A rare opport
VISITORS to the Royal Show this year will have the rare opportunity to
see a proudly South African horse breed being put through its paces, when the KZN SA Boerperd Club hosts the SA Boerperd Regional
Championships in the main arena.
The evolution of this horse breed is the result of a long and arduous
journey that closely tracks South Africa’s history. The breed originates
from a group of cross Berber-Arabian ponies imported from Java
shortly after Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival in the Cape in 1652, which were
then interbred with prize Arabian horses belonging to the Shah of
Persia when they were stranded in a shipwreck and swam ashore. A
century later saw the inclusion of Andalusian and Isabella horses in
the bloodline, creating what was then known as the CapeHorse. Later,
breeds such as Flemish Stallions from the Netherlands, Hackeys, Norfolk Trotters and Cleveland Bays were imported and bred, resulting in
what eventually become known as the Boerperd.
The breed’s story meanders across South Africa. These horses have
been shaped by the Great Trek; through their survival of the dreaded
African Horse Sickness die offs of horses here in 1719 and 1763; and by
the Second Anglo-Boer War, where they were targeted by the British in
an attempt to deny the Boers the advantage the horses gave them.
The SA Boerperd is a uniquely South African breed shaped through a
tough selection process by man and nature, where only the toughest
horses survived.
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At this year’s Roy
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Wednesday, July
Breeders’ Society
For the times of e
royalshow.co.za/