In a region where all things Snowy Mountains are celebrated, the controversial plan has been met with opposition. Just try telling a school-aged child that the NSW Government will shoot the brumbies.  

The Rural has been contacted by dozens of people who have either caught brumbies or secured them to use as pony club mounts or pleasure horses.

Owners of brumbies have talked about the role they play in Australia’s heritage.

Horsemen and women have emphasised just how versatile and useful these horses are. 

And what could paint a better picture of Australia than the iconic Man from Snowy River poem by Banjo Paterson. Or the same namesake movie?

And how many tourists have stopped on the road between Tumut and Cooma just to get a glimpse or a keepsake photo of the wild horses?

For kids the possibility of being able to head to the Snowy Mountains and go “brumby catching” is something they dream of.

And far from being wild or dangerous the horses mostly turn out well. So it is understandable that the plan, released by the NSW Government to cull brumbies, has been met with disgust.

The draft Wild Horse Management plan for Kosciuszko National Park aims to reduce the numbers of wild horses in the national park area from 6000 to 3000 in the next five to 10 years. It then aims to cut that figure to only 600 over the next 20 years.

NSW Environment Minister Mark Speakman says the horses are damaging the park's fragile alpine and sub-alpine environment.

It is anticipated that a range of “humane” control methods including trapping, mustering, fertility control and ground shooting would be used. This is an issue where patriotism could go a long way. Australia could learn from America and take pride in the wild horses. In 1971 the US Congress officially recognised the wild mustangs as a symbol of the pioneer spirit of the west. 

Shooting brumbies in the Kosciuszko National Park potentially robs the next generation of Australia’s bush heritage.