Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Nik,
My sympathies. I live in a similarly afflicted country, albeit one that does not have the resources or the perceived need to import endurance horses. No, in Egypt we raise our own and then most of the people riding FEI endurance (not all, please note that I say MOST) ruin perfectly good horses by over-racing and undertraining. AND most (please note the "most" and not all) of the riders are from a notorious area of stables near the pyramids that are filled with horses to make the strongest heart weep. If the owner of the stable is interested in tourism, the word of mouth will harm his business both locally and internationally.  While there seem to be enough stupid tourists around to keep many of the pyramids stables in business, there is also a significant chat among riders on the net at least mentioning that these stables are not a good thing to support. That is the best solution.

To expect the SPCA or another agency to step in here in Egypt would be ridiculous. There isn't such an agency with enough power to do so...and why should they interfere for stable operators who are using these horses when they do not and cannot interfere with carters and carriage drivers. They have no enforcement power and know that at the end of the day some guy and his equally uncared for children are depending on the earning of that horse for food. Horses are pets in the US. They do not work for a living like they do in Egypt or other countries. It's much easier to regulate the care for luxuries than necessities...and even at that the US has plenty of its own problems. I'm certainly not saying that one should stop trying to improve the lot of animals everywhere, but it is much harder in many places, and is never a black and white situation.  The best that you can do is to recognise that horses have much better lives on the average in places like the US than they do in other places, and don't sell them abroad if you don't want to see a drop in the standard  of living.

I mean, gee....my horses are pampered to death by Egyptian standards but they've never seen a horse cookie or even sweet feed in their lives.

Maryanne

On 8/13/07, Nik Isahak Abdullah <drnikisahak@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

   As to your question ,"what to do " ,the local veterinery authorities has
already stepped in some weeks ago starting positive refeeding of the horses
and giving treatment whatever is needed and is currently in charge at the
private farm .Suffice to say the locals here are asking for the 'owners'
blood.Some wanted to have him shot .I know the owners personally .He is not
an ogre or mean as put out to be .Just a couple of years back has been a
doyen of endurance in his part of the Island of Sabah  ,a very touristic
Island which can ill afford this kind of 'scandal' .For a man of his stature
what has transpired is worse than being 'hanged' by the 'balls'.That I know
.
Of course you guys do not have to take my word because I am Malaysian but
Steph's recent contribution on this matter is really not very far from the
truth .
   If we horse lovers all over the world can share the same fervour and
energy over much bigger moral issues and injustice,arising from
misperceptions that seem to burden this small planet of ours, this would be
a better and safer place to live in .
   I am eeply embarassed by what happened here but even here in Malaysia we
have the mechanism all in place to take care of that .It is when people take
the opportunity to muck around other agendas as well that thing become more
complicated.

Yours Sincerely
Dr Nik Isahak Wan Abdullah

-- 
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx

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