The Kaimanawa horses are mustered annually to try to keep the herd at about 300 animals. Photo / Kimber Brown
By Jimmy Ellingham of RNZ
Just days after they were rounded up off the North Island’s central plateau, Kaimanawa horses are in training for their new homes and are warming up to human contact.
Every year, a muster takes place to keep the number of wild horses on Defence Force land near Waiōuru in check.
This year, 58 are being rehomed from two musters late last month, and further homes are now being sought ahead of another muster next month.
Kaimanawa Legacy Foundation founding board member Kelly Wilson has 16 of the 58 horses at her Taupō property.
Tuesday is their eighth day of training since they were rounded up in April.
“Fourteen of those have initiated first contact [with humans],” Wilson said.
“Several of them are already following us and crossing obstacles at liberty ... They’re engaged, and they’re connecting with us.
“Several have been touched, and all across the country, trainers have halted and leaded, and they are wearing rugs and having their first baths.”
This was a good sign ahead of June’s muster, which would focus on the same area of the central plateau.
The horses were high quality, with a good temperament, Wilson said.
“Quite a few of them will be here long term, because they’re either for myself or the trainers that base themselves here.
“Then 11 will move on to their clients. Their clients will come for a week of training at the end of May, and then at the conclusion of that training, they’ll take them home with them.”
The foundation and the Kaimanawa Heritage Horses Welfare Society are also trying to find homes for horses to be rounded up in June.
It’s hoped another 91 horses can be moved into new homes.
Wilson said cost-of-living pressures and the Iran war put a dampener on interest ahead of the April musters, but there were positive signs ahead of the next one.
“The degree of stress isn’t there as much. From the initial announcing of the rehoming in June, there has been more interest than I would have expected - definitely more interest than what we were getting for the April muster.
“Hopefully, we can get a decent number of horses out of the mountains.”
In the April musters, 97 mares were also given doses of a contraceptive vaccine, first trialled in 2022. More of these will be given in the June muster.
Department of Conservation project lead Sarah Tunnicliffe said the musters involved intricate work.
“It’s quite an operation to see and be part of because there’s lots of moving parts,” she said.
“We usually have three helicopters that are mustering the horses from out in the ranges.
“It’s not like mustering cattle. You can’t put them in one big herd and bring them all in together. They come in in dribs and drabs.”
The horses were directed to yards.
“Once they’re in the yards, then it’s the stockmen’s responsibility to push them through the yards, allowing the stockmen and the vet to draft them up into their age and sex group.”
From there, some are loaded onto transport so they can begin training, while others are given the contraceptive vaccine.
The horses trace their origin back to the 1870s.
DoC says they would ideally number about 300, to maintain their genetic diversity and minimise the effect on sensitive ecosystems.
But that was more of a “magic” figure, and the herd’s current size was manageable, Tunnicliffe said.
“[It’s] about 520, so we’re above what we aim for, but this year, with the double muster we’ve just done and then another muster coming up in June, we’re trying to get those numbers back down to a more sustainable level.
“Plus, we’re using immunocontraception as a tool to do that.”
That would happen armed with new knowledge.
“There’s been new studies come out which have shown that you can give the vaccine in a short turnaround, so that’s why we’re able to give the horses that have had their first dose just last week their second dose in June, which is really helpful.”
Wilson said the horses were perfect for rehoming.
“They’re better trained than most domestic horses of the same age, so they are catching in a paddock. They travel on trucks and floats.
“They’ll drive half an hour to the National Equestrian Centre and go for a two-hour adventure through the forest and the water jumps and crossing obstacles.
“They walk and drop beside the shoulder, and they’re just really well-rounded, brave, confident horses that genuinely like people.”
There was originally some doubt about this year’s musters due to funding concerns.
Each muster costs between $80,000 and $130,000.
- RNZ