Painted Black

Sire: Presidential Ball
Dam: Erinyes
Born: 2006 Gelding
Present Roll: Sport Horse

Punga came into our life just over 2 years ago. He was the horse that you looked at a picture and said 'that’s the one!' – and he really has been.

Bred by the Yarndleys, Punga is a 15.2hh 15 year old who had a successful racing career, running his last race as a pacer in 2013.

After that he spent much of the next 7 years enjoying a stress-free lifestyle, eating grass and hacking out. He learnt about pigs, dogs, helicopters and many other things which have made him the quintessential 'bombproof' hack.

When we bought him in 2020 and he had just been brought back into arena work. Despite his greenness, when my daughter tried him out it was love at first sight for both of them.

I knew straight away he was going to be a fabulous horse for her to learn on, make mistakes, and to figure out the value of an equine relationship.

My daughter has spent a lot of time developing trust with Punga, he is so desperate to please that he has had to learn it’s OK to make mistakes, but his attitude is amazing.

He is the horse you can ride Western, English, or bareback – even bridleless. He has learned tricks in hand (his latest is picking up a bucket and bringing it over for treats!) and mastered cowboy challenge obstacles. He is particularly fond of small creatures, has his own pet cat, and recently took over the mothering role of an abandoned newborn lamb.

With the help of an excellent team of instructors, and with a lot of patience, the two of them are now out competing in every discipline they can and loving it.

Punga has kept his racing name as his competition name and wears his brand proudly.

They enjoy recreational showing, dressage, show jumping, show hunter, and eventing, which is Punga’s favourite – he’s a cross country machine.

They regularly go to the beach, swim in the river, go on farm and road rides, have lessons and give pony rides.

Punga lives at boarding school where he is a yard favourite with both staff and other students.

We are so grateful that this big-hearted horse came into our lives, and that thanks to HRNZ, we know so much of his history and could even watch video clips of him racing.

We keep in touch with the wonderful last owners we bought him off, who are loving seeing the horse they knew he could be come into his own as a successful and adored riding horse.

Story shared by Robyn Lovewell

Painted Black

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