| NEWSLETTER JUNE 2004 It is just two years ago exactly that Stella Marsden
found the very emaciated and sick horse who was to provide the inspiration for us to start
the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust.
Lazarus, as we now know him, has developed
into a very fine animal who has both beauty and brains and considering all he went through
has a very good temperament.
I still find it hard to believe that not
only did he survive, but that he grew into such a magnificent animal and that he is sound.
He has now been trained both to saddle and to a cart. He has been travelling around the
villages collecting hay on his cart to feed his companions and the ‘in-patients’
at our center. This year he will be helping us to farM so that we can grow our own hay for
next season. He is becoming quite well known in the UK, and he really is a ‘Jack of
all trades’. We use him for transport, for collecting feed, Chrissy, our manager,
rides him, he gives demonstrations, he’s our public relations officer, but above all,
he continues to inspire us, that’s quite an achievement for a little horse from the
bush.
2004 has been a very busy year so far. In
the first couple of months we had visits from both Worldwide Veterinary Services and
ILPH. Nine vets, nurses and helpers came out on the first WVS trip and what a
wonderful group of caring and hardworking people they were. They bought out a huge amount
of medicines and equipment for us and looked at large numbers of animals whilst training
our staff at the same time. It was a privilege to have them with us and we are pleased to
say that they have at least two more trips planned for this year. We look forward to a
long and happy association with this very supportive and helpful charity.
The vets were closely followed by the first
team of trainers from ILPH who were setting up courses in farriery, harness making
and nutrition. The farriery courses went well and the farriery students are already
managing to earn some money from foot trimming, which is very encouraging. The harness
making course has had teething problems as they are having problems sourcing leather at a
price which would be affordable, but nevertheless, progress is being made.
Chrissy Foley, our manager is doing a
magnificent job and has settled well into African life. There are not many people who can
make the transition from civilization to living 8 hours away from the capital on appalling
roads in accommodation which has no running water or electricity and which is remote by
any standards. She has taken to it like a duck to water and is training our staff well.
She has managed to distribute over 2000 bits and several hundred head collars and
bridles. Together with her team they have treated well over 4000 animals to date and as a
result of all their hard work, we are now able to see a large number of happy and well fed
animals trotting around the district.
During my visit at Easter, which is
admittedly probably the healthiest time of year, I only saw healthy animals in our
district. When we started the project, there would be long queues of emaciated and very
sick animals, but on this trip I only saw minor ailments and injuries and I was very
gratified when one man bought in his beautiful looking horse because it had been off its
food for a few days.
Another exciting development was that more
people were now buying equines as they now feel there is a better chance of
keeping them alive. It seems that the first thing they do when they purchase them is to
bring them to us to check, worm, vaccinate and to purchase a nice new bridle bit and
headcollar. We sell these at a nominal price so that they don’t see us as a
soft touch and in order to maintain a tradition of buying things for their horses so
that we don’t compete with the harness makers when they complete their training.
Having a working horse and donkey increases a family’s income quite significantly, so
this means our work is helping the local economy.
A touching new development is that owners
of horses who have been ill or injured will also queue in order to proudly show us how
well the animal has progressed. We have started awarding them rosettes in order to
encourage them to continue to take good care of their animal.
Chrissy has started The Donkey Pony Club
for the young boys who care for the donkeys. They are taught to care for their animals,
how to fit headcollars and bridles, signs of disease and how to enjoy them. None of the
donkeys had names to begin with, but as both the boys and Chrissy are football fans, most
of the donkeys are now named after footballers. There is one exception though,
a donkey with ‘attitude’, who arrived braying and dragging three men along
behind him. They had come for a headcollar, bridle and bit, so that they could try
and control him. When Chrissy asked the name of the donkey for her
records, the owner proudly said ‘This is Manchester United, because you can’t
stop him and he’s much stronger than any one member of the team so I have named
him after all of them.’
We recently held our first Donkey Show for
the Donkey Club children. There were just three classes, Best handler, Best condition and
a mango bobbing race. It was tremendous fun and both the children and the donkeys
seemed to enjoy it. The villagers seemed to enjoy it too, so we must repeat it again when
the farming season is over.
Lazarus now has two stable companions, one
is a young colt who we bottle raised as his mother had died. He is called Redcoats Yahya,
Redcoats are the shipping firm who helped us ship emergency supplements for him when
he was a very sick little foal, and Yahya is the name of the Gambian President.
Our other new addition is Tallah, he was bought to us last year with a nasty fracture of
his front leg. The owner would not consider euthanasia, so we had to put him in a cast and
hope for the best. Nine months later, Tallah is a fiery little colt and his
leg has healed amazingly well. As he had become used to his fly proofed accommodation and
as he doesn’t take kindly to being told what to do, he likes to be asked, we thought
it best that he didn’t return to his owner, who we felt didn’t fully
understand Tallah. The Trust has therefore purchased him. Chrissie has trained him, and he
will be ploughing for us very shortly, to make hay for the next dry season.
We now have a video of our work in The
Gambia, and if anyone is interested in seeing it, I will gladly send it to them, all I ask
is that you return it when you have finished with it and cover the cost of the postage
which is £1.
We were very recently visited by His
Excellency Yahya Jammeh, President of the Republic of The Gambia, which was a very great
honour. He was very supportive and encouraging and officially opened our
center for us. He also gave us a very generous donation for which we are
extremely grateful. We feel very privileged that he took time on what was a very busy tour
to visit us. His interest in our work was a great boost to our morale and his
encouragement was appreciated.
We consider ourselves very lucky to be
working in The Gambia, it is a lovely country and the people are very welcoming. They
are keen to learn as much as they can about horse care and we are only hindered in our
progress by lack of funds.
We have made a very definite impact in the
area where we set up the project, we now need to build up our reserves and raise
sufficient funds to move to other areas of the country. If you feel able to help at
all with fundraising, particularly with the help of the video, or our Powerpoint
presentation, we would love to hear from you.
A very big thank you to all the lovely
people who have sent either tack, harness or monetary donations. You really are making a
difference to the lives of the Gambian equines and their owners. If you could spread the
word and help us to keep the donations coming in, we can continue our work, until every
corner of The Gambia has been covered.
We are grateful to everyone who has
donated, but special thanks must go to Rudgewick Equine and Country Supplies in Rudgewick,
West Sussex for all their support and donations, right from the start, and Carr & Day
& Martin who have been so generous with donations of leather care goods and
supplements, all of which are deeply appreciated.
Thank you for your support.
If you feel you can help The Gambia Horse
and Donkey Trust, please contact Heather Armstrong at the address below:
Heather Armstrong
Brewery Arms Cottage,
Stane Street,
Ockley, Surrey
RH5 5TH
Tel: 01306 627568
Email: Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust |
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