26/05/2026
This is Scout, with her filly, River
Trapped in early April 2021.
The 1st Kosciuszko Brumby for Tir Caim.
5 years ago.
5 long years.
We thought it was a rough deal for the horses back then.
We all knew there was a hell of a war on the way and we were ready & willing to stand up to fight for our Brumby.
Australia is supposed to be a democracy, we the people were supposed to get a say.
We didn't realise then, just how low they would go, or that truth was off the table.
We didn't realise the magnitude of deception, corruption or just plain malicious, selfish intent would be involved.
I don't think anybody ever actually believed they would ever go this far.
It wasn't possible!
There were lines they couldn't cross!
But they crossed them.
Now the horses are almost extinct.
I truly hoped, at every step along the way, that all we were doing would be eventually unnecessary.
That someone would just wake up & realise this is a terrible mistake & just stop!
Before it was too late.
But they didn't.
They actually covered up the truth & pushed the eradication plan through faster.
We were never going to be able to save them all, that was a fact.
So I tried not to focus on numbers, we just did what we could, when we could.
But now we are almost at the end of the road, I've thought about it.
Now, given the reliability of government figures, (*cough, cough, bu****it*)
I will have to average it .....but....its about 1%..
2 humans.
5 years.
$2 Million dollars.
Only 1%.
Two humans, over 5 years, at a personal cost of two million dollars (yes, our money from our wallet, not crowd funded), have only managed to save just under 1% of the population that has been slaughtered.
For every 1 we saved, they killed 99.
I am never going to be able to reconcile that reality in my head or heart.
Never.
It's really hard to look at 1 horse & be proud in any way when I know there were 99 others I couldn't do a damn thing for.
5 years ago, I honestly believed we could stand together & make a difference.
If i knew then, what I know now, would I have still done it?
Short answer is No.
No, I would not have become a 'publicly known' registered rehomer.
No, I would not have stepped into the political advocacy side of it all.
Yes, I would have still registered with Parks.
Yes, I would have still built Tir Caim & taken in every horse i could take, that needed a home & care.
But I would have stayed completely private.
Because in most situations, the people I believed were working with the same goal as I, saving brumbies, were the greatest detriment to the brumbies I took into sanctuary.
Because self funded life sanctuary was apparently fine for the old brown mares, the short 'anonymous' stallion or the dog truck orphan that wasn't going to get right quick enough to be sold....
But how dare I take in anything that could be sold!
They needed the pretty ones to fund their next acquisitions....or birth more in the future to keep the cash flowing.
They needed the flash & flurry to spruik up the socials & get donations rolling in.
They needed to be the biggest & the best.
I didn't realise it was all a competition with a changeable rule book & behind the scenes players.
I've been thrown under the bus so many times I honestly think my back should be classified a designated carriageway.
But that's my job.
One of the things you now do running a sanctuary is be the shield.
I take the hits, socially, financially & sometimes physically, to keep my horses safe.
Because I honestly believe that every horse, no matter the age, size, colour or s*x, deserved a chance to just continue living without obligation to humans.
At no point were any of those horses given any choice.
I chose to 'save' them & I won't demand restitution from them or anyone else for their ability to simply live their lives.
When I was asked for my preference by parks I answered the same way everytime.
Let everyone else pick them over.
Load my truck last & pack it with everything left in the yards so the dogger truck stays empty.
In all honesty the worst thing that could have happened for the brumbies is the social media based 'Save the brumby' sub groups.
They say the best way to wreck a good thing is get all people involved, well that played out 100% correct.
The amount of fraud, deception, malicious interference & just plain profiteering that went on was enough to curl your toes.
Good people were torn down for nothing, leaving horses with no hope.
Why?
So a small portion of humans could grab a few more dollars & another 30 seconds of Facebook Fame...
A lot of the time there was very little actual concern for the horse in the horse rescues...as long as it looked good & the money kept coming for them.
I guess that's just what some humans do.
But it made it 100x harder for the people who were trying to do right.
I'm often asked why I don't get on the socials & do it that way.
Well, it's because I'd rather have to sell a kidney to feed my horses than sell my soul on Facebook.
When I've asked for community help it's always been as a last resort & for every kindness there's been a healthy dose of hate.
It's hard enough to struggle in a crisis & need to beg strangers for hay money, but it's even harder still knowing ill be thanking 1 person while another person kicks me in the teeth..
So here we are.
At the end of the road, witnesses to our history being written out of the story.
Innocent beings who've fully assimilated to Australia, evolved to become truly Australian, hunted down & annihilated with no care or concern for their pain or the loss to Australia as a whole.
For the few wild ones still free in KNP I do still hope for a miracle, a bloody quick miracle.
But I fear their journey may very soon be over, to the detriment of not only the park, but every Australian that ever gave a damn.
Sadly, most people don't even realise what they've now lost.
For Tir Caim, and the few genuine life sanctuaries, the journey will now continue for many years yet.
We are the guardians of the last of our living Brumby and colonial history now.
The horses we keep in sanctuary could very well be all we have left.
We took on the responsibility, we shoulder the burdens & we all still hope when the dust settles you will remember us with kindness & support.
May the Gods now save the Brumbies because Labor fu***ng won't!
