Lara to the rescue
By Chris Gardner
When Jeff Woolford broke a wrist after going over the handlebars of his farm bike last year, his partner Lara Sutton stepped into his gumboots.
“I would not have survived without her,” Woolford said. “It’s been pretty hard over the last eight months.
“Lara has really held the farm, her career, and everything together.”
Sutton, who was this month named one of three finalists in the 2025 Dairy Woman of the Year Award, ended up doing more on their State Highway One farm as Woolford healed.
“I was quite lucky to spend more time with the kids,” Woolford said.
Woolford had his hands full with Georgia, seven, and Logan, five, while Sutton focused on balancing milking 290ha Jersey cows on 100 hectares with her role as DairyNZ strategy and commercial partnership manager.
Working for the good of the dairy industry with the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, the Dairy Women’s Network and Federated Farmers is all in a day’s work.
“It was definitely busy from July until December,” Sutton said.
The pressure came off as the farm moved to once-a-day milking in mid-December, and Woolford’s injury healed about two months ago.
Sutton also managed to find time to complete the 10-month Escalator programme through the AgriWomen’s Development Trust. The programme includes modules on understanding self, governance, leadership, communication and future direction.
The farm produced about 96,000 kilograms of milksolids this season, down about four per cent on its average 100,000 production thanks to the drought.
This is the couple’s fourth as a
predominantly Jersey herd-owning sharemilkers on the138-hectare dairy farm midway between Piarere and Tīrau.
“We have been all grass with hay,” Sutton said.
“This season we needed to buy in some palm kernel to fill the gap.”
“The farm owners have put in a shed feeder, which will change things a little bit.”
“We are also heading toward a cross bred herd to be able to cut down on bobby calves.”
Crossbreeding dairy cows with beef bulls can significantly reduce the number of bobby calves. By crossbreeding, these calves can be raised for beef production, which increases their market value and provides an alternative to early processing.
Woolford hails from Tuakau and began his working life as a farmhand on a farm near Pirongia.
Sutton comes from Te Kowhai and grew up in Hauturu near Kāwhia in the King Country and then Hamilton.
They both spent the 2009-10 season milking at Te Kawa in the King Country.
“Jeff and I are a real partnership, and we talk about every decision on farm,” she said. “I genuinely love working with Jeff.”
“It’s definitely a family business,” he said.
“I was very surprised and extremely humbled,” said Sutton of her placing as a finalist in the Dairy Woman of the Year competition
Sutton was nominated by a friend, and nearly didn’t complete the application form because she did not feel worthy.
Dairy Women’s Network trustee and award judge Jenna Smith said: “Lara left the judges with a clear sense of her ability to connect then lead. Her demonstrated ability to continue to challenge herself, has seen her seize opportunity and develop significant process and progress in the dairy industry.”
• See: Jo in line for award, page 2
Dairy farmer Jeff Woolford says he would not have survived this dairy season without his partner Lara Sutton.
Photo: Chris Gardner
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Jo in line for award
By Chris Gardner
Pirongia’s Jo Sheridan is one of three finalists in the national Dairy Woman of the Year Award and is passionate about education both on the farm, and in the classroom.
She is currently demonstration manager at Owl Farm at St Peter’s School in Cambridge where she has been educating people about the dairy industry.
“It’s been a really humbling process,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan, husband Carl and their two sons Sam and Jake have been involved at Pirongia School since 2013.
She served on the board from 2019 until she joined the Te Awamutu College board three years ago.
Before she left the Pirongia board, she urged parents to get involved.
“To be accountable for student achievements means that as board members we are constantly growing and developing our skills and keeping up to date with information to make informed decisions,” she said.
Her nomination as one of three finalists in the dairy award is recognition for her part in future focus farming.
“It is a really rewarding thing to be
recognised for, as it has been a great part of my life for 24 years.”
Future Focus Farming is an initiative designed to help farming businesses plan. It emphasises collaboration between spouses, siblings, or business associates to co-design a shared vision for their farm’s future. The programme includes setting goals, creating action plans, and identifying key financial
and performance indicators.
Sheridan has welcomed around 2000 visitors on to the 140ha Owl Farm each year for the past six years; 40 per cent of who have never been on a dairy farm before.
Her focus is on sustainable practices, farmer education and youth engagement which aims to inspire the next generation of farmers.
Small moments of connection with visitors who suddenly feel connection with the land or farm animals is what gets Sheridan out of bed.
“Their eyes light up,” she said.
The farm held its annual open day earlier this month and Sheridan and her team saw 900 visitors over four hours.
“I love everything about this job.”
Born and raised in South Taranaki, Sheridan moved to Pirongia in 2001 when she became a DairyNZ consulting officer, later serving as DairyNZ regional leader for the Waikato.
Sheridan’s nomination for Dairy Woman of the Year recognises her passion for education, community engagement and sustainability.
Sheridan is one of two Waikato dairy farmers up for the award, the other being Lara Sutton who farms between Tīrau and Piarere off State Highway One.
Waiting for the plan decision
Federated Farmers continues to wait for the outcome of its appeal against Waikato Regional Council’s wide-sweeping set of rules for agricultural land use.
Federated Farmers Waikato president Keith Holmes had expected the Environment Court to release its interim decision by the end of March, but the release has been pushed back until May.
Plan Change One seeks to improve freshwater quality in the Waikato and Waipā River catchments. It will apply to around 10,000 properties and a land area of 1.1 million hectares within the two catchments. The plan change is a requirement from a Parliamentary Act and River Iwi Treaty Settlement.
Federated Farmers appealed against which waterbodies stock should be excluded from, setback distances, how critical source areas are identified and managed, and how often fertiliser spreaders need to be calibrated.
“Some farmers aren’t aware it’s happening, and others might think these rules have gone away, but Plan Change One appears to be coming whether we like it or not,” said Holmes.
“We can’t afford to put our heads in the sand, nor not be ready for what’s coming, which may mean significant change for some farmers.”
It is anticipated the plan will require farmers to have a freshwater farm plan and exclude cattle from specified waterways. It is also expected the plan will require dairy farmers to report and manage their nitrogen loss.
“After a gruelling 13 years in the making, an interim decision on these new farming regulations is anticipated to be released sometime in the coming months,” Holmes said.
“Whenever it comes out, there will be a mixture of both relief and some angst because the unknown will then have
some reality to it.”
“Federated Farmers have been fighting hard for years on behalf of our members throughout the process to do what we could to see regulations land in a place that’s fairer, pragmatic and more affordable for farmers. It is my belief that we will end up with something significantly better than what was proposed when the process started out.”
The plan change process began in 2012 and Federated Farmers have engaged at every stage of the process.
“Throughout this process, Federated Farmers’ focus has been on trying to cut out unnecessary cost, paper shuffling and bureaucracy for farmers. We’ve held a very firm view that farmers’ limited time and money is much better spent on environmental improvements than expensive consenting processes.”
Holmes recommended
farmers focus on making sure they’re keeping good records of stock numbers and farm inputs. Federated Farmers is working closely with all Farm bodies to be able to assist Farmers get to grips with the process requirements of PC1 when it is rolled out.
• It comes back to water…see page 5.
Keith Holmes
Jo Sheridan at Owl Farm, St Peter’s School in Cambridge
A finalist for this year’s Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award, Te Kūiti’s Grace Watson (Whakatohea) has been working as a shepherd general for Verry Farming on King Country’s Puketitiri Station.
New test kit in the making Spotlight on Grace
The award recognises rising stars in the pastoral and horticulture sectors. Judge, Sam Vivian-Greer of Te Tumu Paeroa says it is great to see another excellent cohort of aspiring Māori
farming leaders emerge.
“Māori agribusiness is growing exponentially and it needs people with the skills, experience and leadership qualities to take it forward,” he said. “We are seeing young Māori who have been winners and finalists take on leadership roles in the primary sector.”
Originally from Rerewhakaaitu, near Mt Tarawera, Grace, 24, comes from
solid farming stock. Since taking on her role at Puketitiri Station in July, she says she has enjoyed the challenges of a busy farm working with sheep and cattle.
Grace’s fellow finalists are Coby Warmington, Te Tai Tokerau, and Puhirere Tau from Puatai Station, Tolaga Bay.
The winners will be announced in June in Palmerston North.
A new low-cost diagnostic tool could significantly improve food crop production in developing countries.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) scientists are part of an international team developing a rapid test which uses a combination of chemistries to identify plant disease and will allow growers to remove unhealthy plants in the field early in their growing season.
That will enable them to increase crop production of food sources such as maize.
MPI’s Plant Health and Environment Laboratory (Phel) scientists are working with researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois, to build the tool, which has shown positive results in field trials in New Zealand and Kenya.
The aim of the project is to produce a test line read out system, like Covid Rat tests, that farmers can use in the field to test their crops for specific diseases.
Phel Team Manager Virology and Phytoplasmology, Jeremy Thompson, says early prototypes of the test were trialled in New Zealand for detecting virus infection in symptomless tomato plants.
“More recently the tests have been trialled on food crops in Kenya’s Maseno area where beans, sweet potato and maize are some of the main staple crops.
The project is funded by a US$1 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Thompson says the test could also be used by farmers in New Zealand and other developed countries to improve crop production.
“The project is looking to make the technology available to New Zealand farmers and growers to test for specific viruses or diseases in crops.
Te Kūiti’s Grace Watson is in the finals.
Photo: Alphapix
Water quality at risk
By Stuart Kneebone, Waipā-King Country Councillor
Waikato Regional Council (WRC) recently approved a submission on the government’s proposed new wastewater environmental performance standards that are intended to be rolled out across New Zealand.
Taumata Arowai is the water services regulator for NZ and is managing this consultation process on behalf of the government. Taumata Arowai was established by the government following the Havelock North campylobacter outbreak in 2016.
District and city councils throughout NZ have consents to discharge treated wastewater and stormwater.
Regional councils are the authorities responsible for the consenting of wastewater and stormwater discharges. Regional councils and their communities have the authority to set limits for discharges to land and water via consent conditions that reflect the values of the local community and the values and attributes of the receiving environment.
However, this change proposes changes that affect how wastewater standards are made and implemented. The amendments direct councils to implement any requirements imposed as part of a wastewater standard in a new consent, and concerningly, they mean that regional councils cannot include any conditions in a consent which are more or less restrictive than the new standards dictate.
Regional councils will still be the regulator but will have very little say on behalf of their communities on what these new standards are. Of real concern is that many of the existing consented municipal wastewater discharges in the Waikato have contaminant discharge standards that are of higher quality than what these new proposed standards will require.
Meaning that implementation of these new standards would see an increase in contaminants
being discharged into the environment, effectively undoing significant work and investment that has been made by councils and their communities upgrading their wastewater treatment plants across the region.
This also will have the effect of undoing the work that other sectors such as farming have been doing with riparian planting and other measures to improve water quality.
Meaning if we are to continue on our journey of improving water quality across the region, other sectors such as farming will have to take up the slack.
A good example of this is the Lake Taupō Protection Project that was initiated to maintain the water quality in Lake Taupō. It imposed very restrictive requirements on farmers in the Taupō catchment, requiring them to reduce their stocking rates and associated production in order that a 20 per cent reduction in nitrogen discharge from both farming and industry could be made. Those reductions are now locked in place for 999 years.
To assist those farmers in making that transition, every ratepayer in the Waikato region contributed approximately $10/ratepayer/annum for 15 years; $81 million of public money was invested. These standards will in effect undo all of that work and investment. WRC has submitted strongly that it does not support what is proposed and explained why.
And for those interested, the Ministry for the Environment recently released its three yearly state of the environment report.
While the report contains some positive stories, it also highlights some concerning issues with regards to our environment, and the risks that these issues present to the quality of life for future generations.
Why the need to grow?
By Richard Steele
To make our country work and prosper, successive governments for most of my long life have aimed to have three percent growth each and every year. Without such growth, the economy is deemed to be stagnant, or even worse, in recession. Which is deemed to be bad for us, and maybe it is.
I don’t get it, and I’d like to. Because I see this big flaw in having to grow the economy so much all the time.
It is well known within the circles I move in that economists were only invented to make weather forecasters look good, and to me that’s a worry, when the economic theory that dictates the way the country has to prosper, continually seems so unsuccessful.
Ask yourself, where does it all end up, as needing three percent growth each cent all the time becomes our own predictor of doom. Three percent every year compounds, so that every 20 years everything has to double for us to be able to stay in the same place.
I don’t think that doubling the economy every generation, is sustainable, so you see the problem.
Pundits are lauding the return to confidence in the sheep industry. Dairy farmers too, are on a well-deserved roll. The issue though, is that all the input costs keep rising, so that the profitable times are soon eroded. $10 this year, only needed to be $5 a kg 10 years ago.
Towns and mostly cities keep expanding to keep up with the growth, and in the process, swallow up the most
productive gardening land in the world, and few people really get ahead.
Then you build a new flash as all get out highway, a state of the art bridge, and before the final road cone is moved , the new infrastructure is already overflowing, and we need to start building all over again.
Just look at the two highways to Tauranga and the Mount. Finished five minutes, and they are already being reshaped, overloaded, and falling apart. Never mind the two bridges.
So shouldn’t a more successful model for us and the world rely rather on aiming for us to stay in the same place. A place where our 2025 dollar buys the same amount as the 2000 dollar did? Shouldn’t the 2035 dollar buy the same as the dollar does now? You get the drift.
Is the end result to have the whole world, covered in people? For every hectare to be unproductive?
Then you get some of the greatest plonkers the world has ever seen, aspiring to spend trillions of dollars so we can expand to other planets - when everyone with half a brain, can see how much we are stuffing this one.
How far would those trillions go towards feeding those who can’t feed themselves?
Let’s encourage our politicians to keep our wonderful country, in the same place it is now, for generations.
Fendt
It comes back to water…
Tor Pedersen isn’t waiting for regulations to tell him how to be a better farmer.
The 27-year-old dairy farmer went as far as moving the main race to improve stream health and help freshwater mussels and koura thrive on the family farm.
His family has been farming 300 hectares on Broomore Farm in Waitetuna Valley Road near Raglan since 1967, so he feels a sense of responsibility as the agricultural sector awaits clarity of Waikato Regional Council’s Plan Change One.
“Everything we do comes back to the water,” he said after he was named Waikato Farm Environment Awards supreme winner this month.
Pedersen has fenced waterways to keep stock out and carried out riparian planting to protect and enhance the ecosystem.
Broomore Farm has an estimated four kilometres of major waterways, plus their tributaries.
“We need to keep the water as clean as we can. We have got so many waterways on the farm; we are just trying to look after them.”
Pedersen’s work also won him a water protection award as it aligns with Plan Change One’s goal of improving freshwater quality in the region.
“I was really happy with the water protection award,” Pedersen said.
He is not worrying about the coming regulations.
“It is what it is,” he said. “We can’t do much about it. We have just got to work with it. All we are trying to do is future proof the farm so that we can are able to keep on farming into the future.”
He also won a biodiversity award, livestock
farm award, and a sustainability and stewardship award.
Pedersen was raised on the farm and educated at Te Uku Primary School, Maeroa Intermediate School in Hamilton and St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton. He worked for a brief time as a mechanic before returning to farming. He has been involved in the dairy operation since 2018 and began contract milking in 2022.
The farm runs 250 dairy cows on 100 hectares and an additional 50 hectares is used as a support block. The remaining land is a mix of exotic and native trees, including significant areas of untouched or regenerating native bush.
Land restoration has been a priority, and vulnerable areas have been retired and more than 30,000 trees planted in five years.
Animal welfare is a top priority, with animal breeds carefully matched to the farm’s challenging topography. This is supported by a herd-breeding policy focused on animal health and liveweight.
Farm Environment Award judges said Pedersen’s approach to farming was inspiring. They commended his deep understanding of livestock movement and his approach to adapting infrastructure and forest and land management practices to improve waterway protection.
Judges recognised his strong understanding of cow health and production metrics, as well as his effective use of industry tools to guide decision-making. They were particularly impressed by his appreciation for his family and wider network, recognising his parents’ role in expanding his knowledge and enhancing farm management.
Dairy farmer Tor Pedersen, 27, wants to do the right thing for the environment on the family dairy farm.
Horses, hounds and the hunt
By Jon Rawlinson
Winning is the aim in most sports, but for Joy Hurley it’s the thrill of the chase.
Master of the King Country Hunt, Joy plays a leading role in one of the oldest country pastimes.
“We’re not really competing with anyone except ourselves,” she says. “The thrill of the hunt is mostly about experiencing amazing country while riding and jumping our horses. It’s about family and friends getting together – there’s a good vibe about it.”
The hunt includes 30-40 members, horses and a pack of 30 harrier hounds.
“There are days when there’s nothing and most of the time they get away so the smart money’s usually on the hare,” Joy says. “Watching the pack working together is amazing. When the hounds speak or ‘give tongue’ it’s also called ‘music’ – for a hunter, it’s the best sound in the world.”
The new season, recently underway, includes hunts on Wednesdays as well as weekends and runs until mid-July.
Hunting with hounds has a long history in New Zealand. All sorts of pest species were introduced here, including hares, but foxes never gained a foothold – settlers were more worried they might harm their sheep than native wildlife.
This relatively minor detail aside, the King Country Hunt and numerous others across the country follow traditions dating back to 16th Century England when hunting began as a form of pest control.
It may be perceived as an aristocratic, country pastime, but the hunt is for anyone who has a horse here in New Zealand, Joy says.
“For us, it’s about a bunch of people out having fun with their families. Most of us are rural people, either farm workers or farmers, but everyone’s welcome. It is time-consuming, though, and you have to keep your horses really fit; it’s not just a case of jump on your horse and away you go.”
Founded in 1872, Auckland’s Pakuranga Hunt is New Zealand’s longest surviving hunt, but the King Country Hunt is no mere
pup. Practically born in the saddle, Joy was raised on a farm near Piopio. Now semi-retired, with a sharemilker handling the stock, she is back at the family farm.
“Our official 50th as part of the NZ Hunts Association is next year,” Joy said. “The King Country Hunt started when I was about 11 and I’ve been riding in it since then.”
Joy stepped away from the hunt for about 18 years to raise her children before mounting up once more.
Because hunting is more about participation than being first, best or fastest, all involved are, effectively, on equal footing.
“We have a couple of seven and eight year-olds who come along, which is fine as long as they’re accompanied by a parent. However, we also have some children with plenty of ability who are right up beside me, pushing me along.”
This is a country sport for older men and women too. One of the hunt’s founders, Trevor Benton, 90, attended the season’s opening in early April and other life members – including, Robin Weir patron, Jon JJ Nelson, 82 – were in the saddle for the occasion.
At the head of the hunt is its master.
“I organise the hunt card, the season’s fixtures. I make sure the dates suit landowners,” Joy said. “People are pretty jealous of the amount of country we can cover. We go from Te Kawa, down to
Awakino and we hunt a lot around Taumarunui too.”
The King Country Hunt is still spoilt for choice with regards to open country and supportive farmers.
“On the day, we make sure we’re not galloping through a paddock of young stock, for example – it’s all common sense – and we’re very lucky in this area to have just great landowners.”
A little horse sense goes a long way. “Some like thoroughbreds because they’re athletic, but you can have any type of horse. While new or young horses will usually start slowly at the back, most have some ability when jumping – it’s a natural thing for them to do.”
While Joy manages the people, huntsman Shane Neill, looks after the pack.
“The hounds go out front with the huntsman and we have two whippers-in who help make sure the hounds are going in the right direction. The rest of the riders are behind me – we give them space but we follow the hounds closely enough.”
Although the hunt itself isn’t about winning or losing, there is a competitive element between hunts through hound shows.
“Shane will take some of the hounds over to Mahia, Hawke’s Bay, towards the end of the month for the North Island show,” Joy adds. “We definitely have the best pack, hunting-wise – although I could be a bit biased.”
Reach a targeted rural and lifestyle audience each month by advertising your business in King Country Farmer: featured inside the King Country News as its own liftout.
King Country Hunt ready to ride.
Photo: Warwick Rapley.
The master of the hunt is Joy Hurley.
Photo: Warwick Rapley.
‘Mullet’ Fieldays a success
By Chris Gardner
More punters visited Fieldays last year and spent more money on products and services, according to the University of Waikato economic impact report.
The four-day National Agricultural Fieldays attracted 106,000 people through the gates at Mystery Creek in 2024, creating $528 million worth of value to the New Zealand economy. That was 1000 people more than 2023 and a nearly 10 per cent increase in economic value from $482.
Last year’s visitors were more purposeful and focussed on good deals, purchasing products or services, or research, head of customer and strategic engagement Taryn Storey said at a media briefing. “That’s a really exciting thing,” Storey said.
The same survey in 2023 showed
more people were coming for a day out.
Punters in 2024 came to buy the latest and greatest, connect on a family day out, watch competitions, learn from speaking events, and network.
Exhibitors attended Fieldays to sell products and services, connect with existing and new customers, collect customer insights, build brand awareness, educate the industry and showcase new product development.
The 2024 event attracted 49 international visitors from nine countries and 17 embassies were represented.
Storey said Fieldays had adopted a “mullet strategy” for 2025, balancing mainstream appeal with niche offerings.
“Business at the front, partying at the back,” she said.
“On Friday and Saturday, what can
we put in place that supports that?”
Storey said Fieldays was experiencing a volunteer drought in 2025, having recruited only two thirds of the 150 volunteers needed to run the event from June 11 to 14.
The charitable organisation was still seeking 48 volunteers to help support the event.
Volunteers are needed for every job from directing car parking and entry ticket scanning, to hosting guests and collecting rubbish.
“It’s difficult to get people to take three days off work if they are working,” Storey said.
Asked whether a volunteer shortage had been a problem before, Storey said it was not unusual.
“We do struggle every year,” she said.
But she had not spoken publicly of the struggle.
Volunteer Diane will be there
By Jon Rawlinson
Diane Sharpe is as keen as ever to pitch in and lend a hand at Fieldays - 35 years on.
While Fieldays is calling for more volunteers, organisers need not send an invitation to Diane – she will be there, yet again.
“It’s nice being part of Fieldays because everybody gets to know one another, when we come together once a year, and I’ve felt as though I’ve been doing some good.”
Diane, who lives in Cambridge, is no stranger to public service.
She served on the Waipā District Council for almost 30 years. However, her involvement with Fieldays dates back even further, since the event moved from Te Rapa in Hamilton to Rukuhia in 1970.
She began by helping to “feed the troops” at what would become New Zealand’s largest agricultural event.
“I was with Rural Women NZ – which was the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers – who organised the catering. We made all the pies and sandwiches to feed the volunteers,” she said.
“When the event grew too big, about 10 years ago, Rural Women stopped doing the catering. Since then, I’ve been selling programmes and helped as an on-site liaison, making sure all the exhibitors are happy with their sites.”
Prior to retiring and moving to Leamington’s Lauriston Park, Diane was a dairy farmer at a property on Sharpe Road, Rukuhia from 1962. As June is the off season for milking, it’s the perfect time of year to
attract volunteers.
More than 150 ‘nonmilkers’ are still needed for this year’s event at Mystery Creek Events Centre.
Volunteers remain vital, says Taryn Storey from the NZ National Fieldays Society.
“Fieldays was started by
volunteers in 1969 and they are part of the fabric of the event,” she says.
“Volunteering provides a unique opportunity to not only contribute to a worldclass event but also gain valuable experience and make lifelong connections.”
Buying a house – Joint tenants or tenants in common?
In New Zealand, there are two options for property co-ownership – joint tenants or tenants in common.
Joint Tenants
This option allows buyers to own property together with no distinct shares. If one passes away, the whole property is then owned by the surviving owner/s.
Scenario
Bill and Jenny are married with two children. They purchase a home together as joint tenants, when Bill passes, Jenny does not have to wait for probate to be granted and now owns the whole property on her own as survivor.
Tenants in Common
This allows buyers to hold specific shares, sometimes proportionate to their contribution to the property. If one dies, their share does not automatically go to the surviving owner/s, but is instead distributed pursuant to their Will.
Scenario
Tim and Susan marry in their forties. Tim has two children to a previous partner and Susan has none. They purchase a home as tenants in common in half shares. They make wills with Tim leaving his estate to his two children, and Jenny to her two sisters. They give each other a life interest to occupy the property.
Tim passes away and Susan remains living in the property. On her death, Tim’s half share is distributed to his two children, whilst Susans’ is distributed to her two sisters. In summary, there are many factors to be considered when deciding on types of ownership and it is important to discuss with your lawyer.
Macayla Brdanovic
Diane Sharpe volunteering at Fieldays 2024 with Jacquie Wellington (left).
If the cap fits, wear it…
By Jon Rawlinson
A funeral director by trade, a volunteer firefighter and president of Ōtorohanga Riding for the Disabled (RDA), Sarah Snookes wears many hats … and helmets.
Her work at VJ Williams and Sons and volunteering with the Te Kūiti Fire Brigade would be enough for most to consider Sarah a champion of her community. However, she is also helping lead the way with the Ōtorohanga’s RDA.
“It’s massively rewarding,” she says.
“Some riders progress to ride quite competently on their own but just becoming able to hold the reins is the goal for some. Seeing what the riders get out of it is so fulfilling – yeah, it’s pretty special.”
Horses are matched to riders’ varying needs.
“It’s not just physically disabled people who can benefit, it’s anybody with mental or emotional challenges too. Riding helps with balance and musculoskeletal health but just creating a bond with a horse can do so much good. Riding is amazing, so good for your body and state of mind.”
Founded in the early 1980s as North King Country RDA, Ōtorohanga RDA requires many hands to pitch in whether as volunteers leading or walking alongside the horses as well as an equine manager and coaches.
Based at Ōtorohanga’s Island Reserve, Sarah and her team are looking for a new home in nearby Otewa. All going to plan, and with the help of Waitomo District Council, a new covered arena will enable the group to expand their good works.
While Sarah is an experienced rider, her background in tourism and event management is especially useful in fundraising. A key element of this is sponsorship. In addition to businesses sponsoring the horses, key sponsors, such as The Lines Company, Ōtorohanga Charitable Trust and Sport Waikato (Tū Manawa), are
invaluable, Sarah says.
Working in tourism when the pandemic hit, Sarah jumped at the chance to combine her experience (which included horse treks) with a lifelong love of horses.
They were looking for a fundraising coordinator so that is how she started.
Later she became vice president and now president.
“My grandmother volunteered with RDA for quite a few years, and I guess that’s where my inspiration came from,” Sarah says.
Her oma (grandmother) Rie de Haan recently celebrated her 100th birthday and is now in a rest home, however she still enjoys visiting the horses.
“When she was still on the farm in Honikiwi, Oma always had a horse or two and used to have RDA horses on her farm to graze over summer. I brought her down to RDA to see the horses on her birthday and she loved it.”
Not just any horse will do, but most mounts can be of service.
“We have seven horses now, which is a good amount for us. Our equine manager; we have a bit of a horse committee, including our equine manager, they’ll keep an eye out if we need another horse.
“Some horses won’t be suitable as it really does depend on their nature – you want a horse with a nice, even temperament. We have a range of sizes and types of horses, able to move at differing gaits because some riders need them to be able move quickly or slowly. This way we can match our riders’ needs to the right horse for them.”
While a little horse sense can go a long way, volunteers need not be equine experts to lend a hand.
“I think there’s a bit of a misconception – people don’t have to be experts,” Sarah says.
“There’s a variety of jobs so anybody who’s keen can come along and they will be taught anything they need to know.”
Sarah Snookes, right, with sponsor, Janene New from VJ Williams & Son and Little Cracker.