Finding the horsepower to beat petrol sniffing

Horse trekkers (from left): chief cook Tracy Furber, co-organiser Chris Wallace, baby Pax Hayes, BushMob head stockman Damien Ryder and, on horseback, Vivien Hayes.

In central Australia, going bush on horseback with good companions is helping young people leave petrol sniffing behind.

Earlier this year, 67 young people with significant alcohol and substance abuse problems set off on a one-week horse trek from Santa Teresa, 60 kilometres south-east of Alice Springs.

Travelling with them were some of Santa Teresa’s most experienced stockmen, respected elders, women and children.

Co-organiser of the trek, BushMob director Will Macgregor, says the community members are an important part of the healing process on the treks, which are held each year.

“They are showing the young people that it can be fun not to sniff petrol or drink grog or use drugs,” Macgregor says.

The annual horse trek is just one program offered through BushMob, a non-government organisation that gives troubled young people the support and respect they need to start a healthier life, if that is what they choose.

 “It’s natural for young people to take risks,” says Macgregor. “They think they’re 10 foot tall and bulletproof.

“We use the bush around us and traditional people to heal, alongside the western treatment model.”

As part of its residential program in Alice Springs, BushMob explains the physical effects of substance abuse to participants, encourages them to talk about what led to their addiction, and introduces them to people who have recovered from sniffing or alcoholism.

“There are so many reasons why kids might have got off on the wrong foot,” Macgregor says. “The ones we hear about most often are hunger, boredom, peer pressure and lack of knowledge about how damaging it is.”

As well as sharing their experiences and gaining life skills, the participants learn responsibility by feeding, cleaning and exercising horses.

If they are of school age, they are eased back into study, but outside school hours they spend time in the bush riding, walking, swimming, cooking and talking.

The horse trek is a highlight of BushMob’s work, and in 2011 a total of 109 people signed up.

“It’s not just the trek that does the kids good,” says Macgregor. “There’s a whole lot of mentoring that goes on while we’re setting up and unpacking afterwards. This year it took two months from start to finish. Anyone who’s on our program at the time is involved.”

This was the fourth year the community of Santa Teresa had invited BushMob to conduct a trek through the country where Aranda stockman and traditional owner Chris Ryder runs more than 100 horses.

“My horses are out bush at the community,” he says. “I bring some in for the trek. We go out with the bikes or other horses and muster them to bring them in. We have stockyards everywhere all set up.”

Ryder has been on all of the treks and Macgregor describes him as the “backbone of the whole thing”.

“We teach them how to get to know the horses,” Ryder says. “First I lead them around. Then I show them how to ride in the yard, maybe for a full day, and then the next day I take them out.”

Ryder and the other stockmen model responsibility not only by teaching the young people how to care for their horses but also by demonstrating care for the safety of the riders. The more time they spend together, the more chance there is that the young people will open up.

“You’ve got to get in there and talk to them,” says Ryder. “Don’t be shame.”

BushMob’s programs cater for 12 to 24-year-olds, and Macgregor believes young people have time to create a good life for themselves as long as they stop sniffing.

“It’s about an attitude change,” he says. “Knowing there’s a better way of living will influence the choices they make about using drugs or leading a healthy life.”

BushMob is hoping to run a fifth trek in 2012.