Heritage Horse Tales - Earaheedy Rex

“You can tell a gelding, ask a mare; but you must discuss it with a stallion.”

~ Unknown

The battle-scarred warrior – Rex in the yards, shortly after his arrival.

~photo courtesy Horses & Horsemen

Rex surprised us all. Rex, the approx. 15hh, thirty year old (grey) white stallion captured in the muster. Yes, he was at least thirty years old when captured, aged first by Sheila Greenwell and then later, by Karl Buckley, a well known South-West equine dentist...but only some considerable time after being rescued, because it took a while for Rex to allow humans to approach.

The first lot of (Earaheedy Station) heritage horses, all mustered in from different areas of the vast station, were named after people living on the neighbouring stations, and after those who provided such great help to the rescuing vets. It’s a mark of respect – you only name horses after people you like. This accounts for Rex’s somewhat inauspicious name, although apparently the name means “King”, and his namesake, Rex Ward, is very much like him and a genuinely good bloke!

Rex must have been one helluva stallion in his day, principally because when he was caught, he still was. We only found out from after his arrival that there had been some discussion as to whether or not to bring him down at all. Originally, the plan was to truck any mature wild stallions to neighbouring stations and release them if possible. A mature wild stallion is a whole different kettle of fish - difficult and sometimes dangerous to handle because of his instinctive, protective reactions, and Rex was as mature as they come, although again, at the time, nobody guessed his exact age. He was the "thin and beaten up" stallion described by Sheila in her letters home.

When Rex was caught with the first group of horses he was alone, with no mob and in extremely poor condition…in hindsight this was due to his age. He had obviously finally been toppled as a herd boss and left alone, he soon would have died from lack of water and feed...yet despite the shape he was in, Rex still managed to attack two of the muster vehicles and do quite a bit of damage.

He survived the first night in the yards when younger horses, in equally bad condition, did not.

Because he was in such poor shape, but obviously still possessing the will to survive, he was trucked south with the others. At the time, everybody thought he was, well...maybe in his teens. Despite his condition, he certainly didn’t look 30.

To have survived three decades as a wild horse is a feat in itself. To have survived three decades living and fighting as a wild stallion on Earaheedy Station country is still seen as something close to unbelievable. Usually mob stallions die much younger, mainly due to fight sustained injuries. As for Rex...this amazing being was rescued (with difficulty), trucked south, vet checked, fed well, and allowed to remain with the rescued mob of mares. You can imagine how he perked up. His vigour and energy astounded even the most experienced horsemen and women – leading his new mob through eight fences in one day then later dashing up behind mounted riders once he was out of their line of sight, biting them firmly on the posterior and dashing away again. (Fortunately, due to his age, his teeth weren’t quite what they used to be!)

Rex showed no sign of arthritis, foot problems or any of the other usual “old horse” problems. He was a horse that knew every trick in the book, and then some. He never seriously attacked a man on the ground or a mounted rider's horse - he only ever went for the rider. Whether this was inherent wisdom or because he had met man before, we will never know...but he seemed to understand that a man on top of a tame, responsive horse was far more of a threat than a man was on the ground.

Keeping Rex in captivity was therefore a challenge in itself. Because of his extreme age, supreme athleticism, inherent wariness, cunning and wildness, even when separated from the mob, he could not be domesticated by conventional methods – “conventional” in this case being initial humanisation and “gentling” done on the wild horse by an experienced rider/s mounted on domestic horses, in a paddock and then in a secure round yard situation. Riders then moved to the ground and pole gentling was undertaken. These methods are - generally - far less stressful on wild horses. With another of the (much) younger stallions captured – “Pope”, these methods worked beautifully. Pope went from strength to strength following his training and was later educated to saddle by Neil Innes. Pope, now five, enjoys the domestic life now and is very content in the company of man.

As for Rex…he clearly felt uneasy and threatened...and he clearly considered that his new mob was under threat. After several incidents in the paddock and a couple of spectacular confrontations in a round yard (involving, amongst other things, the full removal by Rex of rider Sam’s saddle blanket whilst the blanket was on Sam’s stock horse and Sam and the saddle were firmly planted on the blanket), it was decided it was all too dangerous for the humans (and mounted horses!) and too stressful on Rex, and he would have to be trained from outside the round yard, with the humans on foot. It took time but the method worked very well, and Rex was domesticated to the point where he could be safely approached and managed by competent horse handlers, although he never fully accepted a mounted rider in his presence.

Once Sheila knew his age, she understood. Rex was only doing what came naturally – protecting himself and his herd. In his new world, however, this put him and those around him, both human and horse, at risk. So Rex was encouraged to make a decision, and accept a certain degree of domestication...fortunately for him, he made the best decision possible.

He could not have been returned to die on Earaheedy, surrounding stations had their own drought problems, and in our domestic world, there aren’t many places you can safely contain a truly wild and therefore potentially dangerous stallion. Rex chose to accept man. In hindsight we would not say that he learned to fully trust nor to fully enjoy man's presence, but he accepted it. Rex was wary, still wild at heart, but after thirty years untamed, we would not expect any less. Sam Watson, the gifted young horseman who worked with Rex, noted; “they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks…well, he’s proved everybody wrong.”

Sadly, nearly four months after his initial capture and taming, Rex contracted a stomach bug and passed away during the night in the paddock he was sharing with Ruth and Violet, two of the Earaheedy mares. Age finally caught up with the horse we all thought would go on forever.

Unfortunately it seems that Rex did not have quite enough vitality left to pass on his phenomenal genes to the mares who shared his paddock during those last weeks, although we are sure that a number of the Earaheedy horses carried his stamp. The stallion in charge of the rare mob of silver dapples looked remarkably similar to Rex and although grey-white could in fact have been carrying the colour gene for these striking looking horses.

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...Rex's spirit is free now and he did not die of thirst or starvation. In hindsight - in Rex case - rescue was perhaps a compromise. The normal human reaction is to want to ease all suffering and most beings appreciate their suffering being eased...but given Rex's age and great spirit (which we could not initially judge), he perhaps would have rather lived out the remainder of his life on the land of his birth. We will never know for sure.

Rex was a magnificent creature and it was a privilege to have known him. He taught us a great deal and inspired us all. He will always represent everything we are trying to preserve, in the very few wild places left in Australia’s great outback.

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First written by KA Waddington in 2005, this story was updated in January 2008. Thanks to Horses & Horsemen, of Margaret River, and to Kim Murray for permission to reproduce photos.