Mia Brown is the owner of the Australian Wildlife Park on Horse Reality, where she manages the Brumby Horses. She loves this place and always has, ever since she first arrived at it thirty years ago.
| Mia Brown | |
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| Occupation | Owner of the Australian Wildlife Park |
| Age | Mid 40s |
| Height | 165cm (5’5’’) |
| Family Background | Single mom of Lachie and Ellie, living in Australia |
| Link | Here |
¶ Background
Born in Brisbane on March 10th, 1976, Mia's life had been far from easy. Her mother had been strict and overbearing, and her addict father was constantly in and out of jail. At fourteen, Mia dropped out of high school and ran away, falling in with a bad crowd. Caught up with the thrill of rebellion, Mia soon found herself on the wrong side of the law.
And that's when she was sent to Second Chance Station. This Wildlife Park, run by Robert Wellfield, was a place where unwanted kids were given the opportunity to work with unwanted horses. Second Chance wasn't just a place for two-legged delinquents but also a dumping ground for Brumbies mustered in off the nearby Snowy Mountains. The tough little feral horses were hated and persecuted by farmers for the destruction they caused and the competition they posed towards resources needed for sheep and cattle.
Initially, Mia had been terrified of the horses. They were wild and quick to react. When cornered, they would fight their way out, even if it meant hurting themselves or others.
“These horses are no different than you,” Robert told Mia one day after she broke down in tears. “You've both had to fight to survive. To protect yourselves. That is why we go slow and gentle. You have to earn trust. You can't demand it. See, these horses have no idea that you don't know what you're doing. If you're kind to them, they will trust you to care for them. Kids are the same.”
After a few weeks, Mia grew comfortable and relaxed. She found herself enjoying the hard work, even mucking out the yards in the blazing outback heat. She smiled more and felt her anger at the world slowly ebb away. But the course ended too quickly, and she was forced to return to Brisbane where her pleas to return to Second Chance Station fell on her mothers’ deaf ears. Mia grew restless again and trouble had a way of finding her. But one thing had changed - Robert kept in contact with her and, as if they weren’t generations apart, became the first person she trusted enough to open up about her struggles. In the end, he was the one who arranged it all. To this day, Mia has no idea how he convinced her parents to let their teenage daughter move halfway across the country to work in a strange man’s park. But that was just like Robert - he always had a way with horses and humans alike.
She has been at Second Chance Station ever since, slowly working her way up from volunteer to full-time employee, teaching other kids how to find themselves and grow in confidence. Not only has she helped countless teenagers, but thousands of Brumbies have passed through her hands as well. Once they've been handled and trained it is Mia's job to find them new homes with riders. It gives her no end of satisfaction to see trucks and buses full of happy students - both four-legged and two - leave Second Chance Station for a fresh start in life. Mia saved every penny she made and eventually bought the adjacent property to expand the park, and nobody was surprised when Robert made her co-owner of Second Chance as the two of them had been running the project together for a long time anyway.
But Mia's happiness over the years has been tested. Her first marriage had been a mistake. And the second was not much better, although she had been blessed with her two beautiful children from that one: her ten-year-old son Lachie and his little sister, the two-year-old Ellie, who always had a thumb stuck in her mouth. It made Mia a little sad that her daughter would never get to know Robert, who had just died when Ellie was born. Suddenly being the sole boss of the park with two little children and an entire herd of horses and teenagers to look after was a challenging time. But it was also when Mia realized what a beautiful community she had built for herself, where there was always someone ready to lend a helping hand or a listening ear. No matter what other obstacles she would come across, Mia's heart always sang when she woke up in this beautiful place.
¶ Changelog
- Mia's background story was chosen through a player writing contest on November 13th 2020[1][2]
¶ References
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/29/closedjudging-writing-contest-whats-your-story-vol-i
- https://v2.horsereality.com/news/38/results-writing-contest-whats-your-story-vol-i