Liam McNally
Four wild brumbies saved from potential culling have arrived in Melton from Kosciuszko National Park to be broken in by a young horse trainer.
At 23 years-old, Maddison Buckner has already been breaking-in horses for eight years and on Tuesday, June 20 received four new brumbies which she is now in the process of training.
Ms Buckner received her brumbies from Indigo Brumbies who are helping to relocate horses that may otherwise be culled.
The NSW government considers wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park a pest, in 2022 it estimates there are 18,814 horses in the park, and the 2021 Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan recommends getting the population down to 3000 in the park through a variety of methods including culling.
Ms Buckner said the brumbies are intelligent creatures and she doesn’t agree that they should be killed, she will spend about three months training the horses before finding a permanent home for them.
The process requires slowly building trust with the animals, introducing new items slowly, until you can eventually ride them.
“They’re cool, they’re really smart. They’re different from other horses. Only the toughest survive out in the wild,” she said.
She said breaking-in wild horses is dangerous, but she likes the challenge.
“I like that bit of adrenaline rush, and the reward of it – the problem solving that comes from working with horses,” she said.
“Domestic horses can actually be more aggressive when they’ve had bad experiences with humans, but brumbies are blank canvases.
“They’ve been really good, in comparison to the brumby I got last year, these guys are much more inquisitive and quiet. The stallion who is almost 15 has already got a halter on and I can brush him.”
