The Lone Brumby Colt: Australian Snowy Mountains, Wild Horses of the World
9th August 2018, Herd 6

As we drove south we came across the lone brumby under the trees again. Although almost 12 hours had passed, he was still in the same clearing, just meters off the road.

Golden light framed the bay roan colt and we searched the area for his herd. But like that morning, he was all alone. For over half an hour we watched him, until the sun had faded behind the towering snow gums. Feeling sorry for him and hoping he found a bachelor band to join up with soon, we carried on in search of somewhere to camp for the night.

In the last of the evening light we set up our swags, then set about making dinner. Soon realising our camp oven was out of gas, and therefore we wouldn't be able to cook our dehydrated meals, we munched on a few nuts; wondering at the insanity of sleeping under the stars, besides pockets of snow, in -3 and hungry.

By 7pm we were tucked into bed and even wearing thermals and double sleeping bags (yes the same ones I used in Mongolia in -43) we were freezing. Shivering I lay in bed for what seemed like hours, before finally checking the time. To my dismay it was only 9.17pm; it was going to be a long night.

This is the sixth in a series of 12 blogs about the Snowy Brumbies; to read more visit www.kellywilson.nz/blog (keyword: Wild Horses of the World)