The Kaimanawa horses roam wild and free across 63,000 acres of the Waiouru Military Training Base, in the central plateau of New Zealand.

An estimated 500 wild horses currently live in the Counted Area of the Kaimanawa Ranges, which makes up the herd population that is managed by the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Advisory Group. This includes horses in the Southern Zones, Argo Valley (Zone 11 and Lower 14) and Zone 20. Of these, 443 are documented in the Kaimanawa Legacy Foundation Database.

In addition, there are another 44 horses documented that live in Zone 9 and the Māori Trust Land, which is outside the Counted Area. These horses aren’t managed and numbers are estimated to be double or triple this size. 

Wild horses were first recorded in these regions in 1876, originating from Exmoor and Welsh Mountain ponies that had been released into the Kaimanawa Ranges. These pioneering ponies, which came to New Zealand on sailing ships to aid European settlement, crossed with others that had escaped during the New Zealand Wars and with unwanted horses that were set free. In 1941, the gene pool of the Kaimanawa horses — which in Māori means ‘eat the wind’ — was further influenced when soldiers defied orders to shoot their cavalry horses during a strangles (equine distemper) epidemic and instead released them into the mountains. Many of these horses survived and, as a result, the characteristics of English ponies, Thoroughbreds, Arabs, Standardbreds and Clydesdales can still be seen in certain geographical areas within the Kaimanawa population.

During the early 1900s the Kaimanawa herd thrived, roaming by the thousands. But by 1979 their numbers were decimated to just 174 by amateur hunters who culled them for sport and pet food, by rodeo and other domestic users, and by the shrinking of their range due to encroaching farmland and forestry. In the central North Island these last remaining horses were restricted to the Waiouru Military Training Base, 63,000 hectares of high-country desert a few kilometres to the east of Mount Tongariro. Here, the horses had some degree of protection as a result of restricted public access to these areas, and by 1981 a law was also passed to ensure the ongoing survival of the Kaimanawa herd.

Protection of the Kaimanawa horses by law resulted in rapidly increasing numbers, and the horses were often in poor condition due to lack of food and would resort to eating the rare native flora in the region. In 1992, the Department of Conservation (DoC) reported that 31 different plant types, all unique to the area, were being threatened with extinction due to damage caused by horse trampling and overgrazing. They proposed culling the horses through aerial shooting, but the idea was dropped after opposition and lobbying from animal welfare groups and the general public, as well as extensive and negative media coverage. Instead, it was decided that the horses would be managed by mustering. During the winter of 1993, 310 horses were culled from a total population of 2000, then in 1997 another 1100 were removed; some were sold at auction, but the majority were sent to slaughter. Since then, regular musters have helped manage the population, with the horses available to the public to adopt. In 2016 an important milestone was reached, with every horse being saved from slaughter for the first time, through the collaborative efforts of Kaimanawa groups and trainers. This has been sustained ever since.

Today, management decisions are made by the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Advisory Group, which comprises DOC, New Zealand Defence Force, and other interested groups. A total population base of 300 to 400 horses is now managed by immunocontraception and helicopter mustering, and the mustered horses are offered to the public for re-homing.