CHB horse trail getting spruce-up for summer

A group of riders cool their horses off after a ride along the Tukituki River horse trail.

Central Hawke’s Bay’s equestrians are getting a helping hand to ready their riding trails for summer, with Hawke’s Bay Regional Council facilitating a working bee to ready the first section of the trails for mowing.

The horse trail, which primarily runs along the North side of the Tukitiki River from Otaia - Lindsay Bush in Waipukurau to Tapairu Road, Waipawa, was extensively damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle, which has left debris across the trail.

The working bee, to be held from 9am on Saturday, October 28, will start at the Otaia - Lindsay Bush parking area. The aim will be to clear timber and debris from the trail from Otaia - Lindsay Bush to the Tukituki Bridge so that council mowers are able to access and mow the area ready for riders to use.

Anyone is invited. Bring any tools you think you’ll need, sturdy footwear and gloves and join in a worthwhile exercise. The regional council will be providing some equipment and assistance.

The CHB horse trail is one of several in the wider Hawke’s Bay area, established to provide safe off-road areas for equestrians to ride, by allowing them access to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council river berm assets.

In recent submissions to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s 2023-2024 annual plan, about 70 per cent of the 87 submissions focused on a lack of horse riding trails.

The Hawke’s Bay Horse Trails Access Advocacy Group and the NZ Equestrian Advocacy Network were among the organisations that submitted.

Kate Hinton said she started the Hawke’s Bay Horse Trails Access Advocacy Group because she believed the number of places where people could safely ride horses had drastically decreased since her childhood, limiting riders to arenas or sharing the roads with inconsiderate drivers.

”We see this as a huge opportunity for Hawke’s Bay, because of our weather and our incredible landscape, to become a premier horse riding region and encourage equi-tourism.”

Hinton said she was very proud of the submission turnout and believed it only represented a small fraction of the local equestrian community who were calling for these changes.

According to Hinton, the equestrian community was willing to put in the work for maintenance on the existing tracks, as well as improvements through a partnership with the regional council.

Hinton said other benefits to investment in equestrian infrastructure were the relatively low cost of horse trails compared with cycle trails or footpaths, and the opportunity to get more people - the majority of horse riders being women - of all ages into a sport.

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Annual Plan includes a budget for ongoing maintenance for the existing horse-riding trails, and the ongoing development of horse-riding trails will be reviewed in the next Long-Term Plan 2024-2027.