Eleven-year-olds Chloe Ghattas, Bridget Young and Margot Chabrier couldn’t believe it when they saw the news that there were plans to cull the brumby population as a way of protecting Kosciuszko National Park. 

They realised that although they share a love for horses, for them to have their voices heard, and be taken seriously, they needed to know a bit more about the problem.

They spent three weeks researching online, but “used nothing from Wikipedia” and then created a petition and sent a letter to the News Weekly. 

Through their research the girls have argued that it is possible to save the Alpine environment without having to cull the brumbies.

“If anyone else loves horses and doesn’t want to see them killed then they need to do something,” Chloe said. “We are young but we thought that we had to at least try to do something.”

“It doesn’t have to be a war,” the three girls emphasised. “We can save both.”

Chloe, Bridget and Margot believe there many other ways to minimise the brumby population. Their ideas involve fertility control measures such as de-sexing nine out of 10 stallions, restricting the brumbies movement by fencing off particularly fragile parts of the national park or relocating the horses. 

“Just because they aren’t native to Australia doesn’t mean they are not beautiful creatures and do not have the right to be here,” the girls wrote in their letter to the paper. 

“I don’t think any animal deserves to die just because it is there,” Margot said.

Both Margot and Chloe take horse riding lessons regularly at Oaklands in Pambula and Bridget will be starting lessons soon. 

“I have always loved horses and when I heard they were going to kill them I just had to do something about it,” Bridget said. 

The girls have the support of teachers and other pupils at Merimbula Public School but they are hoping the rest of the community will band together and join the fight. 

“We have learnt that we have to stand up for what we believe in,” Margot said.