The 198-year-old relationship between Maori and the horse is the subject of a new series starting on Maori Television tomorrow.
Northlanders and significant Northland events feature in the first two episodes. Northland is where Maori first saw horses as they swam ashore from a missionary ship at Rangihoua in the
Bay of Islands in December 1814. Those who saw that first stallion and two mares thrashing through the water thought they were taniwha and were terrified - but iwi soon realised the economic, social and military advantages horses offered.
The first episode of Hoiho (Horse) was filmed at Pawarenga United Marae Sports Day; a Far North event held every New Year's Eve on the shore of Whangape Harbour. Events include a series of 600m beach races, the "stockman's whip" in which riders use a whip to knock bottles off a series of posts, and a gruelling cross-country race over nearby hills. Hokianga identity Charlie Dunn also makes an appearance.
Episode two focuses on the South Hokianga township of Rawene, where school bus driver Robert Pink uses horses to turn troubled children's lives around, and Rawene takes on Whirinaki in polocrosse.
The series, which is 50 per cent subtitled and in te reo, is produced by Michelle Lee and Brent Job-Iremonger and presented by journalist Annabelle Lee-Harris.
