Photos from the GSPCA's World Animal Day Rabies Clinic at the Accra Puppy Market

Update from the Field: Beach Horse Care Initiative

Message from Miriam ~ September 2008

Life's not a beach for Ghana's horses
 
La Pleasure Beach in Accra may be a place of fun and relaxation for the city's residents, but it's a place of pain and misery for its beach horses. Forced to give countless horseback rides to tourists in the blazing hot sun, these undernourished, poorly cared for equines face a daily battle.
 
When they are not being ridden up and down the sand, they can be seen walking the streets searching for food or tied in the middle of major roads to take advantage of tiny patches of grass on traffic islands.
 
Many of the horses offered for rides at La Pleasure are dehydrated and with no decent water source nearby, they can be ridden up and down the sand all day without so much as a gulp of water.
 
The young boys who ride the horses and tout for business from beachgoers are not capable of caring for these complex creatures and do it only to scrape a living. They too are in danger from injury as they ride the horses along a busy highway to reach the beach. Once there, they walk up and down for hours, trying to get people to ride the horses. Adults are allowed to ride small, weak ponies and some are hired out to be ridden up and down again and again by people who know little about horses, and tug painfully at their sensitive mouths.
 
Not only are the horses poorly cared for, they are forced to wear unsuitable tack, from ill-fitting saddles to crude metal mouthpieces.
 
While some beachgoers shun the horse rides, most people are unconcerned. When asked if she was worried about the condition of the horses, one woman retorted: "They look fine to me. I don't see what the fuss is about. They are strong animals, they are fine."
 
It's true that on the surface some of the horses don't look as bad as others, but as they get older and are ridden constantly the neglect will start to show.
 
It's clear that more needs to be done to regulate the practice of beach rides. Skinny horses with visible rib and hip bones, dull eyes and dirty lacklustre coats cannot be allowed to be dragged up and down the beach in the scorching sun. Beachgoers must be enlightened about the damage beach rides cause the horses, and the horse's owners must be educated on how to keep their animals healthy.
 
One child told me that his 'boss' makes him ride all weekend for a pittance and if he doesn't get enough rides he will be in 'big trouble'. This puts pressure on the children, some of whom are as young as 12, to offer the horses for rides over and over again. The boy says he cares about his horse, but all he wants to do is go to school.

If you would like to help us get the Beach Horse Care Initiative going, please contact us. Donations are needed for educational materials and outreach.