Long trek to raise money for charity
JUST three hours in the saddle was all the practice two Hawke’s Bay women had before beginning a two-year trek.
In November, Kendall Waugh, 24, and Larissa Mueller, 27, set off on horseback from Hawke’s Bay to ride the coastline of New Zealand to raise money for the Leg Up charity. They are aiming to earn $20,000 for the Havelock North organisation, which matches atrisk youth with neglected and abused horses.
The pair say the idea came to them backwards, with the decision coming before either owned a horse. Other equine lovers have trekked the length of New Zealand, but if Mueller and Waugh succeed, the pair will be the first to go the full circle.
Today, they and horses China and Sprite will take the ferry across Cook Strait to start the South Island stage.
Their progress can be followed through GPS, and links to donate can be found at their Horsing Around Aotearoa Facebook page.
Topographical maps and owners’ knowledge of the land mean they have rarely found themselves stuck. But one trek before dawn almost led to disaster, when they couldn’t find the correct track through a scree slope.
‘‘We had a local girl with us. It was pitch black and she was riding in front of us and her horse just stepped off into nothing, [the scree] straight up to the belly of the horse,’’ Mueller said.
‘‘Luckily she managed to turn it round. And we had to bush-bash straight up this slope. It was nearvertical and so freaky and Kendall got big-time vertigo.’’
‘‘I was hanging on Waugh recalled.
One of the most striking things – apart from the backcountry scenery – was the generosity of the people they had encountered, from those who helped them prepare to those offering them a bed or a lift. They were rarely concerned for their safety.
to a
tree,’’
‘‘We got [a ride] with a neighbour who was going to the pub and he had a bottle of beer on his lap and I sat on something and it was a giant rifle and thought: ‘Well, he can’t use it on us if I’m sitting on it.’
‘‘But he was really nice and dropped us off and when he left, he said ‘You guys be careful, there’s some real weirdos out there’,’’ Waugh said.
Eight hours in the saddle and on foot every day, followed by a meal of ‘‘sludge’’ – rice, veges, lentils – might not be be everyone’s cup of tea. But the pair are loving it.
‘‘Showers are Mueller said.
the
best
thing,’’