The 6 Freedoms: dealing with complex situations while helping horses in Ghana

Animal-Kind International
4 days ago
4 min read

Horse care and rescue in Ghana is difficult. Ulla (The 6 Freedoms founder) often uses words like,

exhausting
intense
desperate
no signs of care or empathy

But these are balanced by Ulla's enthusiasm for horses and her "growing team with people like Moses and Cudjo and Miriam, who really give me confidence for a better future with the horses."

And although there's sad news, there's positive news too; for example (from Ulla): "The Gomoah Fetteh land, as well as having Arrowboy already in good hands, hopefully more horses soon, and the work of the horse care teams." There's a lot to feel inspired and motivated about.

ARROWBOY

Eva I. (6F volunteer, who was dealing with Arrowboy's owner because he refused to negotiate with Ulla) bought Arrowboy for 6F and groom Cudjo took Arrowboy to Tuba stables, an almost two hour walk. Ulla arranged to have carpenter Matthias repair a room at Tuba stables, and the grooms got the space ready for Arrowboy.

Arrowboy now has a huge room where he can observe the outside, interact with the grooms and people, and see daylight. His former room, where his previous owner kept him, was dark, the door entirely closed. He could only see his environment when he was tethered outside, always tied too tightly so that he could hardly move his head. But no longer!

A black-brown horse stands in a rustic stable with a feed bucket and green foliage in Ghana. — Arrowboy upon his arrival at Tuba stables-what a great change for Arrowboy! He now has a large, open space with attentive and knowledgeable people to care for him.

Eddie came to Tuba stables a few days after Arrowboy arrived there to trim his hooves and file his teeth. He had quite some spikes to remove.

Two men file a horse's hoof in a dark setting with one holding the tools and the other bent over the hoof as he files it in Ghana. — Eddie files Arrowboy's hooves

One person holds a flashlight to inspect a horse's teeth while another works on the teeth at night in dark setting with dim lighting in Ghana. — Filing Arrowboy's teeth

This was Arrowboy in June 2023, when 6F first saw him (see this AKI Blog post).

Injured horse's legs with skin showing among the brown hair in Ghana. — Arrowboy, the result of a vaccination gone wrong

LABOMA STABLES AND MOSES

Moses (6F volunteer groom) recently had a sad case: He had been caring for three horses at Laboma Stables, but when their owner took them to Kumasi, Moses knew they wouldn't get the care they needed. Soon after, Moses heard that one of them, Good Wishes, had passed away. Without knowing any details, the 6F team is fairly certain it was due to neglect.

White horse with a black halter stands on sandy ground under green trees where another horse is partially visible in the background in Ghana. — Good Wishes - a special horse, RIP

Good Wishes was very special to many, especially to Miriam and Moses, who often took him along when they investigated the stables along the beach. He came from Nigeria, was so well cared for by Moses, and was brought back to health.

This is such a tragedy that didn't have to happen. But it's another example of the complex situation of horse care in Ghana, where most owners don't take responsibility, they have horses only for status and commercial gain.

HORSES AT KOKROBITE DUMP SITE

6F faced a similar situation (uncaring owner) with the Chief from Kokrobite (who keeps his horses at a dump site, see our AKI Blog post, March 25 and AKI Blog post, March 27), who first seemed so willing to help his horses and collaborate with 6F. But that was superficial. 6F realized that the Chief really didn't care about his horses when he forced one horse to ride in the Salah festival despite his huge open saddle sore.

Close-up of a wound on a brown horse's back in Ghana. — Even with an open saddle sore, he was forced to carry the Chief at the Salah festival

6F, especially Cudjo, tried so hard to give the Chief advice, to treat the wound, and he even offered nutritious feed, but none of that was accepted. The horse was forced to participate in the festival even though he must have been in horrible pain.

Horse in ornate red and white gear with a blue-trimmed face mask stands outside a building in Ghana. — The Chief's horse in costume for Salah

Rider on a decorated horse holds a white cloth wrapped around his head and face, and a white umbrella with a man in traditional colorful attire standing nearby in Ghana. — Forced to particpate in the Salah festival-so much pomp and circumstance and so much pain

ALTHOUGH WE'VE HAD SO MUCH SAD NEWS, WE'RE HAPPY THAT THE FARRIER STATIONS HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL FOR 6F AND THE HORSES!

The farrier stations are funded via AKI's support to 6F.

Ulla wrote, "I am truly proud of our care team in Accra led by Moses and Jonathan! They are very reliable and organised. During the last farrier station, we were able to file and deworm 13 horses. Additionally, some horses, particularly Little and Wanted, received antiseptic skin treatment, which was prescribed by Enoch. Moses expects this farrier station to grow each time. It was lovely to see how much they are all dedicated to it. This station really bonds the community."

Five men outdoors with buckets, one riding a brown horse with a wooden fence and trees in the background in Ghana. — Farrier Station Team- Jonathan, God Bless, Moses, Afford, Nana

AND STILL, WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN THE SIX FREEDOMS HAS THEIR OWN LAND FOR GHANA'S 1ST HORSE SANCTUARY

No matter how difficult the situation is, we believe in our Partner the Six Freedoms and their ability and dedication to help horses and adapt to all situations they face within cultural norms, but primarily with a horse's welfare as their main driving force.

Ulla wrote, "I deeply believe in the big opportunity to have our land one day, where we can educate and get more of the grooms involved, where we can be helping more horses in Ghana. In the end, these owners depend on the hardships of the grooms, once they have their agency-power, strength in numbers--there is less way to keep them in abusive situations. And then not only the grooms will benefit but the horses will too."