BlindLove - Cart Horse Report - June 2023

Thanks to the kind donations from AA supporters, projects like BlindLove in South Africa are able to make a difference in the lives of working animals in the region. The BlindLove team’s report on the cart horses of Thaba’nchu Free State follows:

During the month of June our team from Agripreneur Farmers Institute held 4 outreach clinics in Thaba’Nchu and 2 veterinary outreaches ( May outreach was postponed until 14 June).

Outreach dates were: 3 June, 15 June, 17 June, 27 June

Veterinary outreach dates : 14 June, 30 June

A total of 51 horses were seen.

At these outreaches all horses body condition scores are recorded. Once again the team treated all minor injuries and wounds, treated horses for internal and external parasites like ticks, flies, worms and bots. At these outreaches the team also continues to talk to the owners about humane handling of their horses and what they can do to improve the welfare of their hardworking animals.

We have had a couple of incidents where horses have been deliberately stabbed. At the veterinary outreaches Dr Arno treated a horse that had been stabbed at the side of its mouth. Thankfully the horse is recovering well , but these stabbings are an issue we need to address. Seems the attacks are mostly driven by jealousy.

Dr Arno checked hooves and teeth of all horses that attended the veterinary clinics. He was very pleased we had raised some funds for feed. Being wintertime there is almost no grazing available for the horses and temperatures drop to below zero at night, so we always see a drop in their condition.

We have noted the changes we had seen the owners making to the harnesses we sent out and made necessary adjustments. We are replacing the tri glider buckles with ordinary buckles which will be attatched. All straps will also be attached now as we have seen owners removing straps without giving a reasonable reason as to why! We have explained to them that everything is there for a reason!

We are also adding a second neckstrap to allow for a thin light strap to run down the spine and be attatched to the loin strap if / where it slips back with some horses.

During the months of June and into July we are hectically busy sewing up a batch of 20 new harnesses,which means over the 6 month period we would have been able to make up 24 complete harnesses. This means the R1500 each month allocated for harnesses repair/ replacement (Total R 9000) translates to each harness costing R 375, which is about what we were expecting because NAWA (Namibian Animal Welfare Association) had told us their donkey harnesses cost R 150. The donkey harnesses are a half set, the cart horse harnesses are a full set (breastband strap and breeching strap behind).

We managed to raise $100 US dollars ( R 1850 ) which allowed us to buy 13 bags of milled lucerne for the cart horses. We would love to be able to do this each week, however donations/funds don’t allow for this.

Then we saw the return of an old horse called Robert in June. Robert and his owner had attended one of our outreaches way back in 2018, and he had needed to retire then. Sadly his owner did not have a phone, left without a trace and we were never able to trace him again…. We had even found him a potential forever home! So when the team sent me the photos of the outreach and said Dr Arno had advised the owner to retire the old horse as he had almost no teeth and was skin and bone, I looked closely to see if I recognized him, and sure enough, it was Robert. Sadly looking much older and grayer around the muzzle and very thin.

This time we have a contact number for old boy Robert’s owner, and he is willing to retire him!

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