Wildhorses of Western Australia

Talk about short notice!!!….due to the conveniences of modern technology we were informed on Tuesday last week that a mob of horses had been yarded on a station in central WA and were in the process of being sorted. The meat truck was arriving on the Saturday so any attempt to get some horses out had be sooner rather than later.

A flurry of phone calls resulted in a massive truck being hired, our driver, Ian Hutchins offering four days unpaid work to get us there and back, and Fred Watkins, a great horse trainer all ready to go in record time.

Fred’s wife, Rachel, who managed to boost Telstra’s income quite considerably over the whole affair, managed to find us some hay to backload up to the station, plus donated hay from two local farmers…many thanks to both.

Once again Ross Quartermaine, former owner of Earaheedy, hosted us motley bunch in Kalgoorlie…both on the way up and on the way back…thanks for the stew Ross!

We arrived at the station in the dark having had to spend a bit of time in Kalgoorlie reconstituting the exhaust system on the truck, subsequent to a disagreement with a tree in Fred’s driveway!…the owners were generous hosts and a large roast dinner was awaiting us…no weight loss on this trip!

We were all up at first light…a combination of excitement at meeting the horses and beating the heat…we were expecting 43% that day…a stark contrast to the 20% of down south!

We were not disappointed with what we saw. The horses had been drafted in to different groups…heavy, medium stallions, 1 to 2 year olds and mares and foals.

A lot of the horses had been accounted for so our choice came down to mainly weanlings and mares….we managed to elect 15 from there…thanks goodness I had Fred and Hutch to help me with the decision making progress…never an easy task.

The new managers on the station have to be congratulated for attempting to address the wild horse problem…their aim is to reduce the numbers to a manageable level and to breed select animals. The base genetic core is very strong and the horses will breed true to type…as you can see by the pictures they are classical Walers.

Unfortunately to achieve that end, a cull is necessary, never a pleasant situation for anybody, but at least this way there is a degree of selection involved. We hope to help them achieve a viable market for their horses in the future.

Meanwhile, back in the yards with the dust flying, our 15 horses were drafted out and loaded with the minimum of fuss…the bottom of the trailer was full of hay so it looked pretty attractive to them!

We stopped for a night in the Kalgoorlie stockyards…always a strange experience in that the east west horse transporters unload there and they are usually carrying a precious cargo of expensive horseflesh…and there are our skinny wildies milling about in total contrast!

However, we do know that one day they will be fat and shiny and be someone’s best friend!

We dropped seven horses off with Fred and the remaining eight came south. The novelty of food on the ground is always a first priority for the wildies…then sheer curiosity sets in …it must be a total culture shock for these guys to see ridden horses, dogs, people, tractors , bikes etc…you should see all the eyes popping out of heads!

Fred has had one sick colt in his mob, Joey…he had had his ear bitten and the wound had become infected. He was catapulted in to halter breaking and handling so he could be treated …all of which he coped with admirably well. Fingers crossed of an uneventful recovery!

As a result of the interest these horses have generated we are having an Open Day on Sat 5th at Fred and Rachel’s place at Bakers Hill in the hills behind Perth.

We aim to have a number of our heritage horses there for people to meet…ranging from 13hh to 16hh . Fred is going to start some of the weanlings from this recent mob …a marvellous opportunity to see a wild horse touched for the first time. There will be plenty representatives from the Outback Heritage Horse Association there to answer questions and explain the aims and future of the charity.

For any further information on the Open Day please call…

Sheila Greenwell…04 1890 5835

Katherine Waddington…08 9756 0709

Rachel Watkins…08 9574 1929

Fran Current Rescues