So the last few days have been a whirl wind....Im sitting ata yacht club in Thailand typing this, wondering how my wild horses are back home. Im sure they're fine, having somehow managed to survive alone all their lives. I still worry. I dont actually like sailing at all, but the boyfreinds over coaching a sailing team at the asiian championships, so im here on holiday.Cant complain, it sunny warm and all i have to do is relax and enjoy myself. I still mis my horses though.
So for the few days before i got to thailand, it was a mad rush at the farm to get things ready for my abscence. A new paddock was wmade wild horse proof, for Bay and milo for the ten day im away. Troughs,fences and horse covers all double checked to make sure their should be no malfunctions in my abscence. Greys foot luckily seems to be getting better, huge relief.
But one thing that happened in the last few days has got me thinking. My two wild horses, for me are perffect. I can rub them all over, pick up there feet, i can catch them in a paddock. They follow me whereever i ask them to go. To me they are not to differant to a domestic horse, easier in fact because they have never been taught bad habbits. I knew they trusted me, but i didnt really understand how deep that bond was.
A freind who happens to be at uni studying to be a vet, came over to have a look at both of the wild horses. I was hoping she could give me a second opinion on when she thought the grey was due to foal. As grey's belly has dropped and become huge, shes even developed small udders. I am of course panicing that she will foal while im overseas, and i will miss the big event. Also i thougt the freind could help give a better idea of exactly how old they were as well..Now the two wild horses are used to kids, they used to mum driving up and parking her car right next to them. They were not useda new person trying to come near them. The bay every timeshe went near him to look at his teeth, just tryed to come closer to me. Trying to come to something he felt secure with and awat from what he wasnt. The grey wasnt having a bar of her, no stange person was coming near her.
What i cannot decide is, was it a just the fact it was a new person? Was it her new smell? Was it her body language? Did she appear threatening? What was it that made her so scary? The freind, is a good horse person in her own right, she dosnt do things exactly as i do, but she is good in her own way.
The Bay, with me standin next to him, allowed her to eventually look in his mouth, hes is apparntly two years old, just. But he would never accept her near him if i moved away from him he wouldnt let her near him...It is in a way satisfying to find out how much he looks to me.
Anyway i think i will have to finish this story at a later date. because I see the yachts coming in. I think i had better go find out how all the sailors did. But even here in the sun and warmth of tropical thailand, my two vwild ponys are never out of my thoughts...
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What started as turning wild horses into show horses is now much, much more. Adventures, travel, wildlife, horses and me.
Where The Wild Horses Came From
If you wanted to get really technical, New Zealand only has feral horses, not wild. As all the horses runing free, are descended from domestic stock, that has either escaped or been set loose, and found their way to the Kaimanawa ranges. That they now habitat in the centre of the north island. The first reports of horses runing free on the kaimanawa ranges, date back to 1876. Some of bloodlines known to have made into wild populations are Arabian, exmoor, Welsh, a group of Comet horses, stock horses from cattle or sheep stations as well as a Cavalry posts in the area.
in 1981 the herds of horses runing free in the ranges, were put under protection by the New Zealand Government. numbers at that stage had plummeted to just 174 wild horses. But by 1994, numbers had risen to 1,576. With this many horses they were causing massive damage to their fragile and unique enviroment.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation has been carrying out annual musters and culls, since 1993. unfortunatly horses that cannot be adopted out to private homes are slaughtered. The aim is to keep the wild population at a managable number for the health of the horses and the enviroment.
The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization lists the Kaimanawa horses as a herd of special genetic value that can be compared with other groups of feral horses such as New Forest ponies, Assateague ponies, wild Mustangs, and with free-living zebras. Kaimanawas are of special value because of their low rate of interaction with humans. This lack of interaction may result in a herd with more wild and fewer domestic characteristics, which is of special interest to researchers.
in 1981 the herds of horses runing free in the ranges, were put under protection by the New Zealand Government. numbers at that stage had plummeted to just 174 wild horses. But by 1994, numbers had risen to 1,576. With this many horses they were causing massive damage to their fragile and unique enviroment.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation has been carrying out annual musters and culls, since 1993. unfortunatly horses that cannot be adopted out to private homes are slaughtered. The aim is to keep the wild population at a managable number for the health of the horses and the enviroment.
The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization lists the Kaimanawa horses as a herd of special genetic value that can be compared with other groups of feral horses such as New Forest ponies, Assateague ponies, wild Mustangs, and with free-living zebras. Kaimanawas are of special value because of their low rate of interaction with humans. This lack of interaction may result in a herd with more wild and fewer domestic characteristics, which is of special interest to researchers.
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