Wild horses have roamed the remote, Indigenous community of Mornington Island for more than 15 years.
A trail of ruined earth and damaged vegetation shows the long-term impact of the 40-odd brumbies that live on the island.
Mornington Shire Mayor Kyle Yanne said the horses damaged parks and ovals.
"You can't grow a garden," he said.
"They destroy our beautification works.
"The community is getting pretty sick of it."
But culling the horses was not an option.
"Even though they're a pest, it's no fault of their own and all our locals actually do love them," Mr Yanner said.
So community leaders had to get creative.
A small team of young people were tasked with rounding up the brumbies and placing them into three newly-built paddocks on the edge of town.
The animals will now be used as part of a horsemanship program that trains young people and sends them into careers around the country.
"It's a win for our community and it's a win for our youth," Cr Yanner said.
Council workers have been collecting the wild horses over the past week and holding them in the local oval before walking or mustering them out to the paddocks.
"What's more rewarding for me is the young fellas doing the jobs," Mr Yanner said.
"I'd like to just congratulate young Brendon and Oliver Redford, they're doing a great job and using the skills they've acquired from work on stations.
"It's actually quite fun to watch them work."
He said he hoped having the horses would open doors for other young people to pursue careers in horse management, particularly through a new horsemanship programme that had started visiting the island.
"It has a high success rate of sending young people out into the industry right across Australia, with some going to Western Australia, the Northern Territory and throughout Queensland," he said.
"And it doesn't just teach horseman stuff, it teaches them real life stuff that helps them."
Some of the horses will also be sold to neighbouring stations on the mainland.
Travelling vet Hannah Burton has been desexing the colts.
"It's the first project of its kind that I've heard of to deal with wild horse problems," Cr Yanner said.
"It's a great example of our young people who've developed these station skills coming back to community and helping to build something that hopefully some of our other young people will come to love."
