B.C. Horse Vacations
In The Shadows of Equus
The Legacy of Igorance
Cultures at the Crossroads of Care
By Margaret Evans
"Courtesy of Pacific & Prairie Horse Journal"
“reprinted with permission of Pacific & Prairie Horse Journal, and Margaret Evans.”
In some areas, donkeys' nostrils are slit with knives in the belief that they will work harder (because they can inhale more air). Photo courtesy of the Brooke Hospital for Animals
Kalu was in pain. He was a working horse in India. But he was black. And being black meant a life of pain was inevitable. In India, where superstition and folklore have always been the driving force of many rural business practices, the shoes from black horses were powerful good luck charms. So Kalu was shod over and over and over again by his owner who sought his fortune in the “lucky” horseshoe trade. The trouble was that the owner had no skills as a farrier and Kalu suffered immensely as a result of overgrown, cracked, and deformed hooves. His painful feet caused joint problems. The owner, following his own cultural superstitions, treated the joints by firing causing the horse even greater suffering.
But in a rare stroke of luck, Kalu found himself being taken to the Turkmangate shade shelter in Delhi. It was run by the Brooke Hospital for Animals, a renowned equine aid agency based in London, England that provides free veterinary care for working horses in developing countries, and offers education on equine care to animal owners.
Kalu was given regular pain medication for his joints and the Brooke’s Dr. Mini and her team treated the wounds caused by firing. Bhoora, Kalu’s owner, was given farrier lessons so that he could understand the structure of the hoof and the sensitive parts of the heel and frog.
Since 1934 when an extraordinary and compassionate Englishwoman, Dorothy Brooke, founded The Old Warhorse Memorial Hospital in Egypt to save ex-cavalry horses abandoned in North Africa after World War I, the Brooke Hospital for Animals (renamed in her honour) has grown into an international lifesaver, reaching over 500,000 working equine animals annually with a network of field clinics and mobile veterinary vehicles in Egypt, Jordan, India and Pakistan and through partnerships in Afghanistan, Kenya, Guatemala, and Israel. Every suffering working equine that becomes healthy and fit benefits an entire family, providing a means of transportation, work, and stature in the community.
An Egyptian myth states that horses and donkeys will work better if their ears are cut (or even removed, as seen here). Photo courtesy of the Brooke Hospital for Animals
In so many developing countries, deep-rooted superstitions and ancient cultural beliefs passed down from father to son through the generations force incredible pain on donkeys, mules, and horses.
Donkeys’ nostrils are slit with knives in the belief that if they inhale more air they will work harder.
Egyptian folklore claims that horses and donkeys work better if their ears are cut or removed altogether.
To treat infection with a practice called “threading,” flesh is cut and stuffed with cloth which is sewn into the wound. Pus from the resulting abscess leaks through the cloth, confirming the belief that the infection is “draining away.”
Firing is used to "cure" wounds and lameness: the skin is burned with a hot iron or knife. Photo courtesy of the Brooke Hospital for Animals
To cure wounds or lameness, the skin is burned with a red hot iron or knife in an ancient practice called “firing.”
Blistering, a traditional lameness “remedy” is done using corrosive chemicals that burn the skin and cause intense pain and permanent disability.
“Such beliefs make sense to poor, uneducated people,” said Bill Swann, the Brooke’s Director of International Development. “In Jaipur, India, we discovered that, horrifyingly, owners were pouring sulphuric acid up the noses of horses with coughs believing it would unclog the lungs. The masses of mucus and blood that poured from their noses for days afterwards ‘proved’ it worked. But once we explained it was the acid burning away the nose lining causing terrible pain they stopped doing it.”
The Brooke is working really hard to end the scourge of harmful folk remedies. As well as educating animal owners in good welfare and providing effective treatments, it is recruiting and re-training local healers as Brooke advocates to pass on effective welfare to their communities rather than the harmful traditional remedies.
“Our policy of winning hearts and minds is having a big impact,” said Mike Baker, Chief Executive. “Firing and blistering have been greatly reduced and in Petra, Jordan, eradicated completely. Our Petra-based Brooke Jordan team has also ended [the] local tradition of killing of newborn colts. Previously they were slaughtered at birth because of a legend that they drank their mothers’ blood. And in Egypt our vets have worked hard to explode the myths behind water deprivation (based on a belief that water taken during a working day prevents breathing and causes digestive problems) and supply buckets and troughs to working animal owners.”
But the Brooke still has a long way to go and plans for the coming decade include reaching five million more horses, donkeys and mules suffering around the world. The Brooke depends entirely on donor support. If you would like to help the donkeys, mules, and horses of families in developing countries, The Brooke Hospital for Animals needs, and would deeply appreciate, your donation. Their address is:
The Brooke Hospital for Animals
21 Panton Street, London, UK, SW1Y 4DR
Or visit them on-line and donate at www.thebrooke.org
Questions:
Email us at info@bchorsevacations.com.
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