by Shane Sody

If you Love Your Park Lands, like we do, you might occasionally hear criticism from people who have latched onto a Park Lands myth.

In this article, we’re MYTH-BUSTING the claim that privately-owned horses (and/or their owners) have taken over part of your Park Lands, at the expense of the public.

A frequent complaint is that horses are supposedly taking Park Lands away from people.

Some critics wrongly believe that the horse paddocks in Lefevre Park /Nantu Wama (Park 6) are fenced to keep people out.

The truth is the exact opposite. People can easily walk into this Park, and anyone is allowed to do so. The fences here are built with gaps for you to walk through. They’re designed to keep the horses IN, not to keep people OUT. The Park is Open Green, Public.

Lefevre Park /Nantu Wama (Park 6) is a unique part of your Adelaide Park Lands. A large section of the Park is comprised of three paddocks, which are in use on a rotational basis, allowing the grass to regrow after the horses are moved from one paddock to another.

Looking at the horses brings many visitors from around the Adelaide area, and has inspired a popular Instagrammer, @horsesofnorthadelaide.

The horses here are not agisted. They are depastured, meaning they eat what grows here, or what the owners bring them to eat.

Although the City Council provides the land (your Park Land) the Council is not responsible for feeding the horses, nor their health. If a horse dies here, the Council will not remove it. The owner has to do so.

Importantly, the horses share the paddocks with you.

Anyone is welcome to walk through the paddocks but you are strongly advised to avoid feeding the horses to prevent disrupting their feeding routine.

Patting them is not advisable either, unless the owner is present and invites you to do so.

Most horses here are likely to be tame and sociable but you can’t be sure of that, and you can be bitten or kicked so it’s safer to keep a prudent distance.

Horses have been in this Park since the mid-1800s. But these days, not just any horse can be kept here. The Council has set rules about these horse paddocks.

• The owner must be aged over 18, and must live within 2km of the park.

• The horse must be at least three years old, and at least 10 hands (100cm) high.

• The horse cannot be pregnant!

• There can be no more than 20 horses living here at a time.

• And there are fees. In 2023-24 the fee was $47.70 per horse, per week, or $2,480 per year.

There are four separate feeding yards, five horse troughs, and in the centre of the Park there are a couple of sanded areas, used for equestrian and dressage training.

The horse paddocks are featured in our Trail Guide to Lefevre Park / Nantu Wama (Park 6).

See the other Park Lands Myth Busters https://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/myth-busters