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MacRobertson's Horses

MacRobertson's well-documented love of horses stemmed from his time as a youth in Queensland when he used to catch and train horses.

Print - MacRobertson's "Quads" horse training, 2 February 1899, Royal Historical Society of Victoria

RHSV MacRobertson Collection; Special supplement to 'The Australian Cyclist'

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RHSV MacRobertson Collection; Special supplement to 'The Australian Cyclist'

As a part of his business he used teams of grey horses to pull delivery wagons and to participate in parades.

In 1908 MacRobertson drove a team of thirteen grey horses valued at 1200 pounds in the Confectioners’ Society of Victoria parade during the 8 Hour Day procession. The stables were a large part of the factory until motor vehicles superseded horses in the delivery department.

He also owned two Arab horses which he trained to do a variety of tricks such as lying down, kneeling, sitting and shaking hands. A photograph of his beloved Arab charger 'Sultan' was captioned with the statement that he was 'the finest educated horse in Australia.'

Film - MacRobertson's Horses, 2015, History Teachers' Association of Victoria

DAVID ROBERTSON: MacRobertson was always keen on utilizing the latest methods of transport and in those days of course it was the horse and cart. So he had a large number of beautiful grey horses drawing his trucks around the city of Melbourne and delivering all his products, in fact they were so well known they were often used in exhibitions and parades and that sort of thing.

After the horses, he developed a liking for horses that he kept at his home, which he spent a lot of time training. He’d do various tricks with them and get them to lie down, and bump his nose, and push him over. He also had horse and buggies that he used to drive around with them. He was very keen on animals in general.

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