A lot of the work that WRC do is around trail advocacy.  Some of this work is undertaken in conjunction with the New Zealand Equestrian Advocacy Network (NZEAN)
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NZEAN is represented in the Wakatipu by Kaye Eden and Eileen Walker.  You can contact either of them via email infonzean@gmail.com
 
With increasing developments and with pressures for decreasing recreational space it is getting increasingly difficult to find places to ride (or ride what we previously had - many trails in the Wakatipu started off as bridle trails).  In addition, roads that used to be safe to ride are no longer viable due to increases in traffic volume, speed, and often, sadly, drivers lack of knowledge of how to drive around horses or stock.
 
Committee members regularly several spend hours a week (sometimes up to 15+ hours a week) in meetings with councils, government agencies and recreational trusts.  The work also requires many, many emails and viewing/reviewing/researching official documents.  This is all done on a voluntary basis, and around full-time jobs (and also trying to fit in life and exercising the horse (or horses!).
 
All of Aotearoa New Zealand is ecologically sensitive and therefore vulnerable to intensive walking, mountain biking, horse riding and 4WD.   Research indicates that horse riding is no worse than mountain biking, 4WD or even walking for the spreading of weeds, soil compaction, soil erosion or river degradation.  However, research also states that what impacts these factors the most is local geology, topography and climate.
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In terms of horse poo, being herbivores, horse poo is made up of grass and water.  As such, it  'dissolves' in a few days. In the context of the Wakatipu, it is unlikely that people will catch diseases from horse poo (e.g. e.coli, salmonella) anymore than catching it from sheep or cattle or from 4WD or bike tyres or shoes, that have hiked in areas of livestock.​​