Mysterious secret brumbies of central Victoria located and tamed thanks to eight-month pandemic mission

What started with a fresh steaming pile of manure has become a mystery that Leslie Scott says will: “haunt me to the day I die”.

Out walking in bushland near her home in central Victoria, hundreds of kilometres from the wild horse territory of the Victorian High Country, Ms Scott says she noticed unshod hoof marks and other tell-tale signs of brumbies.

“I just happened to notice a fresh steaming pile of manure,” she said.

She walked 16km on their trail, determined to discover if the rumours she had heard of wild pony sightings in the area were true.

When she…