Rehome the Kaimanawa Horses NOW

You've heard of the New Forest ponies of England? Or of the Mustangs of America? Well, we've got our own unique breed of horses here in New Zealand - The Kaimanawa (here's the Wiki low-down) - and they need our help. Once again they're getting in the way of the army, and they're also affecting the landscape, so the Department of Conservation want them out of the area and hundreds of them are due to be culled tomorrow - weather permitting.

Incidentally, did you know that these ponies are reported to be great with children due to their excellent well balanced temperament and health, they're hardy and surefooted, they've got a great reputation as show ponies, and they're incredibly cheap to own because they're breed to survive in harsh conditions? I didn't know this myself till two hours ago, anyway, I digress -

Featuring in a recent Nelson Mail article on this subject, is my friend - the lovely Caitlin Rose. Apart from being a highly successful world famous musician, Caitlin is also a horse whisperer. That's right, she 'gentles' horses. In other words, she trains them so that they're safe to ride and work with for all ages, and she does it using the language of the horse. She owns a herd of just under thirty horses (including Kaimanawa) up on her land in the mountains of Golden Bay and she's been gentling horses with amazing results since she was a young lass in England.

Caitlin's been striving to find a positive solution and re-home as many Kaimanawa Horses as possible lately. While she's not alone in her efforts by any means (these dudes have been working hard to save the horses), I'm wondering why haven't I heard more about this in the media? There must be thousands of horse lovers like me who would like to help save these amazing animals.

So, at this point in time (1.37 pm Friday 29th May 2009), to my knowledge the major goal of saving these horses hasn't yet been achieved. Time is of the essence. I'm going to email the link to this blog to the major papers of New Zealand as well as any other media I can think of. I think this issue is important. Does anyone out there have any positive solutions as to how to save this species and re-home these horses? Anythings possible with a little creativity and thinking outside the square.I know that some people have come forward with offers of great homes for these horses and hopefully they'll take these horses home. Surely something can be done for the future of these wonderful horses. I want to see these amazing animals re-homed to great locations, with strong, healthy futures ahead of them. How about you?