2007 Muster

2007 Kaimanawa Muster

The 2007 muster took place on Sunday June 10th, this year they used 4 helicopters instead of the usual 3 and they had 156 horses mustered in within 4 hours.

The Kaimanawa Wild Horse Welfare Trust Inc. home placed 90 horses, WHOA took 45 older horses, 14 went to the abbotoir and kwhps placed 7 horses.

45 horses came to my yards at Ngahinapouri and with an awesome support team we sorted and drenched them all and they then went on trucks to their new homes.

One poor chestnut mare went down on the truck several times and got stood on by the other horses. Oliver's transport did a fantastic job of looking after her and getting her safely to my place where she has stayed since. She was very battered and bruised but I'm pleased to report a week later she is doing very well and amazingly still looks in foal.

Another wee chestnut colt didn't look too healthy in the yards so he has stayed as well. I think his main problem was the amount of worms he was carrying, you've never seen anything like it!!

This is the first year there has been surplus young fillies, there were hardly any young colt babies and there also weren't enough 2-4yr mares to go around. People have been fantastic though as we had to subsitute alot of the orders for something else.

This years horses were the smaller Kaimanawa and were from an area that the army passes through alot so they seem alot quieter and unfazed by everything happening around them.

Thanks To Sponsors...

We were absolutely amazed and very inspired by the generosity of the public in New Zealand and overseas. We were able to re-home a record number of horses thanks to those people who donated money to cover purchase, transport and feed expenses for horses that may not otherwise have been re-homed.

The sponsored horses are all settling well in their new homes and their new owners are very grateful for the support they've received.

A number of businesses also leant their support in either money or product. Please support these businesses and/or contact them to let them know that their generosity is also appreciated. Thanks to:

Ancare New Zealand

Dunstan Feeds

Ewen Equine

Horse Talk

HR Fisken & Sons

Lifestyle Block Website

Takanini Feeds Ltd

Talk To Your Animals

Saddlery Warehouse

All of our sponsors have received a complimentary one year membership to KWHWT Inc., a newsletter and a certificate.

Sponsored Horses...

Thanks to some very generous people, we were able to place a record number of horses from tihs year's muster. It is one thing to find sponsors for horses but it's another to find experienced, committed people who are logistically able to take these horses on and care for them long term.

Thanks so much to Margaret Paynter of Paparoa, Michele Haultain of Liberty Kaimanawas and all those who made wild horses welcome in their family. We really appreciate the updates on how the horses have settled in and what you're doing with them. It makes all the hard work worthwhile when we see how happy owners are with their new horses and how happy the horses are in their new homes!

Photos by Rob Tucker

The D.o.C. Perspective...

The Department of Conservation (DOC) is responsible for maintaining the Kaimanawa herd at 500 horses on the army training ground near Waiouru. Each year the various parties step up to play their separate roles so that together the best outcomes can be achieved. 2007 will be remembered as one of the most successful to date, with a higher number of horses re-homed than in any previous muster. The following is an account of this years muster by Tim Gilbertson, Mangaweka Field Centre Supervisor.

By the time the day of the muster arrives our work is almost done. The horses have been counted, 654 this year, and the count report has been written. The advisory group has met and approved 154 to be removed. The army has been negotiated with to refrain from any shooting in the muster zones. The muster yards and delivery yards have been inspected and repaired as required. John Tullock’s musterers, Rick Graham’s team of helicopter pilots, the trucking firms and Nigel Coddington the veterinarian are all on standby. A press release has been prepared and requests by the media to be on site for the muster have been discussed and accommodated. Contracts and safety plans have been signed and food prepared for feeding all the workers out at the yards. Finally, information is gathered regarding where mustered horses will be re-homed.

During this lead-in time it soon became apparent that the rehoming team from the Welfare Trust was very well organised and very active. It was great to see the number of homes climb as Marilyn and Andrea were able to approve more and more new owners. The spreadsheets Andrea provided giving names and addresses for each horse made the task of sorting horses and despatching so much more straightforward.

The weather plays such a big part in the success of the muster. Long-range forecasts were continually updated and finally looked promising enough for Saturday 9 June. This decision being made, DOC staff, myself included, became cooks and go-fors. The running of the muster, handling, sorting and loading of the horses was handed over to John and Nigel.

The weather didn’t play ball on Saturday and it was an achievement that the helicopters could even get to Waiouru. Sunday dawned with clear but threatening skies. The helicopter fleet, now increased to four, were at work soon after 7 o’clock. The horses to be mustered were in the nearby zones 20 and 11. With the short muster to the yards and the extra helicopter, the horses were steadily being yarded, and at 10.15 the last of the 155 were brought in. by 11 o’clock the rain started and at noon this turned into snow. Several of the experienced hands were heard to mutter phrases ranging from “bit tinny” to “bl#*^y lucky!”. The temperature thankfully remained fairly mild (for Waiouru) and the first of the horses were trucked out that afternoon. By lunchtime on Monday the yards were again empty and the packing up was in process.

As Elder reported in your July newsletter the Welfare Trust was able to process 90 of the 155 horses. We regard this as a fabulous effort and prefer to see horses from the muster placed by a group that has done the groundwork and is prepared and able to give ongoing support to the new owner. We at the Department of Conservation look forward to working with the keen members of the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Welfare Trust for future musters.

Tim Gilbertson

Field Centre Supervisor, Mangaweka