Hōiho - Series Two - "Best of" Episode

It’s said the most beautiful view of the world is seen from between the ears of a horse.

– Annabelle Lee-Mather opens the show from a horse-lover's point of view

Ki a tātou te Māori ko te eke hōiho me te whakawhanaungatanga, e rua e rua. 
[To Māori people, horse riding and relationship building are one and the same.]

– Host Annabelle Lee-Mather describes the importance of hōiho in te ao Māori

I have to ride until I’m 80, or until my horse gives away under me. He’s gotta give way under me and then I’ll stop, I think.

– Taina Atkins (Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti), 77-year-old horse rider

I’ve been riding since I was a four-year-old kid, and I love them because they don’t answer me back, of course. A pakeke does eh, and a kid, and a mokopuna — they answer you back alright. But my horse don’t — he listens.

– Taina Atkins (Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti) tells Annabelle Lee-Mather about her history of horse riding

All the horse wants to do is please us. It’s the human that gets in the way, but we don’t know we’re getting in the way. So when we can bridge the communication gap, and the lightbulb goes on for the horse, and for the rider... I think that’s pretty much why I enjoy doing what I’m doing.

– Manaia Armstrong (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai) on his approach to breaking in horses

All a horse is is a reflection of whoever’s on their back, or whoever’s trained them.

– Manaia Armstrong (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai), as he demonstrates his training techniques

There’s an old saying that real horsemen don’t look at a horse with their eyes, they look at a horse with their heart.

– Annabelle Lee-Mather sums up the episode before she rides off on her hōiho

The power of Hōiho as a series is that it celebrates rural Māori communities and how horses remain an important part of that lifestyle. Hōiho evokes a sense of nostalgia for those of us who may no longer live in country places but still relate to them from the past. Every Māori whānau has their horse story.

– Producer Michelle Lee, in a press release from Māori Television, 11 April 2013