30 horses are chewing through a bale of sweet-smelling hay.

This feed has travelled hundreds of kilometres after days of work from three men who saw the toll wreaked on livestock by the fires.

Kim Langton and Tom Skinner, from the Southern Highlands in NSW, had initially planned to drive to Victoria with a couple of utes and two horse floats full of feed. But after a radio appeal they were joined by Sydneysider Stuart Brady, who borrowed three trucks, and loaded donations of 900 bales of feed, 30 saddles, 40 bags of animal feed and pallets of dog food.

After two days spent picking up "a bale here and a bale there" from members of the public, who donated $20 to buy a bale, they arrived in Kinglake on Tuesday and began unloading.

Mr Langton, who is originally from Healesville, was a member of the Country Fire Authority who fought in the hard-hit town of Cockatoo during the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983.

"When I heard about Victoria I knew I had to do something, and I'm too old to be fighting fires," he said.

Mr Brady, who describes himself as an "ordinary man, father of three" said the trio had been blown away by the response from the public when they called for donations. In Gundagai the owner of the motel where they stayed gave them $300 to cover petrol.

"We didn't know these people from a bar of soap but everyone did what they could," Mr Brady said.

Ross Little and Leisa Zaninelli, the owners of the Melbourne Indoor Equestrian Centre, where the donations were unloaded, said they were overwhelmed.

They lost their home, a timber house that fronted the national park, but managed to save almost all of their horses by herding them into an undercover metal arena.

Usually they cut and bale their own hay but this year Mr Little said only native grasses will shoot back through the burnt soil.

The donated hay will last them three to four months, giving them "a bit of breathing space" he said.