Cart Horse Protection Association aims to protect the working cart horse from abuse by developing a culture of responsibility, accountability and ownership amongst cart horse owners and through service provision, support, education and training; to demonstrate the economic importance of maintaining the health of a working horse so as to decrease the dependency of the carting community on welfare.

The Cart Horse Protection Association (CHPA) provides static and mobile clinic services, support, education and training to disadvantaged communities living on the Cape Flats who use horses and carts to collect scrap metal as a means of generating an income for themselves and their families.

Over the next five years CHPA aims to build capacity within the carting community by providing skills development as a way to ensure the welfare of the working cart horse, contribute to the upliftment of the carting community and the sustainable development of the carting industry on the Cape Flats.

In recognising that the working cart horse performs a vital role in the communities for which they work, CHPA plans to continue performing the mobile and static clinic functions, cement co-operative working relationships with the cart horse owners, formalise the method in which the carting industry currently operates by lobbying for the amendment of the Road Traffic Act for appropriate legislation governing horse-drawn vehicles on public roads and networking with local government to build community stables in order to eliminate back yard stables and associated health hazards.

CHPA aims to build capacity within the carting community by providing sustainable training and skills development opportunities. CHPA is committed to the partnership with the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) whose International Training Programme offers training in harness making and farriery to the members of the carting community. CHPA aims to assist the graduates from the International Training Programmes by giving them the opportunity to apply their skills in the carting community and in so doing make the entire industry sustainable and less dependent on welfare.

 

The focus of CHPA remains the impact of the carting industry on the welfare of the working horse, those dependent on them and the broader community. Evaluation and assessment of the impact of the services provided by the CHPA will be done on an Information Management System where all facts relating to each owner, horse, driver and cart will be recorded. This will enable members of the public, law enforcement, government departments i.e. health, welfare, agriculture, social services, growth and development and other interested parties to obtain statistics relating to the industry.