Australian Brumby Challenge | Charity organisation

Australian Brumby Challenge

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25.01.2022 DAY ONE OF OUR McDOWELLS AUSTRALIAN BRUMBY CHALLENGE! It has been a crazy crazy year and on several occasions we honestly didn’t know if the Australian Brumby Challenge would be able to go ahead. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on every aspect of all Australians life. It really has been a great unknown. EQUITANA have worked hard to ensure that their event, which is our Finals event can go ahead safely and if it can’t, that we have a solid Plan B. McDowells Herbal have also onc...e again stepped in to partner with us in running the Challenge it is incredible to be able to partner with an Australian Family company with the same values that we have. We are so excited to be able to launch our McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge 2020 this weekend! We want to thank all of the Trainers who have been so enthusiastic and our committee for their hard work and dedication. So! We have spent the past week sorting out our ‘Class of 2020’ we started with 26 Brumbies in the pool and have had final vet checks, microchips for all the mares ( the boys were microchipped when they were gelded) and here they are! It is kind of emotional, drafting these Brumbies out into smaller groups and preparing them to go off with their allocated trainers. Looking back through photos, we have realised how far some of them have come! Our Brumbies for this years McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge originate from Bogong High Plains in Victoria and Kosciuszko National Park and Bago State Forest in New South Wales. It’s been exciting seeing them blossom with us and now they start the next step of their journey. Photos show the mares when we brought them up on Thursday for Vet checks and microchips. These mares were almost all pregnant when they arrived with us - they were turned out to have and rear their foals in wild mobs, the only way they know. We let them raise their foals and after they are weaned, the mares go back to the paddock to have up to one year of just being healthy and strong. They have grown and developed so much and we are excited to follow their journey over the next 150 days! We will bring you the Challenge boys in another post.

24.01.2022 INTRODUCING McDOWELLS AUSTRALIAN BRUMBY CHALLENGE TRAINERS ANGIE WICKS AND BRIAR MORRIS! ANGIE WICKS Angie lives in Biddaddaba, QLD and has had a strong love and understanding for horses since she was a young child. She's developed her own way of communicating with horses and now runs a horse training center with her husband. Angie has comprehensive knowledge and skills on ground work, young horse handling, problem solving and liberty training. Angie has also competed at FEI...Continue reading

24.01.2022 Welcome JJ to the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge! We are delighted to welcome Trainer JJ Bracey to the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge! JJ applied to undertake the ABC but due to our COVID restrictions, it didn’t look like it was possible for her to do it. That is, until Tamara Janus withdrew for family reasons. That left the Brumby she had been training, VBA Fiora, in need of a trainer and JJ was thrilled to step up and take Fiora on! JJ is 16 years old. She is ...from the Northern Territory, where she works with a variety of horses, including her local Brumbies. She enjoys getting to know each horse that comes her way and helping them find their potential. Fiora has safely arrived with JJ in the Northern Territory and is settling in well. She has had a quiet week, while she and JJ get to know each other. As JJ commences training Fiora, she will be going right back to the beginnings to ensure that Fiora understands JJs approach and keep things simple and reliable for Fiora. We are really looking forward to following JJ and Fiora through the rest of the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge!

21.01.2022 ..here are some of our Australian Brumby Challenge boys!

20.01.2022 WHAT IS GOING ON?! Well you might ask! It has been a crazy year but if there is one thing that COVID-19 has taught us, it is to be flexible and focus on what we CAN control and what we LOVE. EQUITANA Melbourne has been cancelled, but the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge continues. We did seriously consider cancelling, well before we sent the Brumbies off with the trainers, but we feel so strongly that it is important to have something positive in our year. Something that... shows that kindness and empathy bring results and something that shows how very trainable and amazing Brumbies are. We think that is what our Australian Brumby Challenge is all about. Increasingly, Brumbies in the wild in Australia are at risk. In many parts of the media and even sometimes from those that you would think are ‘pro Brumby’, adult Brumbies are written off as ‘too old’, ‘untrainable’ and just ‘not worth it’. Each time we call for trainers, we encounter those who think that anything over 4 years old is ‘rubbish’. We think that that says more about those trainers than the Brumbies. Do we know what our finals event will look like? Nope. Are we planning and counter planning to ensure that you will see the finals in some format? Yes! Do we have 14 amazing Brumbies undertaking this incredible journey? Yes. Have we been blown away by the positivity and keen-ness of our skilled trainers? Definitely! Will we have Brumbies from the ABC looking for their forever homes after the finals? Yes! So hang on, Brumby folk, and enjoy the ride, as we take these Brumbies from Wild to Wonderful between now and November! Photo shows trainer Mick Mason and VBA Shortcake in week one of their journey together.

18.01.2022 TRAINER FEATURE LOUISE BLAMPIED AND VBA CHARLOTTE AND FLINDERS GREENTREE AND VBA CLOUD: SUNDAY 5TH JULY 2020 We will be introducing you to two of our wonderful trainers each day this week. We are absolutely delighted to be working with such a great group of skilled and empathetic trainers for our McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge 2020 and we know that you will love following their journey through the coming months. Louise Blampied and VBA Charlotte... Louise lives in Karabeal, VIC and has spent most of her career around horses, from trekking in the snowy mountains and Canada to cattle station work in far North Queensland. She also makes custom saddlery and has appeared in many horse/saddlery magazines. Louise enjoys working with less-handled horses as she feels you can gain an incredible bond through trust by using pressure and release technique. She believes that ‘more is achieved with the carrot than the stick and would rather a horse do something for her because she asked it to or because it wants to rather than because it is afraid of the repercussions VBA Charlotte is a light brown mare with a crooked stripe. She was caught from the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales in July 2017. Charlotte was pregnant when she was caught and gave birth to her filly, VBA Fern, after her arrival at our Brumby Junction sanctuary. After Fern was old enough to wean, Charlotte was returned to our larger paddocks to grow strong and healthy. You can read Louises week one update with Charlotte here: https://australianbrumbychallenge.com.au/louise-and-charlot Flinders Greentree and VBA Cloud. Flinders lives in Maldon VIC. Growing up in a small country town, Flinders began horsemanship at the age of 12 years old. Developing and practising his own techniques through a natural understanding around horses, he competed in the 2018 Brumby challenge and placed first with VBA Brandy. Since then he has been focusing on creating a liberty team. Flinders believes in using clicker training and listening to the horse as an individual. Through his natural horsemanship techniques Flinders' aim is to set each horse up for a lifetime of success. VBA Cloud is a solid Brown mare who was caught from the Bogong High Plains in Victoria in April 2018 with her 18 month old filly VBA Matilda and was turned out in our larger paddocks in case she was in foal. She proved not to be carrying a foal and has been brought in for our McDowell's Australian Brumby Challenge. You can read Flinders week 1 update with Cloud here: https://australianbrumbychallenge.com.au/vba-cloud Welcome to the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge, Louise and Flinders! We can’t wait to follow your journey with VBA Charlotte and VBA Cloud!

18.01.2022 TRAINER FEATURE: EMMA BRYANT AND TRAI BRYANT EMMA BRYANT Emma lives in Ungarie, NSW and grew up around horses on her mothers stud farm. Riding by the age of 2 and having her first pony at the age of 6 she quickly gained a good understanding of kind horsemanship which she learnt while starting her first horse at the age of 14. Emma is passionate about sharing all she has learnt with others and she started her own equine service www.equalityequine.com where she enjoys helping ...troubled horses. Emma believes that ‘Horses are our Equals, and all have the capacity to be our loyal friends’. This is reflected in Emma’s training, she’s developed her own approach based around understanding and listening to the horse and how they interact with us. Building a connection encourages them to breath and relax therefore they learn to enjoy our company. Emma successfully competed in the 2018 ABC with VBA Waratah. VBA ROSE: VBA Rose is a Black mare with a gorgeous full blaze. She was caught from Victoria's Bogong High Plains in April 2019. As Rose had been running wild, with stallions, she was turned out into our larger paddocks but has shown to not be in foal at capture and has therefore been chosen to go in our McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge with Emma. TRAI BRYANT Trai got his first horse at the age of 7 and currently has a Quarter Horse named Legend. He has been working in his family business Equality Equine Services for 9 years and in 2018 he undertook the Australian Brumby Yearling Challenge with VBA Lucky. Trai enjoys using a soft, connected way of training to build a calm, connected and trusting horse. The horses holistic health is important to Trai as he believes that for them to be their best, they need to feel their best. VBA KATANI: VBA Katani is a rich bright bay mare. She was caught from Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales in 2018. Thankfully she wasn’t pregnant at capture, so she has spent her time growing and enjoying her freedom in our larger paddocks at the Brumby Junction sanctuary until the commencement of the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge.

17.01.2022 INTRODUCING TRAINERS TANYA HARRIS AND APRIL HARVEY MONDAY 6th JULY 2020 TANYA HARRIS AND VBA BRINDABELLA Tanya lives in Goulburn NSW and has been obsessed with horses from a young age. She attended pony club, attempting every discipline through much trial and error. At 15 Tanya began retraining horses and by 18 she travelled overseas to further her knowledge working with horses. Once returned Tanya obtained a bachelor degree in equine business management. From there she conti...Continue reading

14.01.2022 We are shattered to announce the passing of one of our beautiful Brumbies. VBA Brindabella was being lovingly trained by Tanya Harris in the Australian Brumby Challenge. She passed away suddenly overnight, after eating a good dinner and with no obvious cause. Tanya Harris has written the following: ‘VBA Brindabella was truly loved in her time with me. Our journey was filled with joy, fear, sorrow, excitement and many, many new experiences. Our journey was never straight forw...ard but we both learnt and grew from our experiences. Beautiful Brindi as she was known whilst she was here taught me a lot about tuning into the experience and just taking time in each moment. Brindi learnt so many new things, she learnt to trust so much including being haltered, going for a walk and a graze, being introduced to domesticated horses, dogs, quad bikes, horses being worked around her. She became accustomed to being fed and watered everyday, being interacted with in some form. We started slow waiting for Brin’s personality to come out and had worked up to being able to handle her front and back feet, being trimmed, being brushed, removing knots from mane and tail. Brindi enjoyed scratches and hugs when she wanted them and more if they were accompanied by lucernce chaff or carrots. I am truly shellshocked by the loss of Brindi as there was no obvious injury or cause and was fine on night time check but had sadly passed away before morning feed time, she will be truly missed by myself and all those following her journey. I had dedicated so much time to working with her that she truly stole a piece of my heart, she will be forever missed.’ Please understand that this is a very difficult time. We are so deeply shattered to lose Brindi, just as she was finding her way in the world. Our hearts go out to Tanya and her family who had shown her so much love and kindness. Also, to our volunteers and committee who loved and cared for Brindabella. We all believed in Brindi, we loved her and we wish so much that we had more time with her. Rest peacefully Brindi. Run free. Thankyou Donna Crebbin -Pixs Pics- Photography for the stunning photo.

13.01.2022 TRAINER INTRODUCTION: HAYLEY HINTON AND DALLAS AND MICK MASON AND SHORTCAKE Hayley Hinton is a 23 year old farrier and trainer from Myrtleford Victoria. She competes in Stockmens Challenges and in her spare time tries to save, train and rehome as many Brumbies as possible. She wishes that everyone could see how amazing these Brumbies turn out so that a few more could end up with great homes. When working with an unhandled horse, Hayley's first goal is to gain their trust and ...Continue reading

12.01.2022 Here it is folks - next Tuesdays Rally for the Brumbies! We are going and we hope so much that we will see you there! This is our chance to put our time and effort where our mouth is! Facebook has huge numbers of Brumby supporters - please, please come to the Rally if you can!

11.01.2022 .AND THEY ARE OFF! SATURDAY 5TH June 2020 Today, we loaded our six Brumbies that were headed off to warmer weather in NSW and Qld. Whenever we need to transport unhandled Brumbies, we always work with the team at M&J Peterson Horse Handling and Breaking Horse Transport. These guys are calm, empathetic and they are just wonderful with our wild ones! Thankyou so much to Matt and Logan who headed off on the long trip up to Upper Caboolture Via NSW with our precious cargo! We ar...e a little jealous of the warmer weather these Brumbies will get to experience and can’t wait to see them again in 150 days with their trainers at our finals event at EQUITANA Melbourne 2020 McDowells Herbal #wildtowonderful #heritagebrumbies #mcdowells #equitana

11.01.2022 Only four more days until we can announce the successful trainers from those who have applied for the McDowells Herbal Australian Brumby Challenge! We have been blown away by the quality of the applicants and are so excited to start working together with them to help our beautiful Brumbies along their journey from Wild to Wonderful! To the Trainers who have applied - we thank you for your patience! We will be finishing off all calls this week and can't wait to speak to you al...l again! Photo shows some of our potential candidates for the Australian Brumby Challenge! #wildtowonderful #victorianbrumbyassociation #brumbylivesmatter #australianbrumbychallenge #equitana #mcdowellsherbal

09.01.2022 We are looking forwards to seeing many supporters for all Brumbies right across Australia at tomorrows Rally in Melbourne! Make sure you come and say Hi!

09.01.2022 MCDOWELLS HERBALS WHAT A DIFFERENCE! SUNDAY 5THJULY 2020 We are thrilled to be once again partnering with McDowells Herbal for our McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge in 2020! McDowells are skilled herbalists with an incredibly knowledge of horse (and human, cat, dog!) health! Like us, they advocate for health from the outside in, with products targeting gut health, immune system etc.... We were blown away by the transformation in the Brumbies over the 150 days of the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge in 2018. Having run our Australian Brumby Challenge previously, we knew that we could expect huge changes in the Brumbies coats and general health and appearance. However, with McDowells Herbal products added into the mix, the results were phenomenal!! The following photos show some of the Brumbies from our 2018 McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge, before the after the Challenge the changes really were outstanding! We know that the Brumbies felt great and they sure looked great! It is so important for us to partner with a company who have a similar philosophy to ours kindness, and holistic health. We feel that we have found just that, working with the team at McDowells Herbals! You can read more about McDowells Herbals on their website here: https://www.mcdowellsherbal.com/ Photos show VBA Jill who was pregnant at her capture and then her and her foal, VBA Bago in the finals event at 2020 Equitana Melbourne. Then VBA Ariat not long after his capture and then again at EQUITANA and then VBA Galway also at EQUITANA. What amazing transformations!!

07.01.2022 It is just incredible, following the journeys of these 'Once wild' Brumbies as they transform under the love and skill of their trainers! Head over to Angies page to see more videos and progress stories!

07.01.2022 TRAINER INTRODUCTION: LISA EMERTON AND VBA SOCKS AND TAMARA JANUS AND VBA FIORA Lisa Emerton lives in Jimboomba QLD and has been around horses all her life. As a teenager she took on problem horses which lead her to start training horses professionally in 2018. Passionate about horse welfare, In particular the issues facing Off the track horses and our Australian Brumbies. Lisa’s goal is to complete her PHD at Charles Sturt University and contribute research to the evidence ...base they have for training and working with horses. Lisa’s ‘horse centred’ approach when training is shown in a holistic way. She assesses physical condition, pain and emotional responses. Lisa uses behaviour theory to educate in way that makes sense to the horse and from there promotes relaxation. By integrating body work methods once the horse is ready., she strengthens the horse from the ground to prepare for ridden work. Her aim is to produce ‘An engaged, confident and curious horse who can use their body to effectively carry a rider’. Find out more at Real Heart Equestrian. VBA Socks is a chestnut gelding with a tiny star and socks. He was caught from the Blue Waterholes region of Kosciuszko National Park in October 2018. Socks had been quite well known in this area for a couple of years and we have many photos of him in the wild there. After he came to us, he was gelded and then turned out to learn how to be a domestic gelding in a mixed group. Tamara Janus lives in Upper Caboolture, QLD and is a professional trainer who starts horses for all different disciplines. She loves to get out and about with her horses competing in dressage to western performance. Tamara has a passion for helping unwanted and challenging horses many of which become diamonds in the rough. Tamara believes in taking her time, Which helps builds a confident horse that has a willing attitude. She allows horses to make mistakes rather than micro-managing them as she feels this creates a responsible and respectful horse. VBA Fiora is a stunning flaxen chestnut mare who was caught from Kosciuszko National Park in 2018. Although not in foal at the time of her capture, she was turned out with our bigger groups just in case. She has been able to grow strong and healthy at our Brumby Junction sanctuary prior to coming if for the McDowell's Australian Brumby Challenge.

06.01.2022 We are sad to announce that Trainer Tamara Janus has withdrawn from the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge due to family reasons. Tamara has been training VBA Fiora in this years Australian Brumby Challenge and had previously trained VBA Nugget in the 2018 Australian Brumby Challenge. She is a calm and gifted trainer and has given Fiora a wonderful start to her education. Fiora has left Tamaras property in Queensland and taken the next step in her training journey and we will bring you more information shortly. We wish Tamara all our love going forwards.

04.01.2022 Our week 3/4 updates are now up on the website! If you're wondering how our beautiful Brumbies are going with their fabulous trainers - head over here and see: https://australianbrumbychallenge.com.au/

01.01.2022 If you are just like us and can't wait for the McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge to get started, why not head over to watch the finals event of the Fort Worth Mustang Makeover? Please note, 6pm Friday, Central Standard time is equivalent to 9am Saturday, Melbourne time! Can't wait!!

01.01.2022 BRUMBY PICKUP Due to COVID-19 and a couple of other factors, our Brumby pickup for this years McDowells Herbal McDowells Australian Brumby Challenge has been somewhat staggered. Over the weekend, 8 Brumbies headed off with their trainers and this week we have a further 7 leaving this week some going as far as Queensland! The Brumbies are free loaded, through our laneway system and in typical Brumby style, travel really well something that often surprises people. They are ...loaded into cattle style trailers with added protection on the floor. These trailers keep our wild ones safely enclosed. Sending our Brumbies away is always a little emotional for us, but we know that our trainers will love them like we do and we can’t wait to follow their journeys along the coming 140 days! #McDowellsherbal #Wildtowonderful #Heritagebrumbies