Prenti Downs Station

PRENTI DOWNS STATION HISTORY

GEOGRAPHY

Prenti Downs crosses over between the Wiluna Shire and the Shire of Laverton, south of Lake Carnegie in Western Australia. It is in the northern goldfields region, approximately 900km northeast of Perth, at an elevation of approximately 475m above sea level. It’s nearest neighbouring stations (decades older than Prenti Downs) are Carnegie and Windidda Stations.

The OHHAWA believes that there are still many old bloodline horses running in this area.

EARLY HISTORY

Gladys ________(maiden name unknown) was born in South Australia in 1927. She later married Roy Linke, originally a stockman from Wertaloona Station (SA). In 1957 the couple moved to WA so that Roy could take up the position of Manager of Carnegie Station, 230 miles east of the town of Wiluna. They took with them 2 sons and ended up with 3 – William, Greg and Paul Linke.

Prenti Downs, Carnegie and Windidda Stations were all purchased by the Linke family in the late 1970’s. In 1996, after the couple had moved off the stations and left the care of them to their sons, Gladys wrote a book entitled “And If Her Droughts Are Bitter”, (a reference to an Australian bush poem), which was published by Hesperian Press. It was reprinted in 2003.

The book, a copy of which is now owned by the OHHAWA, is about Gladys’s life and the life of her husband and their family, and includes much information/history on Prenti Downs and surrounding stations.

Page 5 of the book states; “Carnegie homestead was then the end of

the road, the Gibson Desert a trackless barrier to the east.

Eighteen miles back along the road we had travelled, at Niminga

Well, there was a road junction. Here another road branched off to

Glenayle Station, 76 miles from Carnegie homestead. This road

then winds through Earaheedy, Granite Peak, Lorna Glen, Millrose

and Lake Violet Stations to join up with the other road 25 miles

east of Wiluna.”

By the late 1950’s the heritage horses on the stations had, from all reports, already been running and breeding wild for some decades. The above quote indicates the isolation of the area and names several of the stations where the OHHAWA believes heritage stock existed and may still exist today. (As a matter of information, Earaheedy and Lorna Glen are now owned by the WA government. Windidda Station is managed by indigenous Australians.)

The OHHAWA has also received additional information from William Linke,

and his (now) adult daughter Louise, regarding some of the history

mentioned in the book. Quoting from the chapter The Origin of the

Stations; “The 5,250,000 acres in this area owned by the Doman

family, comprised of Windidda, Wongawol (which included Yelma

and Niminga blocks), and Carnegie. Windidda was the first of these

leases to be taken up by Mr Nichols in 1905. He was a partner with

Kidman for Cobb & Co. in Western Australia. Wongawol lease was

taken up in 1906 by Jim Willis of Clover Downs Station near

Leonora...” etc.

As well as breeding cattle, later in the same chapter, Gladys Linke states that; “Many horses were taken off Windidda during the

1914 - 1918 war as remounts.”

When Gladys and her husband Roy first moved to Carnegie, Gladys made reference to the work of gathering horses in their first year. They did not buy outside horses but mustered in and broke the wild horses already in the area, which at the time was in extreme drought. Page 10 of the book notes that after mustering horses from surrounding stations for Millbillillie Station, “The men returned to Carnegie and from

stronger horses there, drafted out a mustering plant.”

Chapter 4 describes the cattle mustering which took place in the 1950’s - all done on horses for some years. “For mustering we had fourteen riders, each man being allotted three horses. After the horses were

drafted, each stockman shod his.”

Mustering the cattle off Carnegie and Wongawol Stations at this time took two months. “...A bronco horse {or mule} was used when

branding. A medium sized draught horse was trained for the job.

He needed to be very quiet and placid, with plenty of energy and

strength.”

FORMATION OF PRENTI DOWNS

As the book later goes on to state, in the early 1970’s, the WA Lands Department enforced a new (much debated!) law that “no property

should be in excess of one million acres. Carnegie and Windidda

Stations combined were a total area of just on three million acres.

Therefore the owners decided to take a portion of land from

each to form a new station to be known as Prenti Downs.

The Windidda-Prenti Downs boundary was the next line pegged. They

tried to cross Lake Carnegie at the boundary on the south side of the

lake but found it too boggy. So they had to drive around the lake and

continue pegging from the north side. Finally the Carnegie-Wongawol-

Niminga and Carnegie-Glenayle boundaries were pegged...”

Also of note is the statement on the same page that says; “the

Windidda-Wongawol, Carnegie-Wongawol-Niminga and Carnegie

-Glenayle boundaries were all fenced. The boundaries between

Prenti Downs-Windidda and Prenti Downs-Carnegie, although

pegged, cleared and graded, were not fenced. There were also no

fences along the outside boundaries which adjoined open country.”

The above is significant because the (by this time) hundreds of wild horses in that greater area continued to breed and travel great distances, minimizing the potential for in-breeding. Despite the unfenced lands, as the adjoining open country to the east was harsh desert and not inhabited (and is still largely uninhabited, as can be seen on any WA map), there were no other known horses in that direction for the station bred descendants to mix with.

In the late 1960’s - early 1970’s, use of horses for mustering was phased out in the area altogether. Planes and vehicles were used.

Anecdotal tales throughout the book include several on the extensive culling of brumbies that had bred up on the stations, and note that sometimes brumbies were run in to be broken in – and ugly inbred

ones were shot. This indicates a degree of management in the area over the decades. Again, there is no mention anywhere in the book of the introduction of any new horses with the exception of what appears to have been a showy gelding purchased for one of the Linke’s sons. (They participated in local gymkhanas and bush races.) There is also mention of “Triangle”, a chestnut ex-racehorse stallion that was mustered from either Wongawol or Windidda and died after a long trek in 1957.

MODERN HISTORY

The current Managers of Prenti Downs have said that there have been a couple of modern blood horses – including a stallion – brought to the station in the past decade but that these have never mixed with the heritage brumbies running in the area – heritage horses which comprise the descendants of the original stock brought to the Wiluna area in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s for the purposes of breeding station and later remount stock.

Dr Sheila Greenwell, the OHHAWA’s Veterinary Consultant, agrees that the heritage horses rescued from/running on Prenti Downs appear to be comprised of a mixture of old bloodline Thoroughbred, Arab, pony, Clydesdale, Percheron and possibly even Suffolk Punch. These horses are from 15hh to over 16hh, with some pony types in a few areas. (However recently these smaller, lighter types have been humanely culled out by the managers.)

Part Suffolk stallion (?) at left and possible part Percheron stallion at

right - October 2009.

To date there have been no grey coloured horses seen on the station. Other colours range from bay to chestnut, including some with slight overo markings (from the Clydesdale?), blacks, black-browns, liver chestnut, several very dark buckskins/duns (not sure which), and pangare. Some horses with flecking/ticking. The numbers of chestnut horses are also limited.

As of October 2009, the current Managers noted the existence of well over 500 wild horses running on Prenti Downs. There has since been extensive culling and several truckloads of horses have been taken off – rescued. This includes the 15 rescued by the OHHAWA.

Please note that the OHHAWA is fully supportive of humane culling in areas where wild horses (or any introduced animal), have extensively bred up, resulting in them over grazing and extensively damaging the environment, or being in danger of starving from lack of feed and water...in situations where there are no other viable options. The charity formed a good relationship with the Managers of Prenti Downs Station during this rescue.

FURTHER NOTES ON HISTORY

The Doman family, one of WA’s oldest and wealthiest station families, once owned Windidda, Wongawol, Carnegie and Bililuna Stations. It is general outback knowledge that the Doman family supplied many horses for the military, both lighter and heavier types. Margaret Doman is also well known for breeding a number of grey and later black Percherons, which were distributed and sold up and down the Canning Stock route and to surrounding areas. The WA Mounted Police used to lease some of these horses many decades ago.

Wongawol Station bred horses for military and also apparently for the WA Mounted Police. William Linke has confirmed that at some point, aside from gathering wandering Carnegie stock, Wongawol horses also ended up on Prenti Downs.

It has also been confirmed by the current managers on Carnegie Station that many Carnegie horses mixed with Windidda and Prenti Downs stock over the decades.

William Linke says that some of the early horses the Domans bred in the area were also Arabians. He has also confirmed that Cobb & Co sold part Percherons to Prenti Downs Station for breeding purposes.

Cobb & Co coach in Goldfields area of WA

A Mr Lloyde from the northern goldfields also owned Percheron stallions some considerable time ago but to date the OHHAWA have been unable to track down further information about this person.

List of rescued heritage horses as of November 2009 from Prenti Downs Station :

Pangare coloured mule approx. 7yrs “PD Malanga”

Liver chestnut coloured mare approx. 2.5yrs “PD Niminga”

Bay mare approx. 4yrs unnamed

Black filly approx. 11 months “PD Louise”

Black colt approx. 11 months “PD Jesse”

Bay colt approx. 11 months “PD Jumpup Joey”

Flaxen chestnut Overo filly approx. 11 months “PD TooLoo”

Bay colt approx. 2yrs “PD Eagle” (Dude)

Flaxen chestnut colt approx. 2yrs “PD Pickering”

Buckskin/dun mare approx. 3yrs “PD Timperley”

Bay colt approx 11 months “PD Boodie” (Milo)