The Brumby Horse is a breed available in the Horse Reality game that can be caught in the Australian Wildlife Park.
| Brumby Horse | |
|---|---|
|
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| General Information | |
| Alternative name | Australian Brumby |
| Origin | Australia |
| Horse Reality | |
| Colours | Black, Chestnut, Bay, Wild Bay, Seal Brown, Flaxen, Pangaré, Sooty, Grey, Cream, Silver, Dun |
| Whites | White Markings, Tobiano, Roan |
| Not yet in-game | Rabicano, hidden Sabino, W20, Non-Dun1 |
| Height | 132 - 152 cm |
| Registry | Brumby Horse Society |
| Alternative names | Brumblebee, Brumb |
| Origin | Australian Wildlife Park |
| Status | In-game (2020) |
| Artists | |
| Lineart | S. Jullelin (2019) |
| Greyscale | D. Grochowska (2019) |
| Colours & patterns | D. Grochowska, H. Vasseur (2020) |
¶ History
The Brumby is a feral horse breed from Australia. They descended from horses that arrived in Australia with the first European (British) settlers, starting in 1788 with the First Fleets. Only the strongest horses would survive the long trip from England to Australia. The horses (thoroughbreds, draft horses, native breeds,…) were imported mainly for work and transport. Many horses escaped or were released, and as machines gradually started replacing horses, even more were released to join the already established feral herds. The horses adapted to local environments and grew enormously in numbers in many parts of the country. According to the latest available estimate from 1980, up to 400,000 Brumbies roam across the country. [1,2,4]
While some people see the Brumby as an Australian icon, others see the breed purely as an environmental pest; a threat to sensitive habitats and agriculture that needs to be culled, at times in inhumane ways. As a result, the management of the breed is a complex issue. It requires minimising damage to the local ecosystems while protecting the welfare and cultural significance of the Brumby.[1-4]
Historically, the Brumby was valued for its endurance, strength, reliability and all-around agility, and many of the old bloodlines evolved into what we now know as the Waler or the Australian Stock Horse. The stock that feeds the Brumby herds were used as war mounts during both World Wars and the Boer War. [1]
¶ Characteristics
Brumbies are quite variable in size and conformation because of their mixed origin, and herds in different areas often have unique characteristics and are adapted to local environments. An example of this is the "Pangaré Brumbies" living on the south coast of Western Australia. Most of them are pangaré in colour, they have no issue traversing the rough limestone coverage and appear to thrive on just coastal scrub and saltbush.[1,5]
¶ Colour Genetics
The Brumby comes in many different colours. When you take a walk in the nature reserves that include the Brumby, you will see herds with mostly the base colours, grey, cream and dun. The only colours that seem fairly rare in this breed are silver and wild bay.
¶ In-game colours
All alleles available for the breed can be found below, highlighted in green. For better clarity, we bolded alleles that impact coat colours (eg. grey G vs non-grey g).
| Base Colours & Modifiers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Extension | Agouti | Grey |
| E, e | A+, A, At, a | G, g |
| Dilutions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cream-Pearl | Dun | Champagne | Silver | Mushroom |
| CR, n | D, nd2 | ch | Z, z | n |
| White Patterns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frame | Appaloosa | PATN1 | MITF | SW2 | KIT |
| n | lp | patn1 | n | sw2 | TO, RN, n |
Please note that the table includes hidden agouti alleles (A+, and At). Besides testable genes, untestable ones are also present: sooty, flaxen, pangaré, and white markings (head markings, socks, etc.).
¶ Uses
Brumbies in national parks are popular tourist attractions. Sometimes, captured Brumbies are re-homed, trained and used as stock or riding horses. The Australian Brumby Challenge is an event that takes place every other year, where 12 trainers take a Brumby home to train it over 150 days, after which they show their relationship and progress with the horse during a competition.[1]
¶ Artwork changelog
¶ Artwork updates
The Brumby Horse was added to the game on July 28th 2020.[6] A new research team worked together on this breed for the first time, which is why some colours look different (more realistic) than on older in-game breeds. Ever since the current Horse Reality version has been online, the Brumby has received/will receive the following updates:
- The missing genes and alleles will be added to the game through new Wildpark horses.[7] Adding W20 will only be possible after the horse profiles & genetics have been transferred to V2, because this requires additional coding work[8]
- Brumby horses currently do not display sooty on wild bay bases or pangaré
¶ References
- Australian Brumby Alliance, About Brumbies: https://australianbrumbyalliance.org.au/about/about-brumbies/; Access: May 2026
Brumby management: https://australianbrumbyalliance.org.au/humane-management-2/inform/brumby-heritage/; Access: May 2026
Brumby re-homingt: https://australianbrumbyalliance.org.au/humane-management-2/re-homing/; Access: May 2026 - Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage; Feral horse. (Equus caballus) and feral donkey. (Equus asinus): Invasive species fact sheet: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/feral-horse.pdf; Access: May 2026
- The Invasive Species Council; https://invasives.org.au/meet-the-invaders/horses/; Access: May 2026
- Animals Australia; Brumbies: victims of history's choices and today's actions; https://animalsaustralia.org/our-work/shooting-and-hunting/brumbies/; Access: May 2026
- Outback Heritage Horse Association of Western Australia; https://web.archive.org/web/20100603215827/http://ohhawa.wildhorses-wa.com/horsenews_stories12.htm; Archived copy
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/27/the-brumbies-are-here-new-forum-set-up
- https://deloryan.notion.site/Horse-Breeds-Artwork-Genetics-6d0a84be35284b12806976bbb8cc886c
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/25/brumby-arrival-on-july-28th-rules-update-thoroughbred-community-poll-foundation-names-changed