Herd On The Ridge Inc,
Our Journey With the Australian Brumby
Herd On The Ridge Inc is proudly home to a number of Australian brumbies, with both of our founders having been actively involved in the brumby community for some time.
Our journey with these remarkable horses has been shaped by firsthand experiences, advocacy, challenges and a genuine passion for their welfare.
Here, we share our story, our experiences working with Australian brumbies, the advocacy we have been involved in and where we stand on the issues surrounding their future.
The Beginning
2018 – The Singleton Army Base Brumbies
2018 was where our journey as active advocates for the Australian Brumby truly began. We had always admired these remarkable horses and supported their protection, but what unfolded at the Singleton Army Base in the Upper Hunter Valley changed us forever.
The Singleton Army Base was home to an estimated 150–200 brumbies, a unique population with ancestry believed to trace back to Welsh Mountain Pony bloodlines from the late 1800s. These beautiful, often overlooked ponies had called the military training grounds home for generations.
In December 2018, we learned of plans by the Department of Defence to undertake an aerial cull of the entire population. With very little time to act, we joined other advocates in what became a desperate attempt to save them.
We protested for days, with military personnel closely watching us. We met with Members of Parliament, involved the media and worked alongside other brumby advocates to bring attention to what was happening. The lack of transparency surrounding the operation left us with precious little time to organise alternatives, but we were determined to do everything within our power.
Defence maintained that there were "no other viable options", a justification we strongly disagreed with. We believed more could have been done to explore passive trapping, removal and rehoming, particularly when advocates were willing to help. Defence maintained that previous attempts had been unsuccessful, but we questioned whether every reasonable alternative had truly been exhausted.
The memories of the Guy Fawkes River National Park aerial cull in 2000 were still very real for the brumby community. The thought of another population of wild horses facing the same fate was devastating.
At the time, Christopher Pyne was the Minister for Defence, and we were deeply disappointed by the response to the concerns raised by advocates and the community. We felt unheard, dismissed and powerless as the operation proceeded despite our efforts.
On 19 December 2018, the Singleton Army Base brumbies were aerially culled.
Every single one of them.
The operation took place away from public view, and we were left relying on official assurances that it had been conducted humanely. Defence maintained that the operation complied with animal welfare standards, but we have never accepted aerial shooting as a humane outcome for these horses.
As the years have passed, further information and questions surrounding the operation have continued to reinforce how deeply we disagree with the decision that was made.
We still mourn the Singleton brumbies. We mourn the horses themselves, the generations of history lost with them and the future they never had the opportunity to experience.
We often wonder what might have happened if we had been given more time, more support and a genuine opportunity to work towards another outcome.
Their story remains an important part of ours, and it is one of the reasons we continue to advocate for the welfare and future of Australia's brumbies.
They may be gone, but they have never been forgotten.
PICTURE: A moment from our efforts to save the Singleton brumbies. Pictured alongside Ayla is Michael Johnson MP, former MP Peter Cochran and a dedicated brumby advocate who had opened her home to orphaned foals.
Ayla heavily pregnant at the time, with my one-year-old son being held by Michael Johnson, this photograph is a reminder of just how much this fight meant to us, and how long our commitment to Australia's brumbies has been part of our lives.
May 2020 – Standing With the Victorian High Country Brumbies
Fast forward to 16 May 2020, when our journey with the Australian Brumby took us 11 hours from home to Nunniong, in Victoria's High Country, near Kosciuszko National Park. High in the mountains, these beautiful wild horses had made their lives among rugged landscapes, steep terrain and some of Australia's harshest conditions.
With a planned aerial cull threatening the Nunniong brumbies, we organised a convoy of advocates to travel into the mountains, camp and protest the proposed operation. It was a last-minute decision, with limited boots on the ground and very little time to prepare, but we knew we wanted to be there.
We met Gabriela Black (MBS), Joedy Everley and a handful of other incredible advocates whose names have unfortunately faded from memory over the years, but whose contributions were no less important.
To say we were unprepared would be an understatement. We had travelled 11 hours into the Victorian mountains without nearly enough blankets or proper camping arrangements. We slept in our car, absolutely freezing, and were incredibly grateful to the locals who welcomed us around their fire, kept us warm and shared their stories of the brumbies that called those mountains home.
Despite the cold, there was something unforgettable about lying beneath the stars, knowing we were sleeping in the very landscape these horses had called home for generations.
We stayed for as long as we possibly could, regularly travelling to find phone reception so we could provide updates and remain in contact with other advocates. We worked together to cover as much ground as possible, and Joedy's knowledge of the area was invaluable in helping us position ourselves where we needed to be.
When the planned cull was temporarily called off, we were able to make the long journey home to return to work and our two young boys.
But what we took away from Nunniong was something that has stayed with us ever since.
We witnessed the incredible beauty of the Victorian High Country, the rugged terrain these horses navigate and the impact of human activity throughout the mountains. We saw brumbies in their natural surroundings and gained a greater appreciation for their ability to survive in such challenging country.
We also became more aware of the complicated realities surrounding wild horse populations, including the issue of domestic horses being dumped in remote areas. During one of our explorations, an injured mare was discovered who was later successfully caught and taken into care.
Being there gave us something that photographs, news reports and conversations simply couldn't provide: firsthand experience of Australian brumbies living in the wild, the landscapes they inhabit and the challenges surrounding their management and protection.
Nunniong remains one of the most memorable experiences of our advocacy journey. Not just because of the horses, but because of the people who came together, the knowledge they shared and the lengths they were willing to go to for animals they believed deserved a better outcome.
Pictured: Brumbies at Nunniong, who delighted us with our first sighting early one morning. The frozen ground says it all about just how cold that night was, in fact, we had only gone for a drive to get the car heater going and warm ourselves up.
From Advocacy to Hands-On Experience
As the years went on, our involvement with Australian brumbies continued in many different forms, from being on the ground to advocating online, writing to Members of Parliament and fighting the fight that so many brumby supporters know all too well.
Shannon went on to spend several years working with brumbies at various sanctuaries and private homes throughout Victoria, often spending months away at a time. During those years, she gained invaluable experience, although she would be the first to tell you that some of her greatest lessons came from the brumbies themselves.
An experienced, exceptionally gentle and patient horse handler, Shannon has helped many brumbies navigate their transition from wild horses into domestic life. Her approach has always centred around patience, understanding and allowing each horse the time it needs to develop trust and confidence. Every brumby is different, and the lessons they have taught her continue to shape the way we work with horses today.
Over the years, we have supported and been involved with numerous brumby sanctuaries and rescue organisations. We are grateful for each and every experience, the people we have met and the knowledge we have gained along the way.
Our journey eventually led us to establishing a sanctuary alongside New Dawn Safe Haven Inc, another valuable chapter in our story. Through that experience, we gained further insight into the responsibilities and challenges of running an animal sanctuary, before eventually separating and establishing our own independent organisation, Herd On The Ridge Inc.
During our time working alongside New Dawn Safe Haven Inc and its dedicated team, we helped secure homes for Dragon, Rosie, Bailey, Zippy, Estelle, Bindi, Magic and Wynter. Many of these horses had experienced varying levels of trauma, uncertainty or behavioural challenges, making their need for stability, patience and appropriate care particularly important.
Each of these horses has their own story, personality and challenges, and they have all played a part in shaping what Herd On The Ridge has become today.
What began as a fight to protect Australian brumbies in the wild has grown into something much bigger: a commitment to providing them with safety, understanding and a future beyond the circumstances they came from.