Into the wild

He and his horses have traversed every crevasse of Te Urewera ranges over the years. But Richard White still admits to a pang of nerves setting off on each trek. The responsibility of being in charge in such wild territory weighs on his mind.

Richard, an aventure tourism guide, takes groups of riders into extremely rugged bush for up to five days. “It can be dangerous,” he concedes. “People need to be skilled and have experience with horses to control and navigate them through bush.”

Richard only takes experienced riders through on horseback, but can take groups of school children and those less experienced
on walking treks, with pack horses adorned with pots, pans and other overnight necessities in tow.

 “If it’s raining, water levels can rise, making river crossings difficult. Horses can’t touch the bottom in some places and have to swim. It’s just their heads sticking out of the water and it can be frightening,” Richard says.

“We have to scramble up steep tracks. Sometimes I’ll hop off and lead the horses up.”

Richard owns 20 horses, eight of which are broken in and are ridden by others on the treks.

He grew up in Ruatahuna, in the heart of Te Urewera National Park. His father Ivan bred horses during the early 1970s. Richard rode a horse to school and shadowed his dad through the bush on hunting trips – man and boy sometimes spending up to two weeks away at a time.

“I could spend six hours a day on a horse and by hooking my foot into the stirrups to secure myself, would lie down and sleep while Dad hunted,” Richard recalls. “If Dad moved on to another spot, my horse would follow while I was still sleeping.”

When Ivan escorted fishermen in and out of the Ureweras on horseback, his young son followed, sewing the seed for Ahurei Adventures, the trekking business Richard launched in 2004.

“The bush is a pretty awesome place to work. We watch wild deer come out and graze in the evenings. I love being here."