Outback Instincts

03/06/2026

🐄🌾 Crows Nest Show 2026 🌾🐄

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of taking four amazing young people to the Crows Nest Show to showcase their cattle handling skills as part of our Youth in the Yards program.

What a fantastic day it was!

Our cattle were outstanding, calm and well-mannered as always, and our young people represented Outback Instincts with pride. From preparing cattle and working as a team to stepping into the ring and giving it their best, we couldn't be prouder of their efforts. 💙

One of the highlights of the show was being invited to participate in a live interview over the loudspeaker. One of our young people joined me to talk about who we are and what we do at Outback Instincts. She spoke incredibly well, stepped well outside her comfort zone and represented herself and our organisation with confidence, maturity and enthusiasm. Watching young people grow in confidence like this is exactly why we do what we do. 👏✨

A huge thank you to the Toowoomba Regional Council Youth Grants Program for helping make Youth in the Yards possible in 2026. Your support is providing young people with opportunities to learn about agriculture, livestock handling, responsibility, teamwork and leadership while connecting them to rural industries and their local community.

Special thanks also to Marty and his team at KBV Simmental Stud. Marty, your time, knowledge, stories and ongoing encouragement of our young people never go unnoticed. The support you provide to young people entering the cattle industry is genuinely inspiring and we are incredibly grateful for everything you do. 🙏🐄

As always, we're reminded just how lucky we are to be part of such an incredible community. It was wonderful to catch up with the team from New Hope Group (NAC) who continue to be welcoming, supportive and genuinely invested in the success of our young people.

We also had the opportunity to spend time with the fantastic team from Heritage People First Bank Crows Nest, who are currently collecting donations in support of Outback Instincts. Their support, along with the support of so many local businesses, volunteers and community members, means the world to our young people and helps create opportunities that simply wouldn't otherwise exist.

To everyone who stopped for a chat, encouraged our young people, shared advice or supported the program—thank you. Together, you're helping create pathways, confidence and opportunities for the next generation of rural young people. 🌾❤️

STAG Machinery Group
River 94.9 :)

30/05/2026

🐴✨ Did you know horses can help teach some of life's biggest lessons?

Research examining Equine-Facilitated Therapy with teenage girls recovering from drug and alcohol addiction found participants developed valuable life skills, healthier coping strategies and improved behaviours through working alongside horses. As they learned to build trust, communicate effectively and work through challenges with their equine partners, researchers observed steady improvements in attitudes and behaviours linked to recovery.

🌱 At Outback Instincts, this is something we witness every week.

🐎 Horses don't judge.
🐎 They don't care about your past.
🐎 They don't respond to labels.
🐎 They respond to honesty, consistency and trust.

For many young people, horses provide a safe space to:
✨ Build confidence
✨ Develop emotional regulation
✨ Learn responsibility
✨ Improve communication skills
✨ Strengthen resilience
✨ Practice patience and persistence
✨ Experience healthy relationships and boundaries

Leading a 500kg horse isn't just about horsemanship. It's about learning how your thoughts, emotions and actions affect those around you.

💙 Sometimes a horse can teach a lesson that no classroom, lecture or worksheet ever could.

Through our Equine Elevate program, young people learn practical skills while building trust, self-awareness and confidence that they can carry into everyday life.

🌾 Sometimes the greatest growth doesn't happen inside four walls.

🐴 Sometimes it happens in a paddock, beside a horse.

Reference: Research examining Equine-Facilitated Therapy with adolescent girls in addiction recovery found participants developed coping skills, life skills and improved behaviours while working with horses as part of their treatment program.



Images from Outback Instincts programs
Reference: https://www.academia.edu/28580741/HORSES_AND_TROUBLED_TEENS_LEARNING_RESPECT_COMMUNICATION_AND_TRUST_THROUGH_EQUINE_FACILITATED_THERAPY?email_work_card=title

30/05/2026

HOW TO STAND TALL WHEN LIFE GETS HARD

1. Stop trying to hold the reins on everything.
Some things are yours to steer, and some aren't. The harder you fight things you can't control, the more worn out you'll become. Focus on what's in front of you and let the rest unfold.

2. Put your boots back on the ground.
Fear lives in tomorrow. Regret lives in yesterday. But your life is happening right here, right now. Take a breath and deal with the next fence, not the whole property.

3. Most of the battles in your head never happen.
We've all spent sleepless nights worrying about things that never came to pass. Don't waste today's strength fighting tomorrow's ghosts.

4. Remember that seasons always change.
Droughts break. Floodwaters recede. Hard times don't last forever. Life moves in seasons, and so do we.

5. Don't carry a week's worth of feed in one bucket.
You only need enough strength for today. Stop carrying tomorrow's worries before they've even arrived.

6. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Growth doesn't happen in the easy paddock. It happens when you're learning something new, facing challenges, and stepping into the unknown.

7. Hold things lightly.
People, plans, and opportunities won't last forever. Appreciate what you have while you have it, but don't let the fear of losing it stop you from living.

8. Train your mind like you train your stock.
Patience. Consistency. Discipline. A strong mind will carry you through challenges that strength alone never could.

9. Stop waiting for life to feel safe.
There will always be risks. There will always be uncertainty. Confidence isn't knowing that nothing can go wrong—it's knowing you'll handle it if it does.

10. Look back at how far you've already come.
Every setback.
Every hard season.
Every challenge you thought might break you.

You're still here.

That tells you everything you need to know about your strength.

Life isn't about avoiding the storms.

It's about learning that you can ride through them.

Keep your head up.
Keep your hands busy.
Keep moving forward.

One step.
One day.
One challenge at a time.

27/05/2026

26/05/2026

🐕 “It’s just dogs…”

Except it’s not.

Research exploring dog training programs with incarcerated and at-risk youth found something incredibly interesting:
young people involved in TRAINING dogs — not just interacting with them — showed greater social and emotional growth, stronger attachment, improved self-reflection and more positive thinking patterns compared to youth who simply walked the dogs.

The study found that journaling and working alongside dogs appeared to promote:
✔ self-awareness
✔ empathy
✔ emotional insight
✔ social-cognitive growth
✔ prosocial attitudes
✔ improved coping skills

Why?

Because animals provide immediate, honest feedback.

Dogs don’t care about your reputation, your past, your bravado or the mask you wear to survive.

They respond to:
energy,
patience,
consistency,
leadership,
regulation,
communication,
and trust.

At Outback Instincts, we see this EVERY week.

A young person who struggles to regulate themselves suddenly learns they must slow down for the dog.
A young person who struggles with trust begins building connection through consistency.
A young person who has been labelled “difficult” starts experiencing success, responsibility and attachment in a healthy way.

And perhaps most importantly…
the dog doesn’t judge them.

Our Paws on the Ground program incorporates:
🐾 positive reinforcement dog training
🐾 teamwork and communication
🐾 responsibility and routine
🐾 emotional regulation
🐾 leadership skills
🐾 confidence building
🐾 mentoring and connection

The reality is many young people disengage from traditional systems long before they disengage from animals.

Sometimes a dog becomes the bridge back to communication, self-worth and belonging.

This is why animal-assisted and hands-on programs matter.
Not because they are “cute.”
But because they create genuine neurological, emotional and social change in ways many traditional interventions struggle to achieve 💚

25/05/2026

In just 7 days, Outback Instincts has received EIGHT new referrals for young people needing support.
That now brings our waitlist to 72 young people.

72 kids needing connection.
Mentoring.
Purpose.
Belonging.
A safe place to land before things spiral further.

And here’s the confronting reality…

We receive NO government funding
(outside of our recent Youth Week activities which funded 5 days of programs and camp outs).

To put the level of demand into perspective — our current waitlist alone is larger than the total student population of some small regional schools… yet programs like ours receive no ongoing funding support from government.

As a crew we've been working with young people for the past 7 years, with our charity officially launching in June 2025 to support young people who don’t fit traditional systems. Despite being the ONLY farm, rural and animal-based youth intervention programs on the Darling Downs… demand is now growing faster than we can keep up with.

These are the stories we are hearing DAILY from parents, carers and schools:
• school disengagement and truancy
• kids out on the streets, sleeping rough, and engaging in youth crime
• va**ng, ma*****na and risky peer groups
• anxiety, emotional dysregulation and shutdowns
• young people lacking confidence, direction and purpose
• families exhausted and running out of options
• kids desperate for hands-on pathways, mentoring and belonging

This weekend, while many people were relaxing, our volunteers gave up their time to run a camp out for some of our young people.

No phones.
No endless scrolling.
No fake online personas.
No constant dopamine hits every few seconds.
Just real life.

The kids:
🐴 rode horses and worked on horsemanship
🐄 helped with livestock and farm jobs
🐕 walked and trained dogs around the property
🚜 learned tractor skills
🔥 collected wood and kept the campfire going
🍳 cooked breakfast and helped prepare meals
⛺ set up swags and packed up camp
🤝 helped each other when someone struggled

And yes…
if they made a mess, they cleaned it up.
We don’t walk past problems — we fix them.

Because accountability matters.

What many people don’t realise is these programs genuinely help reset nervous systems that are constantly stuck in survival mode.

Every step beside that dog.
Every movement of the horse.
Every sound of nature around them.
Every moment away from chaos, pressure, bullying, screens and overstimulation…
It all matters.

The animals give immediate and honest feedback. The environment slows young people down. The movement, responsibility, connection and consistency begin helping rewire brains that are often living in constant fight-or-flight.

These camp outs become the circuit breaker so many young people — and their families — desperately need.

Around the campfire we spoke about:
✨ choices and consequences
✨ speaking honestly and meaning what you say
✨ learning to advocate for yourself without bullying others
✨ being careful who you surround yourself with
✨ “your vibe attracts your tribe”
✨ learning that you don’t need to become anyone else — you are allowed to become the best version of YOU!

We celebrated one young person’s 14th birthday too… a milestone their family once feared may never be reached in a positive way.
Now they’re thriving and preparing to begin a Certificate II in Horsemanship.

This isn’t just “keeping kids busy.”

This is:
✔ early intervention
✔ mentorship
✔ nervous system regulation
✔ practical life skills
✔ agricultural pathways
✔ confidence building
✔ community connection
✔ creating future upstanding citizens

Programs like this don’t just change lives.

They save the taxpayer money long-term by intervening EARLY before young people enter deeper crisis systems.
And right now, we are averaging more than ONE new referral every single day.

For businesses and corporate supporters:
💚 $25,000 sponsors SIX young people to attend weekly programs for 12 months — including mentoring, camp outs, events, counselling, animal-assisted programs, vocational pathways and practical rural skill development.

If you’d like to help us support more young people through sponsorship, donations, volunteering or partnerships, please reach out or donate below:
https://www.givenow.com.au/outbackinstinctssponsorship

Or if you can just spare $5 here and there, every little bit helps keep these programs going - https://www.givenow.com.au/outbackinstinctsyouthprograms

If you believe programs like this matter, tag your local MP, business, community leader or someone who can help us create real change for regional young people 💚

20/05/2026

🌱 ADULT VOLUNTEERS WANTED – Come Join the Chaos (the good kind) 🐴🐶🐮

Are you:
🔨 a retired tradie, builder, farmer or hands-on human looking for some purpose again?
🎓 a uni student needing placement/work experience hours?
💚 studying youth work, counselling, psychology, OT, teaching, social work or community services?
🐾 someone who genuinely loves animals, young people and real conversations?

We’d love to hear from you.

Outback Instincts is a rural youth charity based just outside Goombungee, delivering hands-on, animal and land-based programs for young people who often don’t fit the “normal” box.

Some days look like:
🐮 washing calves for shows
🐴 helping with horses and groundwork
🐶 therapy dogs visiting aged care
🔥 campfires and camping
🛠️ building projects and paddock jobs
💬 mentoring young people who just need someone solid in their corner
🌱 teaching real-life skills, responsibility and confidence

This isn’t sit-in-an-office volunteering.

It’s muddy boots, early mornings, big personalities, hard conversations, laughter, occasional chaos and genuinely meaningful work.

We’re looking for people who:
✔ have a good sense of humour
✔ are physically capable and reasonably fit
✔ can stay calm under pressure
✔ are emotionally grounded and resilient
✔ genuinely care about young people
✔ are willing to learn and be part of a team

Blue Card and/or Yellow Card required (or willingness to obtain).

In return we can offer:
✨ real-world experience
✨ mentoring and training
✨ potential placement/work experience hours
✨ opportunities to upskill through courses and professional development
✨ being part of something that actually matters

You do NOT need to “have all the answers.”
Some of the best mentors in our programs are simply good humans who show up consistently.

📍 Goombungee / Toowoomba region
🐾 https://animal-instincts-australia.splose.com/public-form/77c0c21c-a998-4dc7-9eb3-aa9c05e22c64
📧 Message the page or email [email protected] to express interest 💚

19/05/2026

🌾 A few things country life teaches you pretty quickly…

1️⃣ Some gates aren’t worth hanging onto
Not every argument, drama or opinion needs your energy. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is shrug your shoulders, keep feeding the horses and move on with your day.

2️⃣ Work with what’s in front of you
No point cursing the drought, the rain, the mud or the wind — you still have to get up and feed the animals. Life gets easier when you stop fighting reality and start figuring out your next step forward.

3️⃣ Let people make their own mess
You can’t save everyone, fix everyone or drag people into a better life kicking and screaming. Some people have to learn the hard way. Protect your peace and focus on your own paddock. Sometimes saying to yourself 'Not my pasture, not my problem' is the peaceful way forward.

4️⃣ Good things take time
Grass grows back. Young horses settle. People heal. Calves grow. Trust takes time too. Not everything is supposed to happen overnight.

5️⃣ Notice the little good stuff
A good dog. A quiet horse. Rain on a tin roof. Campfire chats. Kids laughing. Sunrises in the paddock. A beautiful sunset after a hard day. Life’s built from little moments, not just the big ones.

6️⃣ Get off the damn screen sometimes
Go outside. Touch dirt. Pat a horse. Sit by a fire. Have a real conversation. Humans weren’t built to stare at phones 24/7 and wonder why they feel disconnected.

Most growth doesn’t happen in one big life-changing moment.

Usually it’s just:
a better choice,
a calmer reaction,
a stronger boundary,
or getting up and trying again tomorrow 🌱

19/05/2026

Just because a child is physically in the classroom doesn’t mean they feel safe, regulated or ready to learn.

Many children spend their school day in survival mode — overwhelmed by noise, pressure, uncertainty, social demands or the constant effort of masking how hard things really feel.

From the outside, it can look like they’re “coping.”

But internally, their nervous system may be overloaded.

When children are dysregulated, anxious or emotionally exhausted, learning becomes incredibly difficult. This isn’t about behaviour, motivation or “trying harder.”

It’s about understanding that emotional safety and connection are essential foundations for learning.

At Animal Therapies Ltd, we often see how animal-assisted learning can help children feel calmer, more connected and more emotionally secure.

Animals can provide a sense of safety without judgment or pressure. They help create opportunities for regulation, confidence, communication and engagement in ways that feel natural and supportive.

For some children, meaningful learning begins only after their nervous system feels safe enough to participate.

17/05/2026

🌱 Why we do what we do…

It’s wild how many young people today can tell you every trending song, influencer drama or TikTok trend… but have never:

🌱 grown food
🍳 cooked a basic meal
🐴 cared for an animal
🔥 sat around a campfire
🛠️ built something with their hands
💬 had a real face-to-face conversation without a screen nearby

We’re raising kids in a world overloaded with information, but many are missing the practical life skills, confidence and real-world experiences that actually help regulate nervous systems, build resilience and prepare them for adulthood.

That’s a huge part of why we do what we do at Outback Instincts.

One of the biggest changes we’ve recently implemented in our programs is a strict “No Phone Zone”.

At the beginning of sessions, phones go into a lockbox.

And honestly? For some young people, it’s uncomfortable at first.

Because most kids today are living in a constant cycle of stimulation — scrolling, notifications, short-form content, comparison and dopamine hits every few seconds. Their brains rarely get a break from noise, distraction or pressure.

And unlike previous generations, they often can’t escape it.

Years ago, if you had drama at school or issues with friends, home was where it stopped. Now it follows young people everywhere — group chats, Snap Maps, social media, notifications, online bullying, pressure and comparison sitting in their pocket 24/7.

There’s no off switch.

What we’re seeing in young people now is exactly what the research talks about:

⚡ shortened attention spans
⚡ difficulty regulating emotions
⚡ anxiety and social disconnection
⚡ constant need for stimulation
⚡ reduced resilience to boredom and discomfort
⚡ nervous systems stuck in a constant state of overwhelm

But something really interesting happens once the phones go away…

The conversations start.

Not online conversations — real ones.

We hear laughter again. Storytelling. Banter. Eye contact. Awkwardness. Confidence building. Young people learning how to communicate face to face instead of through a screen.

And while that’s happening, they’re also:

🐴 feeding horses before themselves
🌱 touching dirt and working outdoors
🐐 learning where food comes from
🛠️ building things with their hands
🔥 sitting around campfires instead of algorithms
🤝 learning teamwork, responsibility and practical life skills

There’s science behind why this matters.

The nervous system regulates differently outdoors. Animals help co-regulate emotional states. Physical work and nature reduce stress hormones. Human connection improves wellbeing. Slowing the constant dopamine cycle allows young people to actually think, process, connect and breathe again.

We’re not anti-technology.

But we are seeing firsthand what happens when young people spend every waking second overstimulated, consuming instead of creating, scrolling instead of connecting.

Some of the most honest, vulnerable, hilarious and meaningful moments we’ve shared with young people have happened once the phones disappeared and they finally had space to just be present with each other.

That probably says everything it needs to 💚

We are a registered charity that receives no ongoing government funding, relying heavily on donations and community support. To support our programs go to:

https://www.givenow.com.au/organisation/public/6645