At the age of 65 most people are contemplating retirement, but Far North woman Heather Hilton-Jones decided on something else to occupy her - riding the length of the country on a horse she’d saved from certain death.
After 14 years - doing a couple of weeks a year - Hilton-Jones completed the Great New Zealand Trek, while riding the same horse, Wildflower.
The trek started in 2006 at Cape Reinga and took in close to 2500 kilometres of private land, forestry and beaches before reaching Slope Point, the southernmost tip of the Mainland. The trek was split into 14 stages with Hilton-Jones and Wildflower travelling roughly 200km every year.
The epic journey was completed stage by stage, every year picking up where she had left off (or close to it), the previous year, all on the same little horse.
The odyssey began when she was aged 65 years and Wildflower just a young horse, and she finished in Bluff at aged 81.
Hilton-Jones and Wildflower are now both enjoying a well-earned happy retirement on the family farm in the Far Far North, just minutes from Ninety Mile Beach.
She has made a lifetime of memories and still has get-togethers with her friends from the trek, sharing their wonderful memories.
Hilton-Jones said she had done a lot of trekking on horseback during the years and always wanted to do the Great New Zealand Trek.
‘’I’m pretty determined and once I make my mind up to do something I do it. This was just another thing I really wanted to do.’’
She said after the death of her husband - All Blacks great Peter Hilton-Jones - in 1994 she spent more time on her horses and with the prompting of friends decided to go on the trek.
Heather was already a very experienced horsewoman though, having run her own horse trekking business for years. At times she’d had up to 20 horses and led two rides a day through the forest and onto Ninety Mile Beach.
She said after the death of her beloved husband she was quite lost for a while. Then she joined a Kerikeri horse trekking group - “The Happy Hackers” - and made some wonderful new friends.
One day she received a message from a local that there was an orphan foal in a Far North forest whose mother had been shot, presumably for dog tucker. The foal was only about three weeks old and would have died unless it could be captured. Hilton-Jones loaded a gentle old mare into her horse float and together with a couple of good friends drove to the area where the foal was last seen.
They found the little filly which had jumped a fence when its mum was shot, but getting it into the float was no mean feat. Fortunately, the foal was in a position where it was possible to use a fence and a gate to trap it so after several hours the hungry, tired and very frightened little horse finally ran into the float to be with the kind old mare.
The foal was incredibly strong and wild so she was kept in the horse float for over a week in order to keep her safe. She eventually accepted the bottle which helped to tame her and Hilton-Jones - in a nod to its past - named her Wildflower. The foal soon thrived and settled down.
When she was mature enough she was started under saddle by a local horseman but always retained a wild side. Hilton-Jones said she understood and respected this and the two formed a strong bond.
When Wildflower was four years old they started the first stage of the Great New Zealand Trek together. The ride was originally organised by Steve Old as a fundraiser for The Multiple Sclerosis Organisation, his mother having sadly suffered from MS.
Each year, the start of the ride was further away from home so Hilton-Jones had long distances to travel with “Flower”. Over the years there were several upgrades of horse float until finally, she got a super little truck. This was equipped with sleeping and kitchen facilities and had everything she needed to make herself comfortable after a hard day in the saddle.
Hilton-Jones is quick to praise all of her helpers, saying without them she could not have completed this ride. Her friend’s husband drove the truck from point to point so she could use it at the end of each day and her daughters, their partners and families plus lots of friends all took part at different times to make this amazing adventure possible for her.
It was a fantastic and thrilling experience to ride across such stunning terrain, sometimes in very remote locations. Lifelong friendships were formed along the way.
‘’You tended to pair up with someone who had a horse with a similar gait to yours which made riding much more pleasant,’’ she said.
Her group of four stuck together on the trek and at the end of each day, all of the horses would be turned out - sometimes up to 100 in a paddock. Wildflower would look after her little herd of four and keep them safe.
Hilton-Jones said horse owners will appreciate what an amazing feat it was to keep Wildflower sound, healthy and rideable for such a long time.
At the end of the final ride, after 14 years, all of Hilton-Jones’ family came to share the closing celebration at the bottom of the South Island with her, making the finish even more special.
Looking back on the journey Hilton-Jones said she just enjoyed everything about it - the trekking, the horses, the camaraderie and companionship and the achievement.
‘’It was such a wonderful trek and it was so good to have Wildflower there with me the whole way. She was a hard ride at times, and she dumped me a couple of times, but there was no damage, and she’s such a good little horse.
‘’I was never going to give up (the trek). I’ve been like that my whole life, once I say I’m going to do something I do it, and this was no different.’’
As for what’s next, Hilton-Jones says her, and Wildflower’s long trekking days are over and Wildflower is enjoying her retirement in the paddocks of the farm.
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