Winston Peters poses with Stamina in Mongolia.
By Stewart Sowman-Lund
When NZ Racing Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters looked a gifted horse in the mouth he decided to call it Stamina – but it almost had a very different name.
Peters was in Mongolia back in February – the first visit to the nation by a New Zealand foreign minister in more than a decade – when he was quite literally presented with a live horse.
In a post on Twitter at the time, Peters was said to have been “delighted” by the unexpected gift, adding that “in Mongolian culture, horses symbolise freedom, strength and vitality
Unsurprisingly, as documents released to the Sunday Star-Times under the Official Information Act confirm, the “memorable” present caused quite a stir among officials.
“Conscience of logistics, we asked MOFA [Mongolia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs] the approximate size of the gift prepared for [Peters], to which MOFA responded it would be a live horse,” said one memo.
Another added: “Bet that wasn’t on many bingo cards for our Friday update.”
“This has been the talk of the floor,” read another note under the subheading of “horse”.
“An honour! Really cool gift.”
The gift, from Peters’ Mongolian counterpart, is a traditional honour bestowed on visiting dignitaries and is considered very high praise.