WILD HORSES

Evening Star, Issue 18808, 5 December 1924, Page 2

WILD HORSES

SCENES 0? THE NOETH. It is not generally known 1 that there is, within a comparatively few miles of Te Awamutu, a district _ whore the exciting eport of hunting wild horses may ho indulged in to one’s fullest capacity (says an Auckland writer). The district is a great extent of undeveloped fern country lying in an irregular triangle between the settlements of Aropena and Ngaroxna and the Waikato. River_ to the eastward. It is hardly correct, it seems, to term the animals in that area as wild and unclaimed, for the Maoris in the vicinity claim that the horses running on this ci. >--i'wiio.e expanse of country are theirs. Whether such a claim can be substantiated is a different matter. Certain it is, however, that the horses are wild and untamed, and have never known handling, or even an occasional rounding up into holding yards. The animals are descendants of Maonowned horses that have escaped from control in years gone by, and have roamed the waste lands in droves of varying size. To i-on s- flfie-' v into view of a stallion and his small harem grazing on a "rasa slope a few hundred yards away i, ° io make a Inver of horseflesh Tub his eyes. The stallions are the embodiment of grace, and from their usual vantage point of a small hillock they eye the intruder, especially if he js afoot, with a demeanor that bodes ill if he should coma to close quarters j but this i,.. ; y 'ti 1 ■mnntary. The lord of the harem snorts', his defiance, and then in a flash he is away down like the wind, followed hy his consorts, and usually also by a i, . nd ;,x yearlings and foals, and sometimes by two-year-olds that have not yet been kicked out of the company to form fresh bands of their own, or to joi-. her st--b ’.shed bands. During the past three months or so the state of affairs in the wild-horse land has bean one of extreme excitement and unrest to the equine community, for, in Edition to the constant watchfulness neces-

sary to successfully elude raids made by human hunters out for a Sunday’s sport, there 'were frequent combats between stallions. A fight between two wellr> r e.i ul stallions is a sight never to be forgotten, and a young man who was an '■ e/e-witness describes it as being thrilling and terrible. The result of these clashes frequently is the disablement of one horse either temporarily or permanently. i, e worsted one hobbles off to the nearest water, and maybe is so grievously maimed that it is only a matter of a short while before he goes tho way of all horseflesh. The victor, for his part, proudly returns to his own entourage, u.-iii v escorting tho mares of the defeated one’s 4iarem. One of the most prized animals in the territory is a beautiful dapple grey stallion that so far has escaped all attempts at capture. It may be that his turn will come soon, but up to the present ho has a clean record of successes in eluding capture. That, of course, makes the next pursuit more worth while. There are instances of former wild bm-ses changing hands at from £lO to £ls.