The feature of the past 3 months has been the continuation of brumby GPS tracking and our research trip to central Australia to study the desert horses. We now have had GPS units on 12 horses and we will double this number by Christmas.

We are heading off to central Queensland at the end of this week to retrieve collars belonging to our first 2 private sponsors: the Footloose syndicate from Tasmania and Marianne Albretsen from Denmark. These horses have been wearing collars through most of the winter and we are expecting to find a new foal on the Footloose syndicate's palomino mare. These collars will have the data down loaded, batteries recharged, and will go back out again in a few weeks. Thanks again to our first 2 collar sponsors who really helped in getting the ball rolling. There will be plenty more brumbies collared over the next 12 months, so sponsors can still sign up for $1000 and $3,000 sponsorships.

We will be home from central Queensland for a few days to recharge equipment then we are heading for the Gulf of Carpentaria for 2 weeks of brumby research. This work will include GPS tracking, DNA collection and analysis of diet and parasite load through fecal specimens.

We will travel south to the Snowy Mountains in November and December to set up studies on the famous Snowy Mountain brumbies. We will be riding horses and leading pack horses to access the high country. More of this research towards the end of the year.

Ann Trezise, from the Australian Equine Genetics Research Unit at The University of Queensland, has started to analyze DNA from hair samples of our brumbies to identify the level of inbreeding and family lineage in the horses, as well as establishing the genetic heritage of our various groups of brumbies. We will determine whether the genetics composition of the central Australian brumby most closely resembles the Arab breed, Thoroughbred, etc, and we will do the same for each major brumby group throughout Australia. Other genetic studies on wild horse populations throughout the World, show very little inbreeding. Australia, having by far the largest feral horse population in the world, and the most vast area of country for horses to run, is expected to have even less inbreeding than other populations.

The first results of nutritional analysis will be available early in the new year. We look forward to telling the community what the Australian feral horse eats. This will be an interesting comparison to the typical domestic horse diet.

The initial GPS studies of domestic horse activity in various size paddocks and paddock designs has been written up and sent to the publishers. Once this paper has been published it will be released on this site.-An abstract is available on this site

This was the most interesting and informative research trip to date. Professor Pollitt took valuable time out of his usually busy schedule and led the research to the desert horses. We spent 2 weeks hiding at water holes, on mountain ridges, and walking through the desert photographing and filming horses and other wildlife including camels, dingos and emus. We darted and collared 6 brumbies and tracked them through the desert as they traveled between feed and water. The desert horses water every 2-4 days and often feed 30-50 km out from water. The desert looks barren but provides well for the horses which are mostly in good condition. Some middle age mares, however, nursing big foals, were poor in areas where they were forced to travel over 30 km between feed and water.

There were 2 types of country: sandy desert and rocky desert. Therefore, 2 types of feet were also present: the short upright foot from the rock country and the longer slightly splayed foot from the sandy country. The long distances traveled across the sand seems to have prevented the wall from growing excessively, as there was no breaking away at the distal hoof wall.

We will be back to the desert several times during the next few years to learn more about these horses that appear to have adapted well to the extreme environment.

We would like to welcome Greg Giles and Cavello Boots who have come on board as Brumby sponsors, sponsoring a GPS collar which will go on a horse in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, in mid-October.

Cavello Boots manufacture and distribute the Simple Boot throughout the world. We welcome our first industry sponsor and hope that this will stimulate other companies providing goods and services to the equine industry to become interested in the project.

We would like to remind people that there is nothing like this research happening anywhere in the world. This is a great opportunity for people and industry to be involved in cutting edge research into the horse in its natural environment.

More to come in the next few months, The Australian Brumby Research Team.