I’ve seen, heard and read some things that concern me with regards to horse welfare. And sadly at some point(s) I may have been a cause for concern with others as I was learning about horses and owning my first horse!
Students I teach, people I study with or work with and others I meet in varying equine fields inadvertently display forms of ignorance that could negatively affect a horse’s welfare. I’m not saying that I know it all – I never will! But I aspire to keep learning and improving and am rapt to find that there are organisations out there that advocate for horse welfare.
One such example is the World Horse Welfare Organisation that helps raise horse welfare awareness around the world:
There are around 100 million working equines in the developing world that fuel the economies of countries in Africa, Central America and Asia. Working horses lead demanding, exhausting lives made worse by the wounds and injuries they suffer through inadequate shoeing, harnesses and nutrition.
Our practical international training programmes improve horse care and livelihoods in some of the world’s poorest communities, working with horse owners to identify the barriers to better horse care, teach them new skills and help them better feed and tend to their most important asset.
I’m sure working with such an organisation would be both incredibly rewarding and heartbreaking at times. However, if this is an area you’re passionate about, why not link in with this organisation via Facebook, Twitter or the like and keep abreast of what they’re up to and how you can do your part for raising horse welfare awareness.
“When my health and strength are gone-When I’m getting old and feeble, and my long life’s work is done-Don’t sell me to cruel owners, to be slaved to my latest breath…” – Author unknown
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