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By Heather Walker (Press & Online Communications Assistant)
07 Jul 2010
On the first day of my two-week holiday in Luxor seven years ago I remember feeling shocked at how many horses and carriages lined the streets of the city patiently waiting for tourists to ferry around. I was captivated at the thought of being transported through this magical place on in a horse-drawn carriage and so I approached one of them. However I felt uneasy when I took a closer look at the horse. He looked tired and hot, and I noticed wounds – maybe old ones – on his hind quarters. I didn’t know what to say to his owner and I walked away feeling awful.
Fast forward to my holiday in Hurghada in March this year and the situation couldn’t be more different.
I went on a day trip to the Arabic desert with my boyfriend and a group of other tourists and took part in camel riding, sand buggying and go-karting as well as visiting a Bedouin village, which was fascinating. We were also offered a ride on a horse or donkey – at this moment I switched into ‘Brooke mode’.
While the group were debating whether to ride or not I calmly went over to the horses and donkeys to get a closer look. All of them appeared to be in good health – they weren’t underweight, had no obvious wounds/afflictions, their ears weren’t bent back and their eyes were bright. Of course, I’m not a vet but from reading the Happy Horses Holiday Code, I knew what to look out for.
I then turned my attention to the owners – a group of young men – and I asked them when the animals last had a drink of water. This was a fairly amusing thing for a tourist to ask apparently – especially when I had to do an impression of an animal drinking water to compensate for the language barrier between us! He then pointed over to a shade shelter and told me he had just taken the horses and donkeys out of it and that they all had access to a water trough.
The owners seemed perfectly happy to answer my questions – I wasn’t being aggressive or pushy – I simply asked after the welfare of their animals.
In the spirit of good will and to show that I was happy with the condition of the animals, I decided to pay a fair price for a
short ride on one of the horses which was a very enjoyable experience and a lovely end to the day.
As our Responsible Tourism for Animals campaign states and as my account proves, “every person has the power to prevent animals from suffering”, and it really is very easy to be a responsible tourist.
Please take action on your holidays this year by following our ‘Happy Horses Holiday Code’, pledging your support to our campaign and spreading the word to friends, family, neighbours and people you meet here in the UK and around the world.
Happy horses = happy tourists = happy holidays!
Your comments
Judy Osmundson A word on the behalf of miserable horses, I will just have to point out that horses are very aware of their owners' own misery. They would be much happier trotting about knowing that their master had change jingling in their pockets due to their own hard work, for this is even hay in their own larder! Also, when they are kept in a herd, this is quite often shown on their hindquarters. Something to keep in mind, for those who do not own horses. If their eyes are rolling in their heads (which can happen due to abuse), I might not participate.
Whilst horses may be aware of their owner's misery but it's difficult for them to retaliate. I was very upset to see thin horses with open wounds being made to gallop in temp of 40+ in Edfu recently. Tried to encourage owners to water and feed their horses. After being whipped into galloping one horse paid the ultimate price and was shot in front some very unhappy tourists. Tour operators need to play their part in encouraging animal welfare. I have now signed up to the Happy Horses code.
Susanne Parker-Seth Whilst in Egypt recently visiting the Pyramids in Giza, I witnessed a horse being beaten, it had fallen over on the road and the owner was trying to make it get up; I was taken back at first but thought I would let the owner know how I felt so I shouted for him to stop. I cannot understand why they treat their animals in this way as after all they want the animal to make them money so I would have thought they would treat them better, even just for tourism sake. Unfortunately this was not the only cruelty I witnessed, as a Large white donkey pulling a cart with a family on was being hit with a large stick to make it canter over some waste land and also whilst visiting Karnak Temple in Luxor I witnessed a gaurd kicking a stray dog, it all seems totally unecessary and I will be complaining to my Tour Operator.
WJHCOrxWUCLHFYp Wow, thats a really celver way of thinking about it!
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