Horse Rescue, Farrier Services, & 6 Freedoms' Way Forward in Ghana
- Animal-Kind International
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
The 6 Freedoms in Ghana: Horse Rescue Fund
In our August newsletter, we talked about the need for a Horse Rescue Fund in Ghana for AKI Partner Organization, the Six Freedoms (@thesixfreedoms). The fund started out small--but at least it started!--and it's been fully expended, having done a lot of good work.
With the 1st disbursement from the Horse Rescue Fund, the 6F:
Cleared the land at their Langma site (rent for this location is US$92/month). Other than Asafo, this would be 6F's main rescue sanctuary until they can purchase a larger plot of their own. (Asafo, a working farm that has several 6F rescues, is too far from main population areas to serve as a practical location for rescues, volunteers, and for training horse caretakers/grooms).
Set up basic structures for horses at 6F's Langma site. To begin bringing rescued horses to the site, basic stables and water tanks were needed.
When 6F took over the Langma site, it already had a solid fence with a gate, two rooms for grooms or volunteers, and a storage room, but these were in need of repair. 6F fixed the roofs on the rooms and connected them to electricity.
The 1st horse to arrive at the Langma sanctuary was Arrowboy, whose story is here.
6F had previously rescued Arrowboy and taken him to the Tuba stables. But to ensure his long-term care, they decided that the best thing for Arrowboy would be to move him to Langma, where the grooms and any needed vet care would be fully under 6F's control and oversight. The 6F Rescue Fund covered transport to Langma and is now paying for water, food, and a groom, William, to take care of Arrowboy.
Anaz and Boga's foal, Merlin (aka Oduro, named after an old man at the horse stable), is the next horse who 6F plans to bring to Langma. His rescue is already in progress, and can't happen soon enough!
Merlin is already starting to develop Bran Disease from chronic calcium deficiency or calcium-phosphate imbalance in his diet. You can see in the picture above, his slightly swollen forehead, an indication of this disease, also known as Big Head Disease or nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism.
This is a sad example of why it's so important to have all 6F rescue horses at one or two sites fully under the control of 6F. In Merlin's case, the groom at his current stable, Wisdom, is supplementing Merlin's diet, but without 6F presence, it's impossible to know if he is being fed according to guidelines.
Before transporting Merlin to Langma, he will need to be gelded, and we are currenlty awaiting the estimate and a booking date from the vet, Enoch.
The 6 Freedoms Farrier Stations
The 6 Freedoms held AKI-funded Farrier Stations at Laboma for the beach horses. Farrier stations at Laboma Beach are the best way to easily and relatively inexpensively get much-needed services to the most neglected and overworked horses.
The beach horses, used by grooms for beach rides for locals and tourists, are walked to the coast and worked all day under hot sun. Grooms are usually allowed to keep the income earned from the horse rides, which may be their only source of income. So the grooms keep the horses working well beyond their capacity.
The 6 Freedoms is providing the only care for beach horses --ever! No organization has ever tried to help these poor horses.
At the farrier station in October, 15 horses received services: Hooves of 15 horses were filed, 14 were dewormed (a pregnant horse wasn't). Thanks to donations, 6F was able to share gear like fly masks, blankets, ropes, soft saddle pads, and bridles.
Moses leads the farrier station and he's great at making sure his assistants and the grooms are trained and that the grooms don't take the service for granted, but also do their best for their horses in the interim. Trainees Jacob Abu and Lawoyoo did the filing under Moses's watchful eyes.
The Six Freedoms: The Way Forward
Besides the Horse Rescue Fund, we continue to help 6F pay for the care of their rescued horses at Asafo (Boga, Bless, Mr Key, and Sunrise); vet care and other general help for the horses at the Kokrobite dump site (we mentioned those horses in this AKI Blog post) and at Tuba; and pay for infrastructure repairs in Asafo and at the Tuba stable for 6F's rescues.
While the rescued horses at Asafo are perfectly safe and do very well, the ideal situation would be to have all 6F rescued horses at one other location only, where all 6F activities would be concentrated, where more rescued horses could be taken, and where trainings could be held, and where volunteers could be accommodated. This, in addition to regularly checking on and helping the horses at the very many informal stables along Ghana's coast (6F's Horse Care Teams), is what the 6 Freedom's is aiming for.
