Arobridge Kaimanawa's: From beginning to now. Arobridge Kaimanawa's

Arobridge Sargeant June 2007

Sargeants' first time over the tarpaulin & through the gate-what a star!!!

Arobridge Sargeant Kaimanawa Show Pukekohe 1 March 2009

Arobridge Sargeant A & P Show Clevedon 15 Nov 2009
We were very proud- Hannah & Sargeant won a 2nd and a 3rd ribbon

In June 2007 Arobridge Sargeant arrived- He was a tiny colt about 18months - 2 years old...He was looking oh so scraggy and felt so very alone. Today he is a well loved beautiful little pony - 4 years old and due to start his riding career.

Arobridge Cinnebar-June 2007

Del introducing herself to Arobridge Cinnebar

Cinnebar's first time over the tarpaulin & through the gate- WOOHOO!!!!

Arobridge Cinnebar and Lauren-Crystal A & P Show Clevedon 15 November 2009

Lauren-Crystal and Cinnebar won a 2nd ribbon- what stars!!!!!

The day after Sargeant arrived Dennis & I were at Mystery Creek & Marilyn from KWHWT phoned to see if we would take just one more beautiful little chestnut colt. NOW!!!! We agreed and thankfully Del Nixon was on hand to greet him and welcome Arobridge Cinnebar to the property and to reunite him with Sargeant.

We couldn't believe it. Del and I had decided to get ONE kaimanawa to see how we would deal with a "WILD PONY" let alone 2. I was to feed, care and look after their wellbeing and Del was to do the training, and so our journey began...

We decided that no human baggage was to be put upon these horses, and that they needed to make choices themselves- after all they all manage to survive without our imput in the Argo Valley, and around the vast central plateau in the North Island of NZ.

We did not want to put them out onto lush green grass, as they had just been used to tussock as their mainstay diet...We knew we would have to contain them in a yard until they were able to get used the idea that WE would provide the food and water - but their job was to stay behind a fence...This was a very easy thing to convince them of- as they knew where their bread was buttered in no time at all.- We introduced them to the paddock with grass in approximately 2 weeks- when they would come running to the feed bin- we put tarpaulins on the ground between gateways- road cones in various places around the paddock...Had washing flapping on a clothesline beside them...The bobcat, truck,cars, bikes, pushchairs and digger would go up and down the driveway right beside them without them batting an eye.....Their whole purpose in life was to survive- not to worry about all the things humans do. Once they accepted that we were friends not foe- nothing seemed to faze them. We had their halters put on by an expert...thankyou David Marshall- David also did things like teaching them to lift their feet for the farrier- Sargeant was an expert right from the start with this- Cinnebar took a bit longer to gain that trust...He was a bit more instinctual or less trusting than Sargeant- their naturesare very different- so we had already decided to do things at their pace- NOT OURS- and it worked a treat- they taught us many things along the way....One of which was - don't worry about the things they get wrong- use it as a lesson to them and ourselves BUT praise them profusely for what they get right....These horses really do want to please.....They are very very quick to learn- and they really want to do it right- so NO PRESSURE was the means to get there quicker...We liked them to work things out for themselves. When we first put them through a gate we would have a tarpaulin right in the gateway and their food the other side- In the wild they would have had to go through all sorts of things to achieve extra tussock or grass...in the winter when it's buried in snow they would have to be true survivors to even get their daily rations- not to mention the terraine they had to get through to actually eat in the first place....so what was a little obstacle that we put in their way- it was a non event - over they went- we figured that was a human- "eeeek they can't do that they'll get a fright"- No they didn't - we would have. They had to work out where their water came from- it was in a arrel not flowing along a river...it certainly didn't take them long- so we applied that to everything they learnt....What clever little ponies they do everything pretty calmly- they work things out without much fuss and bother....They love children and that is obvious right from the start.

Del now has Cinney (aka Orange) and I have Sarg- we love them to bits- they are very easy care and such loveable little horses with very big hearts...they always give their very best.

Both our boys are being prepared for riding under saddle now- can't wait and neither can they.- we'll keep you posted.

We have since had 5 more Kaimanawa's who we have handled the same way- always taking in to account their needs and that is not necessarily not needs and we always enjoy their different characteristics.

Introducing them to the ball

Hawkeye and Radar came to Arobridge from the 2008 muster and are now in Tauranga in a loving home enjoying the family they have gone to.

Arobridge Hawkeye

Arobridge Radar O'Reilly

Desert Rose (aka "Milly) went to Del as a tiny little girl from the 2008 muster.

We took her to the Kaimanawa show at Pukekohe 1st March 2009.
This is Milly (below)as she is today- quite a little lady- very rich chestnut- Milly is looking for her future home and family. She is a very easy girl to handle- she floats,can be covered, easy to worm, has had feet trimmed and really tries to please

And this year Noa & Louka came to Arobridge from the 2009 Muster. These two chaps are just lovely inquisitive sensible colts.

I don't know if it's the fact that we have learnt so much more about starting these great little ponies or if it's just that they get more intelligent or calmer every year, but these two have been exceptionally calm.

There was no issue putting Noa's leadrope on - but it took a little bit more trust on Louka's part to let us put his on.I would swear Noa already knew what brushing felt like- He really LOVES it- he has had his feet trimmed -They are quite funny in the rain- they go into the half round calf shed to shelter- They both have to bend down to get in there- and step over a bit of wood at the same time. With both of them in there there isn't a lot of room to spare- but they manage going in and out without any fuss or bother- what a couple of characters they have turned out to be...

They have been filmed for the NZ Conservation week almost as soon as they arrived...then they were filmed again for the abc news- "Landline" which was quite something - it's quite a lot to expect from 2 little "wild horses" but they performed like the little stars they are and it all went without a hitch...We hadn't had much time to work with them at that time of the year - Wet, windy, frosty, muddy weather - we introduced them to all sorts in a very short space of time, and it all went without a hitch.