Dream Of A Wild Horse

DREAM OF A WILD HORSE

“In Wildness is the Preservation of the World” ~Thoreau ~

I I was 2 years old when I fell in love with horses. My Nanny, Granddad and I were travelling back to Whakatane, when Granddad spotted a man with an old white horse on the side of the road. A sign explained that they were available for rides. We stopped and so my life long passion began. As long as I remember most of my games involved being a horse or pretending to ride one. I would only read books about horses and that is all I drew. Getting my own horse was my sole mission in life!

Now I sit on my front door step. A warm May sun shines on me. It is a very calming moment. I look around me and see all the things that need to be done and smile. I smile because I’m really lucky to have all those things to do. I certainly wouldn’t be doing them, where I’m doing them, if I hadn’t let a Kaimanawa into my life.

Seamus was a rather lucky fellow, first DOC wanted to shoot him from a helicopter then when he ended up in a pen in Ohinighti at the ’97 Kaimanawa auctions me and one of my dearest friends, Bernie, ended up buying him. After initially applying to be able to purchase a young Kaimanawa from the auctions we had decided we had our heads in the clouds. One, we couldn’t actually afford to pay for it and two, memories of chasing escaped horses round supermarket car parks late at night left us feeling that maybe we were dreaming.

Dreams however are sometimes meant to become reality. At the time I felt my life lacked somewhat in purpose and direction. I watched Braveheart one evening and afterwards cried and cried. I was left feeling like I needed to do something but what? The next morning when I woke the first word that filtered through my mind was Kaimanawa. The phone beside my bed rang; I picked it up to hear Bernie saying “Hi”. “We have to do it Bernie, we have to save a Kaimanawa” “I know , I’ve just had a call from a lady in Wellington who has offered to provide us with the money to pay for one” she screamed down the line “ She can’t possibly keep one herself so wants to help in a different way!!” So that was how Bernie, Grayson (Her then 1 year old son) and I found ourselves driving to Ohinighti at some ridiculous time in the morning so we could save our wild horse. When we arrived, we were herded on to a bus to travel into the auction site. It was interesting surveying the crowd of people lining up; all sorts of ages, backgrounds and experience were represented. This next bit is going to sound really corny but it is true. My scanning was interrupted when I met the cheeky eyes of a man near us. It wasn’t across a crowded room but something sparked between us which were to redirect both of our futures. We ended up sitting behind Bryan and his mate Lynsey on the bus. We spent most of the day in their company.

I found the auction site a very sad state of affairs. A large number of temporary yards had been set up with horses segregated according to age and sex with the older ones. The larger percentage of ponies faced the corner of their pen, heads down, taking no interest in the proceedings. The youngsters were very hairy and all of the horses were thin, we wandered forlornly between the rows, tears were streaming down my cheeks as I compared their present situation to their lifestyle before they came to this farm 3 months previously. I could see why they were so thin, the stress of the muster would have been enough but barely a blade of grass sprouted on the hills they had been grazing and there was no natural shelter to be seen. Kaimanawas are a tough breed due to the extreme nature of their homeland but they are used to having a huge territory in which to graze. I am sure that they ‘do it hard’ sometimes but I have yet to see a published photo of a starving horse in the wild.

Many very tidy, pretty little ponies were present but I quickly decided I would bid for a horse that no one else wanted to give a home to, thereby actually saving one. It would have to be a youngster as I didn’t have the facilities to cope with a larger, older, wild horse.

We didn’t buy Seamus till near the end of the auction; when it came to choosing a horse we weren’t looking for the ‘flashest’ one, we just wanted to give whoever the universe deemed fit for us to take home, a life. When the auction was nearing its close I chose a number no one had put a bid against then ran back to check number 119 had 4 legs and a tail. I found Seamus burying himself as far under his mates as they would let him. Because no one else bid on Seamus we only had to pay the basic price of $110 so it was with great excitement that Bryan, Bernie and I decided to go halves in another horse. Soft Touch was in the same yard with Seamus. From the same yard Bryan also purchased 44 (no 144 in the auction the tall bay in the photo above) a lovely, very obviously part Clydesdale, who bravely faced the world instead of hiding.

Bryan was running a fledgling horse trekking operation in Maungatoroto so I had visions of me and Bernie taking our kids for summer holidays in Northland to visit Soft touch.

Little did I know!!! When the auction was completed we made arrangements for Seamus to be delivered to my place, swapped phone numbers and addresses with Bryan and Lynsey then made our way back to Taranaki rather pleased with ourselves for having completed our mission.

Before Seamus was to arrive I decided to bring my old pony, Honey, home to help him settle in as I figured this would be much easier for him if he had horsy company. Honey had been living with a young friend of mine, Annie, teaching her to ride. Honey came into my life when she was 3 and I was 9. At 22 I felt she would make the perfect surrogate mum. I imagined that the youngsters had been weaned by the muster so having a motherly figure to hop of the truck to could only be positive.

I organised to use a yard with a loading ramp around the corner from my house in Okaiawa (South Taranaki) as the only way to transport the Kais was by stock truck. I was sick with worry all day in case something happened to our new baby in transit. Seamus came off the truck quickly and looked bewildered for only a moment, heading straight for Honey quietly munching hay in the corner, nickering softly at her. She accepted him straight away deciding she would look after him.

My first mission was to catch and halter Seamus so that I could get him from the yards to my prepared back yard. Easier said than done!! I spent 2 days “making friends”. He would quite happily come and eat out of my hand and let me scratch him on the neck but any sign of a rope or halter would send him scurrying across the yard. Honey was thoroughly sick of being cooped up confined to hay and while I was pretty sure he’d just follow her home if I led her, I wasn’t prepared to take the chance that he might disappear up the road at the first glimpse of freedom so I decided I’d just have to grab him round the neck, hang on and get the halter on. Lucky he was only a little fella!! I hadn’t planned to use brute strength but it worked. First mission complete! I forgave myself once I got him home and saw the relish with which he hoed into the grass as soon as he got there. I would approach the situation in quite a different way now!!

But you know what, he’s never forgiven me for that first transgression. To this day when I go out to catch him he will walk away from me, sometimes it will take me 5 minutes to catch him. A novice ten year old can wander out to get him, fumble around with the halter figuring out which bit goes where, and he will stand as still as a rock with a complacent look in his eyes, patiently waiting till they know what they are doing.

Seamus lived in the back yard for the first few days after which he and Honey graduated to the front yard.

I had to be a little tricky to catch Seamus, smart little horse that he is. I had secured some grazing not too far from my house with lots and lots of grass, I wanted to see my little pony fatten up. Seamus was very good at playing catch me if you can games when there was lots more room to play in. There was a low gate dividing one paddock from the other and it was no sweat for him to just pop over it if he wanted an escape route!!! Every Kaimanawa I have had something to do with is a natural jumper. Their potential as kids jumping and eventing ponies is enormous. They are so intelligent you can teach them to do any thing.

I went to the auction the next week with Bryan and Lynsey where they purchased 3 mares for breeding purposes, Sioux, Morning Fall and Dusty. Bryan came to stay with Chandra and I and we decided rather quickly that we all had a future together. I rented out my house and Chandra, our 5 cats, 6 horses, my mate Khan (Kelpie cross beloved) and I all moved North to Maungatoroto to live with Bryan and his daughter Carrie.

When I moved, Bryan was in the process of handling young kaimanawas for people before they went home. As a result we also added Cobber and Monty to our collection as payment for the help. Trolley ended up with us when a lady was looking for a home for him as she couldn’t keep him. Between us this meant we had the pleasure of sharing our lives with 9 Kais, 26 horses in total between us.

Almost 2 months after the mares arrived at the farm, we woke up to a surprise. Morning Fall had delivered a perfect little chestnut foal.

Foaly is the most divine creature. Only about 14.1 she is all heart and hinu, beautiful to ride she has the potential to be a top children’s pony in many disciplines. She is a wonderful ride for experienced riders but is also the most brilliant lead rein pony. I consider myself very lucky to be small enough to ride her.