They Shoot Horses Don't They?

We were locked down in New Zealand on our boat during Covid. And to fill in the time we travelled mainly on land to both ends of this fantastic country. We'd done thousands of miles sailing there from Europe and sailing offshore in New Zealand in the winter is not for the faint-hearted.

A week after we made landfall in Nelson, South Island, the Covid lockdown began and we were 'trapped' on our boat for two months until inter-island travel restrictions were eased. It was getting cold by now and we sailed north to Whangerei to do some boat maintenance. Then on to the Bay of Islands area where we based ourselves for the next eighteen months as the world slowly got back to normal.

The First Mate had heard from friends about the wild horses in the Far North of North Island and decided she'd like to see them. So she planned a road trip and dragged me along.

Cape Reinga

On this road trip from the Bay of Islands we took the car (we'd bought a cheap one for the duration) and headed off to see the Far North and the wild horses, with a few Bn'B stops along the way.

After a BnB stop at a protea farm (they export the flowers to Japan) we headed off after breakfast and took the final leg to Cape Reinga. It's a desolate and windy spot of great cultural importance to Maoris.

From the lighthouse it is possible to watch the tidal race, as the two seas clash to create unsettled waters just off the coast. The Māori refer to this as the meeting of Te Moana-a-Rehua, 'the sea of Rehua' with Te Tai-o-Whitirea, 'the sea of Whitirea', Rehua and Whitirea being a male and a female respectively. (Wikipedia)

Spirits Bay is to the right of the lighthouse and North Cape about 18 miles to the right as you look here at the light:

Technically, North Cape is the most northerly point of mainland New Zealand.

We didn't spot any wild horses en route and the weather wasn't quite clear enough for us to see the Three Kings Islands about 30 miles offshore.

After a bracing morning visit to the breezy but thankfully sunny cape, we headed south again looking for a lunch stop.

We found a general store/gas station/cafe and ordered fish 'n chips. While we were waiting for the fry, a small truck pulled in and the First mate got talking to the driver. She does that, meeting strange men.

She mentioned that we we'd come to see the wild horses but hadn't seen any. The guy was a bit cagey about the subject but she chipped away at him and discovered that he shoots the wild horses, and gets paid for it.

He'd shot a hundred during that year's culling season. The bodies were left to rot and recycle into nature.

The story he told was that horses had originally swum ashore in the 1800s from a ship wrecked on a reef off Cape Reinga. Then they had bred. Nowadays, in the dry summers there was insufficient grazing and they starved, wandering onto the roads and posing a danger to motorists.

I read a different story online.

Wild Horses

Wild horses are an introduced species that have had a huge environmental and economic impact on New Zealand’s North Island.

Kaimanawa feral horses are descended from domestic horses released in the 19th and 20th centuries. They are known for their hardiness and quiet temperament.

The first horses had been brought to the Bay of Islands in 1814 on a ship from Sydney. This event took place at Marsden Cross in the Bay of Islands. The spot on Purerua Peninsula, near Kerikeri, is where Samuel Marsden held what is believed to be the first Christian service on land, on Christmas Day, 1814, and established the first Pākehā settlement. And he rode a horse on the beach, to the amazement of the Maoris. So says the visitor guide which we read when we anchored and landed at Marsden Cross.

The herds grew as horses escaped or were released from sheep stations and cavalry bases. Some of the horses were recaptured by the locals to be riding horses, as well as for their meat, hair, and hides.

The number of horses declined as large-scale farms and forestry operations were built on the Kaimanawa ranges (which is in the southern half of North Island), and there was only around 174 horses by 1979. The New Zealand government started protecting the Kaimanawa horses in 1981, and there were 1,576 horses by 1994. Roundups have been carried out annually since 1993 to manage the size of the herd. (Wikipedia)

But since then their numbers have grown to the extent that they now cause damage to native ecosystems and disrupt farming operations.

This problem is particularly acute in areas of extensive natural landscape, such as the national parks or nature reserves. Wild Horses can overgraze vegetation, disrupting the delicate balance of habitats that provide food and shelter for native wildlife. They also spread weeds, which can outcompete native plants and create a monoculture environment.

The New Zealand Government has responded to this issue with a variety of methods. These include fencing off areas of land and controlling access points, as well as trapping and relocating horses from vulnerable areas. And...

They shoot horses

In addition, the government has also established an active culling programme in order to reduce population numbers. This is done by trained shooters, who are often accompanied by veterinarians so that the process is humane and ethical. The meat from these culled horses can then be sold or donated for animal feed.

The effectiveness of these control measures is debated, but it is clear that something needs to be done in order to protect fragile habitats and farming operations from wild horse populations.

We never got to see any of the wild horses, much to the disappointment of the first mate.

But I remember the hit song from way back...

And did you see the film of that name - not about actually shooting horses, but a dance marathon?

It's outstanding, and as of 2023, it holds the record for most Oscar nominations without one for Best Picture. Yes, that's a young Jane Fonda. And Gig Young won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

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