Title: Aongatete Trainer Advocates for Kaimanawa Horses Amid Urgent Rehoming Needs
An Aongatete horse trainer who recently took on two Kaimanawa horses – straight from the wild – says there’s still more urgent work to be done to help the heritage horse breed.
Bex Tasker, who runs dog training classes, horsemanship clinics, and kids’ classes using positive reinforcement methods via her business Positively Together, is working on taming the two female horses for their respective new owners.
The horses were delivered by truck to Tasker’s Wright Rd property on April 27 – straight from the annual autumn muster of the herd that roam the Kaimanawa Range on Waiōuru military training land in the Central North Island.
The Department of Conservation aims to keep the wild herd to about 300 horses – an agreed limit to keep horses healthy and protect fragile ecosystems of the Moawhango Ecological Zone. Rehoming is coordinated by not-for-profit group Kaimanawa Heritage Horses.
In recent years, with Animal Ethics Committee support, DoC has introduced a contraceptive treatment for some mares to support population control. This method would take a few years to take effect, and rehoming continued to be the primary tool for herd management, said DoC senior biodiversity ranger Sarah Tunnicliffe.
“The muster is our opportunity to balance the continued health of the heritage herd with the protection of rare plants and ecosystems which make New Zealand special. It’s a win-win, but is reliant on Kaimanawa Heritage Horses getting enough applications for rehoming.”
Tasker is no stranger to training the heritage breed. She adopted a colt when living in Hunua near Auckland in 2012; and in 2014 she took on a Kaimanawa mare and her foal – “one of the trickier combinations” – when she had a 7-month-old baby herself.
“It was all a bit madness,” admitted Tasker, who a decade later is on her third Kaimanawa assignment.
This time, one horse, about 18 months old, belongs to an Auckland client and will be transported north once she’s completed her basic training, Tasker said. “The other belongs to my working student Radha Foulds, who is 17. Radha will keep her horse here long-term, and I’ll continue to mentor her through the whole process.”
A DoC survey had shown the herd number had grown to more than double the recommended 300 horses, so the April 27 muster aimed to remove and rehome more than 250 horses – but Tasker said this wasn’t achieved and a second muster was planned for July.
According to the Kaimanawa Legacy Foundation and KHH, an additional 123 horses would need removing from the ranges come July – so far only 20-odd have homes.
More private homes are needed to take horses from the next muster, or the public can sponsor horses to go to approved trainers, said Tasker. “KLF has a Givealittle page – where the public can donate to help save more horses, with the money going toward ‘stockpiling’ excess horses, covering their care and training while they await homes,” said Tasker. “So this is the big push now, but once the contraceptives start taking effect, we won’t have to do such massive rehoming efforts. But if we can save these ones, obviously it’s going to get easier every year from now on because there’ll be fewer foals in future.”
Tasker said Kaimanawas haven’t needed culling for 10 years – but that was due to the tireless work of KHH and KLF volunteers undertaking adoption campaigns and the public donating generously. Those interested in helping could visit: www.kaimanawaheritagehorses.org or see the Kaimanawa Legacy Foundation Facebook page.
Back at Aongatete, the horses are starting to settle in. “We’re just at the point of touching and haltering now with these guys, and it’s been three weeks.”
Their arrival wasn’t smooth sailing, said Tasker. The foal, a nine-month-old weanling, arrived with a joint injury and infection. “They came that week of torrential rain,” said Tasker. “And we had to get a horse two days out of the wild sedated [for treatment]… Then two days later, we had to do it again; the vet basically did field surgery in the pouring rain. It’s been very stressful, but it’s worked! The wound is healing, she’s now on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication, and she’s out on the grass in the sunshine, which is huge.”
Tasker admitted taking on a wild Kaimanawa is “a massively time-consuming thing to do,” which is why she hasn’t done so for 10 years. “Ironically, everyone around Katikati thinks I’m only training animals like sheep and chickens to do tricks because they see me performing at A&P shows but my main work is actually training horses using force-free and fear-free techniques, and teaching people horsemanship skills.”
That’s what Tasker is internationally known for – her Positively Together business takes her around New Zealand and overseas hosting talks, clinics, and workshops with equine lovers.
“But Tasker admitted it’s an incredible experience – “there’s nothing else like it.” “They’re lovely horses to have around and the journey of taking them from having never seen a human up-close to accepting touch and being able to go exploring and take them to the beach and things like that is really special. It’s the ultimate blank slate, I guess you could say, but you have to have the right facilities and the right experience to be able to do it. When they arrive, they’re terrified of you, so they don’t want you even in the same space as them… and we need to get them to the point where they can eat from the hand, and be touched and eventually pick up their feet and walk on to a float.”
Often looking “pretty nondescript” when they first come out of the wild, Tasker said the horses “massively glow up in the next six months” when their fluffy coats turn sleek “and we fix their feet, de-worm them and give them good feed.” By October’s Equifest, event-goers will see Kaimanawas from the recent muster looking like domestic horses.
“And that’s ultimately what they’ll become. They’re good quality animals, with a good temperament, and they’re solid – which is something to do with them being in the wild. They just take it as it comes and they’re incredibly resilient.”
