Blindlove Cart horse Project, Thaba’nchu, South Africa February Update

Finally a farrier service!

Thanks to your most generous and kind support, great achievements were made in what was a very busy February in Thaba’nchu. Most notably, you have made possible for them a much needed and long awaited farrier service.

Here, Phillipa the owner of Blindlove in Thaba’nchu discusses how they managed to finally receive a farrier service:

“One of the areas we have really struggled to make any real progress with, is a decent farrier service. While horse owners have a very basic knowledge of hoofcare that has been passed down through the generations, they have no access to the correct tools or shoes for the horses.

 We have also struggled to get any farriers from the ‘formal equestrian industry’ willing to give up their time to come to Thaba’nchu and assist us. Unfortunately, most have expressed feelings of uncertainty and fear, thinking they might be robbed or mugged!

Finally in October 2023, we received funds from The Foundation for the Horse which has allowed us to enrol two members of the Agripreneur Farmers team into ‘The Sustainable Hoofcare Course’, offered by Caballo Equine services. This course covers anatomy, diet, disease, laminitis, confirmation, abscesses, supportive therapies and correct trimming. We were also able to buy two complete sets of basic farrier tools for them.

What the course does not cover however, is correct shoeing.

A couple of years ago we were fortunate enough to have made contact with Natalie Pope, was involved with horse welfare years ago. At the time, her groom and righthand man Mr Zulu Mxolisi, were trained as a farrier by World Horse Welfare. It seems Zulu is very well known as a farrier!

Natalie suggested that Zulu comes down to Thaba’Nchu every 8 weeks during 2024. So Zulu made his way to Thaba’Nchu for his first visit on Monday 5th February! Finally we had a farrier. Not only that, Itumuleng and Makeba from the Agripreneur Team could put their newly learnt skills into practice with a great farrier! We managed to get 80 shoes and 10 boxes of nails.

Zulu was in Thaba’Nchu from the 5th to 14th February, so the team decided to hold some of their outreaches on these days too. With Zulu’s guidance, they took the opportunity to talk to owners about the need for correct hoofcare. Zulu also has a wonderful, gentle way of handling the horses while working with them and he showed owners how to do this too.

Outreach work was done on 6th,7th, 8th,17th and 29th February.

All horses that attended were checked, and any injuries cleaned and treated. They were treated for external parasites like flies and ticks and dewormed with paste dewormers.

All horses that attended had their hooves trimmed and shoes correctly fitted! We actually ran out of shoes by the Saturday 10th!

Harnesses were also all checked and adjustments made where needed.

Zulu was in Thaba’Nchu until the 14th so continued trimming and chatting to owners about hoofcare and health.

At the outreach on the 17th February, the Agripreneur team chatted to the horse owners about feed for their horses. Feed is always a problem, especially during the Winter months when temperatures plummet to below zero and there is no grazing. In December, Philippa, the owner of Blindlove, delivered 200 kgs of oat seed to be planted as a more sustainable feed option for the horses, under the guidance of the Agripreneur Team.

They called this project the Seeds of Ubuntu. It was decided that owners who had larger plots of ground would get some seeds to plant themselves and run it along the lines of The Backyard Food Garden’s project hat Makeba is running for another NGO. We are waiting for feedback and photos from the owners.

The bulk of the oat seed will be planted at Gladstone Village outside Thaba’nchu where Makeba has land and is already successfully growing crops like potatoes, watermelon, lucerne and maize.”

Such basic but important care and nutrition would not be available or possible for Thaba’nchu’s horses without your incredible support, and for that we are all so grateful.