 Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries , horses were harvested from the feral herds and used as riding and stock horses , as well as being used for their meat , hair and hides . Originally there were many herds that roamed land owned by the British Crown and the native Māori , but many were eradicated with the intensification of large scale farming and forestry operations combined with increased mechanization that decreased the need for stock horses . Kaimanawa horses today have the highest amount of genetic similarity with the Thoroughbred and other Thoroughbred cross breeds . 
