Newsletter June 2009

	The Australian Brumby Research Unit NEWSLETTERS

July 2009
PREVIOUS ISSUES October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009	The team has had a really busy few months getting the 12 brumby mares swapped between hard and soft substrate country. While releasing the last 4 mares in the desert we caught up with Christine/Footloose, the first coastal mare to be released in the desert. It was good to find her and bring her back home. She had obviously had a hard 3 months in the desert and had lost a fair bit of condition. She is home with me now putting weight back on again. On the next trip back East we picked up our first desert mare, Alice, to be swapped to the soft country. I have the official hoof growth and wear rates from Christine/Footloose (soft to hard country) and Alice (hard to soft country).			AAdam and Marg Backbone of the ABRU
	There will be 5 more pairs of horses recaptured in early October and the study will be complete. The figures from the first pair are interesting: Christine's growth rate was twice that of Alice. Christine's wear rate was more than 3x that of Alice and exceeded her growth rate. At that rate of wear she would have run out of hoof in the next few months.

	Christine before	Christine on sand	Christine 3 months on rock	After 3 months on rock

Christine's sole depth slightly reduced (wear exceeded growth) and her hoof wall depth/thickness did not change proximally but reduced slightly distally (due to rolling wear). Alice did not change her feet much. They are still looking robust, just a little longer. Christine's feet, however, had totally transformed from long splayed feet to stout hard feet. They look great but the data tells us they were in a state of imbalance, with wear exceeding growth Christine/Footloose is a brumby, bred and raised in rough bush land. However, she was not coping with the change in substrate and the change of environment, including diet.	Brian, Morgan and Number 4
Brian, Morgan and Number 4		Seeing the condition that Christine/Footloose was in following 3 months in the new environment makes us relieved that we didn't put domestic horses into this environment as was initially planned. The University Animal Ethics Committee, in their wisdom, rejected the submission, deciding in favour of the brumby swap option. This should be a warning to anyone considering letting their old faithful horse let loose to run with the brumbies/mustangs in retirement.
It appears (at least from our first recapture) that some horses may not cope well with such a drastic change in environment. The research team will be back in the desert in September/October to collect the remaining 5 mares in the swap program. We have shortened the duration of the desert swap from 12 to 8 weeks to reduce the chance that the mares will deteriorate during their stay. During the next visit we will be giving the traditional landowners, the Aboriginal men, a brumby starting clinic, and will be teaching them to muster cattle on their own brumby horses.	Pony rides in the desert (day 8 post capture
Chris and his camera- wait to see the movie!		These men are keen to get back into the horseman/cattlemen lifestyle of previous generations and we are delighted to assist them. We need donations of jeans, saddles, bridles, halters, hats and any other gear or money that can help these guys get back in the saddle

	We have already had one great sponsor from Ruth Davies of Redback Boots, an Australian work boot manufacturer, who has sent us a pair of work/riding boots for each of the 10 men doing the brumby starting clinic. It is great to see an Australian company, established in 1989, gets behind the efforts of the Aboriginal people to assist putting their lives back together. Thanks to Ruth and the team at Redback Boots. If anyone has any sponsorship ideas or pledges please contact Brian .

4 mares head off to the desert		The Aboriginal people of central Australia have been really great to the Brumby Team, allowing us access to their land, their horses and acting as great guides in this extreme land. A feature of the last field trip was to ride a brumby into the desert while leading another. This was to show the Aboriginal stockmen how quiet and trainable the horses are as well as having a saddle horse handy if needed. We chose a 2 year old paint mare from central Queensland who is part of the swap program.
"Morgan" was handled and ridden on day 2 after darting and capture, ridden outside on day 3 and by day 8 was cantering through the desert on a loose rein leading another central Queensland brumby mare through their new temporary home range. Our veterinarian, Adam Richardson and I are the main horse handlers, particularly for the initial rough work in the 30 minutes following darting and capture. Adam is a great horseman, equally as good with the rough horses as he is with the quiet work in getting day 1 brumbies on the horse float for their first time.	Desert water hole
Magdalena, ABRU Masters student, and Blondie-day 1		Adam has most of the brumbies leading on a loose rein within 30 minutes of capture. We then walk them out of the desert for 4-5 hours to the nearest road. Generally by the time we get to the road he has the horses quiet and trusting enough to float load within 5-10 minutes. Adam's wife Marg is also a great horsewoman and has no trouble leading a newly caught brumby out of the desert. Without this great couple from Tasmania the capture and release study may not have been possible.
The next newsletter may be a way off yet. Following a busy trip to the desert in Sept/October to recapture the last mares, I am heading for the USA for a lecture. I will try to get the results of the swap program out before then but I can't promise anything. There are currently freeze dried desert brumby feet available for purchase. Profits are a direct donation to the ongoing research.	Disagreement over mares


	Brian Hampson Postgraduate PhD scholar School of Veterinary Sciences The University of Queensland Phone:(+614 1 772 1102 International 041 772 1102 Australia or Email: