GIVE ’EM A FAIR GO
Our experience with Brumbies (wild/feral horses in Australia) is a result of dealings with those Walers that became Brumbies after release or escape, and their offspring. However, I believe that much of their exhibited behaviour and strengths are common among all Brumbies that have survived over generations, particularly in those harsh environments where they have to travel considerable distances between a feed and a drink over rough country.
If given a fair go, Brumbies will understand what people are asking of them and will give them what they want. They won’t make the same mistake twice. If they stick their nose in a waterhole to take a drink and get chased out by a croc, they’ll never again make that mistake—once bitten, twice shy! If their first encounter with humans makes them wary, they will stay away and generalise that experience with all humans. But when they do trust, they’ll be your friend for life.
Having observed their behaviour in captivity over the past twenty-five years, I can say that Brumbies express our traditional Australian identity in equine form. They improvise in the way that they exist and know how to adapt to a harsh landscape and make do, survive, with minimal resources. They are survivors. They often display behaviour that can only be inherited, being captured and separated at an age too young for that behaviour to be learnt. A colt that I had sent to a friend who lived in Towamba had staked himself in the chest and was observed to take himself to the river each day to splash water onto—and so cleanse—his wound, then lie in the sun on the sandy riverbank exposing the wound to the drying sun. He did that regularly each day until it healed.
Another horse cut his leg and would dunk it in the water trough, pull it out and lick it to heal it. And those horses in a paddock where rainwater followed a surface course over the ground only to disappear outside the fence line dug a hole at the end of that stream in order to collect water to drink—much to the consternation of their domestic paddock mates. I have photos! That’s also how they find water in the dry riverbeds in the Northern Territory, water that then also becomes available to native wildlife.
Image 40: Much of what Peter Fischer knows about horses, he’s learnt from watching and studying the Brumby way.
We know the rain is coming by watching them dig holes in the dirt to coat themselves in dust. We have seen them ‘pawing’ their front feet on big boulders in a paddock when their hooves were too long. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. And they have been observed chewing stones. A means of controlling sharp teeth? Romantic interpretation? That’s for the reader to decide.
We still have Brumbies from Central Australia that are thirty-four and thirty-five years old. We used them for twelve years teaching kids and adults to ride. We must think more of Brumbies than simply as untameable feral pests, meat animals for pets and export. The first Waler I had, Trooper, was from Brumby stock. When he was brought to me I was told he was unmanageable. He turned out to be the best horse I ever had. I was part of a Light Horse re-enactment parade some thirty years ago, attended by and in honour of the few original World War I Light Horsemen still then alive. On seeing Trooper among others, he was remarked upon as reminding them of their own horses that they had to leave overseas, and brought a tear to a few brave and honourable old eyes.
I hope someday these observations, and more, about Brumbies will be documented. There is little point in such research if not shared and used to benefit these horses and our perception of them today.
While considered management is necessary in order to reduce numbers to an extent that prevents suffering in times such as drought, and maintain such a reduction, in a civilised society expedience is no excuse for cruelty. Alternative means of control to those currently employed must be further investigated and put into effect.
Image 41: The thick winter coats prepare Brumbies for a cold winter in the Snowy Mountains.
Image 42: Equine dentist Sharlene Goodworth examining the teeth of a young Brumby just captured from the wild.