FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
SIDELINES JUNE 2014 11
ByAshleighBrown, welfare assessment advisor for the
Brooke, an international equinewelfare charity
It’s hot, dusty and crowded. It feels likea hundred
pairs of eyes are onme as I examine thedesperately
thin and despondent horse in front of me. People stare
in curiosity at the never-before-seen presence of a
farangi (white foreigner) ina remotemarket town and, in
surprise, that this farangi girl should be so interested in
a simple cart horse. My eyes fill with tears as I note the
lesions, the skeletal body, the hoof deformities, the eye
problems, the lameness, thewhip lashes, the fear, the
pain, the suffering. My body is exhausted aftermany days
of examining hundreds of horses, donkeys andmules,
andmy heart is heavy from the sights I have seen. But
witnessing the suffering of horses like this one onlymakes
memore determined to do everything I can to stop this.
This isEthiopia; this is another day inmy role
aswelfare assessment advisor for theBrooke, an
international equinewelfare organization.
F
ounded byDorothyBrooke in 1934 in response to
the plight of war horses left behind inEgypt after
WorldWar I, theBrookehas grown since that time
and currently operates to alleviate the suffering
of working horses, donkeys andmules in 11 countries
throughoutAsia,Africa, LatinAmerica and theMiddle
East. Last year, we reached nearly 1.2millionworking
equine animals.
Despite several years of working in the field of animal
welfare, I still find it horribly distressing to see animals
suffering. It’s so difficult to hold back tears or anger at
some of the things I seewhenworking in the field, and
the terrible images stay inmymindeven after the reality
is no longer in front of me. This is definitely the greatest
challenge forme, and never gets any easier to copewith.
However, what keepsmemotivated is the knowledge that
theBrooke’swork really doesmake a difference.
Although today I was conductingwelfare assessments
in a new area of Ethiopia, in other parts of Ethiopia, my
Brooke colleagues have already established programs
to improve equinewelfare. They’ve been training local
farriers to improve hoof shape and condition; constructing
water troughs and shade shelters in conjunctionwith
local communities at markets andwatering points to
alleviate theheat stress, dehydrationand exhaustion that
the animals endure after travelling for hours in intense
heat carrying heavy loads. They’ve been supporting and
training local animal owners to provide basic first aid
and other welfare services and advice to otherswithin
their own communities. They’ve alsobeen advocating for
increased focus on equine animals among theEthiopian
government veterinary service providers.
