Chloe Phillips-Harris and a few of her equine athletes in training ahead of this weekend’s race.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

Dozens of four-legged athletes standing no more than a metre tall will compete in an endurance race with a difference in the Far North this weekend.

Organiser Chloe Phillips-Harris calls it “the biggest miniature horse race in the world”.

“That confuses a lot of people, because you’re not riding the horses. They’re tiny. You’re running beside them.

“We do 100km over Easter, over four days, so that’s 25km a day.”

About 30 humans and their equine running mates will take part in this year’s Great Northern Gallop on Ninety Mile Beach and in the nearby Aupōuri Forest.

Phillips-Harris, better known for her epic treks across Mongolia on full-size steeds, said she had dozens of miniature horses at her property north of Kerikeri.

Many were “welfare cases” which had been rescued from farms and lifestyle properties around the country.

She said horses of all sizes were designed to run, and suffered if they had no opportunity to move.

“If they don’t get enough exercise, they become morbidly obese, and they get health conditions which are incredibly life-threatening. It’s all because of lack of movement, lack of exercise. And there’s not that many things you can do with miniature horses, apart from the show ring.”

Chloe Phillips-Harris gets Granny Smith, foreground, and speed champion Lady Red ready for this weekend’s race.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

She started taking in miniature horses in 2020 and organised the first Great Northern Gallop the following year.

The aim was to create an event that benefited the tiny equines, and gave people a chance to interact with animals and experience beautiful places.

“I’ve done a lot of expeditions, including 7000km across Mongolia, and I’ve seen how amazing journeys can be and how they can change people. They’re really positive for the animals too,” she said.

Every horse was checked by a vet in the morning, at the halfway mark, and at the end of the day.

Phillips-Harris said the event was open to walkers and runners of any ability.

Past participants ranged from people who’d never run more than 5km to an athlete who held the record for running the length of New Zealand.

“It’s great to get humans moving as well. What people wouldn’t do on their own two feet, sometimes they’ll do if an animal’s involved. When you’re running beside a miniature pony, you might have a couple of blisters, but the horse is having so much fun, you just get into it and keep going.”

She said the serious runners, many of whom had competed in triathlons and Iron Man events, were surprised by miniature horses’ ability to cover long distances.

“They get a real kick out of not only doing the race but also managing a little horse along the way, and getting to know the horse and its individual personalities – because they are all such individuals.”

Chloe Phillips-Harris with Opi, who arrived at her Kerikeri farm with serious health and behavioural problems, but is now a star of the annual Great Northern Gallop.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf

One of her aims was to prove just how capable miniature horses were.

“Because they’re tiny, people think they’re a bit of a joke, a comical version of a horse – but they’re not. They’re a horse in a small package. They still have all that instinct and millions of years of evolution to be out moving and doing stuff, and the horses love doing it,” she said.

“All of our ponies have done amazing things. One set the record for doing the biggest distance in 24 hours, which is about 84km, and last year we had one pony run the entire 100 kilometres and it didn’t even break a sweat.

“People need to know what they’re capable of. I know they look funny. They make me laugh every single day, but they are athletes in their own right.”

People from all over New Zealand, plus a few from Australia, had signed up for this year’s gallop.

Proceeds from the event would help pay for the rescue ponies’ vet bills, hoof care and feed.

The event is based at Hukatere, about 40 kilometres north of Kaitāia, and co-organised by Debbie Sutcliffe, founder of the charity Foster Hope.

As well as running miniature horses on Ninety Mile Beach, Phillips-Harris has set up a beef farm in Kazakhstan, completed the 1000km Mongol Derby – described as the toughest horse race on the planet – and attended the first World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan.