About 9.30pm on Saturday, former head coach at the Saddleview Pony Club Kathy Fuller heard loud fireworks going off near her Green Island property and later saw on social media they were being set off at the club grounds.
Mrs Fuller visited the grounds with a member of the club to check on the horses, and discovered the perpetrators had dispersed after a nearby resident had spoken to them.
"We really just wanted to make sure [the horses] were OK.
"It’s terrifying. It’s not just the lights, but the sound."
While the horses appeared unharmed, fireworks presented a real danger to the "fight or flight" animals, she said.
"I’ve known of horses just absolutely blindly bolting through fences."
The group allegedly shot the fireworks towards the trees at the grounds from the club’s carpark.
"People need to be aware that just because it is a carpark doesn’t mean that it is a free-for-all for letting fireworks off because you just don’t know what’s around."
Mrs Fuller understood that the people were unaware that there were horses in the paddocks.
"People just don’t go over and look at that sort of thing."
Regardless, she still thought it was "stupid" for them to be playing with fireworks on Saturday, she said.
"The weather had been so appalling and so windy. I thought it would be stupid to be lighting them."
Saddle Hill Community Board member Scott Weatherall said the lighting of the fireworks at the club was "dumb".
He did not believe that fireworks should be banned, but said people should enjoy them appropriately.
"Be responsible with fireworks. Obviously, people have got pets, so we definitely need to avoid any lighting of fireworks in those facilities."
The annual celebration of Guy Fawkes is today.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand encouraged people to think about the risk of fireworks before they bought them.
Community education manager Tom Ronaldson said fireworks were the cause of many unwanted fires.
"One fire caused by fireworks is too many. It is a preventable fire we have to attend. It is also a totally unnecessary fire that may take our crews away from another emergency."
