The honour of being selected as the inaugural Horse of the Month on the Dunstan Old Horse Wall of Fame goes to the Creag-An-Sgor gelding Mungo.

The rising 27-year-old has returned to the care of his owner and breeder, Allan Hunt in Hawke’s Bay where he is enjoying retirement in Patangata with fellow retirees Sway and King’s Bard, who are also in their 20s.

NZTR’s Wall of Fame (see here) features a number of former racehorses who are now enjoying either second or third careers, or purely enjoying life as much-loved paddock ornaments.  As part of NZTR’s traceability drive we are actively seeking stories of more horses like these and, to provide an added incentive Dunstan Horse Feeds has come on board.  Thanks to their support, each month a selected horse will receive a voucher for Dunstan Old Horse, a feed specifically designed to meet the needs of our older horses.

Mungo’s story is particularly poignant and could have so easily had a different ending.  After a racing career which spanned four seasons from Grant Searle’s stable, the two-time winner spent many years on lease as a riding horse in Foxton.

Eventually, Mungo found himself back in Hawke’s Bay where he was also being used as a hack.  However, when the woman who had leased him was tragically kicked and killed by another horse her husband, unaware of the lease arrangement and not a horseman himself, considered putting Mungo down.  Fate intervened and Mungo was instead passed on to a friend who wanted a paddock mate for their horse.

Throughout this time, Allan, having lost track of the horse’s whereabouts was busy trying to find him.  As these things often develop, it was a chance remark which led Allan to discover just where Mungo had ended up and before long, he was back where he belonged.

When NZTR called to advise Allan that Mungo would be the inaugural Dunstan Old Horse Wall of Fame Horse of the Month, he reported that Mungo was doing well, but somewhat affronted about undergoing a worming treatment.

 If you have a horse which you would like to have included on the Dunstan Old Horse Wall of Fame please get in touch with NZTR Traceability Officer Donna Cameron at traceability@nztr.co.nz