75 Years Anniversary
You can also follow us on: Facebook Event discussion page.
And for a trip down memory lane, check out the Early Equestrian Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057269185871
ESNZ’s 75th Anniversary Dinner played host to the sports organisation’s Hall of Fame Awards held in the Banquet Hall at Parliament Buildings tonight. Approximately 260 guests celebrated 75 years of equestrian sports in New Zealand since the organisation’s inception.
This year’s awards were presented along with the latest Hall of Fame inductees, and others who have made an outstanding contribution to ESNZ and the sport during the past years were announced.
Guests were welcomed by Board Chair Lynda Clark. Special guests included founder of the Catwalk Trust Dame Catriona Williams and husband Sam, ESNZ Patron Jennifer Millar, former ESNZ CEOs Justine Kidd, Vicki Glynn and Dana Kirkpatrick now National MP (Gisborne), Sport NZ Relationship Manager Karin Adlinger-Smith and Group General Manager Strategy, Policy and Investment Julie Morrison, NZ Pony Club CEO Lizzie Turnbull and Riding for the Disabled CEO Donna Kennedy.
New Zealand’s First Olympian
Adrian White and the amazing Telebrae are a story to behold, travelling across the world in 1960 to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games in Rome. We’ve delved into the archives to bring you their remarkable story: https://www.nzequestrian.org.nz/2025/06/celebrating-nzs-first-ever-showjumping-olympian-2/
75th Anniversary Dinner
A 75th anniversary dinner will be held in the Banquet Hall at Parliament Buildings, Molesworth Street, Wellington on Friday 27 June 2025 at 6:30 PM. We will celebrate this milestone, acknowledge this year’s award recipients and also recognise our most recent Hall of Fame inductees.
Dress code: Formal – clothing suitable for an official or important occasion such as smart dress, cocktail dresses, suits. But a touch less dressy than black-tie. These days lighter fabrics and brighter colors are common for formal attire too.
Click the following link to purchase your tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/nz/events/landing/14853?
UPDATED 5.5.25 ACCOMMODATION –
The cheapest hotel room direct with the James Cook is now the Executive Room at $249, (all the cheaper rooms have been booked). As an alternative, some delegates may prefer the Novotel which is 90 metres (1 min) walk from the James Cook, which currently has king-size bedrooms at $152.15 and twin doubles at $169.15. Here is the link: Rates – Novotel Wellington ALL – Accor Live Limitless
The Combined Disciplines Conferences and AGMs over the weekend (28th & 29th June) will be held at the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor. Here is the link: http://bookings.ihotelier.com/bookings.jsp…
Room Type and Rates:
Executive Room – $249 per night per room (Breakfast Included in rate for 1 person), $279 per night per room (Breakfast Included in rate for 2 people)
[NO LONGER AVAILABLE: Terrace Room]
Method of Payment: All guests to book & pay direct. Prices include GST tax of 15%. Rates quoted are per room, per night on a single, double or twin occupancy. availability.
Our Rich History
New Zealand’s equestrian Olympic Games’ history has inspired generations of Kiwis in so many ways. Sir Mark Todd and Charisma’s back-to-back golds is the stuff of legends that even the most un-horsey person in the room remembers with a smile. And there have been so many more very special memories and performances – along with others that have broken hearts.
The Very Beginning
“January 1950, the very beginning – that in itself, though, is a misnomer, for prior to that first abortive little meeting in Wellington much work had already been accomplished by the prime movers of the New Zealand Horse Society.
Mr Richard S. Pilmer of Waiteko, Masterton, along with Mr Duncan Holden of Onga Onga, Hawke’s Bay, had established in their own minds from much groundwork that there was great need for a formal organisation to represent and weld together the various competitive horse interests in the country; to bring the horse show community up to date with the methods and types of competition available, and eventually choose from these a team capable of representing this country in the 1956 Olympiad in Melbourne.
With this end in view, they had contacted the Secretary of the British Horse Society to ascertain the mechanics of entering a team in an Olympiad, for they and many others were aware that New Zealand had plentiful raw material, both horses and riders, capable of being trained up to international standards. They were aware too of the considerable time and money such a venture would involve, and of the organisation required nationwide to bring it to fruition.”
A second meeting was timed to coincide with the Wellington Winter Race Meeting and AGM of the NZ Hunts Association. A public meeting of 44 representatives from equestrian organisations throughout New Zealand was held in the Dominion Buildings, Wellington on Friday 14th July 1950, and a national organisation was formed and named the New Zealand Horse Society.
[Source: Herbert, T. 1991. Riding Forward – The Story of the New Zealand Horse Society. CHB Print, Waipukurau, Hawke’s Bay. ISBN 0-473-01434-3]
