Me,  Me,  Me!    Say    Glen    and    Kilmun!    MY    Turn!

WELCOME  TO  HIGH  COUNTRY  HORSE  TREKS

Two  Very  Old  Friends  At  The  Feed  Shed.  Toss  And  Clonbern.

I am a very keen but exceedingly poor photographer. I get the really awful shot just AFTER   there was a super one. So ninety per cent of the photos on this site are courtesy of our friends, Volunteers and  the hard working enthusiastic  Woofers and credit should go to them not the Plonker who has difficulty seeing the screen, never mind the potential winning snap.  Thanks everybody.

Everything You Need To Know To Book a Trek   Is Contained In The First Two Pages On The Left  -  The Treks  and How To  Find Us

Toss  Having  His  Siesta.  At  32 Years  Old  Snooze  Time  Is  Vital.

There's  Something  Going  On  Down  There!

Behind The Scenes

This site is for all those people who love animals and would like to find out what goes on behind the scenes .   Out of sight, a lot goes on to  look after  the horses  and  to keep the whole place up and running.

Meet the people, the horses, the dogs, the cats, the Vets, the blacksmith, the equine chiropractor.

Leave the hi tech Rat Race behind for half an hour and enjoy life at High Country Horses' Home.  

Friends have described this place as HH Ranch  -  Horse Heaven.  Enjoy!

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What  The  Animals  Would  Like  To  Say  To  You  Before  You Come  Here.

Nearly every animal at High Country , horse  or dog, and two of the cats,  arrived here  a few whiskers ahead of a bullet and most were traumatised by their previous experiences of life and human beings and were truly lost souls. Here they have time and space to fit in and experience life as it should be lived. Several live up here quite happily just being part of the herd and never having been asked to take a stranger on to their backs. This slight "failing" still doesn't qualify them for the chop.   Troy doesn't have much in the brain department but is rightfully very proud of  his sit and shake paws trick, no mean feat for a dog that had to hide under the house or in the back of a kennel when strangers arrived when he first got here. The horses don't always behave perfectly for everyone.  but they do their best and their efforts are appreciated. We like the fact that they are allowed to be individual and  also have their off days, just like you and I. 

Brothers  And  Best  Mates.  Scout  And  Perkins  With  Kate  And  Mervi.

Mervi  With  Young  Horse  Perkins,  Au  Naturel.

You sometimes come across someone who just has a natural ability to bond with horses. Mervi, who is Finnish and is here as a Woofer, came for a month and is still here two months later.  She leaves in a week but is determined to come back next month.
She has been working with Perkins since she first got here and it is fair to say he was very green and gawky and not very enthusiastic about his new work. In the last two months they have bonded and are completely sympatico. Mervi rides him round with just a rope round his chest and he turns, straightens, stops  -  everything as if he has completely understood what she means.
This is taking our " Asking The Horse Nicely" regime to new heights!!
We don't expect the customers to master this way of riding on their first trek!

Tina   On  Sergeant  Pepper  -  "Supersplosh"

You'll have to take my word for it  - but there  IS a horse with rider attached in this picture!  It was a very hot day, well over 30 degrees and Supersplosh always loves a splash but on this day he REALLY went to town and Tina was absolutely soaked as was anyone in a twenty metre radius.

Miniature  Syd  Enjoying  His  Swim  In  A  Deep  Waterhole.

Newly arrived here little  Syd   [  From Sydenham ] is rather refined in his enjoyment of the water.  He just comes, loose, on any ride he fancies joining, and when we arrive at any deep water hole he just sets off and swims round and round until refreshed. The first time he did it some of the bigger horses were somewhat startled, he literally swum rings round them.

 "Radiant  Topaz"  -  Topper, With  German  Saskia  On  Board.

Well now I've seen everything!  I thought Mervi was fairly brave riding Perkins with just a rope. Today Saskia rode Topper in the Exercise Yard without anything on at all.  He tends to look like an offended llama with protruding bottom lip when asked to do something he doesn't approve of, but this procedure he liked and even managed a couple of bunny hops over the wee jump..  They have built up such a bond together that we are wondering whether we can post Topper on the plane back to Germany when Saskia goes home.  One thing is for sure, I shall be throwing slightly more tack on Topper when  I have to get on him when Saskia leaves!

" Be  Be  Gun"    -    Beeby,  With  German  Nicole  On  Board.

This Standardbred horse has had problems in his previous career as a pacer. He had at least ten trainers in his short racing life and was passed around like a hot potato. Beeby has been here for four  years now. The first winter he dripped weight and last winter he had an awful flapping wound on his tummy which knocked him back a fair way. So he has been a lot slower getting around to being ridden.  Beeby decided  he didn't want to be ridden and was quite happy just being a horse, pleasing himself living up the hill in the herd. Nicole is the first person this season who hasn't been intimidated by Beeby's tactics and she has persevered through all of his shan'ts and won'ts. As you can see her hard work has paid off and they are finally reaching an agreement about where they go and when.  Well Done Nicole!

A  Good  Keen  Team.      Woodles  And  Troy  Waiting  For  Instructions.

These are the noisiest dogs in NZ so it is really good to see them up the hill and barking not next to me!  Woodles actually isn't terribly into horses at the moment and is usually close to Rod while horses are thundering about.  Troy and  Kelpie  are the main working team these days and we couldn't manage without them up the hill because the horses are very good at playing hide and seek and going the wrong way for the sheer fun of it.

Good  Friends  Enjoying  The  Water  On  A  Very  Hot  Day.   Linda, Rachael  And  Lorna .

German  Marie  On  Roo.  Perhaps  She  Couldn't  Find  The  Key  To  The  Tack  Shed?

The first few weeks that this year's Woofers were here it always seemed to be raining so there was a lot of bareback riding. One of Rod's favourite tricks is just to step in and remove the halter. The girls all discovered that it is just as easy to ride the horse with nothing on once one masters the system, you just have to have the confidence to do it. Marie looks quite happy doesn't she?

"Starving "  Cats  At   Ardnadam