At the Drury property south of Auckland, a quiet ritual plays out every week: a 91-year-old woman climbs into the saddle, calls to a gentle bay named Pounamu, and rides for 45 minutes through the arena and gardens, finishing with a trot. What makes it remarkable is that Lady June Carter lost her sight three and a half years ago — and that she spent nearly five decades on the other side of the story, helping thousands of others ride before taking up the reins herself.
June's history with New Zealand Riding for the Disabled (RDA) stretches back almost 50 years. Alongside co-founder Diana Arlington and a group of parents at the Whitford Pony Club — where her own daughter was a member — she started running sessions with borrowed ponies, leading children around every Monday morning. 'Mothers were saying, you can use my daughter's pony,' she recalls. From those improvised beginnings grew the Whitford branch of a charity that now supports more than 3,000 people with disabilities nationwide each year through therapeutic horse programmes.
When she rejoined as a rider in 2024, the basics came flooding back. Her partnership with Pounamu — 'Pou' — works because both halves know the routine. 'I know what I'm supposed to do, and the horse knows his job and we get along just fine,' she says. Rain and bad weather are the only things that keep her away.
Her favourite memories are of riders transformed. One young woman, around 18, who was constantly thumping her chest, would sit on a horse and hold the reins perfectly still. Moments like that are why June stayed involved for so long — and why she still wishes she could put every crying child she hears onto a horse.
Horses have shaped her whole life. They were, she jokes, part of the reason she left her native UK for New Zealand in her twenties after meeting her late husband, timber magnate Sir Richard Carter, in an English pub — he had horses on the family farm. The couple went on to build a property in Whitford and a substantial farm and homestead at Ararimu.
Her philosophy with horses doubles as a philosophy for ageing: patience, gentleness, calm. 'You just quietly walk up to them, give them a rub on their neck and tell them everything's okay,' she says. She has no interest in slowing down. 'Life is for living and trying to help other people. What you give out, you get back.'
Why it matters for travellers: this is a warm, human slice of New Zealand life that shows how community organisations like RDA welcome visitors and volunteers — and a nudge that adventure on horseback doesn't have an expiry date. If riding is on your New Zealand wishlist, there are operators and charities across the country that cater to complete beginners, older riders and riders with disabilities.
