BlindLove Cart Horses October 2023 Report

When you donate to AAA, your funds go towards helping working animals all over the world, including South Africa, where the partner group BlindLove work towards improving the lives and welfare of working equines. Following is their October 2023 report on the cart horses of Thaba’nchu Free State Province in South Africa.

During the month of October our team from Agripreneur Farmers Institiute held 4 outreaches and 1 welfare training workshop. The CCS vets were unfortunately unavailable for a veterinery outreach due to time constraints and a very busy month in the clinic, but owners were urged to head up to the clinic if their horses needed veterinery attention.

Outreach dates: 10 Oct, 11 Oct, 12 Oct, 14 Oct, 28 Oct

A total of 31 horses attended. At the outreaches all minor wounds and injuries were cleaned and treated. Horses were treated for external parasites like ticks and flies. Next month horses attending will be dewormed.

At the welfare workshop owners harnesses ( and carts!) were once again the focus point. We are really trying to get them to understand that the injuries caused by ill fitting harnesses actually cause pain to the horse, and need to be treated, preferably the horse allowed to rest. Any areas that rub or cause wounds need to be adjusted / padded.Harnesses need to be kept as clean as possible.

We talked to them about the Animal Anti Cruelty Act of South Africa and how overloading, beating, confining/ tethering their horses can be seen as a contravention of the Act, if resonable precautions are not seen to be taken by them to prevent injury being caused, and relating it back to their own harnesses and also their carts.

The Act also states no animal may be attatched to any equipment or vehicle which causes or will cause injury, or is overloaded and will cause unnecessary suffering and pain. We explained to them that simple things like going to the petrol garages and pumping the carts tyres make a huge difference! We see so many carts with flat tyres, making it very difficult for the horses to pull.

The Act also states no owner may drive an animal which is so injured or in such a physical condition that it is unfit to be driven or worked. Thin, dehydrated, injured horses should not be worked!

We are busy putting all this together for them, together with the 5 Freedoms for Animals ( again!) in a simple welfare pamphlet which we can distribute.

Itumuleng mentioned in his report he felt staff / volunteer education might be useful and we are super excited to have received funds from The Foundation for The Horse which have enabled us to enroll him and Makeba Kakoza (from the Agripreneur Farmers Institute team) in The Sustainable Hoof Hoofcare course offered by Caballo Equine services.

The course covers internal & external anatomy, hoof diseases, diet, horse handling, conformation, laminitis, abscesses, cracks, bruises etc.

We have also been able to buy them each a set of basic farrier tools. Both of them have a basic knowledge of hoofcare as do many of the owners who come from generations of horse owning families, but this will allow them to hone their skills and share what they learn with the cart horse owners, as well as then having the correct tools to treat and trim hooves in their community!

Itumuleng also mentioned sustainable farming practices, and funds from The Foundation For the Horse also made provision for the purchasing of seed. We will be buying oat seed and the Agripreneur Farmers team will be holding workshops around small scale production with the owners, distributing seed, and assisting them with planting, growing and harvesting the feed for their horses. We have seen over the years what a difference feed has made to the overall condition of these horses.

These are exciting developments.

Thank you animal Aid Abroad for your funding towards the health and welfare og these hardworking horses in the Thaba’nchu region. Philippa is heading up in December with another batch of harnesses which we will then be distributing and fitting properly, as well as holding a couple days outreaches with the owners and the CCs vets.