Laura King of Kaitangata often hikes into the hills behind the town, where several mobs of wild horses have lived a quiet existence for almost 100 years.
The area, which is mostly commercial forestry land, is believed to be home to a herd of 15 to 20 horses and several other smaller groups.
Over the past 10 years, Ms King has brought home four of the untamed beasts.
"I thought ‘I’m going to get you one day’."
After not seeing him for three months, she found him just over a week ago, on his own and looking "absolutely ... disgusting".
"The way he was standing, I just knew something was wrong."
Ms King brought him home as the only other option was to "leave him up there to die".
He was checked over by a vet, who confirmed Ms King’s suspicion that Comet had been kicked in the head, most likely by the stallion of his herd, and had two broken teeth.
Because of his injuries, Comet struggled to eat and had lost a significant amount of weight.
Ms King has been helping the colt regain his strength and will get the broken teeth removed.
While the wild horses in the hills did not seem to mind human presence, she said she would not want to get too close.
Kaitangata man Harold May is a member of the Kaitangata Wild Horse Trust which keeps an eye on the horses and holds an annual trek to see the wild horses.
The horses were descendants of the former McCrostie estate herd.
Horses had roamed the hills around Kaitangata for almost 100 years.
Mr May said when the estate was first fenced, the remaining horses were "just left up there" and spread out over the land.
A Givealittle page had also been set up for Comet and Ms King, so she could pay for his treatment.
