Kinzett Sport Horses

Dallas and Kate Kinzett have been farming and breeding sport horses for more than 30 years, with the objective of producing horses capable of excelling at any discipline for any level of rider. “We are in for the long haul,” they say.

Dallas and Kate came to their Tutaki Valley farm in 1978, winning it in one of the last Lands and Survey ballots. Just over the range is Lake Rotoroa.

Previously around 700ha, the farm now is 370ha, of which 250ha is effective grazing and the rest is part of bush-clad Mt Baring.

Dallas and Kate inherited their love of horses, with their fathers jointly owning a thoroughbred stallion, Red Ink.

Kate’s father farmed just south of Murchison and used horses for ploughing and developing pasture out of bush. He also used them for making hay and building old-fashioned stacks.

Early on when Kate was eventing, she and Dallas were breeding thoroughbreds for eventing and showing. “As I got older I realized not everyone could handle thoroughbreds; they were a bit hot.”

So they got into using heavier stallions with some thoroughbred blood, over their thoroughbred mares.

Sport horses are all-rounders. “They are a nice type of horse that can event, show-jump, do dressage, hunt and be shown under saddle. They are also good for stock-work.”

“I used to event a big grey horse I’m Bert. He had been quite a handful for his previous rider. He came up for sale in the mid 1980’s and so we bought him and did a lot of work with him on the farm.”

“I was out moving stock in the rain on a hillside and Bert’s legs went out from underneath him. I realized he had pretty small hooves for a 16’3” horse, so we put studs in his shoes to give him more grip.”

“After that, he just started jumping beautifully; he was a world-class horse. We had some very good offers for him but I didn’t want to sell him.”

“We put him down aged 27, and he is buried out here under a cherry tree, right by the round yard.”

“He was a force to be reckoned with. Like most event riders, I used to run to keep fit so I could do my best by him. Bert’s breeder offered to give me his mother and half-sister.”

“The type we breed have good bone, but are still light enough to get across the ground and they have a much calmer nature than straight thoroughbreds.”

Kate picks out a foal she really likes, growing it on and producing it as a four to six year old for sale under saddle. That might seem a long time, but bigger horses take longer to mature, she says.

At the moment they have a registered thoroughbred broodmare with a colt at foot by Edenwold, now an up-and-coming second year sire. The colt is either going to be kept to be raced or sold at the two year old sales. Kate will apply for her trainer’s licence.

Dallas and Kate now have 10 broodmares, including the thoroughbred, and have cut down from a peak of 18.

“We don’t breed every mare every year. Sometimes we give them a year off.”

Some of them show more aptitude for dressage or the show ring.

“I would take I’m Bert to an A&P Show and come away with the champion in-hand, champion horse in saddle classes, and champion round the ring hunter jumping, and at Murchison, the local champion.”

“His neck was not long enough for all the ribbons. I was really lucky. He was a horse in a million. We are just so lucky to have these blood lines.”

“And he was good at eventing, he was like a kangaroo. You never had to worry; he always had plenty of room over the fences.”

His bloodlines are now part of the Tiraumea stud, and one of their stallions Flint is related to him. Flint’s sire, a new light English Clydesdale, was imported from Australia by Nelson identity Fergus O’Connor.

At the moment Dallas and Kate have a wide range of horses on the farm:

• weanlings;

• yearlings;

• two and three year olds;

• racehorses being grazed from Westport and Canterbury;

• six being actively worked;

• brood mares;

• three stallions;

• one rising two year old colt.

Kate also breaks in horses, depending on how many are being sold for the year.

She has two three-year-olds ready to be broken in now and next year, four two-year-olds coming along to break in.

She says you have to be patient with waiting for horses to finish growing.

Nowadays not many people in the racing business are breeding stayers. “They all want quick maturing horses that are going to be ready to race as two and three year olds because training fees and costs are so high.”

“While our bank manager might think we hold onto our horses too long, they can’t be sold until they are ready.”

The weather has been dictating more than ever what’s been happening on the farm this year. After a good rain in August and September last year, the weather turned dry and the silage paddocks dried off. “We didn’t put silage in the pit because spring and summer growth was so poor.”

Because of the drought, the Kinzetts sold 100 beef cows and calves in February this year. “We’ve never done that in all our years of farming. This year was totally different.”

They are pleased the cows weren’t killed but went to an Otago station to graze on tussock country. They still have 100 cows left and the herd bulls.

They previously ran 2000 ewes but sold them last year, and now concentrate mainly on dairy grazing.

However they still have 70 stud Suffolk ewes, which are mated to a Texel ram, producing terminal Sufftex rams for sale.