The Brooke - What are the issues?

Worldwide, there are many factors affecting the welfare of working horses and donkeys, including the size and strength of the animals, the distances and terrain they must cover, and the equipment and healthcare available locally.

These factors vary enormously from country to country.

This makes it extremely difficult to set specific and consistent standards for working hours and maximum weights.

Carriage horse lifted from ground © Martin Usborne

It is for this reason that tourists, tour leaders and the owners themselves are encouraged to look at individual animals to determine whether they are fit for the journey.

However, there are common issues facing working animals working in the tourist trade. Here is a round-up of some of them; and some of the steps we are taking to address these issues in our countries of operation:

Overloading

Poor owners may allow large tourists to ride small donkeys in order to ensure they earn enough income. Heavy loads can increase the risk of serious issues like bone fractures.

We are helping by... training owners to understand how overloading can harm their animal's welfare
Asking tourists to consider their size before riding a horse or donkey overseas

Beatings

Beside causing fear, beatings can cause severe and painful wounds which may become infected.

We are helping by... teaching tomorrow's owners by performing educational puppet shows to children about good welfare practices
Encouraging travellers… not to take a ride with an owner who is beating his animal

Traditional ‘remedies’

While there are successful traditional practices, harmful practices causing great pain and suffering to animals also still exist and are widely used.

We are helping by... offering direct vet treatment and training trusted local people to pass on best practice.

Dehydration and heat stress

Working animals need plenty of water and shade to avoid losing essential minerals and salts as they sweat.

We are helping by... directly tackling malnutrition and dehydration in all of the countries in which we work.
We have put up shelters … in popular tourist resorts such as Edfu and Luxor to ensure hard worked tourist horses get some respite from the sun.

You can help too, by following the ten simple steps set out in the Happy Horses Holiday Code guidelines.

Please give your name in support of our activity and find out more about our work

Brooke’s network of mobile veterinary teams, field clinics and community animal health workers is active in ten countries worldwide.

Our methods are well-researched, low-cost and sustainable, and they make a remarkable difference to the health and welfare hundreds of thousands of working horses, donkeys and mules - and the people who depend on them.