SNOWY BRUMBIES The Wilson sisters’ adventures taming horses from Australia’s Snowy Mountains Kelly Wilson RANDOM HOUSE UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia India | New Zealand | South Africa | China This book is dedicated to the team at Isuzu Utes New Zealand, Random House is an imprint of the Penguin Random House especially Murray, Gareth and Howard — thank you for your group of companies, whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com. belief in us and for supporting our passions. You have become like family over the past two years and we can’t thank you enough for understanding the compassion we have for wild horses, and for helping us to give them a voice. We hope that our journey with these horses inspires others to champion their cause and that instead First published by Penguin Random House New Zealand, 2017 of being seen as unwanted and unworthy by so many they will be 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 recognised for their true worth. Without you, our work with the Text © Kelly Wilson, 2017 Brumbies couldn’t have happened, so from the bottom of our hearts Photography © Kelly Wilson, Amanda Wilson and Alexa Dodson, unless otherwise credited, 2017 — thank you. The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. Design by Rachel Clark © Penguin Random House New Zealand Map by Rachel Clark, using an outline by FreeVectorMaps.com © Penguin Random House New Zealand Cover photographs by Alexa Dodson and Kelly Wilson Back cover: A bay roan Brumby stallion and his mare in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. Page 2: Wild Brumbies in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. Prepress by Image Centre Group Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Products Ltd A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-14-377057-2 eISBN 978-0-14-377058-9 penguin.co.nz A silver roan stallion, the morning after a blizzard. There was something special about seeing Brumbies in Sydney the wild — like having a NEW SOUTH WALES childhood dream come true. Blowering Dam (Brumby holding yards) Tumut ACT Canberra Yarrangobilly Caves Kiandra Barmah Long Plain VICTORIA National Park Kosciuszko National Park Brumby Junction Sanctuary Bogong Alpine National Park Ballarat Melbourne You Yangs Regional Park Geelong Map not to scale TASMANIA A kangaroo near a Brumby trap site in the Snowy Mountains. CONTENTS Introduction: Living Legends 10 Chapter 1: Wild Ride 20 Chapter 2: High Alert 32 Chapter 3: Brumby-run? 44 Chapter 4: Slow and Steady 54 Chapter 5: Baby Brumbies 68 Chapter 6: Bringing in the Reserves 78 Chapter 7: Riding in Search of Wild Horses 88 Chapter 8: Many Hands Make Light Work 98 Chapter 9: Snowy Mountain Brumbies 110 Chapter 10: Saved from Slaughter 120 Chapter 11: Homeward Bound on a Cargo Plane 130 Chapter 12: In the Winterless North 138 Chapter 13: Camp Chaos 148 Chapter 14: The Power of Three 160 Chapter 15: Snowstorms and Silver Brumbies 170 Chapter 16: Protests at Parliament 182 Chapter 17: From Wild Brumbies to Kids’ Ponies 192 Chapter 18: Wild Adventure 202 Chapter 19: Final Preparations 210 Chapter 20: Future Focus 220 Chapter 21: Battle of the Breeds 232 Chapter 22: Olympic Dreams 244 Chapter 23: The Passing of a Legend 256 Chapter 24: Australian Brumby Challenge 266 Epilogue: Passing on the Baton 278 Glossary 284 Acknowledgements 286 INTRODUCTION Living Legends A herd of roan Brumbies near Long Plain Road in Kosciuszko National Park. he history of the Brumbies, like that of all wild horses, it seems, is one of many contrasts. Once revered for their hardiness and embraced as a necessary part of Australia’s high country, today Tthese wild horses are in equal parts loved and hated. For many they are a symbol of the pioneering spirit of Australia, but for others they are little more than pests, damaging a delicate ecosystem that has not evolved to cope with being populated by so many horses. The three of us — me and my sisters, Vicki and Amanda Wilson — have always been passionate about horses. Born and brought up in the upper North Island of New Zealand, we grew up reading the Silver Brumby series and watching the The Man from Snowy River — the Brumbies we read about were our first exposure to wild horses. As children we often pretended to be Brumbies, and would spend hours cantering around our yards at home, pretending to tame each other, or hiding from humans in the rock formations on neighbouring farmland — imagining we were in the Silver Brumbies’ hidden canyon deep in the heart of the Snowy Mountains. There wasn’t a lot of spare money around when we were growing up, but our parents always supported us in our desire to own and train horses. When we were aged four (Amanda), seven (me) and nine (Vicki), we captured and tamed our very first wild ponies. The oldest of these were a palomino and a chestnut — we would often pretend that they were Thowra and Yarraman, the two most iconic stallions from the Silver Brumby stories. These books, which were written from the horses’ point of view, gave us an appreciation of how scary each new situation must be for our own wild horses, and we strove to befriend them rather than forcing them into submission. Those early years working with young and feral horses gave us many of the skills we needed to succeed. From an early age we trained and competed ponies and horses in local competitions, progressing to showjumping on the New Zealand circuit with success at the highest levels. In between events we began to host camps and Top clinics on location and at our home property, Showtym Stables, teaching A herd of wild Brumbies near Kiandra in the Snowy Mountains. over 1000 riders a year, as well as breeding and training horses for both Bottom ourselves and others. Of the three of us, Vicki was (and still is) the From left: Amanda, me and Vicki with some of our favourite showjumpers. — 12 — Vicki and her previously untouched Quarter Horse colt, Kentucky, after three hours of training over three days, during the prize-giving for Road to the Horse 2017 — the World Championships of most solely focused on her equestrian pursuits, having represented New Colt Starting, held in Kentucky, USA. Zealand a number of times in showjumping competitions. In 2016, while we were in Australia for the Brumby Challenge, Vicki was invited to compete in Road to the Horse — the World Championships of Colt Starting — which she won in convincing style, gaining her international recognition for her holistic approach to horsemanship. Amanda, while just as successful as Vicki in the competition arena, became equally as passionate about film and writing; and when I was not riding, writing or photographing, I would spend as much time as possible travelling and adventuring. Our work with truly wild horses began in 2012, when Watch Me Move, a showjumping pony that we had initially bought and trained, won the biggest Pony Grand Prix event in the Southern Hemisphere. When we purchased Watch Me Move we were told he had been born wild in some of the most rugged mountains of New Zealand — the Kaimanawa Ranges. Following his win, his rider, Tegan Newman, and the three of us were invited down to the Kaimanawa Ranges by Kaimanawa Heritage Horses (who advocate for the welfare and care of the Kaimanawas) to view the herds in the wild. For the first time we became aware of the plight of our nation’s wild horses. Over the previous 20 years, thousands of horses had been culled in an effort to reduce the population from 2000 and thereby protect the sensitive ecological area where the wild horses lived; by the time we became involved, the culling was maintained through musters every second year to keep the population at about 300. Because of negative stereotyping and a massive lack of public awareness surrounding the Kaimanawas, most of the mustered horses were being sent to slaughter. Hoping that we could do something to help, we saved 11 horses from the 2012 muster and documented their journey to domestication. I wrote a book, For the Love of Horses, about our own journey to become showjumpers, trainers and, eventually, tamers of wild Kaimanawas, which became a best-seller. In 2013, following my twin passions for horses and photography, I spent some time photographing Walers and Brumbies in Australia, — 14 — and visited the Victorian Brumby Association to see first-hand many of the Brumbies they had saved from slaughter. Having tamed our first Kaimanawas just 10 months before, all three of us were personally invested in and passionate about the plight of wild horses in our home country — and seeing the Australian equivalent opened my eyes to the plight of wild horses on an international scale. Another three years passed before we again crossed paths with the Australian Brumbies. During this time so much had changed in our lives. Our focus during the competition season was on our showjumpers, with Vicki and Amanda competing to World Cup level on their most successful horses Showtym Cassanova, Showtym Cadet MVNZ and Ngahiwi Showtym Premier. During the winter months our work with wild horses continued — in 2014 we saved another 12 Kaimanawas from that year’s muster, and our work taming them featured in the hit television show Keeping Up With The Kaimanawas and my second book, Stallion Challenges.