03/08/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/1HTUncxF2r/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The extraordinary war history of the Australian brumby. A story every Australian deserves to know.
At today's Wollongong brumby rally, one speaker stepped up and told a story that stopped the crowd in their tracks. It is a story of courage, loyalty and the bond between Australian soldiers and their horses that stretches back more than a century. And it is a story that makes the current situation facing the brumbies of Kosciuszko even more heartbreaking.
Aussie Daily is grateful to Despina Farsakis for sharing this video
The speaker began with the origin of the name brumby itself.
Before the First World War, a Sergeant Brumby had been responsible for bringing horses in for the Australian Army in Tamworth. He kept approximately 150 horses under his care. When he died before the war ended, those horses were released into the bush and the people of the district began calling them Brumby's horses. Over time that became simply brumbies. And so the name that Australians have used for their wild horses for over a century has its roots in the story of one man, one army and one extraordinary legacy.
Then came the war itself.
When the call went out across Australia for horses to serve in the First World War, farmers and families across the country responded. They were offered one pound per horse. Many had four or five animals. Some had twenty or more. They took their horses to war believing they would be home soon and would collect them on the return journey. The horses that were not taken were left in the bush with food and water nearby, a living memorial to the farmers' faith that this would all be over quickly.
For many of those soldiers it was not over quickly. And for many of them it was never over at all. The horses left behind in the bush became wild. They became the ancestors of the brumbies that run free in the Australian high country today. They carry in their bloodlines the memory of the farms and the families and the men who went to war and never came home.
Then the speaker told the story that has become one of the most celebrated moments in Australian military history. The charge at Beersheba.
In the desert heat of what is now Israel, Australian Light Horse soldiers and their horses faced a seemingly impossible task. They had been without water for days. The military planners had calculated that after three days in that heat with no water, the horses would be unable to continue. The soldiers would then face a two day march on foot to reach their objective. The horses, it was assumed, would have to be left behind.
Nobody told the horses.
As the Light Horse approached the wells at Beersheba, the horses smelled the water. And something extraordinary happened. Despite three days without water, despite the heat and the exhaustion and the impossible conditions, they took off at full gallop. The Turkish forces had dug their trenches facing the other direction. They had never believed any force could come at them across the desert. They were looking the wrong way when the thunder of hooves began.
The Australian horses jumped the trenches. The soldiers fought from horseback. Within approximately three hours the battle was won.
The Turkish people were so moved by what those horses had done, so stunned by the courage and endurance they had displayed, that they erected statues in their honour. To this day those statues stand in Turkey as a memorial to Australian horses that crossed the desert when no one believed it was possible.
The speaker at today's Wollongong rally shared this history with tears in his voice. He said he grew up a proud Australian. He said he threw a salute to the flag every morning at school. He said the brumby is not just an animal. It is a living connection to the men who went to war, to the horses that served with them and to the country that was built by people who understood what loyalty and courage actually mean.
He is right.
The brumbies of Kosciuszko National Park are the descendants of those horses. They carry in their blood the legacy of animals that crossed a desert and changed the course of a battle. They are not pests. They are not an inconvenience. They are living heritage.
And they deserve to be treated as such.
The official NSW Parliament ePetition calling for the aerial culling to stop closes on September 4. You can sign it at parliament.nsw.gov.au. Rallies continue at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on Tuesday and Wednesday at noon. And the legal case being fought by Roxanne Phoenix, Matthew Holland and their team at XD Lawyers continues in the Land and Environment Court.
The brumbies fought for us. Now it is our turn.
Did you know the full history of the Australian brumby and their role in the First World War? Share your thoughts and any memories you have of this history in the comments below. 🐴🏔️🇦🇺
Credit: Video shared by Despina Farsakis from today's Wollongong brumby rally. Thank you Despina for Post these important voices
A message to our community: If you attended a brumby rally today or have footage of speeches from any rally across Australia, we would love to hear from you. Send us your videos and stories and we will do our best to share them with our audience of over 65,000 Australians. Together we can make sure every voice from today is heard. Contact us through our Aussie Daily page. 🐴🇦🇺
Sources: Wollongong Brumby Rally, August 1 2026, video shared by Despina Farsakis; NSW Legislative Council ePetition, parliament. nsw. gov. au, closes September 4 2026; Change.org petition, 214,974 verified signatures; NSW Land and Environment Court proceedings, Roxanne Phoenix and Matthew Holland v NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, ongoing.
