A horse spooked by New Year's Eve fireworks in the Bay of Islands has died from a horrific leg injury.
The broodmare's death has orphaned a 10-day-old foal and reignited calls for fireworks to be made illegal.
Occupants of a Kaikohe property found the injured horse collapsed at the bottom of a hill early on New Year's Day, with her foal crouching next to her.
The mare had lost a large amount of blood from a broken leg joint, said horse breeder Don Harrison.
Mr Harrison owned the stud the mare was bred from and said she would have been in immense pain following midnight fireworks displays until her death about 6am.
The property overlooked the Kaikohe town centre where a number of fireworks were let off on New Year's Eve.
"Fireworks were booming flat out most of [Tuesday] night," he said.
"These fireworks should be banned. They are a ridiculous hazard for lots of animals, not only horses. They get absolutely terrified."
Bay of Islands SPCA animal welfare officer Wendy Locke was alerted on New Year's Day to the incident, but the horse had died by the time she arrived.
"There were lots of fireworks for New Year's and the horse was obviously pretty stressed from the noise of it, and had been galloping around and we aren't sure if she's gone through a fence or what, but it was really not a good [injury].
"It was really sad turning up and seeing the leg like that and this little baby foal cuddled up with mum."
The foal was dehydrated, but had responded well after drinking milk from another mare, Ms Locke said.
The incident was another warning about the danger of fireworks, she said.
"Kaikohe was pretty rife with fireworks [on Tuesday night], over the back of the farm and out the front over the Kaikohe township.
"I don't support the private use and sale of fireworks to the public for reasons like this.
"All sorts of stock, horses in particular, can become highly stressed."
In November last year the Whangarei SPCA established a register of animal firework injuries.
Whangarei SPCA education officer Rachael Wyatt said fireworks could scare animals.
"They get lost, or go on the roads and get hit by cars, or sustain burns.
"It's not just children and people that fireworks can cause harm to."