Chapter 23
Brumbies, Sam had come to understand, were different from other horses in a few fundamental respects. Bushy said it was because they were raised the way horses were meant to be raised, in a herd dynamic, within a settled social structure of equine law and order. Foals stayed with their mothers for a year or more, learning brumby lore, growing up with a firm sense of their own place in the world. ‘Those poor little tame horses, I feel downright sorry for them fellas,’ said Bushy. ‘All that early weaning and not enough mothering – it’s a crime.’ Sam had learned about attachment disorder in humans. About how the strength of the parent-baby bond affected the emotional health of the child, right through to adulthood. Perhaps it was the same for horses? Perhaps it was the same for he
