Above: Kihikihi Domain Below: Australia's Olympic Team Siver Medallist Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester during the World Cup cross country phase.

Above: Australias's Olympic Siver Medallist Shane Rose and All Luck during Dressage Phase of World Cup Qualifier on the new Main Arenaat Kihikihi Domain Below: The Waka Jump, which was carved by local Maori carvers.

For the last 80 or so years the Kihikihi Domain has been a hub of the community.  Much of the domain was farmland and various sporting codes used the facility.  It was a typical country domain.

But the folks in Kihikihi are not typical country folk.  They had a vision to develop the domain into a far greater community facility.  This vision – led by John Nicholson and Paul Kay – has grown into something far greater than they could have ever dreamed. 

In 1996 a group of volunteers fundraised and worked to develop a horse trial at Kihikihi.  These volunteers, calling themselves Kihikihi Waikato Eventing, had to start from scratch, as there were no event facilities at the Domain – including no clubrooms or horse yards.   

The volunteers’ first task was to build Novice and Intermediate cross country tracks.  In these early years the secretary’s office was run from the back of a horse truck and as the Kihikihi Domain was then farmed, manure had to be cleared off the area to be used for dressage.

A few years on Mitavite Horse Feeds became the naming rights sponsor of the event, and this added considerable impetus to the success of the horse trial.  Then in 2004 the Mitavite Horse Trial became the inaugural New Zealand Qualifier for the FEI World Cup Eventing Series.  With only 11 such qualifiers held in the world, it was a coup for Kihikihi to get one. 

By this stage the domain had had a serious makeover and was gathering a growing reputation for being the best eventing venue in New Zealand – all thanks to the hard work of volunteers and the support of the Waipa District Council and the Waipa community.   

In 2005 Kihikihi Waikato Eventing was named Supreme Winner at the TrustPower Waipa District Community Awards.  Kihikihi Waikato Eventing then went on to take out the Supreme Award at the TrustPower National Community Awards, held in March 2006. 

Today, Kihikihi Waikato Eventing is still just as successful as ever, and is still run by volunteers. 

“We have no paid staff.  We are still just lots of fools, doing our piece to help,” says Kihikihi Waikato Eventing spokesperson John Nicholson. 

In 2009 HSBC was named sponsor of the World Cup final and qualifying events.  This meant that the Kihikihi qualifying event became an event worth $23,000 to the winner, with a total prize pool of $70,000 – which John Nicholson says is a very good purse for New Zealand.   

Kihikihi's cross country facility is up with the best, providing unique cross country fences designed and built with flair to international standards by John Nicholson. Mark Todd describes John Nicholson’s talent as a course designer as follows “Apart from his vision and foresight, John’s real genius is in his creativeness and flair for designing the cross-country course. I am always in awe of the inspiration he has to create new fences that will accurately test both horse and rider to the maximum yet be safe and fair at the same time. It is a gift!”

The Show Jumping and Dressage takes place in the new main arena, which is known for its lovely springy grass surface and is located in a natural amphitheatre and an electric atmosphere prevails as riders jump the Gerrit Beker designed track.

The horse trial weekend also includes novelty pony rides and antique tractor rides, a Fun Run over the cross country track, classic car picnics and Saturday night entertainment.

The local community are proud of the international horse trial held at their Domain and many are now involved and work alongside Kihikihi Waikato Eventing members, helping run the World Cup event even though many are not actually ‘horsey’. This volunteer input allows the event to run on a shoe string when compared with the corporate budgets of its international counterparts. 

John Nicholson says about 300 volunteers work over the weekend to provide for the 320 competitors. 

“It’s a huge job but it’s all about people saying ‘I will do this job’ and then doing it.  That makes it happen,” says John. 

As well as running the horse trial many of the Kihikihi Waikato Eventing team also volunteer to assist in running the domain.   The 55 acre area started as a country domain with many different sports calling it home, but often the codes never worked together. 

John Nicholson and his team of volunteers started the Domain Committee, which includes one representative from each of the sporting codes which use the facility.

“Working together we have become strong.  We are trying to create a better place for everybody.  For instance, we have purchased one speaker system that can be used by all the major users instead of each having one that doesn’t work properly,” says John. 

Using that philosophy, the Domain Committee has grown the facility into one that now attracts international events, such as the NZ vs England polo match on 13 February 2010.  As well as these high profile events the domain is also home to school athletics, agricultural days, dog shows, rugby, cricket and speedway – to name just a few. 

“We had a vision and that just grew and grew – nobody stopped working.  The local committee puts in a huge amount of effort,” says John. 

These days the domain is now fully booked from the end of November until the end of March each year. By attracting international events these Kihikihi volunteers are bringing a huge amount of business into the local community while providing an incredible facility for the community to use and enjoy. 

The next World Cup is being held from 2-4 April 2010, and already two Olympic level riders from Australia have expressed a desire to attend the event.

For more information about Kihikihi Waikato Eventing see the website www.thehorseevent.co.nz or contact John Nicholson on 07 871 3499.