140 | nzdairy ON FARM » Sarah Pinfold Galloways on the farm. Karen Phelps When Sarah Pinfold spotted some Galloway cattle for sale years ago, something peaked her interest. “I’d seen them previously at the Field Days and loved their cute little faces,” she recalls. What began as a hobby has since grown into Riverview Galloways, a registered stud that now sits at the forefront of a rare and growing chapter in New Zealand’s Galloway story. Sarah, who grew up on a dairy farm in the Tararua region, spent years in retail and call centre management before returning to rural life roughly 19 years ago. Motherhood prompted the move as she wanted her daughter to grow up with the advantages of a country childhood. She now lives and works on the family’s 100-hectare property at Mangatainoka, overseeing day-to-day operations there and also managing administration across both her own farm, another dairy farm and a runoff she co-owns with her brother Andrew. The Mangatainoka farm runs a herd of 230 Friesian and Friesian-cross cows through a 26-aside herringbone shed, and a contract milker has just completed his first season there. A second dairy farm at Woodville is 130 hectares effective, milking 320 cows and operates under a 50:50 sharemilker, with Andrew managing an 80-hectare run-off block nearby and maintenance across both farms. The Galloways, however, are very much Sarah’s domain. Riverview Galloways was registered in 2008 after she purchased three cows and a bull from a herd disposal, the stud’s name inspired by the hill-top house she lives in, which looks down over a river below. The stud has grown to a herd of 40, and it is the white Galloway that has long been its foundation. That foundation is now expanding in a significant direction. Riverview Galloways recently established a registered riggit herd after Sarah sourced a bull and three in-calf cows from Cherrybank Stud. The riggit, a black animal with a white stripe running along the top of its back, was first registered into the New Zealand Galloway Herdbook in 2019 and remains exceptionally rare with all genetics trailing back to Cherrybank. Sarah’s cows have all calved in the past six weeks and she says the results have already turned heads. “Two have thrown the red gene, which is only the second time there has been a red riggit in New Zealand, so I have some pretty unique calves,” says Sarah. The breeding strategy is deliberate. “The idea is I can put the riggit bull over my white girls and there is a good chance they will throw a riggit calf, to diversify the riggit genetics in New Zealand and grow it a bit,” she explains. Then, in a development that surprised even her: From a side-hobby to a registered stud “I just had a riggit calf born out of two whites recently that is a one in a million chance, it’s just a genetic throwback, so I’ve created my own line of riggits without even trying, and she’s a little stunner.” Sarah is vice president of the Galloway Cattle Society of New Zealand, which has around 85 members ranging from single-animal lifestyle keepers to herds of 30 to 40. The society celebrated its 78th year recently and in 2025 hosted the World Galloway Conference, welcoming 75 delegates from 13 countries. “It was awesome meeting like-minded people from other countries,” says Sarah. Apart from the show paddock, Galloways offer practical appeal, she says. It is a double-coated breed - a long outer coat over a soft inner layer - which means it requires less back fat for warmth, resulting in notably marbled meat. Butchers such as Chop Butchery in Oamaru, which deals exclusively in heritage breed meats, are among those sourcing from society members. Keeping your PH. 06 376 7181 MOB. 0274 778036 61 Short Road, Pahiatua, New Zealand, 4982 brandfmurdoch@xtra.co.nz Specialising in livestock cartage & general freight transport in the lower North Island region www.wollandcontracting.co.nz rvices / Spraying • Cultivation Se • Grass & Maize Silage vation • Exca • Solid Muck / Slurry Spreading • Hay & Balage • General/Livestock Cartage 027 444 2000 027 446 0087 Maurice: Jamie: 06 376 8857 Office: Members also supply bulls to dairy farmers, where Galloways are valued for their ease of calving and naturally low birth weights. Sarah uses the breed to clean up gullies and other areas dairy cows can’t reach and to also clean up behind the dairy herd. One of the world’s oldest beef breeds, the Galloway traces its origins to south-west Scotland and has been recorded since the 1600s. In New Zealand, it has been present since 1947 but remains a minority breed, which is precisely what makes the work being done at Riverview Galloways and by other local breeders matter, says Sarah.
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