It was way back in 1876 that the first wild horses were recorded in the Kaimanawa mountain ranges. The Kaimanawa horse originated from Exmoor and Welsh Mountain pony stock released in the1870’s. These ponies came to New Zealand on sailing ships and were a huge part of pioneer life selflessly working to aid European settlement. Escapees and releases of horses from farms and the cavalry at Waiouru have added to the gene pool as have “Desert Road Drop-offs” of other unwanted horses.
Today, the characteristics of the Thoroughbred, Arab, Standardbred and Clydesdale can be seen in certain geographical bands within the Kaimanawa population. Historically, population numbers reaching into over two thousand across a wide area resulted in horses struggling in poor condition due to lack of food.
In 1992, the Department of Conservation (DOC) reported that up to 31 different unique plant types exist in the area and are threatened with extinction due to horse trampling and grazing damage. A systematic programme of culling horses through aerial shooting was put in place. Animal welfare groups opposed these slaughters and brought public opposition to the programme through the media and by informing the general public.
The first muster was undertaken in the winter of 1993 when 310 horses were culled from a total population of 2,000. The largest muster was in 1997 when 1,100 horses were culled off the ranges. To date approx 2,000 horses have been removed from the Kaimanawa Ranges. Over half have been slaughtered. Today, a total population base of three hundred horses is managed in the Ranges.
In the early muster days, the re-homing of horses was undertaken in an ad-hoc way with little or no checking of the suitability of the new home or follow-up afterwards. This meant many Kaimanawa horses saved from slaughter at the muster went on to lead miserable neglected lives. Since 2003, Kaimanawa Heritage Horses (KHH) has ensured that around 600 mares and younger males and female horses have found new careers domestically.
There have been a number of changes since those early muster days. The management decisions relating to the wild Kaimanawa horses are now the responsibility of the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Advisory Group (KWHAG). This group that includes DOC, KHH and other interest groups, develops the management plan that DOC implements.
2011 was the first year in which there was no annual muster as part of the new bi-annual muster programme. KWHAG is also researching the possible introduction of immunocontraception. Immunocontraception is a population management tool that KHH fully supports and encourages as a way to better manage the wild population and reduce the slaughter of horses in the future.
I have two beautiful adopted kaimanawa’s. ‘Kaihai’ is from the 2009 muster and ‘Eni-kai’ is from 2010. They are both doing really well. They are happy well-adjusted and reliable boys and are now being used for horse therapy. I am riding the oldest ‘kaihau’ and he is a darling with good manners and is eager to please. It is something I will never regret doing. These horses have a special heart and nature.
Always great to hear about these beautiful horses enjoying their new homes and touching peoples lives. Thank you for loving and caring for your boys and sharing your experience with us!
I think its harsh there killing them off, they should just move then to private land to be safe :L
Hi Amy,
We would love to have enough private land to move them all onto so they could be safe. Unfortunately we havent so we can only work with the wild horse management plan and that says 300 horses is the number allowed to be free on the ranges. At muster time we do our best to home as many of these beautiful ponies as possible, it is heartbreaking that the older and unhomed horses go to slaughter.
We are doing a reading project at school about it, we were gob smacked when we found out the trouble people are going through to save such amazing all rounder horses.
Yes it is wonderful to know that there are people that are able to give a good home to a Kaimanawa and give the horses a future and also those wonderful people who cant take a horse but are taking out Gold or Silver memberships to help.
Hi Caroline,
the Kaimanawa’s are just such wonderful horses, Kaihai and Eni-kai sound like beautiful and much loved Kaimanawa’s.
Thankyou, They are much loved horses. they have given me nothing but joy. I wish I could take on more.
It is sickening that these horses go to slaughter…if they have to be culled I think aerial shooting is actually better than herding them up and trucking them to a slaughterhouse …totally inhumane and shocking …there has to be a better way…why leave it until the herd is unsustainable? They should be rounded up and homes found for some of them before it reaches crisis point!
Thanks for your comments. If you think aerial culling is humane you have obviously never heard of the Guy Fawkes River National Park brumby massacre in 2001. Check out this link http://sosnews.org/brumby.htm or google it.Perhaps then you can make a better informed comment. The herd is not unsustainable nor is it at crisis point. The muster has been an annual event since 1996 & the wild population level is now set at its lowest ever by DoC to 300. (down from over 2000 15 years ago.) DoC vets will decide which horses are suitable for re-homing essentially based on age esimates. KHH advertise for suitable homes to place the horses in & as a charity need help to get the word out there.
I did not say it WAS humane…i think it is barbaric, but if i were a horse and had a choice i would prefer this to being trucked to a slaughter house …why can’t these horses be auctioned off? This would bring it to public attention …why is Docs allowed to get away with lying about these horses? Can you take out a protection order?
as for humane…I am vegan… i do not contribute towards the suffering of any animals
I owned one of these horses when i was a child.. he was rounded up by the Maori people who sold them untrained and wild… As he came from the desert country behind Mt Ruapehu, I named him Desert Storm.. he was the most amazing intuitive animal and we had a lot of adventures together.. Stormy was a one person horse.. Loyal and totally protective of me..We were banned from Pony Club because he was so wild but at the same time he was very gentle…just didn’t like rules…Stormy had some bad experiences…like my father deciding to get an expert to break him in from ambling…which i loved but wasn’t suitable for show work… so i gave up on show work and Stormy and I roamed the countryside where he had the freedom to amble whenever he liked..He hated tractors and bolted every time he saw a man riding a machine instead of a horse!
Wow. What a horse!
Stormy was cream with a black mane and tail and black stockings…he had black rims around his ears and a black line running up his back
He sounds amazing
I am working with other activists to do something about the ‘cull’…can you please let me know asap which DOCs department we need to deal with?…I am in AU and out of touch with what goes on in NZ
Out of touch seems about right sorry to say. You really need to spend some time on research. Whilst I applaud your ethics the equation is a lot more complicated. In 1997 over 1100 horses of all ages were mustered by DoC and auctioned to the public with a minimum bid of $100. A depressingly large number of these were bought by well meaning but totally inexperienced & under-resourced people that created a whole new welfare issue. Starving un-handled wild horses in suburban back yards. Truck loads sold to farmers for home kill dog tucker etc. This is why DoC have passed on the majority of the re-homing to organisations such as KHH. Check out the muster application form on this website. KHH take this VERY seriously & do their utmost to home any & every horse as carefully as possible. If you are based in Aussie & what to help with saving wild horses check out your local brumby rescue group, the Aussie have a much larger problem with wild horse culling than we do in NZ. Also check out the BLM & mustangs in the US.