By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
Two Moorabool horse trainers have taken part in this year\u2019s Australian Brumby Challenge, earning a third-place finish and gaining a new love of Australia\u2019s wild horses.<\/p>\n
Orin and Hayley James live in Ballan, but run Circle J Horsemanship in Balliang East, and took on the sole surviving brumby of his herd from the Kosciuszko bushfires, whom they gave the fitting name \u2018Courage\u2019.<\/p>\n
Ms James said the experience was quite unlike any horse training they\u2019d done before.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a different experience, completely different to anything we\u2019ve done before. we\u2019re normally into quarter horses, and we do rodeos around Australia. But saying that, it was one of the most rewarding things we\u2019ve ever done, and we\u2019re becoming advocates for saving the brumbies. They\u2019re amazing\u2026just having one for 120 days opened our eyes to how great they are,\u201d she told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got scars still on his rump from the burns from those bushfires, he\u2019s a very courageous little horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The competition was broken into three events, with Courage and Orin competing against 24 other trainers in conditioning (assessing the health of the brumbies), obstacle course, and free style events.<\/p>\n
Mr James won the conditioning component outright, and used the free style event to show what Courage had gone through during the bushfires.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe free style event was your choice, you chose what you thought your brumby did well and showcased it. We sort of made a little story out of it, that he got caught in the bushfires and broke free,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring that we\u2019d do manoeuvres, basic horsemanship, and show his versatility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The podium finish wouldn\u2019t have been possible without generous supporters \u2013 Crossroads Trading in Ballan supplied all of Courage\u2019s grain feed for the 120 days of training, which Ms James said would be \u201cover $1,000 worth\u201d, and Randalls Run Goat Farm, who offered to cover the $550 entry fee.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrossroads were brilliant, they\u2019ve been a huge support of us, and we definitely want to thank them,\u201d Ms James said.<\/p>\n
This year, for the first time, Australian Brumby Challenge competitors get to keep their brumbies, which the entry fee pays for.<\/p>\n
Orin and Hayley plan to take Courage around to local pony clubs and horse events, doing demonstrations for kids and raising more awareness of brumbies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis Two Moorabool horse trainers have taken part in this year\u2019s Australian Brumby Challenge, earning a third-place finish and gaining a new love of Australia\u2019s wild horses. Orin and Hayley James live in Ballan, but run Circle J Horsemanship in Balliang East, and took on the sole surviving brumby of his herd from […]<\/p>\n