Mai anō i te tōmuatanga o te rau tau atu i 1800, ka heria mai e ngā Pākehā he hōiho ki Aotearoa. Ehara te hōiho i te hanga noa i aua tau, ka mutu, ko te nui o te utu kia hoko. Whai anō ko ngā rangatira anake i whai hōiho. Ka tukua e ngā āpiha a te kāwanatanga he hōiho ki ētahi rangatira hei tohu whakapaipai.
Ka kohikohi ngā hapū i ā rātou rawa kia hoko hōiho, ko te nui o te poaka me te nui o te harakeke hei utu. Nā te hōiho ka tere atu ngā haerenga i te whenua. Ko te whakapae, nā te hōiho ka tata mai ngā hapū me ngā iwi, tētahi ki tētahi.
Nō te tekau tau atu i 1840, ka nui rawa atu ngā hōiho o ētahi iwi, ka āhei te koha ki iwi kē. Taka ki te tekau tau atu i 1850, ko te hōiho te kaikawe nui i te Māori i te whenua.
I whakamahia te hōiho e ngā iwi katoa i roto i ngā pakanga o te tekau tau atu i 1860.
Ko Ngāpuhi te iwi tuatahi kia whai hōiho. Ko ngā hōiho tuatahi ake ki Aotearoa i tae ki Rangihoua i Pēwhairangi i te rā 22 o Tīhema i te tau 1814 – kotahi te tāriana, e rua ngā uwha. Nā te kāwana o New South Wales tētahi o ngā uwha i koha ki a Ruatara.
Tērā a Eruera Maihi Patuone, rangatira o Ngāpuhi, nā Tā Hōri Kerei i koha tētahi hōiho ki a ia, ko New Zealander te ingoa. Ka toa rā te hōiho nei ki ngā rēihi ki Tāmaki-makau-rau.
Ka noho te hōiho hei taonga koha i waenganui i ngā iwi. Ka tono a Te Arawa mō tētahi hōiho mai i a Eruera Patuone o Ngāpuhi, nāna hoki a Te Kohika o Tūhourangi i whakawhiwhi ki tētahi uwha.
Nā te teina o Patuone, nā Tāmati Wāka Nene ka whiwhi a Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki tōna hōiho tuatahi. Me pēnei te kōrero. Ka tapaina e te ariki o Ngāti Tūwharetoa e Mananui Te Heuheu tana tama ko Te Waaka, tētahi o ngā ingoa o Nene, ka tonoa ki Te Hokianga ki te taha o Nene noho ai. Nō te tau 1842 ka hoki a Te Waaka ki Taupō me tētahi hōiho nā Nene i koha, me te tira nui o te iwi o Ngāpuhi i arataki i a Te Waaka ki te wā kāinga.
I te tau 1875 ka tae tētahi tira nui eke hōiho o Ngāti Raukawa ki te takiwā ki Taupō. Hāunga, i whai atu a Parāone Taupiri rāua ko tōna hoa wahine mā raro, kātahi tonu hoki ka mate ō rāua hōiho. Ka waiata a Parāone i tana waiata, e tono ana i ngā rangatira o Taupō mō tētahi hōiho; nā te maha, e whitu kē ngā hōiho ka hōatu.
Nā Māui Pōmare tēnei kōrero mō tētahi o ngā hōiho tuatahi rawa ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara, nā tētahi kaihoko Pākehā i kauhoe ki uta mai i tētahi kaipuke. Ka oma rā te iwi kāinga a Ngāti Tama i te wehi ki te hōiho e kauhoe mai ana ki uta. Pōhēhē te iwi rā ‘he taniwha kei te haere tika mai ki a mātou’. 1
Ka herea e tētahi kaumoana he taura ki te kakī o te ‘taniwha’, ka eke ki runga. Ka karanga te kaumoana ki te iwi kia eke ki runga i te hōiho, heoi, ko te rangatira a Taringa Kurī (ko Te Kāeaea tōna anō ingoa) anake i eke. Whāia, ka hokona e te iwi te hōiho rā, hei utu, ka whakakīia te kaipuke ki te muka me te poaka.
He rangatira a Te Maitaranui nō Ngāi Tūhoe. Koia te mea tuatahi o te iwi kia kite i tētahi hōiho i tana haerenga ki Pēwhairangi. Nō te tekau tau atu i 1840 ka hokona te hōiho tuatahi i Tūranga. Ka tapaina ko Tūhoe te ingoa o taua hōiho rā, he tohu ki te wāhi nui o te hōiho. Nō muri, ka haere ētahi o te iwi ki Tāmaki-makau-rau ka hoko i ētahi – e whā tekau poaka te utu mō te hōiho kotahi.
Nā te wehi me te ohorere o ngā tāngata Māori, ka kīia ngā hōiho tōmua he taniwha he tipua rānei. Ka whakahuatia hokitia te kararehe waewae whā nei, he kurī, he kararehe rānei. Nō tana taenga ki te wā kāinga, ka whakahuatia e Te Maitaranui o Ngāi Tūhoe te hōiho, he ‘kurī waha tangata’.
Waihoki, ko te ‘hōiho’ te ingoa hōrapa, he whakamaōritanga o te kupu ‘horse’. Tērā he pānui mō te hoko i tētahi tāriana mai i tētahi nūpepa Māori o te tau 1875; ‘He hōiho kaha, he kurī kakama ki te haere’. 1
Tērā a ‘kāmia’, he kupu rerekē a te Māori mō te hōiho, i ahu mai i ngā kupu a te Pākehā ka whakatata haere ana ki te hōiho, ‘Come here’. Ko te kupu a Ngāti Porou mō te hōiho rahi ko ‘hōiho pūru kāta’, ki te reo Pākehā ko ‘pull cart horse’.
Kāore i kuhuna te hōiho ki ngā pūrākau me ngā pakiwaitara a te Māori, heoi, i tangohia hei tohu ki te taha wairua. I hau te rongo mō te hōiho mā o Te Kooti, ki ētahi ko Pōkai Whenua te ingoa, ki ētahi ko Te Panerua. Whakapono ai te iwi he mana wairua i te hōiho nei. He hōiho anō tō Te Kooti, he mangumangu, ka whai haere i ngā tapuwae o tōna tira. Kīia ai taua hōiho, he tapu. Tirohia ai ēnei hōiho anō he hōiho poautinitini, pērā i ngā hōiho poautinitini e whā i te Pukapuka o Ngā Whakakitenga i te Paipera Tapu.
He poropiti a Rua Kēnana nō Ngāi Tūhoe i whai i ngā tapuwae o Te Kooti. E mea ana te kōrero, i eke a ia ki taua hōiho mā (ko Te Ia) o Te Kooti ka kuhu ki te wharepuni a Rongopai kei Repongaere i Te Tai Rāwhiti.
E rua ngā momo o te hōiho kua whai tūranga ki ētahi iwi.
Tērā ngā hōiho kōwao o te pae maunga o Kaimanawa i te puku o Te Ika-a-Māui. I heke iho ēnei hōiho i ngā hōiho o te Pākehā me te Māori i oma, i tukua rānei ki te koraha. He pānga ō ēnei hōiho ki te iwi o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, me kī, ki te hapū o Ngāti Tama Whiti. He kaitiaki, he taonga ēnei hōiho ki te iwi, inarā kua takoto he kerēme ki te aroaro o Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi kia kaua ngā hōiho nei e patua.
I ngā rā o mua, tērā tētahi tangata i Te Tai Rāwhiti, ka hoko i tētahi hōiho mai i te tangata whenua. He iwi mōhio ki te tautohe me te hoko. Ka tāpae e ia āna moni, rima tekau tāra. Kātahi ka kuhu te Māori nōna te hōiho rā ki tōna whare, ka hoki mai me tana pū, me tana kī, mehemea koira anake te utu, he pai atu tana pupuhi i te hōiho hei kai mā āna kurī. Tere tonu te whakapiki a te Pākehā rā i te utu, whakaaetia ana.
Ko te rohe o Ngāti Porou i Te Tai Rāwhiti te kāinga o te momo hōiho kīia ai ko te Nāti. Hei tohu ki te whanaungatanga tata i waenganui i te hōiho me te iwi, ko te ingoa kārangaranga o Ngāti Porou tangata, ko Nāti. Heke ai ngā momo o te Nāti i te Clydesdale me te thoroughbred. Hāunga te hiamoe o te āhua, he hōiho mōhio te Nāti. He hōiho kaha ki te piki maunga, te whakawhiti awa, te haere ki te ngahere, te haere i ngā wāhi kōhatuhatu.
Ka whai wāhi nui te hōiho i te maha o ngā hapori Māori puta noa i te tuawhenua o Te Ika-a-Māui. Nā tēnei, ka hua te ingoa kārangaranga, te ‘hōiho Māori’. Heke iho ēnei momo hōiho i ngā momo hōiho mau tera o Te Tai Tokerau, o Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, o Te Rohe Pōtae, o Te Tai Rāwhiti. Hei ētahi wā ka tukua ēnei hōiho kia mohoao, ko tētahi tāriana me tana māpu uwha. Ka whānau noa ngā punua ki te koraha. Ehara i te hōiho mohoao tūturu – he rangatira tō tēnā hōiho, he rangatira tō tēnā hōiho. Ka tiakina te kahanga o ngā hōiho mā te wehe atu i ngā mea kore take me te whakakuhu i te toto hou, kia aha ai, kia puta ai he hōiho kaha, he hōiho mō te nui o ngā mahi.
Atu i te rau tau 1800 kua noho te hōiho hei kararehe kawe tangata, kawe taonga i waenganui i ngā hapori me ngā tāone. I whakamahia hokitia te hōiho i runga i ngā pāmu. Tatū ki te tekau tau atu i 1950, noho ai te nuinga o te iwi Māori ki te tuawhenua, whakamahia tonutia ai te hōiho. Tae rawa ki te mano tau 2000, kei te eke hōiho tonu ngā tamariki o ētahi hapori Māori kia tae ki te kura.
Whakatūria ai ngā whakataetae hōiho i waenganui i ngā iwi. Ka tae ki te tekau tau atu i 2000, ka kuhuna ngā whakataetae hōiho ki ngā whakataetae i waenganui i ngā marae o te rohe o Ngāti Porou. He tokomaha ngā Māori kei te whai i ngā rodeo, tae atu ki ngā whakatupuranga o te whānau kotahi.
Mai anō kua whai te Māori i te rēihi hōiho. I ngā tau tōmua tū ai ngā omanga ki tātahi. I tua atu ka kuhu ngā Māori ki ngā rēihi hōiho nā te Pākehā i whakatū.
I te tau 1842, ka whakaritea he rēihi hōiho takitahi mā te Māori ki tētahi hui rēihi hōiho i Tāmaki-makau-rau. I whakatūria he rēihi pērā ki Ōtautahi i te tau 1851. Nō te tau 1877 ka tū he ‘rēihi mō ngā wāhine Māori’ ki ngā rēihi hōiho ki Ōhinemutu.
Ka uru rā anō ngā Māori me ō rātou hōiho ki ngā rēihi nui. I te tekau tau atu i 1870, ka toa he Māori i ngā rēihi mō te Kapu o Hawke’s Bay, te Tauranga Plate me ētahi atu whakataetae nui.
I tua atu, ka whakatū e te Māori āna ake rēihi. Nō te tekau tau atu i 1850 whakatūria ai ngā rēihi hōiho ki te marae o Katihiku i te takiwā o Ōtaki. Ka tū ngā hui rēihi hōiho i raro i te ingoa o te Kīngi Māori, ki Ōtaki i te tekau tau atu i 1860, ki Karioi i te tau 1870. Whāia, ka pupū te hiahia o ētahi iwi kia whakatū ō rātou ake karapu rēihi hōiho.
Ko ētahi o ngā karapu, ko te karapu rēihi hōiho Māori o Ākura (nō muri ka tapaina ko te karapu rēihi hōiho Māori o te Kotahitanga) tata ki Whakaoriori, ko te karapu tioke Māori o Waiomatatini, me te karapu Māori o Tūranganui i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Poto noa te wā ki ēnei karapu. Kotahi anake te karapu rēihi hōiho Māori kei te ora tonu i te tau 2008, ko te karapu rēihi hōiho Māori o Ōtaki, i whakatūria i te tau 1886. Ko Hoani Taipua te tumuaki tuatahi, koia te Mema Paremata Māori mō Te Tai Hauāuru i ngā tau 1887 ki 1893. Nō te rā 17 o Pēpuere i te tau 1887 ka tū ngā rēihi tuatahi a te karapu ki Rikiriki.
Hei ngā tau 1899 ki te 1907 ka tū tētahi kamupene hōia Māori i raro i te Wellington (Wairarapa) Mounted Rifles. Ko Pāpāwai i te takiwā o Hūpēnui (Greytown) te puni o B Company (Wairarapa Mounted Rifles). Nā te rangatira o Ngāti Kahungunu nā Tamahau Mahupuku te kamupene hōia nei i tautoko, ā, he nui ngā hōiho i hoatu e ia.
I te tau 1901 ka pōhiritia te Tiuka o Ioka me tōna hoa wahine ki Rotorua; ka noho ko te Wairarapa Mounted Rifles hei ārahi noa i a rāua. He uaua te haerenga ki Rotorua – he maha ngā hōiho i mate i te huarahi.
Brooking, Tom. ‘The equine factor: the powerhouse of the colonisation of New Zealand to 1945.’ In On the horse’s back, 2004: proceedings of the 2004 conference of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists, nā Lily Baker i tātari, 53–56. Tāmaki-makau-rau: New Zealand Society of Genealogists, 2004.
Mincham, Carolyn. ‘Horse racing in the colonial community, 1841–1911.’ Tuhinga roa MA, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, 2001.