Karamu Trail Track
About Us
The farm is owned by David Smith who was born on the property. He is a fourth generation descendant of the Smith Family after whom Smith Road was named. The original 100 acre Smith farm was expanded to include neighbouring properties by David. It is also a working dairy farm.
David and his four sons were keen trail bike riders which led to the original Karamu Trail Track being created on the farm in the mid 1980′s as an off-road trail bike track. It was open once a month to the public for trail rides until the mid 1990’s.
In later years David and his sons wanted new adventures, parked up their trail bikes and bought a small collection of horses. After a couple of years learning to ride and break in horses David decided to start running horse trekking on the farm. Since 2001 the tracks have been used and enjoyed by thousands of people who have come on horse rides with us.
The tracks meander around hundreds of acres of hills and bush and every year David makes some new tracks to keep it interesting.
David and his four sons were keen trail bike riders which led to the original Karamu Trail Track being created on the farm in the mid 1980′s as an off-road trail bike track. It was open once a month to the public for trail rides until the mid 1990’s.
In later years David and his sons wanted new adventures, parked up their trail bikes and bought a small collection of horses. After a couple of years learning to ride and break in horses David decided to start running horse trekking on the farm. Since 2001 the tracks have been used and enjoyed by thousands of people who have come on horse rides with us.
The tracks meander around hundreds of acres of hills and bush and every year David makes some new tracks to keep it interesting.
Team
We have a great team of people who work together to look after you.
David and Sue
David is the owner and lives on-site, but since he has a typical farmers allergy to phones you'll never find him answering one. He is usually out working on the farm but has been known to tag along on treks from time to time or help out at the gate for the trail bike rides. David is very fond of driving and is in charge of the 4WD activities.
Sue lives on-site with David, looks after the web site and helps with behind the scenes planning. She works in town and is allergic to farm work. Sue sometimes tags along with a trek for fun, taking a back seat (after years of leading treks). She's been known to take experienced riders off on a more challenging detour.
Troy
Troy lives on-site and is the horse manager, trek leader and trail bike manager. He has 20 years of experience with horses (and even longer on a trail bike) and has been guiding treks since about 2001 when we first started the horse trekking.
As well as leading treks he looks after the horses, brings them in and puts them away at the end of the day. Troy also designs and sets up the tracks for trail bike rides and looks after the gate, signing trail bike riders in and out.
Robert and Krissy
Robert and Krissy live on-site, and they can sometimes be seen feeding or moving stock and milking cows. They also have a few horses of their own.
Krissy manages the trekking bookings and administration and is the main person to answer the phone and emails. She has been riding horses for a very long time and has worked as a trek leader.
Robert has also worked as a trek leader and for many years was involved with setting up the trail bike tracks. These days his time is mainly taken up with running the dairy operation and managing the cows.
Other guides
There are a many other people who help as volunteer guides on horse rides, some have been coming for years while others are relatively new. Some are former trek leaders who come back from time to time to help when they miss us!
David is the owner and lives on-site, but since he has a typical farmers allergy to phones you'll never find him answering one. He is usually out working on the farm but has been known to tag along on treks from time to time or help out at the gate for the trail bike rides. David is very fond of driving and is in charge of the 4WD activities.
Sue lives on-site with David, looks after the web site and helps with behind the scenes planning. She works in town and is allergic to farm work. Sue sometimes tags along with a trek for fun, taking a back seat (after years of leading treks). She's been known to take experienced riders off on a more challenging detour.
Troy
Troy lives on-site and is the horse manager, trek leader and trail bike manager. He has 20 years of experience with horses (and even longer on a trail bike) and has been guiding treks since about 2001 when we first started the horse trekking.
As well as leading treks he looks after the horses, brings them in and puts them away at the end of the day. Troy also designs and sets up the tracks for trail bike rides and looks after the gate, signing trail bike riders in and out.
Robert and Krissy
Robert and Krissy live on-site, and they can sometimes be seen feeding or moving stock and milking cows. They also have a few horses of their own.
Krissy manages the trekking bookings and administration and is the main person to answer the phone and emails. She has been riding horses for a very long time and has worked as a trek leader.
Robert has also worked as a trek leader and for many years was involved with setting up the trail bike tracks. These days his time is mainly taken up with running the dairy operation and managing the cows.
Other guides
There are a many other people who help as volunteer guides on horse rides, some have been coming for years while others are relatively new. Some are former trek leaders who come back from time to time to help when they miss us!