Meet The Team

Hi, I'm Arthur. I live in Ashhurst, near Palmerston North and have done for 23 years. Carol, my wife, and I brought up our children on our 10-acre lifestyle block and we are now very pleased to be able to share it with our 6 grandchildren, all of whom live locally.

I am a long-time horse trekker, breeder and trainer and am part of the Morgan Horse Association of New Zealand.  I really enjoy trekking with my Morgan horses and have developed an excellent relationship with landowners in my area and other parts of New Zealand. There is nothing quite like enjoying our beautiful whenua looking through the ears of a horse and I know many of you enjoy the same thing.

I feel quite aggrieved about losing areas for riding WITHOUT any consultation, hence my desire to lobby central and local government and government departments to make sure they know we exist and have rights to roads, tracks, pathways and beaches. I feel very strongly about preserving what we have for the next generation and have dedicated my time and resources to achieve this at the highest level in the land.

As co-chair of NZEAN I am heartened by everyone’s efforts at contacting their local MPs and council officers. The more we do this, the better off our younger generation and those to come will be in the future. I am very hopeful we will be able to get you onboard to put your shoulder to the same wheel. This will make a big difference for the recreational horse riders of Aotearoa in the future. 

Hi I'm Shelly Warwick.  I live in Otaki on the Kapiti Coast, Lower North Island.  I have 4 children, 3 horses and 10 acres.

I have ridden horses since I was about 10, my Dad told me it would be a seven day wonder back then when I announced i wanted a horse ........ 40+ years later!!!!!  I am a happy hacker and ride for pleasure.  My favourite place to ride is on our beautiful beach.

I got involved in local politics in 2016 and became part of the Kapiti Coast District council's Cycleway Walkway Bridleway committee.  Even though our council had a horse friendly strategy it was still difficult to get access to certain places for no good reason at all.  This is when some local Kapiti riders formed the Kapiti Equestrian Advocacy group (KEAG), of which i was a founding member and am still the Chair. We realised that we had to collect the horse riding community together to engage in the local government process to have any real effect. With this came the realization that there is no legislation on a local or central government level to ensure our recreational and safety needs are considered, no funding, no requirement to plan for us,  and often no will by local authorities or government departments such as Waka Kotahi.  Also was the realization that this was happening all over the country.  

There have been 3 petitions to central government since 2013, the last was the' Ride for our future' by NZEAN and there has been no change.  But we can change this.  There are many of us, we need to be collective and support each other all over the country. Local councils work on numbers, numbers of submissions, numbers of dollars spent, we just have not been very good at letting them know we are here, and that there are many of us.  

This frustration on a local level lead to a meeting between Kapiti and Manawatu horse riders, both dealing with Waka Kotahi and their complete lack of engagement with the horse riding community, and we committed to making a change.  Thus NZEAN was born and I am proud to be a founding member and Co-chair.  Changing the dial in New Zealand for horse riders will take time.  But if we do nothing we will just keep losing our access till only those with land or wealth will beable to have a horse, but then with nowhere to ride.  The ability for a kiwi kid to have a horse will be a thing of the past and we will have no rights and no access anywhere.  We need to do this not just for the future generations of children but the future generations of horses.  

These things move very slowly, but like the tortoise we will win the race in the end if we stick together.

I'm Anne Steven, I live in Wanaka and have two Standardbred pleasure horses for trail riding, the occasional cattle muster and I have tried hunting and CTR once with aspirations to do some more! I grew up racing around recklessly and self-taught on ponies and horses on a high country station on the west side of Lake Pukaki. I rode until I was 23, then working life and having a family shouldered horses out of the picture for 30 odd years until 2018. That year at around age 55 I decided I wanted to do the Otago Goldfields Cavalcade as it was finishing in Hawea, Otago. So, I started from scratch – horse, somewhere to keep it, gear, float, learn about horse care, horsemanship and how to ride better! Luckily at the very same time ROCO happened, the FB page for connecting Central Otago horse riders. I have met many new people, and made some great new friendships centred around horses and riding. I have ridden many wonderful trails around Wanaka and in Central Otago and Mackenzie country, and know there is sooo much more to explore on horseback! However, I have also come across the impediments to our safe and practical access to and use of our public high country spaces. I am keen to help resolve these access issues, most of which appear to stem from a lack of awareness of our needs.

Hi, I'm Jacqui. I’ve had a horse obsession since I was two, much to the disdain of my un-horsey, city-dwelling family.

I finally achieved horse ownership in my mid 40’s when my own children were old enough to be left to their own devices and now have two horses which I’m lucky enough to keep in the southern suburbs of Wellington City.

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I ride for pleasure everywhere between the South coast and the city centre and occasionally muster the courage to transport them further afield.

I’ve been a familiar presence at council submission hearings advocating for horse access in the Wellington region for many years and am a founding member of NZEAN.

Hi, I'm Betty-Ann. To the surprise of my non horsey family I have been passionate about all things equine all my life. I possibly have my grandfather to thank, or blame, for this as he bought me a beautiful big Collins rocking horse as soon as I was born. This was soon followed by a Donkey called Brandy when I was old enough to walk and then my first beloved pony, the rest is history!

I have ridden mostly non competitively for fun and pleasure ever since and have had the privilege to own, or borrow, some wonderful equine companions who have taught me everything I now know about horses and I am well aware I’m still on that journey.
It has enabled me to meet lifelong friends, connect with new people, keep fit and healthy and remain sane at times!

I enjoyed many years riding the bridleways and byways of England and now enjoy exploring my community and new places in New Zealand, having lived both North and South. I spent many years campaigning for the inclusion of horse riders in the UK while a volunteer of the Swavesey Bridleways Group and BHS and have been keen to be involved to support NZEAN almost from the beginning.

I am Andrew from near Timaru in South Canterbury. I have been riding motorbikes since I was around 3 years old, however around 10 years ago my wife suggested she would like to get a horse as she used to ride.

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Initially I wanted nothing to do with it apart from helping to pick up the poo, I had never been on a horse before. However one day, I plucked up the courage to get on. I was rather perturbed by the fact there was no brakes.

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The rest they say is history, I would sneak away for a ride when my wife was at work and with falling off and doing all sorts of things wrong, I learned to ride and eventually have become an effective, safe pleasure rider.

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Coming from England, where there are bridleways all over the place and local authorities who actually like to be proactive, I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of effective safe places to ride in New Zealand. There did not seems to be any joined up thinking either locally or nationally and when NZEAN formed, I jumped at the chance to become involved.

I was given the task of being the first treasurer, which is a role I continue today. For some reason, I keep getting voted into office!

Ride free my friends