By WAYNE THOMPSON
Piggie is feeling a little restricted in diet these days as progress catches up with her and her fellow boarders at Te Atatu Pony Club.
The 24-year-old horse has long been part of the herd that grazes a wedge of pasture between the Waitemata Harbour and the Northwestern Motorway.
But
this winter grazing space is in short supply for Piggie, who can still jump her own height, and 15-year-old paddock mate Smokie.
In recent years, the horse country has shrunk as housing, roading and the Harbourview-Orangihina Park have made more pressing claims on the harbourside land.
But club president Jack Baty said that while the amount of land available for grazing had decreased, the demand from youngsters to learn to ride and graze their horses had increased.
"We are turning away children because we haven't the land to do it," he said.
The club grazes 30 horses over summer but only 15 during winter when grass growth slows and parts of paddocks are under water. Horses are fed hay to supplement their grazing in the paddocks, which are weed-infested and in poor condition.
Mr Baty said the club had not improved the pasture's carrying capacity because of the uncertainty of its month-to-month lease with Waitakere City Council.
"We have had to be grateful for what land we could get."
Its big grazing area and a 2km cross-country course were big attractions for its 50 members.
About 12ha was available for grazing, the cross-country course and the competition area, which hosted up to 190 horses for one-day events open to visiting clubs.
But now, grazing and the cross-country course are being lost to a carpark to serve the developing park. A further 2.5ha has been reserved for a proposed marae.
The council's open space management plan allows the club to gradually decrease the area of its monthly lease as different stages of the 80ha park are formed.
The club area will eventually reduce to 5ha in the southern end of the park, next to the motorway.
Safe pedestrian access must be provided within the club area.
Te Atatu Ratepayers Association president Leo Nobilo said people walked among the horses in the paddocks without complaint. "We love the horses. They have always been a feature and I hope always will be."
