KEY POINTS:
Calling a horse a brumby - the name given to Australia's free-roaming feral horses - is usually an insult, but not in Te Teko.
The horse-mad Bay of Plenty town yesterday hosted the annual Brumby Races, where equines of all shapes and sizes - and the odd dog - got to race on its little-used thoroughbred racetrack.
Miniature ponies, feisty appaloosas, clydesdales and donkeys were among the creatures on the card.
"Every horse has its day and today's their day at the races," organiser Martin Gow said.
New to the lineup this year were eight fox terriers, coaxed into the birdcage by possum Pete - roadkill towed behind a quad bike.
The clydesdales, though impressive to watch and loudly cheered on in their race by the crowd of several hundred, lacked the dogs' blistering pace.
The winner in the field of three was Jasper, 8 years old and 17 hands.
Owner and jockey Darren Gates of Tauranga was stoked with his $150 prize money.
Mia van den Broek rode winning donkey Maybelline in the next race.
Like stubborn donkeys, ladies from the crowd also needed strong coaxing to enter the Fashion in the Field.
Commentator Skip promised a week's holiday, with him, for the winner.
He was rapt when a "McLeod's daughter" in orange T-shirt, jeans and gumboots strode on to the field, but the winner was Caroline Murray, who wore a red-and-white polkadot dress bought for $39.
Her hat, decorated with plastic flowers, was made in the morning, as was the white feather number worn by Yvonne Murray, who won best hat and used crimson roses from her garden to give it colour.
Cows grazed in the middle of the track, oblivious to the excitement, while the crowd escaped the blazing sun with hot food and cold beer under trees.
Happy punters were also quick to buy the 500 10-cent bets available for each race, winners of the $50 prize pools drawn out of a blue drum for everyone to hear.
The Brumby Races started five years ago after Mr Gow, a local horse breeder and farrier, saw donkey races in Britain.
He was also reminded of clydesdale races once held at Ellerslie and, with the Eastern Bay of Plenty Hunt Club, set about organising a day of carnival races at Te Teko.
He said horses were a way of life in the community - "they're still a means of transport" - and the Brumby Races were a celebration of that culture.
"We're not catering to Joe Bloggs punter, we're catering to Joe Bloggs family."
Some proceeds are donated to charity, and next year the organisers plan to add a snail race.
