Kylie Biggs with rescued horse Rusty. She says the drought and increasing cost of hay has seen a rise in the number of horses that need to be saved.By Melissa Meehan and Casey Neill
WHEN Kylie Biggs first visited horse saleyards with a friend two-and-a-half years ago she didn’t imagine it would change her life.
Ms Biggs was shocked at the condition of many of the horses up for sale.
“Families that could no longer afford to feed and maintain their animals were forced to sell them at the saleyards,” she said.
“The ones that weren’t taken by the knackery were just left at the sales, so many of them were malnourished.”
Ms Biggs had noticed an increase in the number of families struggling to feed and maintain their horses in recent years and after her saleyard visit she started up Kylie Horse Rescue.
Ms Biggs buys horses destined for the knackery and nurtures them back to health.
She blames the drought and the ever-rising cost of living for the number of hoses that need to be rescued.
Although she tries to save horses from the knackery, Ms Biggs is often outbid by people wanting to buy the horses for their meat.
Once the horses she does get are well again, she is able to sell most of them to good homes for the cost of their care.
Ms Biggs, who lives in Blackburn, goes to Badger Creek daily to feed and care for five of the horses she has rescued.
Ms Biggs grew up in the Mooroolbark area, and her parents still live there. She has owned horses all her life.
A number of local businesses lend a hand to her business. Coles Mooroolbark provides her with lettuce leftovers and she gets bread from Golden Pastries and Bakers Delight in Mooroolbark.
Volunteers help her to clear paddocks and clean up after the horses.
Ms Biggs pays veterinary bills out of her own pocket.
She can only keep five horses on her own property at the moment, plus two on land in Toolangi. She is looking for more land with good fencing.
