Just a heads up to all those kaimanawa horse fans out there, this story is entirely ficition. The location and the kaimanawa horses are of course based on a real place and are real horses but the story line I made up completely. I know that DoC and the KHH members do not treat their horses so cruelly as the people who rounded them up in the yards in my story. DoC and the KHH trust try to create as less stress as possible for the horses and make the transition from the wild to the domestic life easier for them. I have only twisted the story a bit to create excitement and drama and add effect and no offense was intended.
For those of you who are not New Zealanders, kaimanawas are the wild horses of New Zealand similar to the brumbies of Australia and the mustangs of America. These horses and tough and sturdy living off next to nothing, tussock grasses and a few alpine plants. They run the rugged terrain of the Central Plateau in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand in amongst the Taupo Volcanic Zone on the Kaimanawa Ranges. The horses range in colouring and size but most kaimanawas are brown, bay or chesnut and are around 12.2hh-15hh. Every second year the kaimanawas are rounded up to control their numbers in the wild. Some people apply to buy a kaimanawa but unfortunately many kaimanawas are sent to slaughter. For more information on kaimanawas and to help the KHH trust go to the website http://kaimanawaheritagehorses.org/
The golden palamino stallion grazes while keeping a watchful eye on his herd. His copper coloured coat shines in the sun like a coin. His mane and tail are bleached blond in colour, slightly knotted and tangled. Abruptly the stallion pricks his ears forward. He hears something. A low rumbling sound up in the hills. A loud flying monster. Danger. With a squeal and a whinny he calls the herd towards him. The old dappled grey mare knows his signal and she organizes the herd ready to run, biting and kicking gently out at the foals reluctant to move. The stallion gallops ahead, leading the herd away from danger. He hears the thrum of hoof beats of the herd behind him; chestnut, bay, brown and black mares, gangly legged foals at foot, the dappled grey mare chasing them from behind. He will do anything to protect his herd; this is their place, their home, the Kaimanawa Ranges.
They gallop along the desert-like ground for ages then reach clumps of brown tussock grass. But there is no time to eat even though they need it. The herd this year are thinner, food is scarce, fewer foals have been born. It’s been a long, hot summer. Before long sweat drenches their coats but they continue on. The grey mare has to snap at many foals struggling to keep up. The stallion races on and she wonders when they will stop, she herself, quite old but fit is even starting to struggle. Her throat feels dry as a bone and she hopes they will approach a stream soon.
The noise from the flying monster is in the distance now and sure enough they approach a stream. Mares and foals bend their heads to drink the cool enticing water. The grey mare drinks for a long time, not sure when she will be able to drink next. The stallion drinks quickly but looks out along the horizon, arching his neck and snorting a warning, always prepared for danger. He sees the two large mountains in the distance, Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe, normally blanketed in white snow, now in summer basalt rock is shown, a tiny snow-cap at the tips. The Kaimanawa Ranges don’t offer much shelter from the flying monster, all he sees in the distance are hills and valleys covered in small brown plants, tussock grass, the occasional bush but no trees in sight.
Suddenly he sees it between the two mountains. He squeals at the herd to hurry and they canter across the stony stream, the lanky foals stumbling on the uneven surface, sending up a splash of water onto the river banks. They reach the other side and the stallion gallops on at a steady pace, the herd following. The grey mare is really struggling now, she hasn’t galloped this far and fast for years and soon she finds herself quite behind. She whinnies her goodbye and slowly stops, unable to continue further, flanks heaving, sweat pouring, legs on fire. The stallion pauses and stops, calls out to her, waiting for her to catch up. But the flying monster appears and he has to gather the herd and go. He has to protect them. Without a backward glance they gallop on and on, up and down hills, jumping rocks and bushes, pushed forward by fear and adrenaline. But soon the foals start to tire, they have never ran so far and fast in their short lives so the herd is forced to slow allowing the flying monster catches up. It is right behind them now hovering, chasing them, directing them somewhere, the stallion can tell, somewhere horrible.
The flying monster seems to come around in every direction giving the herd no chance of escape and so they are chased into a yard with other horses, screaming, biting and kicking. The atmosphere is tense. The mares and foals are exhausted from the run. One of the stallion’s older mares gives up and lies down. She doesn’t have a chance to get back up because a loud sound like thunder is blasted; horses galloping everywhere, crashing into the stallion and his herd. Strange two legged creatures wander in to pull the now dead mare out. The stallion rushes at them, hooves flailing, teeth bared and rears above them trying to protect his mare. They fling a rope around his neck which strangles him as they pull him away out of the yard. He pulls and pulls against them but the rope ties tighter, burning into his neck as they continue to try and drag him away. The rope is suffocating him so he finally goes with them but not without bucking and spinning, putting up a fight. He will never give up, wherever they take him, he will keep trying to escape because he is strong, a fighter. They load him onto a dark box with other stallions all biting each other and fighting, scared and timid. He pulls back again and rears over the two legged monsters, squealing and calling to the herd. He is unsure of their fate, how will they survive without him? He hears them call back before the box door slams shut and he is trapped with other strange stallions, faded into darkness, taken away from everything he’s ever known into a strange new world, to begin, or end a strange new life.
Please comment below what you think of the story! Positives and negitives :)
