These wild creatures have roamed the Australian Outback since the 1800s. They have been the subject of many Australian poems, ballads, stories, books and films, and also caused quite controversy towards their management. Banjo Patterson’s poem ‘The Man From Snowy River’ and Elyne Mitchell’s ‘Silver Brumby Series’, unfortunately don’t romanticise the Brumbies enough for some who wish to cull our heritage horses.
The horses that remain wild today, and their ancestors, are the descendants of the horses that escaped, or were abandoned in the early years of colonial settlement. Their pedigree consists of about every breed introduced to the Country, and they have used the best of this pedigree’s survival adaptabilities, to live on in Australia’s harsh climate and terrain conditions.
There are two theories for the origin of the word ‘brumby’, first being named after Sergeant James Brumby, who had to leave his horses behind when he was transferred from NSW to Van Diemen’s Land in 1804. The second being from the Aboriginal word ‘baroomby’ meaning ‘wild’. Regardless of which origin may be true, Brumbies still roam the Australian Alp, and parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland today.
There was an authorised cull of hundreds of Brumbies in 2000, which spurred an Inquiry by the NSW Government into brumby population, and resulting in the banning of shooting them. There have been attempts since to shoot more to control numbers, however the most accepted and practiced way of managing Brumby populations now, is to lure them into yards with food, and attempt to break them in for various Disciplines. They have proven to be particularly good stock horses, probably due to their similar pedigree traits and environmental conditions in their upbringing to that of Australian Stock Horses.
Despite the opinion of society, decent populations of Brumbies still roam free amongst the Australian Outback. It is only once one witnesses them here in all their glory, that they truly begin to realise that this where they belong. Sure some are given other purposes, but at their core they are our heritage wild horses.
Feature Image courtesy of Change.org
– Skye Pickering Dip. Horse Business Management