Book description
A beautiful and comprehensive book on horses. From Phar Lap to Makybe
Diva, Garryowen to Picasso, and Our Solo to Peppermint Grove,
Australians adore their horses. Be it a pony club mount, an Australian
Stock Horse descendant of the mighty Waler or a Snowy Mountains brumby,
such is our love for the horse, we have virtually granted him honorary
native status. When the First Fleet arrived in 1788, they brought a
collection of rough pony-sized horses purchased at South Africa's Cape
of Good Hope. In 1810, the Colony's first official social gathering took
the form of a three-day race meet in Sydney's Hyde Park. By 1813, hardy
pack horses were part of the critical crossing of the Blue Mountains,
and from the early 1800s, impressive breeding operations of Thoroughbred
and Arabians were underway with imported blood horses such as Rockingham
and Saladin. The horse has remained fundamental to our sense of national
identity. Despite urbanisation, we retain one of the world's highest
rates of horse ownership. Through the stories of our most iconic horse
events - such as the Melbourne Cup, the Golden Slipper, the Inter
Dominion, the Garryowen Perpetual Trophy, the Warwick Gold Cup, the Tom
Quilty Endurance Ride and the Pony Club movement in Australia - Fiona
Carruthers captures how we have embraced the horse. This comprehensive,
beautiful book rattles to the pounding of hooves, exploring the
much-loved Australian Light Horse, the all-Australian sports of
campdrafting, polocrosse, bush polo and picnic racing and the evolution
of the Australian Stock Horse. Every significant horsy name is covered,
from John and Elizabeth Macarthur to Violet and William Murrell, the
Roycroft family, Marjory and Edward Hirst and the indomitable Miss Kay
Irving and her sisters. Banjo Paterson, General Sir Harry Chauvel, Bart
Cummings, Gai Waterhouse, John Singleton, Sinclair Hill, Brian Hancock,
RM Williams and Kerry Packer. Our contemporary stars across a range of
disciplines discuss their dreams, their goals - and their favourite
horses - including leading endurance rider Meg Wade, three-day-eventers
Andrew Hoy, Megan Jones, Clayton Fredericks, show jumper Edwina
Alexander, and the Atthow family, boasting five generations of
campdrafters. The Horse in Australia brings all aspects of a proud and
vital Australian tradition under the one roof. Encyclopedic in the
knowledge shared, it's told at a gallop and weighted with stunning
images, making it the ideal gift for Australians of all generations.
Fiona Carruthers is a writer and journalist who has worked for News
Limited, the ABC and most recently as a senior feature writer on the AFR
magazine. She has loved and ridden horses all her life.
