 32 on the Macquarie also from Freo.
1879 - 20 on the Kishon + 64 on Bessie + 20 on Iris all from Fremantle + three shiploads arrived together, total 202 head. The Iris took 74 & the Janet 80 all for Avery.
1880 - 4o horses from Fremantle + load from Cossack + another load from Freo.
1881 - load on the Janet + 60 on the Iris in June.1883 load on the Laughing Wave from Fremantle, arrived Dec.
1884 44 horses from Fremantle + another 71 horses + 71 per Bessie from Port Walcott & Fremantle Feb-March + load on the Iris arrived from Freo in Feb. + 40 per Sea Ripple in May + 71 per Bessie in May.
1885 28 + 70 from Fremantle per Star Queen and Janet.
1887 31 horses.
1888 40 horses from Cossack (W.A.) and 116 from Fremantle for Mr Avery and another shipload numbers unspecified.
1889, 97 horses from Fremantle per Fleur de Maurice and a further 77 from Freo all sourced from New Norcia station.
1890 40 from Cossack (north west W.A.) from Karratha Station belonging to J & R. Clarkson. + 150 horses on the Clitus from Melbourne for Edouard Duclos + 200 on the steamer Port Victoria.
1891 160 carriage and draught horses per August for Duclos.
1893, 69 horses from Melbourne per s.s. Cloncurry.
1897, 50 horses from Port Adelaide on the County of Ayr and 140 from Victoria.
1900, upwards of 1,000 head were sent from Qld, SA, Vic., W.A. and NSW on steamers, usually 200 per ship.
1901 28 horses from Port Adelaide.
1903 500 horses on the Louise Roth, 300 from Brisbane and 200 from Bowen + 300 on the Queen Louise. Edouard Duclos had come over from Mauritius to choose them, several were matched carriage pairs.
1904 a shipload of the horses' friendly little cousins went - 125 donkeys.
1924 25 on the steamer City of Boston from Melbourne.
All up, several thousand horses were sent to Mauritius from the 1840's on (as per Aust archives). Ships traded there regularly from Australia but when cargoes are not itemised, cannot say if they took horses or not. Only those specifically itemised are used here. Mauritius imported a lot of big mules from France and Buenos Ayres, ponies from Sandalwood, horses from Monte Video, Bombay etc as well as from us.
A few racehorses went but most were utility horses - artillery types for workhorses and draughts for carrying (well, towing) sugar - a major crop of Mauritius - in mountainous terrain; the rest were riding and carriage horses including some beautifully matched pairs, remarked on by many. Australian horses got outstanding prices in Mauritius.
Racing started there in 1812 and was a great social occasion. In 1949 an Australian jockey returning home said there were 64 racehorses, all were allocated by ballot by the two turf clubs - owners could not buy and race a horse otherwise. At the end of the season horses could be retained or handed back to go into a pool for re-distribution, those not wanted by trainers went to be cart horses. In 1953 the Mauritius Turf Club and the Mauritius Jockey Club merged. In 1949 all racehorses there were from Africa, France, India and England. English is the official language but little used - Creole is spoken by 90% of the population, and French. Hindu and some other languages are in use. race club info.
A Dutch then French then English colony, Mauritius gained its independence in 1968.
Réunion... A surprising lot of horses went there. Not a huge market but consistent over many decades.
Often they were taken there when prices at nearby Mauritius were low, but some loads went direct. Reunion was one of the stops on the trading run. It's likely many French ships which traded here took horses back, their cargoes rarely made the papers.
For some time in the nineteenth century, after the British gained nearby Mauritius, the French, who had previously had both islands, imposed large duties onto everything coming into Reunion. Australia let the French trade here, even between Australian ports, with the usual small duties only, and generously let them off all pilotage fees for both entry and exit. This was pointed out volubly in a 1865 article in the Moniteur de la Réunion by Monsier Jules Joubert, one of our colonists who had business ties in Reunion. He deplored this situation and asked Réunion to lift the duties, appealing to their love of liberty, which he said Australia exemplified, saying the French were welcomed here like children of the house! - even stressing it in French (enfants de la maision). The immense duties meant even French ships returned there in ballast rather than take cargo back over, after they'd been here delivering sugar.
After appeals from the English government, Réunion relaxed their duties a little. Joubert did an immense amount to create a good trade relationship with the French here, and started his famous exhibitions to promote our produce - which became the Royal Shows so loved today. He had a fascinating life, arriving here in 1841, aged 15.
In 1865 a ship from Tasmania had taken a load of horses to Réunion and met a staggering import duty of 879 francs. Once duties relaxed more horses went. In 1885 Daniel Avery took 70 horses there, to St. Denis, on the Janet. As late as 1913 a load of 15 mares and 10 horses went over on the steamer Plauen.
Réunion was an uninhabited island colonised by the French in 1649. It was named Bourbon, changed to Réunion in 1793.
Hong Kong... the China market is worth a book too.
As early as 1848 the Plenipotentary's Cup was a race for Walers (Australian ponies). The start of Walers racing regularly in Hong Kong. In 1868, only Walers were entered for the German Cup. Hong Kong also used the term 'Waler" early.
As an early example, the ship Alligator took a load of horses over to Hong Kong in 1844 from Twofold Bay, Eden, NSW.
Anyway, interesting to see much later, in 1950, Mr. W. Woods bought sixty horses early in the year for Hong Kong at Toowoomba, and came back in October that year to Toowoomba and to Rockhampton for hundreds more - saddle horses, broken and unbroken, 3 to 6 years old. He was competing at bidding with the Beaudesert abbatoir buyer - it was late in the horse trade days, the tide was turning.
Hong Kong was a good market for over a century. Thankfully it continued late. Needless to say they also bought a gadzillion racehorses from us. Hong Kong of course was a British colony long after other places there, now part of China again.
There were regular reports here in the papers, one in 1876 and another in 1910 went into great detail about griffin and pony racing. There was a constant lamenting the price - transport being the major component of price, it being a long trip - in 1876 it was said our ponies were too expensive and China, Manila, and Japan ponies were increasingly used. Races were for ponies only - despite TB's coming in occasionally, no-one wanted to keep and race a large horse. Professional riders could train the ponies, but amateurs must ride them in their races. It was well run and genteel. Women could stroll about and not be offended as there was no shouting or bad language. Bungalows were erected in the enclosure and tiffin served. There was a pretty grandstand of two tiers. Before the three days of racing, people liked to gather in the early mornings and for a small fee have hot coffee, tea and biscuits while watching training. Over the three days racing carnival, 27 events were held, all for ponies. There was little betting but sweeps were popular in the lead up to the races.
In the 1930's, because of the Japanese invasion, ponies were sourced from Australia as it was too dangerous getting them from northern China.
A few loads/news... (loads more not all cargoes reported)...
1853 report on the races with results, 2 days of racing, several pony events, 2 hack races - in the hack race Arabs carried 9 stone 10 pounds, Sydney, Cape, English and stud horses had to carry 11 stone 10 pounds. An Arab welter was held.
1857 races were held over 2 days, and included a race for Arab horses only. There were several pony races and 2 hack races.
1879 2 ponies on the Hermione.
1885 a report said only Mongolian ponies were raced, no Walers, Indian or English ponies.
1896 60 per Sommerfeld.
1905 traveller reported most carriages were drawn by Australian horses. 111 per Everton Grange from Maiden and Morton.
1926 the Fanling Hunt Club was formed, with the race club of Kwanti. The hunts had big fields, and hounds; hunt horses were needed; they also held steeplechases. Ponies at the races all Manchurian.
1931, 31 ponies went over on the Tanda. On another trip the Tanda took 53 racing ponies. Another 12 went on the Kwongiang, but she was lost in a typhoon, all hands and passengers - 50 souls, and ponies - lost.
1932, Dr. Louis Reidy of Queensland was Colonial Veterinary Surgeon at Hong Kong and raced one of the best ponies there, called Season Ticket, she was from northern Queensland. The Chartres Towers Cup was for Australian horses only.
1938 it was reported Australian ponies would contest a "Melbourne Cup' of 10 furlongs for a big prize of $1,000. 23 offspring of Australian stallions had been successful that season, the most successful the progeny of Double Court. The race meetings were now 10 a year. All reports loved the course and atmosphere, and that there was no drunkeness or rowdiness. Australian ponies had won a combined huge amount, the most was won by Gypsy Love. Also in 1938 Jim Morrow and George McDonald took over 62 griffins.
1939, 60 ponies on the Tanda from Sydney and Brisbane (120 altogether, another 60 went to Shanghai). Each had special box and elaborate care was being taken of them. In July on the Tanda another two hundred and fifty hacks also.
1940, despite a war being on it was reported there were still 500 ponies in the HKJC stables.
1947 ponies taken over on the Chanda from Qld. 31 on the Nellore from Brisbane.
1952, Duchess of Kent attended and watched an Australian pony called Bootsie win by a nose.
1953 a report on racing there, explaining the season and that Australian ponies were sent over that year.
Skymaster, owner Mr Airview Wong Bo-yin and named after his favorite aircraft, was an Australian griffin who streeted his first race, and became a famous racing pony in Hong Kong, trained his entire career by Lin Yun-Foo. He first raced in 1949 and had 18 wins from 27 starts through to 1953. detail
Source: The Telegraph, Brisbane, April 1947.
After WW2 no more China ponies were raced, it was all Australian ponies and griffins. The first post-war race meeting was held in January 1947. Prize money was very good. A fabulous post war market for ponies.
Tooday Herald (W.A.), August 1946
The fascinating thing about Hong Kong racing, is that they raced griffins early, happily tried out Australian griffins and horses, and really opened up a market for them. When a new height change was mooted in 1903 to allow taller horses to race, they tried hard to use rules to fit 'Old Walers' (ponies) and Walers (horses). A lot of griffins (Walers) were bought in 1901 and 1902, as the Boxer Rebellion had held up China pony imports. In 1903 the first Waler Champion trophy was run. China ponies came back into supply and Waler imports dropped although in 1904 there were still three races per meeting for Walers. This run down from the HKJC has top detail about the Waler in Hong Kong. Hong Kong relied on Shanghai, Tietsin and Korea for ponies more than Australia as these were nearby markets of plentiful strong ponies, that were inexpensive. They were about 13 hands. Racing was fun, locals and women too involved with owning, training and riding. The Happy Valley course was a big social attraction.
We'd been sending better ponies and horses to India, the East Indies, Singapore and Japan. By the late 1930's we began sending better quality horses to Hong Kong. The expense of shipping meant even inexpensive animals in Australia could not compete price-wise earlier.
Traders too, did not place the importance on griffins they did on proven race ponies and horses for orders. Hong Kong chiefly wanted griffins. Traders had got into the habit of going to India each season as it was their core business, so they didn't get to see how important griffin racing was, and that a good griffin became a highly valued pony.
It must have been a combination of the horse market in free fall and racing increasing in popularity that led to better quality horses going over (for racing and polo) at a price they were happy with. Hong Kong really put our Waler ponies on the map from their genesis. It will always be in the heart of Waler fans for that. Many have gone down in history, winning big cups, fame and prize money for their owners and trainers. Thanks Hong Kong!
China (in general)... shipload of 345 cobs and 100 gunners in 1900 to northern China (Boxer Reb) for Imperial army chosen by Colonel Hunt and Captain Nutall, Hunt being the President of the Imperial Remount Committee in Australia; the horses were chosen in the Hunter and Gunnedah area, climatically similar to destination. Lots others went for over a century, countless, e.g. to Tsientsin. Armies, polo, paperchasers, work-horses, hacks, carriage horses, griffins etc. The Chinese Imperial Army, civil admin and merchants bought horses from us, as well as the British Imperial Army and personel there. Paper-chasing was a hugely popular sport, and Australian horses sought after for this fun form of cross country riding. In the 1880's it was reported griffin sales were dropping off due to finances over there. The two big race meetings were spring and autumn.
China got a big influx of horses in 1900-1901, after the Boxer Rebellion, The "Army of Eight' - the countries who invaded - had many mounted units. Looting was so extreme there was no space to take horses home. Only the Germans took some of their Australian horses back to Germany on a specially chartered ship. This is looked at as a landmark change in horse genetics and horse size of the country, around the major centres. These 'war horses' were then bred to China ponies for racing animals, called Z-class. They were raced separately to China ponies because of their height and weight carrying abilities. detail and mentions Walers as gradually replacing China ponies until 1960 (pony Walers). Some z-class ponies such as Liberty Bay became famous.
When griffins had had their first race in Hong Kong, they were often sold on to mainland China for the Foochoow and Amor races. A good griffin fetched a huge price. Canton also held races. Like other places there were classes for various types although in 1876 no Manila or Japan or Australian ponies were entered, solely China ponies.
There were big horse (pony) fairs at Lai-Chow-Fu, across the bay from Tianjin and 120 miles from Chefoo where races were popular with locals and people stationed at the Customs etc. Australian ponies were often raced at Chefoo.
At Canton the races were said to be the most family friendly and fun. All racing in China in that era was though, gambling was a mere sideline at some places, and very minor. Having a pony to race and also ride, was a great form of entertainment and beat walking.
Shanghai... another good market for a long time and one of the world's great ports. Yet another market in China worth a book or three.
The famous Horse Bazaar, not far from the racecourse, was established in the 1840's. A book published in 1867 said horses were brought there from Australia frequently, selling for high prices - 800Tls, while ponies from the north (possibly Mongolia) sold for 50 Tls. (book The Treaty Ports of China and Japan, Maayers, Dennys and King, re-pub. Cambridge Uni Press 2012). Nevertheless, then and for another three decades horses were hard to get, and ponies too. Ships going to China were sure of selling any horses sent as a speculation.
Horses at times were sent from India to Shanghai, it being shorter, and the horses already army trained. In 1860 1,200 artillery horses were sent to Shanghai from India and Manila for the French, who were on a colonising expedition, aided in this by the English.
Also continued into a late market, thankfully, for the horse trade. In 1934 for example, 200 horses a month were being shipped over for van horses. Shiploads of griffins and hacks went over in 1939. Cobs in 1906 etc. Cargo ships invariably had twenty odd horses on board either orders or a good speculation - and ships arrived daily from Australia. George Kiss sent 23 horses over in 1902. P.H. Morton 32 in 1907.
In 1909 Shanghai reported 35,000 horses were needed for the army, so they set up two breeding areas in China. The cost from Australia was probably prohibitive although they asked us for 10,000 horses in 1910 (still investigating whether this came to fruition). The Shanghai Horse Bazaar was where most Australian horses were sold there. In 1906 Special Agent Burrill of the US govt reported that most horses sold throughout China were Australian, and urged his government to get in on the trade (Sydney Stock & Station Journal, Jan 1906), which gives an indication we had a very sound trade there, as well as ship cargo.
In 1881 a travellers report in the Capricornian said the Bazaar was very busy, there were the usual full horse facilities, coach builders etc, and about 500 ponies were kept at livery. Mobs of up to 1,000 ponies at a time were overlanded from Tartary and Mongolia for the sales, most being bought for griffins. The Chinese horsemen who looked after the horses at the Bazaar were every bit as good as those at Kirks and the English horse bazaars (high praise).
Photo: Shangai Volunteer Corps on patrol 1902.photo source
The Shanghai Volunteer Corps was a big outfit that patrolled Shanghai to keep it safe for civilians and for defense against invaders. It was an international type outfit, essentially a state supported militia, composed of people from several nationalities (colonisers, even the French and English worked together!) - British were about half the number, there were local Chinese, and Japanese, Scots, French and Portugese, etc members. They had several mounted units and were good buyers of horses. They also had artillery units, and mounted police. Sikhs from India made up the mounted police in Shanghai for decades, always taking excellent care of their horses and beautifully turned out; their horses too were mostly all Walers. The council paid the Corps costs including hiring an army Colonel from Britain to be in charge and paying his salary.
Shanghai's famous big fire department also used Australian horses mostly.
updating (probably pointless as horses went over all the time, not always listed)...
1864 8 good horses from Messers Wyndham, Dangar etc sent by W. Burt.
1875 20 horses.
1902 30 ponies for Shanghai Racing Club on the Guthrie.
1912 25 horses from McCabe, Morton & Co for the International Racecourse Club per Changsha, October.
1939 60 racing ponies + 50 hacks went over on the Tanda (120 ponies went, 60 were for Hong Kong) plus two hundred and fifty hacks.
1949 shipload of griffins.
The Shanghai Paper Hunt Club. As hunting wasn't available, people stationed in China began cross country riding for sport, this became the weekend paper hunt, dubbed 'hare and hounds' although no hounds were used. A trail of paper, coloured for various reasons (purple for a bog, green a check at a bridge etc) was laid for 5 or more miles, after following it by spreading out and shouting Tally Ho! when the trail was found, there was a race like a point to point for a finish line. Having been doing this unofficially for a time, the hunt club was formed in 1863. The first winner was a pony named Mud. Horses had to be under 14 hands - ponies - so China ponies and Mongolians could be used. They also sent for Australian ponies. Although it was fun, early disregard for people's lands and crops caused anger, so compensation was paid, bridges built, care taken with routes and the hunts held in November (winter) after crops were off, etc. Farmers also had fun re-routing the hunt by moving the paper clues. A lot of Chinese were in the hunt club too. The season ended in March. It gained a lot of followers. video of the hunt club. During the Boxer Rebellion, British and Germans kept up the hunt and Russians joined in. Virtually every mount had been a griffin at some stage.
Pekin... horses for Pekin (now Beijing) were taken to the port of Tangu/Tanggu/Taku, which is now called Tianjin, also called Tsietsin. Pekin may have been down as destination but there was no good port. If the port simply said Taku then one knew the horses were going to nearby Pekin usually, or Tsiensin itself if there was a war on. Small but steady market - being so far away transport costs from Australia made our ponies expensive, and there was access to good, less expensive Mongolian ponies.
There was a giant influx in the time of the Boxer Rebellion when we sent thousands of horses there.
Racing ponies there was huge - in the 1860's and 70's the crowds were 80,000 at each race - the biggest races on earth. great read about it
Racing united countries - everyone stationed there, even although their home countries may be at war elsewhere, happily co-operated to run the races and cheer their ponies on.
'...There were about twenty of us, as a rule, from all nations and kindreds of the earth, bound by the double bonds of exile and a common interest; some had come from the neighboring temples, others had ridden from the city at the opening of the gates, and all had forgotten the cares of life and the dust-begrimed city, English and French, Germans, Russians, and Italians; citizens of the Great Republic and even the receptive children of the Rising Sun — all met in this ricketty old shanty on a common ground of goodfellowship. Let us then, gentlest reader, concede one virtue to this our horse-cult, since over it the Briton and the Kalmuck can meet in peace while Teuton and Gaul sink their differences in its pursuing. For this much, at any rate, is certain that neither over diplomacy, business, slander nor any other subject except that of ponies, can twenty men enjoy each other's society for two hours consecutively in any part of China.' extract 'Racing in Peking' article, no author given, in the Evening News (Sydney) 29th August, 1896.
New Zealand... A very good trade from earliest colonial days.
1840 shipload from Sydney. Also a load from Hobart on the Integrity.
1855 two shiploads from Sydney,
1857 14 horses in the Clarendon from Sydney to Wellington.
1859 from Melbourne.
1861,'62, 63, '64 - 1874 thousands of horses went from Tasmania to NZ - good ships could sail from Hobart or Launceston to Dunedin in 5 days and land horses 'in splendid condition.' Several ships every week traded back and forth from Tasmania to New Zealand ports.
Horses also went over from Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney.
After the infamous Diseased Cattle Act of 1874 the lively horse trade to NZ slowed. The trouble started in 1872 when Australia prohibited imports of horses and cattle from countries with livestock diseases. The Australian colonies were then separate entities, and exempt from prohibition - this included Queensland and New Zealand.
Queensland agreed to continue trading livestock with the other Australian colonies but New Zealand refused, as Victoria and NSW wanted to include them in the prohibition. However as prohibition was restricted to countries with contagious cattle diseases, and it couldn't be proved NZ had these, the fuss ended and trade went on.
But politicians there were highly offended and 'flew up in the boughs.' They decided to stop our livestock going there by introducing the Diseased Cattle Act with amendments in 1874.
This was done without notifying our government. Ships were en route to NZ with horses, blithely unaware of the new rules. Under this Act horses were called "cattle." Also sheep, goats, pigs, chooks, dogs, leather, boots, buttons, candles... any animal, alive or dead.
The Natal Queen arrived in NZ with cargo and two horses. They were confronted with a massive fine for arriving without obeying Section 6 of the Act. Section 8 also entailed a fine. Natal Queen's captain chose to sail back home with the two horses, and put the alert out.
Section 6 said horses arriving in NZ must have a health certificate from a qualified vet at the port of departure. Other ships that arrived at the same time as Natal Queen had full cargoes of horses, such as the Waratah with 43 draughts, the India with 33 cart-horses and 70 Merino rams - chosen with great care all around the state, and said to be the best horses ever sent away; and the Prairie - all from Tasmania. Shipped by agents Fisher and Facy, who also owned the little trading ships. The fines for not having the certificates were more than the value of the horses and sheep. They were sold to get fine money. There was another a massive fine - under Section 8 - for not taking them to a designated cattle port.
It transpired there was no list of designated ports. It was at the discretion of NZ authorities. Once a ship with "cattle" arrived there, they were told to go to another port - or pay a huge fine. Tasmania, which had an excellent horse trade to NZ, had no qualifed vet in the whole state to inspect horses and issue certificates. Fisher and Facy, regular horse traders to NZ, had orders they wanted to honour so sent to the mainland for a vet to clear their horses before shipping. This added immense cost. Once they arrived in NZ, fines hit them for arriving at the 'wrong' port.
The Tasmanian government asked the NZ government if a highly qualified surgeon could inspect stock; they agreed. However, the risk of fines for 'wrong' ports and the cost of health certificates pretty well stopped trade for a while. Tasmania sent horses to the mainland instead. Australian ports stopped sending livestock there. A sad way to end a good friendly trade. It meant far fewer ships going to NZ, hence far less with NZ goods came back as return trade. NZ for this reason, in 1875, went into prolonged depression. By the late 1870's as these punitive fines ceased, traders began sending ships with horses there again, although nowhere near as many as previously. New markets had been established.
Draught crosses for work were very popular and New Zealanders paid well in the heyday of trade. People too, moved between NZ and Australia. A very good early trade for us.
New Zealand began selling back to Australia - by the mid 1880's sending shiploads of heavy draughts and half bred types suited for van work over, and getting very high prices at the bazaars in Sydney.
They rapidly got their breeding and export trade going, chiefly around back to Australia and to the Pacific Islands but also India and countries such as Hawaii and California. They were easily able to mount their own men for war on very good horses - always praised by all. Excellent horsemen who, importantly, always took good care of their horses. Fabulous customers until 1874. Mostly racehorses went over after that. Eventually sensible quarantine rules replaced the Diseased Cattle Act. NZ has a good horse culture, still thriving.
Thank you New Zealand, for Carbine. This stallion became worshipped like a god in Australia, where he was sold as a youngster and had his racing and early stud career. "Old Jack" as he was known, was sent to England in his old age for further stud duties. Carbine, 16.1hh, was by Musket out of Mersey.
Good Bye!
A sobbing crowd of thousands farewelled the horse when he left Australia. Heart-wrung poems filled the newspapers. When he died in England, Carbine's body was sent back to Australia. His skeleton was mounted in the Melbourne Museum, and like the (later) stuffed body of Phar Lap, became an object of pilgrimage and reverent worship - like ancient saint's bones in a holy reliquary in a temple in a distant land. I myself have quietly been to see Carbine and Phar Lap in Melbourne. Thus were we infected with horse worship. Perhaps the younger generation have new gods! As Will Ogilvie, the great poet said:
This worship of Horse is a sin and a curse
So we hear in our parson's talk
But we're steering straight for the golden gate
And we might as well ride as walk
It would be hard to find a Waler or Thoroughbred without Carbine blood. Some Waler breeding stations had many of his offspring, for example his son Pistol, out of Wenonah, foaled in England but sent to Australia as foretold in a poem at his farewell, stood in South Australia. Jim Robb sent over 20 Pistol colts and stallions to his station in Central Australia, Lambina. "Pistol marks," well known markings seen on many Central Australian Walers, come from this legacy.
New Hebrides (Vanuatu)... this group of islands was inhabited but taken over, in a greedy series of squabbling and treaty breaking, by the English and French; to avoid a full on fight they finally shared occupation. People could decide which nation's law to live under. Before this, any ship that was wrecked off the island was doomed, as survivors were caught and eaten. Ships such as the barque Elizabeth (from Sydney for sandalwood, 1840's). Some of Marian Watson's crew badly injured whilst in small boat ashore trading for sandalwood, also the Terror's crew attacked and some killed and eaten whilst trading for sandalwood 1848 etc etc. many more.
Blackbirding (taking men for indentured labour, a form of slavery) by Australia and New Caledonia meant the male population was reduced by half. Many settlers moved there from Australia (and other places). Horses were needed for farm work - livestock and plantations, as well as transport. Load from Norfolk Island 1898 on the steamer Ysabel. The Makambo took a load over in 1927, bad storms meant three died on the way.
Vanuatu got its independence in 1980 after a long patient struggle, France not wanting to give it up. Riding was popular with everyone and still is. Horses went over on trading steamers that usually called at Fiji and Tonga on the way. They probably got horses elsewhere too such as from the French (New Caledonia, although most of theirs were from us, not all were), possibly the Dutch East Indies etc - French ships had a trading route from Marseilles in France via their colonies and trade ports. Small trade but good. Great place for a holiday too.
Mozambique...
Was also known as Portugese East Africa. The steamer Johannesburg left from Beira - a port of call for traders on the South African run - came here and went back with a load of horses in 1899; possibly for war efforts.
We had regular trade there as Beira was a port of call on the south African run, we sent frozen meat there etc. Prior, sailing ships as well as steamers traded from Australia to Beira, the barque Marie and another being wrecked there in 1890 returning to Australia in ballast.
Beira is on a big river which was useful to take cargo up, in smaller boats, including horses for settlers, soldiers and miners; Australian miners were going there in the 1890's with working horses, most were organised with co-ops and companies set up to provide neccessities.
The British steamer Turkestan had her name changed to Beira about this time, showing it had become a signifigant port - the British regularly landed stuff here for their colonies inland and took goods out, a railway from the port inland to Salisbury etc made a big lift in shipping trade after 1899.
Horse disease was a problem. Tse tse fly meant horses often didn't last long. There was conflict in nearby British colonies in 1896, the Portugese lent the British forces their horses at that time.
In 1900 we landed several thousand horses there with our troops for the Boer War. No horses came home. Kitchener killed over 400,000 horses in this war. Ships the Atlantian, Euryalus, Maplemore, Gymeri, Victoria and Chicago took a lot of horses with Australian Bushmen contingents. They were prime horses. Ship the Waimate brought men and horses from NZ, they too had excellent war horses.
All horses from the first three ships mentioned were taken to Marandells in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), then a British possession. Troops were dispersed to Salisbury, Buluwayo etc and some went to the relief of Mafeking etc. Plenty of military sources on all this. Appropriately, we had a Captain Dobbin at Beira in charge of our horses.
Horses, men and gear of the 4th Imperial Victorian Bushmen being unloaded from the steamer Victoria at Beira, Portugese East Africa, 1900.
There was no wharf, so horses were slung over into punts, fifty a day thus being unloaded. It's noted here as some horses remained in country, hence may have had a genetic influence, of a minor sort, on local horses. Some of our men caught typhoid fever in Beira and some horses got blue tongue, both lethal, many deaths ensued.
A small but significant trade as many of the traded horses went to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), hence genes were spread widely from this one port. Many shiploads of horses at Boer War time were private speculations, they sold chiefly to armies however many mercenaries were in the market too; miners, farmers, merchants, civil admin etc.
In 1903 101 horses and 2 ponies went to Beira from NSW. Another 200 went from Brisbane on the Gulf of Siam. Shippers complained the rail costs from Beira for horses was extorionate. August to September was the best time to ship horses there, as disease was far less prevalent.
Mozambique gained independence from Portual in 1975.
Norfolk Island...
We sent horses there, as an Australian-British possession, from earliest colonial days. Norfolk Island in turn became a good horse breeding area, sending horses and cattle to Fiji, New Caledonia and New Zealand for decades.
1877 the schooner Canterbury, Charles Moller master, took 27 horses to NZ, landing two at the Bay of Islands. All belonged to Mrs Watling. In a puniative move, NZ prosecuted under the "Diseased Cattle Act".
In 1902, Mr F.M. Nobbs, the Collector of Customs on the island, said in the Sydney Wool and Stock Journal, that hundreds of horses for decades had been sent away in vessels of 40 to 100 tons. He described how they were secured on board - a unique method of tying them between two poles running along the vessel beside the mast; horses tied by the head and cattle by the horns. This method was apparently more kind than stalls, for their losses over the years were less than 5% and the animals arrived in excellent health, unlike those chafed on the sides, front and rear by stalls arriving to the island from mainland Australia. Only one bad passage occurred, when the Marion, taking horses to Noumea in 1879, met a severe storm and all her livestock were killed.
Norfolk Island was uninhabited when claimed by Britain just after they claimed Australia, being first settled by convicts and their guards who began farming to help feed the new colony at Port Jackson (Sydney). It remains an Australian possession.
Turkey... Walers went there in WW1 and WW2, some stayed; other than that in 1947 they ordered 1,000 general purpose horses, which were sent over... possibly a few more went there, will add when found.
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