Back in the saddle WILD HORSES CAN'T KEEP ME AWAY!

Kelly's quest for the Kaimanawas is strong, despite a crippling fall

- Elise Cacace

There's no doubt about it, New Zealand's Kaimanawa horses have a lot to thank the Wilson sisters for.

Since the three women began raising public awareness of the plight of the wild horses - which are mustered by the Department of Conservation every year to reduce their impact on the environment - hundreds of Kiwis have opened their hearts and homes to the equines.

"It was amazing," says middle sister Kelly Wilson, 33, of the almost-immediate impact of their 2015 reality-style show Keeping Up with the Kaimanawas. "No horses have been sent to slaughter since!"

Graphic designer, photographer and author Kelly - who shared the limelight in the TVNZ show with sisters Vicki, 35, and Amanda, 29 currently has seven Kaimanawas grazing on her 18-hectare property in Taupo.

Despite her excitement about taming, competing and rehoming them, life has recently thrown her a curveball.

"I fell off a horse and fractured my neck, and herniated a disc in my spine," she explains. "So I haven't been able to ride or workhorses for the last 10 months, which has been challenging."

And no, it was not by galloping too fast or jumping too high.

"It was a stupid fall," she admits. "A nothing fall. I was just riding bareback, then a horse cantered over the hill and spooked my horse, and I fell off."