By Carol Saffer<\/p>\n
Four horses, two ponies and six donkeys cohabit with Chase Day and her husband, Keith, on 22 acres in Mt Egerton.<\/p>\n
Like everyone else, as a young girl, Ms Day was horse-crazy at primary school.<\/p>\n
“When I was six, I was given a push bike,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I told my mum to sell the bike and get me horse riding lessons instead.”<\/p>\n
She is passionate about animal welfare and history and has been interested in the development of Australia’s equines since buying her first Waler horse 13 years ago.<\/p>\n
Walers are the horse breed, purpose-bred as Army remount horses, ridden by Australia’s Light Horse Brigade during WWI.<\/p>\n
She and her husband have participated in Australian Light Horse re-enactments, including ANZAC Day’s centenary.<\/p>\n
A lifelong horse lover, she recently added donkeys to her menagerie.<\/p>\n
“Donkeys are nowhere near as popular as horses, yet they crave human contact,” she said.<\/p>\n
“They are friendlier than horses; super social and love us spending time with them every day.”<\/p>\n
“I love the animals; riding them is secondary to having them around me.”<\/p>\n
During the Covid lockdown, people were asked to stand at their gate on Anzac Day.<\/p>\n
Ms Day donned her Army regalia, mounted one of the donkeys and trotted down to the gate.<\/p>\n
“While not historically accurate, it was my way of celebrating donkeys used to carry the wounded during the War,” she said.<\/p>\n
Her love of donkeys prompted her to write The Australian Teamster Donkey, Heritage Management and Future, published in November 2021.<\/p>\n
“I looked for a book about donkeys to find out more about them but couldn’t find anything, so I had to write one,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’s not going to make me money.”<\/p>\n
The book’s purpose is to legitimise teamster donkeys’ role in the early years of Australian history.<\/p>\n
Donkeys are not native to Australia, but as desert animals, teams of them helped early colonists open up the interior and supply remote outback stations.<\/p>\n
This was around the same time as the camel’s introduction to Australia.<\/p>\n
The donkeys, imported from around the globe, developed into a unique donkey breed, known as teamsters, suited for the harsh Australian environment.<\/p>\n
The rise of mechanisation eventually made them redundant; many were turned loose and forgotten.<\/p>\n
Ms Chase said Australians get upset about the treatment of brumbies in the high country, yet millions of donkeys are running around the outback; more wild donkeys than anywhere else in the world.<\/p>\n
“They are hunted and shot by helicopter, they are in demand as ingredients for traditional Chinese medicines, and most Australians are unaware of this treatment,” she said.<\/p>\n
“They are considered vermin; everyone gets upset about the brumby’s treatment, but the teamsters are more vulnerable than brumbies.<\/p>\n
“It is sad to think that donkeys were [and still are] treated as disposable.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Carol Saffer Four horses, two ponies and six donkeys cohabit with Chase Day and her husband, Keith, on 22 acres in Mt Egerton. Like everyone else, as a young girl, Ms Day was horse-crazy at primary school. “When I was six, I was given a push bike,” she said. “I told my mum to […]<\/p>\n