Australian Horse Alliance

”Horses are our Heritage”

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Recent Additions:

Fact Sheet - Environmental Arguments

NPWS Horse Riding Policy

Memorandum of Understanding between Horse Riders and NSW Coalition Parties

Exaggerated Claims of Horse Riding Impact Challenged: Beavis Report

New NPWS Draft Plans Threaten Access

Trail Closures

Welcome to the Australian Horse Alliance Website

The importance of the horse in Australia’s cultural heritage is often exploited when it comes to significant events like the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. Our folklore is rich in stories of horses and horsemanship. Yet, despite the obvious bond Australians have with these traditions, present day Australian Governments and bureaucrats are making it increasingly difficult, for those of us who love horses, to keep alive the enjoyment of riding horses through the Australian countryside.

This website was established to expose the forces that are attempting to destroy Australian horsemanship and to provide useful information to anyone who wishes to help us resist these destructive trends. The site is presently under construction. This first series of articles lays out the basic issues and supplies information on the bureaucratic machinery you will confront if you get involved in the struggle.

We hope you find the articles here both interesting and informative.

Who are We and Why were we Formed?

The Australian Horse Alliance (AHA) was formed in 1993 to try and arrest growing anti-horse sentiments that are threatening horse riding access to public land. See Horse Riding - Ideology, Politics and Science for some insights into the background situation that is driving the anti-horse trend.

The AHA is an umbrella organisation representing the views of the recreational horse riding fraternity. The Management Committee is comprised, in part, of representatives of a number of Peak bodies. These bodies include the NSW Pony Club Association, Australian Trail Horse Riders Association (ATHRA), the NSW Endurance Riders Association, (NSW-ERA) and Horse Riding Centres of Australia (representing commercial riding centres). The remainder of the Committee consists of delegates from a number of riding clubs. Many clubs, individuals and families have now joined the AHA to provide much needed financial and other support. See Join the AHA

The AHA is organised in two levels: the Management Committee and a number of local branches. To date local branches have been formed in the Mid North Coast, The Hunter District, the Central Coast and the Illawarra. See AHA Contacts

Our Aims

· To promote responsible horse riding on public land and to respect and preserve the flora and fauna in the Australian Bush

· To ensure horse riders are treated equitably with other recreationalists in gaining access to public land

· To promote the cultural heritage of the Australian Bush and retain access to places of heritage significance

· To respect and assist in the preservation of Aboriginal sites and places of significance

· To represent the interests of all recreational riders with regard to Local Government, State and Federal policies and laws

What’s Been Happening?

Throughout most of the 1990s horse riding access to public land has been increasingly restricted. Local councils have brought in prohibitive land use restrictions for the agistment and keeping of horses on private land. State Forests, where horse riders once enjoyed a good relationship with Forest Managers, have been turned into National Parks or Wilderness. State Recreation Areas have become National Parks and other Crown land has been swallowed up within adjacent National Parks. These newly acquired lands then come under the control of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). This trend would have no adverse effect except that NPWS policy severely limits horse riding in land under its management and entirely prohibits horse riding in Wilderness and Nature Reserves.

A significant number of new National Parks were proclaimed in NSW during the 1990s. Large sections of these and of existing Parks have been declared Wilderness. By the end of 1996 80-85% of the National Parks estate down the Great Dividing Range had been identified as Wilderness.

What’s the Present Situation?

Horse riders have gained access to a number of National Parks thanks to the efforts of people like Genevieve Reid, Fiona Meller, Nick Jacomas, Graham Crossley and Wilma Roche who have worked tirelessly in their respective areas. Provision for horse riding has been included in the plans of management for Eurobodalla, Wollemi, Yengo, Popran and Ku-ring-gai National Parks.

The Wilderness assessment process continues to be a worry. New assessments have occurred in the years since 1996 so today the areas identified as Wilderness down the Great Dividing Range are denying citizens the traditional means of access – by horse. In particular there are major new Wilderness assessments underway in both Northern and Southern NSW. Recently these have been the subject of major public protests. New wilderness assessments threaten to the continuity of the Bicentennial National Trail (BNT).

Since about the year 2000 a new tactic has started to emerge. The classification Nature Reserve is being used increasingly when land is gazetted. Nature Reserves have traditionally been small undisturbed areas of particular ecological importance in which the range of permitted activities is very restricted. Horse riding is totally prohibited in Nature Reserves without justification.

Larger land parcels that might have previously been proclaimed National Parks are more and more being proclaimed Nature Reserves. For instance, Pilliga Nature Reserve in Central NSW contains 80,000 Ha.

Land that has had significant previous exposure to human activities, including horse riding, is also being proclaimed as Nature Reserves. Karuah and Wallaroo - the areas involved in the recent outcry in the Hunter District of NSW - are cases in point.

One could suspect that our opponents – on seeing our success in a number of National Parks – are turning to the misuse of the Nature Reserve classification in order to block further progress.

What does the AHA Do?

The AHA can be looked upon as the political wing of the horse riding fraternity. It is NOT a party political organisation but we are not so naïve as to believe we can get anywhere without accepting the realities of the political system. The AHA regularly lobbies politicians of all parties and senior bureaucrats with regard to horse access issues. Delegates from the Management Committee have spoken to the NSW Minister for the Environment and to the Director General of NPWS on a number of occasions. Richard Smallwood (AHA Convenor), Graham Crossley, Nick Jacomas and Genevieve Reid are thanked for their efforts in these discussions.

In addition to this, the AHA provides support in the form of information and tactical advice for regional groups who are fighting for local access rights. In 1998 an ‘Information Package’ was produced to provide useful information to anyone who is involved in educating and lobbying bureaucrats and politicians. This is available to members for the cost of printing ($20). This website will also be used for disseminating information.

An initiative we consider of crucial importance is the replacement of the existing Horse Riding Policy for National Parks. The AHA has drawn up a draft document and is currently negotiating with NPWS on the matter. The Policy seeks to establish a number of general principles which obviate the usual objections and give horse riders certain rights which must be factored into any plan of management. Without such a document we face the same tired old arguments and go through the same dispute whenever a new plan of management is released.

While the AHA headquarters are based in NSW and the association is therefore most active in that state we are aware that riders are facing similar obstacles in other states and groups and individuals from other states have also joined the AHA for support.

Neil Montgomery

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