Brumby rehoming program gives wild horses second chance as pets
About a third of the brumby population on the NSW Mid North Coast has been rehomed through a program designed to give wild horses a second chance as pets.
As David Gillett's horse Nugget eats from his hand, there is no indication she spent the first years of her life roaming free in bushland on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.
Nugget is one of 180 brumbies captured since 2021 as part of a rehoming program run by North Coast Local Land Services (LLS).
North Coast LLS has rehomed 163 of the wild horses with groups or individuals.
Mr Gillett found Nugget two years ago through an advertisement on social media.
"I have had brumbies before but I had never had one that was fresh out of the bush, so that was challenging," he said.
"We couldn't touch her, we couldn't handle her but she wasn't terrified."
David Gillett says Nugget has become a wonderful horse. (ABC Mid North Coast: Lauren Bohane)
Mr Gillett said the difference between the horse he adopted two years ago to the one he knew now was stark.
"Watching [a] brumby change into the horse we [now] call Nugget has been a wonderful experience," he said.
"Now she is the boss of the paddock, first one up for carrots, loves brushes [and] coming into the stables."
Wild horses sent for special training
North Coast LLS began the program in 2021 after floods wiped out significant amounts of fencing in the region, leading to a boom in feral horse numbers.
LLS estimated about 300 to 500 brumbies were in the region when the program began, creating risks on the road and private properties.
"They were chasing other domestic horses and at times people's dogs," North Coast LLS senior biosecurity officer Tiffany Felton said.
Tiffany Felton helps run the rehoming program. (ABC Coffs Coast: Charles Rushforth)
She said capturing the brumbies could be a slow process, involving leaving food out before introducing yards that the horses could come in and out of for feed.
Many of the horses trapped by North Coast LLS were sent to the New England Brumby Sanctuary near Armidale, which has been training brumbies to be rehomed for nearly 20 years.
The sanctuary has sent horses to new homes as far away as Western Australia and Far North Queensland.
"I know the quality of the horses that can come out of it,"