The Baroque Horse festival is a two-day event that occurs annually in the small town of Leigh Creek in Victoria, Australia, at Kryal Castle. Being based in a castle (a rarity in Australia!), this medieval festival is definitely one to behold! The festival celebrates the noble equine breeds from the Baroque period. Which breeds are […]

Name of breed: Selle Français, also known as the Cheval de Selle Français Country of origin: France Breed origin: Like most warmblood horse breeds, the Selle Français was developed with a diverse mixture of bloodlines. In the 19th century, Norman breeders imported Thoroughbreds and Norfolk Trotters, crossing them with their native stock (now known as […]

Name of breed: Garrano Country of origin: Portugal Breed origin: This breed is so ancient that Northern Iberian Paleolithic cave paintings depict horses with a striking resemblance! During the most recent ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, many species of flora and fauna in northern Europe migrated south, where the climate was more […]

Marion Coakes came from a family of fanatic showjumpers (her two brothers were already in the Junior British Show Jumping team!!) and when she met ‘Stroller’ in 1960, they had to prove their worth! At the time Marion was just 13 and was moving on from her previous pony ‘Magic’. Stroller was 10. The Thoroughbred […]

The Marche-Concours national de Chevaux is the equivalent to the Royal Easter Show for horses with many breeds flocking to the Swiss alpine town.  This annual event occurs every August in the autumn when the temperatures are beginning to sink but that doesn’t stop the crowds flocking to the show! This historical show promotes the […]

I am a horse mad person; it doesn’t matter what I am doing, it always has something to do with horses, ponies and everything in between. When I was little (and still to this day) I LOVED to watch horsey movies. We all have our favourites that we know every single word to and these […]

Hey Globetrotters, I wanted to introduce you to the wonderful Jess Chapman who runs Chapman Valley Horse Riding just north of Sydney in the Hunter Valley. We met Jess at Equitana Auckland late last year and were blown away with her enthusiasm and excitement about her horse riding business. I will let you in on […]

Once again we find ourselves looking at an Italian event on the picturesque island of Sardinia. This horse race is called L’Ardia di San Constantino and is a huge event near Sedilo where every year in summery July, thousands of people descend on this island to watch the race. Now, why are they racing you […]

The first female jockey to win the iconic Melbourne Cup was the talented Michelle Payne back in 2015. Her trusty steed, Prince of Penzance, won by half a length to make Michelle the first female to ride the winning horse in the 155-year history of the Melbourne Cup! But her road to the top […]

The Scone Horse Festival has been running for 37 years, that’s almost four decades (!!!) and celebrates ‘the horse’ in true blue Aussie fashion. Every year across ten days in May, locals and tourists, gather in Scone to join in the celebrations for horses. Just a bit of background about Scone first (just to warm […]

Name of breed: Noriker or Norico-Pinzgauer Country of origin: Austria Breed origin: The Noriker is a cold-blooded horse breed native to the Austrian state of Salzburg, thought to have originated around Austria’s highest mountain, the Grossglockner. More than 2,000 years ago, when Romans first introduced draft horses to central Europe, the Austrian mountains lay in […]

Name of breed: Thoroughbred, or English Thoroughbred Country of origin: England Breed origin: One of the best-known horse breeds in the world, the Thoroughbred was developed in England by crossing native English mares with Arabian, Barb and Turkoman (today’s Akhal-Teke) stallions to create the Thoroughbred that we know and love today. All modern Thoroughbred horses’ […]