Paleface the King of the Mountain one very special Brumby! I can only say that to be in his presence always humbles me and to have the ability to capture it on camera and share with you all is something that I’ll always have gratitude for! Photo copyright to Carol Hancock
I ·absolutely love seeing this boy thrive!! Sometimes the life of the stallions in the wild are not the easiest and to see the injuries of stallions that have lost can be pretty heart wrenching. Though Apollo wasn’t the instigator of injuries caused to one of our favorite Roan Stallions, he definitely is worthy of the prize, In this case the Pali mare. Spending last light this afternoon with Apollo, the Pali and her bubba, Palis daughter, her brand new foal and the rest of his now growing herd was an absolute delight. All horses are happy settled and chatting to Apollo with nickers of affection and he is proving to be one glorious lead stallion! Photo taken today and Copyright to Carol Hancock
With the news of finding the Pali mare, Apollo etc I want to discuss colour genetics.This first time Mumma is actual out of the Pali mare and assumedly by the Roan stallion. First glance she is Buckskin, she was born Buckskin but now her head is Bucky and the rest of her body is showing roan tendencies. This gorgeous foal once again we will assume is by a Grey, other photos are showing he may not grey out and looks to be a burnt buckskin. Can those in the now assist in what (a) you think her colour is? And (b) if foals daddy is indeed the grey even though he looks Bucky are the chances he will grey? Love to hear your thoughts. Photo Copyright to Carol Hancock
We all get tired and need time out. Time out to refill our batteries, regain perspective and just simply stop and regroup. Spending time with Posterboy does all that for me and this morning watching his mare wander off to contemplate foaling was no different.
As the shooting ban comes to an end we need to really understand that these guys are not safe. To think Australia a forward thinking country that strives to lead alongside world leaders……… yet doesn’t attempt to find the middle ground with the community and stoops to such an inhumane way of culling, just dumbfounds me. In all my research I have done no other country resorts to shooting as a culling method for equines, in fact in most western countries it is completely illegal to do so. This is because it is barbaric, cruel and completely inhumane.
As a photographer I constantly observe and am very often absolutely amazed to the depths of their bonds with each other, the “anti Brumby brigade” thinks I am being emotive…. If that is their argument, then why are they are afraid to actually research the brumbies. Im talking tag, document, note and research the Brumby itself? Not the land around it and assume that it is the Brumby. Why are they afraid to acknowledge Kiandra history and that the northern end of Kosciusko will never be pristine? As in my last post these plains have a major history of gold mining and will never get back to what it was, There are even ‘Asbestos’ areas fenced off! Why are they afraid to acknowledge that the Snowy Mountains has 16 major dams? Dams that man have made and have completely and drastically changed the environment. I could keep going on and on but I just wanted to share some of my contemplations.
Please everyone, take a moment, rest up, regroup and fight for not only the Snowy Mountain Brumby but also for their Victorian counterparts who are also losing their lives. There are plenty of advocate groups you can join, support and assist, something is better then nothing and the Brumbies need you!! On that note I hope to post a good news story with Posterboys new addition over the next couple of days. Remember stop, regroup and refill those batteries x Photo Copyright to Carol Hancock
As requested meet the herd. I will share close ups through the week and a little bit of my thoughts with the dynamic. The Back Brown mare is his first love, he won her over when she was young and she trusts him impeccably, the taller youngster is hers and a colt approx 18 months old, the second is her weanling filly. If she feel in foal heat she will be due mid to late Sep ish. The buckskin is an older mare, there is an aged flighty buckskin mare running in the back country so assuming she is related to her, the foal is a wee little filly that is curious, placid and just a bundle of joy. The roan looks to be maiden and comfortably in foal, a very sweet girl indeed that has a very soft nature. The all look to him for leadership and protection and after being under Palefaces regime for so many years, he has everything and more in what we expect of a Brumby Stallion, he has now come back into the territory fires he roamed before the fires ………. here is hoping the mares consent to staying here as by the looks of it PB has his sights on doing exactly that!Photo Copyright to Carol Hancock
Photo copyright to Carol Hancock#SustainablePopulations #Brumbies
It just causes me incredible grief to write this and most of you are probably well aware of the deliberate shooting of 11 horses on the Kiandra plains. There are many posts out there now, I just didn’t want to post until I went and visited the site myself. After doing so I have also made the decision not to make any of my photos public, there are plenty out there for you to view but what I want you all to do is to get angry and take action!
It is absolutely sickening how these horses where shot under the guise of being within the parameters of the management plan. No trapping in the area has been recently attempted, there is ample old trapping sites that could have easily been reused so absolutely no excuse by Parks to claim “Last resort”.
The Kiandra area itself housed 15,000 people in its hey day, served by 25 stores, 13 bakers, 16 butchers, 14 pubs, several banks and four blacksmiths, has been mined, sluiced, tuned upside down and back up again and now currently the home to some major construction, most certainly isnt a pristine plain and never could be.
It is also worth noting that the shooting has also taken place in a retention area within the management plan so please how you chose to advocate for the Brumby is completely up to you but again I beg of you all, just do something……………. anything! No matter how we look at it, shooting an equine, allowing them to bleed out, allowing mares to spontaneously abort is just downright cruel!
If you dont know how to take action, there are many groups you can join such as Bugspray, who is working hard with the radio media to get this senseless killing out there and on one hell of a mission to seek clear and honest answers on to why this has happened.
Lastly, I am very grateful for everyones support, the emails, messages and texts that you all have sent, that in itself has been overwhelming and means the world to me. We just now need to support those that can get answers and that have the power to stop this from ever happening again, it should never have had happened in the first place!
Look at how this boy is growing! With a guesstimate that he will be about 4 or 5 now, he still doesn’t have a mare to call his own ……….. but I have the feeling that he wont be searching for much longer as he certainly has matured into a very nice Brumby Stallion. Photo Copyright to Carol Hancock
Nelle's journey 