June 4, 2009

Yards were left brimming as 209 Kaimanawa wild horses were pushed out of the ranges of New Zealand's Central Plateau yesterday in a successful muster.

Another 10 or so horses will be mustered today, weather permitting.

The four helicopters used in the annual Department of Conservation flew in ideal weather conditions.

Kaimanawa Wild Horse Welfare Trust chairman Elder Jenks said homes had been found for between 165 and 170 of the horses.

His group would be rehoming more than 120 and the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Preservation Society had homes organised for close to 40.

The remainder will be going to slaughter today.

"It's a terrible thing to have to do," says Jenks. "Just about all the males two years and older will go," he says. "But in the past the mares have gone with them."

Not so this year, with many being placed in homes.

The preservation groups faced a tough muster this year, with the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Advisory Group wanting to begin reducing the long-term herd numbers to around 300.

The last count put the number in the ranges at 594. In normal years that would have meant a muster of 94.

Jenks said the best thing to do was to pull out a larger number this year, avoiding the possibility of a 300-plus muster next year, which inevitably would have meant more horses going to slaughter.

He said his trust had worked extremely hard, in a short time frame, to find homes for the horses. He said the media got behind the efforts and the result was very pleasing.

He said he understood the horses in the muster were a little smaller than usual, possibly because they came from further back in the ranges, in the north-northeast area, where conditions are harsher and there is less grazing.

The horses tend to be bigger the closer you get to the army base, he said.

The publicity and effort gone into rehoming them meant the animals were going further afield than ever - as far south as Ashburton.

"We don't normally place them in the South Island. We won't put them on the water."

However, 27 will be placed in the South Island from this muster. The horses would be sent to Hastings for initial handling and six to eight weeks later would make the journey south.

Horses would be taken over the next day or so from the mustering yards to premises in Huntly, the Waikato, Hastings, Paihiatua and New Plymouth, and from there would be sent on to their new homes.

Jenks said an effort would be made today to get 10 or more young horses out from the ranges, to meet all the requests for younger stock. Foals, yearlings and two-year-old mares are most popular.

He said the sponsorships had proved particularly successful, which ranged in value up to $250, and had led to the rehoming of a lot more horses.

"The publicity created a lot of interest. The media picked up [on the story] and went with it. We really pushed the sponsorships and got amazing results."

The advisory group decided on a reduction in herd size not only to protect native vegetation, but because of the loss of army land to the spread of heather and manuka.

Jenks said the army estimated it was losing up to 1000 hectares a year to the spread of the plants.

The trust, he said, was looking at promising options around long-term immuno-contraception. One system in particular looked as if it could be viable here, he said.

A successful immuno-contraception programme could ultimately see musters reduced to 30 or 40 horses every two years, he said.