Kaimanawa Horses are known for their wild yet hardy natures and taming them is no easy task.
Horse trainer Tommy Waara has taken up the challenge to not only break in two of them but also to prove they can foot it in the horsing fraternity.
Less than a year ago, it would never have seemed feasible that two Kaimanawa horses would ever wear a bridle and saddle or even stand still, let alone enter an arena full of people.
However they are doing tasks that seemed impossible a few months ago.
Horse wrangler Tommy Waara says, “I used to just go in the yard every day and they'd just charge to other side of the yard and stand there and watch me, the moment I'd open the gate, they'd just bolt and try and get out."
They've come from the wild, horses from the Kaimanawa Ranges with no concept of captivity.
The Kaimanawa horses are a wild population of feral horses that roam the outback of the Kaimanawa.
The Department of Conservation says they put native plants at risk so they are captured and trained to help control their numbers.
“They can also be taken seriously in the equestrian fraternity, they're extremely talented and this challenge proves to those who have never considered them as a sporting option,” says Simone Frewin from Kaimanawa Heritage Horses.
Waara is a wrangler and an all-around horse trainer who lives in Raetihi, and it seems all his hard work has paid off, as his horse delighted the crowd.