Ōpōtiki: Stallions and loose horses roaming around pose safety risk

Stallions' natural instincts in the wild can cause them to be a potentially fatal danger to other horses and their riders.

The subject of risks to the safety of both horses and people caused by stallions in the town was discussed at an Ōpōtiki District Council meeting on Tuesday.

Despite a bylaw that prohibits them from the township, stallions have been reported within the town.

Council acting planning and regulatory group manager Annette Munday said while Ōpōtiki welcomed responsible horse owners, the bylaw was simple common sense for anyone who knew horses.

“Stallions will rip through fences and ropes and everything else to get what they want. And with mares coming into season, it is more dangerous than ever. Stallions need to be out of town now.

“Before bringing them back to town, get them gelded, arrange fenced grazing with sufficient feed and water.

“That means a lease if necessary – private property and public spaces are not free grazing for horses.”

Approached by local democracy reporting, Ōpōtiki Veterinary Health Centre owner and head veterinarian Chris Peterson said there had been feedback at the clinic that there were stallions around the town.

He said town was no place for stallions as they were very dangerous animals, particularly at this time of year.

“Stallions, in the wild when they fight one another, it’s brutal. They’re a very strong and aggressive animal,” he said.

“That instinct comes into play when they’re interacting with other horses.

“It can be well socialised, very well behaved and safe with humans, but display a whole other set of behaviours when interacting with another horse.

“It turns into a completely different beast.

“That’s where [the owners] sometimes get confused. They think it’s a lovely quiet horse but when it gets out and reverts into wild mode, their instincts kick in.

“You can’t get between them. You can’t go and save your horse because you put yourself in grave danger. That’s 500 kilograms of muscle you’re dealing with.

“We have attended numerous geldings that have had severe beatings. They have been bitten all over.

“They can have ten to twenty bite marks all over them, and kick marks. A gelding doesn’t know how to defend himself.”

His opinion was that the only place for a stallion was in a breeding facility with adequate fencing and expert handling.

“That’s why our recommendation is that male horses are gelded at a year of age and certainly no male horse should remain ungelded after two years.”

He said roaming stallions was not peculiar to Ōpōtiki but was a bigger problem than in most towns.

“Even in Whakatāne, just outside town, we had a stallion running up the road a couple of days ago that had got out.”

Although people were unlikely to be the direct target of an attack by a stallion, they could easily get severely injured if they were riding a horse that was being attacked.

“Also, mares will kick out to try and defend themselves and those can be fatal kicks for a human.

“It’s cool for kids to be able to ride around the riverbank. It’s one of the pleasures that Ōpōtiki kids ought to be able to have. But it becomes unsafe when free-ranging horses are there, especially if one is a stallion.

“Even horses that aren’t stallions, if they’re free-ranging, they can turn around and kick out at a person riding a horse and hit the rider.

“They can do severe damage.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.