36 | RURAL PEOPLE » Riverhills Farm Horses a way of life for Gower family Dean, who coaches the New Zealand Junior Polocrosse team – which includes son Curtis and daughter Tara – recently competed in Australia. The Gower family do most of their stock work with horses on the steep King Country farm. Kim Newth • to page 37 In the steep hill country near Ohura in the King Country, most stock work is still done on horseback. It’s a way of life that sheep and beef farmer Dean and Sue Gower wouldn’t want to swap. “Using horses is mostly our choice as it’s a far easier way to get around this country, particularly in winter, and we’re also involved with horses for sport,” says Dean, who coaches the New Zealand Junior Polocrosse team that recently competed in Australia. “Our kids are both part of the team – they grew up on horses and helping out with stock work.” Daughter Tara, 15, attends St Peter’s Cambridge, renowned for its high-performance equestrian academy, while her brother Curtis, 14, boards at St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton. Sue has an older son who also played for the NZ men’s open team against Australia earlier this year, and he works at Riverhills’ as their only full-time shepherd. The family’s 1600ha sheep and beef breeding property is complemented by ‘Pukerata’, a 500ha nishing block to the north in the Tapuiwahine Valley. At Pukerata, Dean and Sue employ Anton Loveridge who has worked for them for 14 years. The higher altitude block is a more summer safe property for nishing lambs and young cattle. Also farming in the Ohura area is Dean’s father Gordon and his brother Scott. “My father is now in his 80s and still running four farms here – I grew up on the farm next door.” Riverhills runs hardy, productive Romney sheep, utilising FocusPrime for the terminal ram with a focus on growth, survival and yield as well as greater tolerance against Facial Eczema. Building performance on the beef side of the equation are bull sires sourced from the Glamworth Angus Stud. “We like the way that stud is run on a commercial basis – it has to be pro table like any company.” Riverhills raises bulls for good shiftability, nishing them in small 2YO mobs at Pukerata. “We pride ourselves on selling bulls with quiet temperament, low birthweight and still achieving exceptional growth rates for dairy service bulls.” Bounded on either side by the Ohura River and the Mangaroa River, Riverhills has its own river protection programme that involves riparian planting of the banks, working in conjunction with Horizons Regional Council. Freshwater farm plan regulations are due to take effect by the end of the year, but Dean notes there is no clarity yet on how these will be implemented and enforced on hill country farms. Limited 168 Totara St, Manunui 3924 Ph 07 895 8492 • Mobile 027 418 670 Fax 07 895 7687 • ongaruetransport@xtra.co.nz t t, i il t t t . . Proud to be associated with Riverhills Farm t i t it i ill Members of the Dimmock Road, RD1, Pokeno, Maramarua John & Jan Marchant 09 232 5613 or 027 442 3130 marchant.farms@farmside.co.nz Greg & Angela Marchant 0272 815 386 gregm@farmside.co.nz Proud suppliers of FE Recorded Rams to Riverhills for 14 years One of the highest SIL FE recorded flocks in NZ ∙ FE Testing 0.60 since 2003 ∙ FE Testing 0.65 2004-2019 ∙ FE Testing 0.67 2020-2021 Marchant Farms
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