Anyone Wanting A Kaimanawa Horse?

Is anyone here considering getting a Kaimanawa from this year's muster?

There will be over 100 horses looking for homes & I have to say, things have been disturbingly quiet on the application front.

If you're toying with the idea or know someone who is, I'd LOVE to talk to you/them! []

Our fellow LSB'ers Anne & Muri (among others) can also share their experiences of having these horses straight from musters & I'm sure, will be happy to answer any questions you may have too.

We used to have a Kaimanawa living next to my parents place. Was an absolutely gorgeous boy. Bit cheeky, and he was just a paddockmate. Was beautifully muscly and strong and a real looker! I wish I had the skills to take one on.

If I was home, a horse-hide coat could be in the cards, but not a wild untrained horse...

I have got the info & application forms but I lack the initial set up pens needed when they first come off the truck. No one close by has pens that I could use, which is such a shame as we have got plenty of room on our large lifestyle block for a few Kaimanawa's.

I was in the same situation as you but I had my horses pre-handled in other pens on another property until they were at the stage they could be handled, and then they came to my place.
Where are you located as this could also be a possibility for you

We are in Auckland.

ok, but where in auckland please

We are in Kaukapakapa, 10 mins north of Helensville.

Not far away, i am just 'down' the road.
I would suggest you put in an application and in the interim talk to neighbours if they have yards and whether they would allow them to be used.
Mine were handled down in south auckland by Taukari te Whata who travels around the country and then i had to get them transported up here.
There are a couple of other applications between kumeu and warkworth so you never know if its possible to work in with someone else

The only pens I know of around here are the dairy farms and they use them all the time. Unfortunately I think it is just going to work out to be too expensive by the time I pay for the horses, the transport truck and someone with pens. It is a real shame as I would love to save a few of them, cant stand to think of them going DT. We have a large lifestyle block (40 acres) with 3 horses on it, only one is mine and grass coming out of our ears! In the past we have let the cows next door graze it for free. I got the room and time to save some Kaimanawas, but not the pens

GGZ;419502 wrote: I got the room and time to save some Kaimanawas, but not the pens

Can you put some yards in? Loading race as for cattle yards, yard with high fences - as for cattle yards, and if you really want it a round pen - but I don't use one.

If you have yards and a loading race you will be able to buy in cattle and put weight on them and sell at a profit rather than just letting the neighbours graze.

I've got a couple of Kaimanawa who came from the 2010 muster. They came straight here from the ranges. One is started under saddle and in harness, the other will start under saddle late winter. I have people enquiring about them, planning on a budget of $500 - $1000.

Okay, so, $250, initial outlay. $100 - $300 for transport (anyone give me a realistic figure to get a horse from the muster to say, Auckland? I have no idea, having not been charged for the transport - but it did have to be paid for by the Trust). Feed (hay and roadside grass) through the first winter when they're too wild to go out behind wire fences: ~$140 (at 1/4 bale per day for 60 days). Gelding (for a horse over the age of 3) $400 - $500. Usual cost for starting under saddle ~$1000. So that comes to around $2000 - with no costs for drenching, other feed, farrier, vet etc.

And ya know? The fun of getting a wild pony and turning it into this:
?

Priceless!

Spend some money on your yards. Your long term return for your whole farm will be well worth it.

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People have the idea because it only costs $250 to buy a kai then they should not be paying much for one that is broken in.
I dont think you will ever get beyond that way of thinking amongst the general public unfortunately.
Handling a horse can cost anything from $800 per week upwards if you sent them to professionals and you would expect at least three weeks work to get a horse to the stage of being backed
So expecting to get a horse for $500 is very unfair on the person who has put the time into the horse
Perhaps now that the Kaimanawa are getting out and being very competitive at the highest levels then people may be prepared to pay a bit more for them.
As it stands at the moment however, over 100 from this years muster will be going to the meatworks unless we can find more homes - thats 1/4 of the entire herd population.
It also means that the Kaimanawa will become a very rare breed in captivity

The idea of putting in yards had been going through my mind (Haven't spoken about it to Hubby yet!) Hmm.... its my B'day next week and he did ask me what I would like! We are both quite handy at building, having done major work on our house. I have been trying to think of where abouts on our place we could put them as our road frontage is only driveway size wide and there is a stream on one side of our drive and the boundary fence on the other down by the road end of our drive. The contour is mostly rolling to hilly at our place. Have got some flat areas near the stream that go under water in winter when the rain is really heavy, only by about 10cm but that is no good for Kaimanawa's in pens. Think it would probably require some earth works which wouldn't be that major except that our digger is not going at the moment and hubby has it on his to do list. What size and height should pens be? Any idea on cost of materials?

I cant tell you what size they should be as mine are not adequate but hopefully glopony will come along and shed some light on the matter.
But the one thing i will say, loading races are a total waste of time if they are not on one of the driest or all weather areas of your property.
Mine is downhill so it gets run off on very soft soil so it is hopeless in the wet and I know many other people who dont have a properly formed access to their loading race.
The trucks should be on solid metal or drive the whole way, all the way to the race .
Altho you may not use it that often, there still needs to be access to it otherwise its a waste of time building one

What do cows cost to buy in Auckland? How long do you keep them for before sending to the meat works? What are the costs in keeping them? and what do they sell for? Just seeing if the pens could be paid for with what cows would earn us!