The first horses were introduced into New Zealand by Samuel Marsden in December 1814.

In 1876 the first wild horses were recorded in the Kaimanawa mountains. These are likely to have been descendants of horses which came into the area with travellers, explorers, settlers, soldiers and Maori traders.

In 1858  Major George Carlyon imported Exmoor ponies to Hawkes Bay. These were crossed with local stock and a sure-footed pony known as the Carlyon pony resulted.

Sir Donald McLean imported two Welsh stallions, Kinarth Caesar and Comet. When crossed with the "Carlyon" a small statured, sure footed, robust horse resulted. These horses became known as the "Comet" breed.

During the 1870's McLean released a Comet stallion and several mares on the Kaingaroa Plains. In later years this bloodline was reportedly apparent in the wild population. (I have seen these. Their heads looks like those of donkeys; too big for the body, rounded and covered with long shaggy hair. JA)

Over the years that followed, other horses contributed to the bloodline of this wild population. There were escapes and releases of horses from sheep runs in the area and in 1941 horses from the mounted rifle cavalry units at Waiouru were released when a strangles epidemic threatened.

(I have seen no confirmation of this. Army sources say the mounted rifles with their 1500 horses moved from Waiouru to the Waikato. But with 1500 horses tied in lines close together and not much fencing, a few may have escaped and joined the wild herds nearby. JA)

It is also reported that Nicholas Koreneff released an Arab stallion into the Argo Valley region during the 1960's.

(Lance Nukunuku of the Waiouru Saddle Club says a Clydesdale was released to increase the body-size of the herd. The white clydesdale nose-stripe can now be seen on many Kaimanawas. JA)

With the varied gene input that followed their origins, the horses have generally become larger in stature than their pony forebears and there is also some variance in their conformation and build. The horses are however, generally known for their calmness and inquisitiveness and in many of the herds, the classic characteristics of the Comet breed are still clearly exhibited.

The shepherd’s hacks that grew too old for mustering or pack-horse work on Taihape and Taupo sheep farms were released onto the plains for a quiet retirement with the herds, and other younger horses from the herds were rounded up and broken in to replace them.

With the coming of Land-Rovers, motor bikes and quad bikes on hill country farms, the use of horses on farms has greatly decreased  and the wild horses were shot for dog tucker or sold for pet food and in 1979 it was found that only about 174 horses remained.

Starting in 1981, the Kaimanawa population, range size, and herd movements began to be officially measured, and a protected area was formed for the breed in the Waiouru Military Training Area. Legislative protection was similar to the kiwi and other native species. Following the protection of the breed, there was a rapid increase in the herd size, and by 1994, 1,576 horses were known to exist in the area.

A plan to reduce the impact of horses on land with important ecological values was prepared.  The protection provided to the horses was lifted in 1996.



With the Kaiangaroa plains now covered with dairy farms and pine plantations, and the Mokai Patea now fenced off for sheep farming, the wild horses were now largely restricted to the Army Training Area that occupies 600 sq km in the south-west of the Kaimanawa Ranges. The habitats in the higher parts of these ranges are ancient and unique, with many rare, slow-growing and fragile species of alpine plants. Some of the places in higher northern parts of the Army Training Area have been gazetted as Restricted Ecological  Areas.  Also there is no fence between the tussock lands of the west side of the training area and the Desert Road where 3000 cars and 500 large trucks travel each day.

A management plan for the horses requires them to be kept out of the fragile areas, and away from the Desert Road. Helicopters keep the wild horses mustered away from the northern and western parts of the training area, and they are now mostly seen in the south-east part of it, in the Imjim Valley, Argo Valley, Home Valley and Tarn Track regions of the training area. Each herd marks its territory by depositing its droppings in one big pile on tracks other horses might use. Consequently the roads in the Imjim/Argo/Home/Tarn region need careful negotiation!

The herd size is kept to 500 to stop over-grazing of this area. Each year, around April, officers of the Department of Conservation (DoC) use a helicopter to do a head-count.The number of surplus horses is identified and around the middle of June the horses are mustered by helicopters to a set of yards in a canyon at the western end of the Argo Valley.

Kaimanawa breeding herds range in size from 2 - 21 animals with a typical group consisting of a stallion, two or three mares and two or three foals. When horse treks ride through this area each December, lone stallions often approach the mares in the trek, trying to entice them away.



In the midwinter of 2009 the herd of about 15 horses from Home Valley came right into the camp each night. The grass on the camp training field was sweet, and the walls enclosing the heated swimming pool were warm! Piles of horse droppings appeared at street intersections as stallions marked their territories.