Belted Galloway
The Belted Galloway breed (The Beltie) started and was devloped in the austere hill country in the Galloway area of south-west Scotland. It is believed to have originated more than 400 years ago; the result of crossing the Galloway cattle with the Dutch Lakenvelder ( A horned, dairy breed) to product a multi-purpose dairy, beef and wool animal, that could deal with the harsh conditions of a Scottish winter.
Common to other members of the Galloway family, the Beltie is a naturally polled (hornless) animal. The distinctive belt markings are also dominant. Full blood (100%) Belties are black with a white belt and occasionally express a recessive red colour with a white belt. Graded Beltie colours can be black, dun (brown or silver) or red with a white belt.
Registration (Show) Standard
To be registered in the Galloways Australia Herdbook (Stud register) – Section 2 – Belted Galloways and subsequently eligible for showing, the animal must:
- It must be at least 93.75 % Belted Galloway Ancestry
- be black, dun, silver or red with a complete belt of white hair encircling it’s body
- the belt must be between the back of the front legs and the front of the back legs where the legs join the body with no white on its legs, except for females where the belt may extend onto the udder
- have no coloured patches within the belt, except for males where there will be colour on the pizzle that may be within the belt
- must not have any other white hair elsewhere on its body.
A Belted Galloway with an incomplete belt, colour within the belt or some white on its body may be registered in Section 2 Appendix register.
Belted Galloway Grading Up Guide
The Belted is one of the worlds oldest known cross breeds. However, modern Belted Galloways can all trace their heritage and genetics back to the UK Herdbook. Animals can be graded up from non Belted Galloway animals in all Australian Galloway associations. However, each association has a different method for calculating when a graded up animal reaches an appropriate purity to be able to be registered.
Galloways Australia uses strict percentage based grading up as described in this Belted Galloway Grading Up Guide. We encourage all breeders and those looking to purchase a Belted Galloway to read this guide and reach out to the Committee if you have any questions.
This information has been provided for general information and members should refer to the latest version of the Galloways Australia Registration Rules and Regulations.