One of the mares from the Bulla property; this image was taken directly after removal from the property.

© Horse Shepherd Equine Sanctuary

The Bulla Horses: Five years on

It’s been five years since more than 40 horses — 22 of them dead and the rest severely malnourished — were found on a property in Bulla, north west of Melbourne. The owner, Bruce Akers, was later sentenced to six months jail and a 12-month community corrections order.

The survivors went to Horse Shepherd Equine Sanctuary, and with some financial help from Racing Victoria, many were able to be rehabilitated. Below, Racing.com revists the story five years on…


By James Tzaferis / Racing.com

Not long before sunset, Quartz snorts into his feed bin.

The five-year-old thoroughbred has just tucked into his dinner – a mix of soaked barley, chaff and lucerne. His favourite.

In the neighbouring paddock, Anne Young is emptying a bucket of the same specialty mix into the feed bin of Quartz’s buddy, Quinn.

“Quinn is my favourite,” says Young, who gives the gelding a pat down the shoulder as he lowers his head to eat.

“They’ve all been to hell and back but especially him, we nearly lost him a few times.

“He’s pretty special.”

Can horses remember? Do they hold the same resentments humans do? Young isn’t sure but she reckons Quinn and Quartz know they’ve got it pretty good now.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t always the case.

They were only foals, still on their mothers, when they made headlines for all the wrong the reasons in April 2016.

On a barren property in Bulla, only minutes from Melbourne’s international airport, they were part of a group of 23 thoroughbreds that was discovered starving and close to death.

Read the full article via Racing.com here.

Read our 2019 story of a former emaciated Bulla horse who won at Geelong Horse Trials.

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