The Foundation

The Birth of the Warlander

The Friesian/Andalusian cross has been popular in Europe for decades, however, in the early 1990's, the Classical Sporthorse Stud in Australia decided to embark on a strategic plan to breed them with the intent of establishing them as a sporthorse for the new millennium. CSS coined the name Warlander, and were the first to document their specific objectives in creating this new breed. Below is an explanation of "The Birth of the Warlander". written by Karen-Maree Kaye of Classical Sporthorse Stud:

warlander birth

The decision to cross the Friesian with the PRE (Andalusian) came to the Classical Sporthorse Stud in the early 1990's. It was a joint dream between ourselves and our trainer "Senor Ramon Benitez Guererro" who was from the Spanish Riding School in Jerez, Spain. Ramon had been training high school PRE's most of his life, his love and respect for the breed was deep. After the purchase of our first purebred Friesian stallion in 1992, we all saw the promise of a "super horse" from the crossing of these two breeds. Crossbreeding of the Friesian horse in Australia was very common and many of the types produced were good, but in our mind by adding the flexibility in the joints and ease of ride of the PRE, this would be the ultimate cross.