Pirongia Horse Riders Club

24/05/2026

See you tomorrow at
205 Sainsbury Rd Pirongia
11am ride out.
The weather looks awesome
Lunch and a chair 🐎
Ring me if you need any help
0274769726
Shirley

22/05/2026

Hey Riders! Let me know if you are riding on Monday 25 May at the 205 Sainsbury Road block.
I would like to know the number coming.
11 am rideout
Lunch afterwards
Video being taken
1 1/2 hr ride
Let’s check it out!

19/05/2026

Horse riders! Let’s meet up for a special discovery ride at the 205 Sainsbury Rd Reserve, Pirongia.
Monday 25 May at 11am
I’m sure a lot of you are curious to see the improvements and cleaning up of the tracks at the 205.
What’s extra exciting is that Waipa District Council have engaged Simon from CreateVideo to create a video of how the Reserve is used; the restoration plantings, grazing, horse riding and walking, plus what we want to see happen in the future.
He will film our saddling up, riding and washing down our horses (he uses a drone but will keep it well away from horses). If you do not wish to be in the final cut then a word to Simon will mean he will edit you out.
Amanda from Waipa will be there.
A few riders will be interviewed with some easy questions being asked, so put on your good shirt and your pink lippy. 💃🏼🐎
Lunch afterwards.
11am rideout
205 Sainsbury Road
Pirongia
Hill country ride 1 1/2 hours - a bit of an exploration.
Barefoot friendly
See you there! It would be really great to see as many as we can get. The video will go up on the Waipa DC website so we could be famous and viral 😄.
Let’s make it into a bit of a celebration. See you there!
Simon’s gear cannot tolerate rain so if the forecast says rain he won’t be there.

12/05/2026

A message from Amanda at Waipa District Council

Hi folks,

I hope you’re all well 😊

I know it’s been tough for lots of you to not have Sainsbury Road Reserve as part of your riding locations – thanks for being so patient. Great news, it’s due to open this weekend: https://www.waipadc.govt.nz/our-council/news?we’vitem=id:2y5ggyqhs17q9sq3mtol

Slip remediation work at the reserve
The weather exacerbated some slips on two of the tracks and blew out the culvert by the stream crossing. We engaged our contractor to regrade the track which runs along the planting area and to install a new culvert. In order to get to the culvert, the contractor had to regrade the path to the stream crossing, which was a real bonus! I’m interested to hear your feedback about this track.

There was a slip we weren’t able to fix (on the track which ran under the big pine trees) so we’ve rediverted the track above the trees. The work all looks great, I hope it’s great to ride on too 😊

Planting Day – save the date!
You might remember I dropped you a line last year about the WEL Energy Trust funding we secured for this year’s planting. We’ve been holding off getting the word out on the planting day until the reserve was open again…. but it would be great if you can put Saturday 13 June 2026 (10.00am-1.00pm) in your calendars for the planting day. We’ll be planting out the rest of the wetland area we started last year.

Video filming of horse riders
We’ll also be using some of the funding to get a video made about the reserve – what people love about the reserve, how we’re restoring it and how people can get involved. We’d love the horse riders to feature in this!

I’ll be in touch soon about getting a bunch of you together (and your lovely horses) to star in the video and talk about what the reserve means to you. Our videographer (Simon from CreateVideo) will be using a hand help camera and also a drone for some of the work – if your horse isn’t a fan of drones we can definitely work around this for some of the filming.

Hope to see you soon,

Amanda....................................................................................................
Amanda Banks Reserves Planner Waipā District Council
[email protected] | www.waipadc.govt.nz
DDI: 07 823 3803 | MOB: 027 746 8303

The Waipā District lies in New Zealand's Waikato region. The main urban populations are in the towns of Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Kihikihi, Pirongia, Ōhaupō.

06/05/2026

The latest about the 205 Sainsbury Rd block and carpark.
The remediation work was completed but one area needs more work to ensure it is stable. So that area is having more work done on it and when that is completed and the two areas are reopened, I will let you know. 👍🐎

02/05/2026

Sorry should have shared this earlier- but best to avoid the forestry today (Sunday 3rd May)

Come and catch the last shuttle day of the season this Sunday. make the most of the stunning run of weather and help the club raise funds as we look to recover from February's storm damage.
The BBQ will be running and the tracks will be mint.
See you there.

19/02/2026

https://www.waipadc.govt.nz/our-council/news?item=id:2x8z9alon17q9smqr7gh

A State of Emergency is in place for Waipā District following severe weather impacts such as flooding, slips and infrastructure damage. Conditions may worsen quickly. Pirongia’s water supply is reduced due to damage. Pirongia residents please urgently conserve water. View the latest updates here.

16/02/2026

A message from Amanda at Waipa District Council

‘Hi everyone,

We hope you’re all safe with the weather which has been moving across the district over the last few days – and hoping your family members (whether they have two legs or four) are safe also.

As you probably all know, the significant rainfall has impacted on culverts on Sainsbury Road and brought down forest debris across the road. Council is aware of the issue and the infrastructure teams will be working to assess and prioritise repairs as soon as possible.

It’s my hunch you’re probably all sticking pretty close to home, but we wanted to let you know we’re going to put up a sign at the reserve saying the reserve is temporarily closed to public access. Given previous concerns of slippage, we think it’s a wise idea to stay away from the reserve for the next week to give the rainfall the opportunity to move through the catchment and for the weather to settle so we can confirm how the tracks are looking.

Olivia will be putting the sign up at the reserve this afternoon. We’ll also schedule some time on Monday next week to head out to the reserve and check how everything is and we’re keeping in touch with Julie (the grazier) given she’s got stock up there.

In the meantime:
Please keep an eye on our website for regular updates (including any road closures): State of Emergency for the Waipā District - Waipa District Council
If you have any issues to report please call or email Council – contact details here: Contact us - Waipa District Council

Take care,

Amanda, Olivia and Aidan’
....................................................................................................
Amanda Banks Reserves Planner Waipā District Council
[email protected] |

The Waipā District lies in New Zealand's Waikato region. The main urban populations are in the towns of Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Kihikihi, Pirongia, Ōhaupō.