One of the benefits of growing up in a small town was that even if you didn’t own a horse you probably knew someone who did! For me there was something fascinating about horses: their smell, their look, seeing them in motion, seeing people enjoy riding and caring for them. Not owning a horse of my own meant that most of the games I played when I was a kid involved toy horses, imaginary horses, or me and a bunch of friends role-playing a herd of horses. I was so enamoured by them that one day I even snuck a bareback ‘ride’ on a random horse in a paddock and got busted for it.
This would have been around the same time that I discovered Elyne Mitchell’s Silver Brumby series on a shelf in my high school library. They allowed me to imagine what life must be like in the wild—to taste freedom, grasp the rawness of life in the harsh Australian climate, to experience the fear Brumbies associated with man, and their struggle to remain free.
My love of Brumbies and the outdoors has rekindled my desire to explore the wonders of Kosciuszko National Park again. The wild horse herds that live there are communities of pride, protectiveness and gentleness. I feel a sense of utter peace when I am near them and my heart overflows with the beauty of it all. I’ve visited the herds in all seasons, for the sake of glimpsing their beauty. As a spiritual person I believe that all living creatures contain a life force, or spirit. I’ve felt it in all my companion animals, and can clearly see it in our Brumbies too.