Volunteers wanting to remove and re-home more of Australia's wild horses from national parks are calling for more government support.
Both the New South Wales and Victorian governments last year adopted plans to reduce wild horse numbers with a focus on re-homing and high animal welfare outcomes, where possible.
Volunteers eager to re-home horses have said their skills should be better utilised under the states' latest plans.
They are calling for help in the form of funding or in-kind support which would allow them to take more horses from national parks.
'Re-homing paints airy fairy picture'
Lynette Sutton founded and operates the HOOFS2010 Incorporated brumby rescue group on her 4-hectare Berrigan property. Her paddocks are currently overstocked with wild horses taken in from across Australia.
The organisation relies on donations and volunteers who work to raise funds for the annual $35,000 feed bill, transport, supplements, medical assistance, and breaking the horses into domestic life.
The horses are branded with the HOOFS2010 logo for easy identification, come with a flexible return policy, and are not permitted to be bred.
Many have gone on successfully to loving homes and perform strongly in equine competitions, but Ms Sutton admitted it was a labour of love, particularly without government support.
"Re-homing paints an airy fairy picture for most people who have no understanding of what that entails, or the cost that entails," she said.
"It just makes the governments' plan to eradicate the horses socially acceptable.
"We have fine-tuned the job at hand, so give us the funding, give us the land, and help us to help them achieve their goal in a more humane way."
Ms Sutton has created a business plan to push for a larger sanctuary to be established to help take more horses from the wild.
Limited response to re-homing
A key component of the Parks Victoria Feral Horse Action Plan 2021, released in November, was to maximise re-homing opportunities for captured horses, with an expression of interest process open to suitable applicants.
Parks Victoria has received three EOIs since then, with each application willing to accept multiple horses.
The re-homing process is planned for later in the year.
It has also responded to a handful of general public enquiries.
The Liberal Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley, whose electorate nudges into Victorian High Country, has labelled the red tape needed to re-home wild horses as challenging, discouraging and restrictive.
"We just can't write a blank cheque, there needs to be a better collaborative approach," he said.
No funding plans
Parks Victoria outlined that the re-homing application process ensures suitability.
"Potential re-homing organisations or individuals must demonstrate their ability to accommodate the horse and meet animal welfare standards," a Parks Victoria spokesperson said.
Organisations and individuals in New South Wales can apply to the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service to re-home wild horses from the Kosciuszko National Park, but are required to demonstrate the necessary skills, facilities, and resources to care for the animals.
NPWS' re-homing requirements are being updated with advice from RSPCA NSW and animal welfare experts.
"There are no plans to provide funding support to approved wild horse re-homing organisations and individuals," a NPWS spokesperson said.
"The NPWS wild horse re-homing program is governed by strict criteria to ensure the welfare of horses."
The NSW Government adopted the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan in November to reduce the feral horse population in the park to 3,000 by 2027.
Parks Victoria's plan will remove the entire brumby population from the Bogong High Plains, and significantly increase the annual rate of removal of feral horses from the eastern Alps.
