A decade on track: New Zealand's Horse Ambulance turns 10

The New Zealand Horse Ambulance Trust is turning 10, and with it comes a major fund-raising drive.

The "Here for the Horse" appeal will be held from August 1-10, with the first major event being a Charity Race Day at Addington on Sunday.

The Trust, which operates 10 horse ambulances around the country, has direct operating costs of around $600,000 a year and needs to fundraise over $200,000 to fund depreciation and build reserves.

"The industry built this, and the industry has sustained it," says Trust chair Mike Godber, "Ten years on, we're proud that what started in a workshop in Mosgiel is now a model other countries are following."

It all started when equine vets Peter Gillespie and Bill Bishop identified a problem New Zealand racing had no good answer to: when a horse goes down on the track, standard transport floats are poorly suited to an injured animal that can't walk up a ramp or turn in a tight space.

Their solution, designed with a transport engineer in Mosgiel and built for a fraction of the cost of importing an equivalent from overseas, became New Zealand's first purpose-built horse ambulance. It attended its first race meeting in 2016.

With the Trust operating what is essentially equine's version of Hato Hone St John, there are four ambulances in the South Island and six in the north.

The ambulances’ design has been refined over the years, and now each one contains a retractable crush that can be assembled and disassembled around a horse, an onboard camera, a large fan and vents in the roof to help control temperature, a body slide attached to a winch,  strops, ropes and basic rescue gear.

The ambulances have attracted a lot of attention, with sales to a number of overseas markets including Australia and Canada.

For all that New Zealand remains the only country in the world with a dedicated horse ambulance at every race meet, with the codes funding up to 80% of the direct costs.

Between August 1, 2025 and July 31, 2026 Horse Ambulances attended 288 harness race meetings with the ambulance being used 19 times to safely transport a Standardbred including 12 on race day.

During the last decade there have been many success stories including the royally-bred Adored Dreamer (pictured above), who sold for $150,000 at the 2022 National Yearling Sales.

"Dora", as she's known, fractured her leg at Addington Raceway. The horse ambulance transported her to a specialist vet clinic in Rangiora. She spent 10 weeks in recovery and is now expecting a foal.

To find out more about Dora click here

People wanting to donate to the cause can do so through the NZHAT's givealittle page. Click here 

During the appeal money will be raised through race sponsorships and collectors will have their buckets out at selected race days until August 10.

For Addington's big day many sponsors are involved including

Montana Park
Equine Products NZ
Avon City Ford
Telfers
Renwick Farms
Diamond Racing Stables
Rangiora Vet Centre - Equine
SBSR

The NZHAT would like to thank all its sponsors, the codes and others who ensure the NZHAT can provide top quality care to horses right around the country.

For more information contact -  jo.starr@horseambulance.co.nz or go to horseambulance.co.nz