A Raetihi art gallery and a wild horse charity have come together for an exhibition of photos depicting Kaimanawa horses.
The exhibition opens at the Barbed Wire Gallery tomorrow, and contains images by photographers with a passion for the Kaimanawa horses.
The horses have lived in the Kaimanawa ranges near Waiouru for about 130 years.
They are descended from a range of escaped and released horse breeds - including Exmoor, Carlyon, Welsh, Comet and Arab - that made their way to the area between 1858 and 1960.
In 1993, the Department of Conservation began an annual muster of the horses, to keep numbers to a manageable level. Many of the culled horses are taken to new homes throughout New Zealand.
The exhibition will support Kaimanawa Heritage Horses [KHH], a non-profit trust dedicated to the welfare of Kaimanawa horses in both the wild and domestic environments. Calendars, books and caps will be for sale at Barbed Wire Gallery alongside the exhibition, and all proceeds will go to KHH.
The gallery will be running an art competition for children with prizes for the best Kaimanawa horse work of art. Children can bring their art into the gallery and it will be displayed till judging day at the end of the exhibition.
Opening hours at the gallery are 10-4pm every day except Tuesday.
For more information see http://www.thebarbedwiregallery.co.nz.