Kaimanawa horse roundup

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 593, 4 July 1995, Page 14 (Supplement)

Kaimanawa horse roundup

Recently 1 800 or so of the Kaimanawa Horses were rounded up so the results of a fertility programme by Massey University students could be monitored. Twelve months ago 1 25 mares were given either a contraceptive pill or sugar, and a control group were given nothing at all. The aim of the programme is to find a technique that will limit the current breeding rateto 16 - 20 per cent per annum. The horses populate 60 - 70,000 ha of land bordered by the summit of the Desert Road to Waiouru and expanding eastward to the Rangitikei river. The horses were rounded up by helicopter and driven into yards by people on horseback. Department of Conservation staff, Massey University students and John Tullock of

Porinui Station were present. The general condition of the horses was found to be good, although there was a high presence of internal parasites, a condition that is easily controlled by drench. Of the horses rounded up 125 were observed and then released, 33 were sent to an abattoir and 36 were sold. "People buy the horses for their children as the horses are so small, for curiosity, or for use in the hill country as stock horses as they are so foot-sure and hardy," says DoC co-ordinator Bill Fleury of Wanganui. And the aim of the future management plan for the horses? To encourage an even population of the area they inhabit so as to remove the conflict between the environment and the horses.