The story of 7 neglected and abandoned horses, who roamed the Wollombi Valley for 15+ years, before the 2020 Black Summer bushfires revealed their existence and enabled their rescue by a team of amazing equine guardians. Quite suddenly, near Paynes Crossing in the Wollombi Valley, seven horses appeared. They’d been living wild, on thousands of acres of bush. When the fences went, and their acres b
urned, they came off the wild land into our hands. They were old Standardbreds – trotters - horses who apparently raced for a man who retired them to his place after racing and then died. Few people knew the horses were there. When we found them, they were thin; they’d had no care, no proper feed, for years. They were old – all over 20 – and tough; they’d had to be. Ashleigh Power & Fiona Migan, local horsewomen, set up a Facebook fundraising page: “a call to all equine guardians.” Within days, there was $9000 to help the horses get the care they much needed and save them from being separated or even worse…sent to the knackery. The money raised went straight to work: vet assessment, worming, and their overgrown, rough teeth were attended to. Equine nutritionist Carol Layton from Balanced Equine designed a feeding plan for them. And then we had to find a home for them. They were temporarily with some friends with limited arable land. Sometimes you wonder if you’ve witnessed a miracle. The owners of on old homestead close to Wollombi offered up acres of good country, with good dams, and complete with an old but sturdy shed for feed and equipment. So one day in February (Valentine’s Day, in fact), a flotilla of horse floats went to get them – and we wondered what the boys would think of floats, after all their wild time. Like gentlemen, they walked right on – and approved their new home. The Lost Stock Team developed: a group of “equine guardians” who worked a roster for feeding – initially twice a day, then once a day. The donated funds bought feed, hay, whatever they needed; and slowly, slowly, those ribby shapes filled out. Each has his own personality, from shy and retiring to abundantly confident. Some love being brushed and pampered while some took a while to realise we were friends, and we loved them. It was with the greatest sadness that we had to let one of the boys go earlier this year. Uncle had a tendency to “choke” – to get a blockage in his esophagus. After two pretty severe incidents of choke the vet advised that this wasn’t going to improve so we had to make the decision to euthanase him …tears in the eyes of every one of the Lost Stock Team. The herd now consists of:
Pops – is top of the herd yet extremely shy when it comes to humans. Baz – bold and chilled out and takes everything in his stride. He shares his food with the bottom of the herd (Braveheart) and is partial to a brush. He surprised us all early on when he leapt up half a metre in to the feeding barn on to the wooden floor. Juniper - a very gentle and easy going fellow with a gorgeous thick forelock. He was the first to be caught in the wild when the herd was found. He suffers quite badly from ‘the itch’. Fitch – sassy, lean and fast on his feet. Fitch is bossy at feed time and knows exactly where his place is in the pecking order. Zoro – black, fat and confident. It is not uncommon to arrive and find Zoro covered in muddy residue from his daily swim in the dam. Zoro picked up condition and is quick to put Braveheart in his place. Braveheart – captures hearts in a second. He is the bottom of the herd pecking order and has a respiratory issue so we aren’t sure how long we will have him with us. He is fed at the back of the barn away from the other horses and often will just wait at the back of the barn while the others are getting fed and will peek out waiting for his
These old boys have a strong hold on a lot of hearts – those who physically look after them, and all those fabulous people – those ‘equine guardians’ - who have donated money, hay, feed, and much love. They won’t last forever. But we want to give every one of them a safe, secure and happy old age. Whilst we are running a tight ship, at the end of the day caring for six elderly horses is not cheap and the fundraising must go on for as long as they need us. We welcome your donation to help us continue to keep them thriving and assure you that any donations will get put to great use.
$20 buys a full bale of hay
$40 buys a bag of hard feed
$100 buys wormers for all of the horses
$300 pays for all the horses to have their feet trimmed
$500 pays for all the horses to have their dentistry done
The huge hearted property owners
- Jack, Margaret, Clare & Martin
Lost Stock Equine Guardians so far
- Tegan Howell & Alan Taylor
- Ash Power & her colleagues
- Jed the Irishman
- Gail & Peter Scott
- Becky Soans
- Naiomi Young
- Tanya Hardin & Summer Bolton
- Louisa Farthing
- Kerri Moore
- Alessia Richards
- Roz Holmes
- Ros McCool
- Team Thomas – Matt, Sandy, Jaimie
- Aneka Adams
- Gill Holden
- Lillian McCall
- Peter Fryer
Professionals who have offered their time and services at a discount or fee free
- Carol Layton, Balanced Equine – Nutrition plan and free minerals https://balancedequine.com.au/
- Suzy Roe & Apptrak Stud – Discounted horse feed, delivery and support from afar https://www.facebook.com/Apptrak-Stud-157097831028209
- Peats Ridge Equestrian Supplies – free halters, leads and a ton of grooming gear https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Shopping---Retail/Peats-Ridge-Equestrian-Supplies-136517423084745/
- Louisa Farthing from Horse Response – free worm scoping https://www.horseresponse.org
- Dr Diederik Gelderman from Southern Highlands Veterinary Hospital for amazing dental work and equine health care https://www.highlandsveterinaryhospital.com.au/vetsteam/diederik-gelderman/
- Ryan – Ryan’s Farrier Service
