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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.
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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.
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- Six cases of cruelty towards horses were successfully prosecuted in 2003
- 413 working cart horses were vaccinated in 8 days against Equine Flu with the outbreak in December 2003
- Twenty students graduated from the ILPH International Training Programme as farriers and harness makers
- Chairperson Dawn Brosens was invited to give a presentation on the work done by CHPA at the ILPH Seminar in UK which was attended by HRH Princess Royal, who commended the Association on the work we do
- Increased attendance at the static clinics by cart horse owners
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Static Clinics
Prior to the establishment of CHPA the cart horses working on roads, were undernourished, badly shod, pulling overloaded un-roadworthy carts with ill-fitting harness. Over the past nine years CHPA has addressed these problems by establishing nine weekly Static Clinics in areas where these horses work and live, namely Epping, Parow, Salt River, Mandalay and Wetton. Services provided at these clinics include:
- The sale of feed and a professional farrier service, this is subsidised by 50%
- Harness repair, done by qualified harness makers and farriers that have successfully completed the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH), International Training Programme
- Veterinary care and treatments, subsidized by 90%
- Free de-worming, tetanus vaccinations, equine flu and African Horse Sickness vaccinations
- Registration of all cart horses and owners that make use of our services. The rationale behind registration is to be able to keep accurate records of the horses we treat and their movements. This has become vital in the protection of the ‘Free Zone’ established for the greater equine industry of South Africa
- Education - CHPA recognises that the cart horse is the only source of income for the owner. Hands-on practical advice and education on proper care and health maintenance of the cart horse aims to prove that neglect and abuse is not only inhumane but also costly, hampering their potential to earn an income
- Empowered with a basic knowledge in horsemanship, owners begin to understand the importance of proper nutrition, shoeing and veterinary care and regard caring for their horses as investment rather than a drain on their financial resources.
Mobile Clinic
The mobile clinic enables CHPA to reach all the cart horses in the Association’s area of operation. Daily patrols of the areas where cart horses work, by the Mobile Clinic ensures that cart horse owners and drivers who work their horses in an unfit condition can be educated and assisted on site. This has resulted in owners and drivers understanding the benefits of keeping their horses in a fit condition in order to manage the workload and to minimize harassment from the public and law enforcement. The Mobile Clinic performs the following functions:
- Educates cart horse owners on acceptable working conditions, namely, weight of load vs. size of cart horse, condition and fitting of harness, roadworthiness of cart, working pace, driving and the rules of the road
- Responds to call-outs from law enforcement and traffic officials when working cart horses are involved in motor vehicle accidents (MVA’s) whilst working
- Responds to emergency veterinary call-outs from cart horse owners and provides follow-up veterinary treatments
- Patrols the roads and scrap metal yards where cart horses work
- Responds to call-outs form members of the public reporting abuse
- Enforces the relevant provisions of the Animal Protection Act and provides training to law enforcement officials on the Animal Protection Act and the work carried out by the CHPA
- Refers cart horse owners in need of our services to the Static Clinic and liaises with the Static Clinic Inspector on these cases
- Provides emergency feed relief.
Skills development and training
In recognising the need to need to create sustainable solutions to the problems faced by the carting community, the CHPA initiated a partnership with the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) in England. The ILPH runs worldwide educational and training courses in the developing countries in saddlery, farriery, veterinary care and nutrition to combat the major causes of equine suffering and help the owners to help themselves.
Project “African Dawn”, the Farrier and Saddler International Training Programme 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.
The first course of the Farrier and Saddler International Training Programme began on 31 March 2003 and fifteen students graduated on 13 March 2004. The second course is currently in progress. Each course trains twenty students from the carting community as farriers and harness makers thus providing economic empowerment opportunities as well as a vital service to the carting community.
Each course takes place over a period of a year and is divided into four modules. The ILPH International Training Team consists of a Team leader, Master Saddler and Master Farrier, who carry out the training. At the beginning of the course, each student is equipped with a full set of tools and once they have graduated at the end of the year, the tools become their own. Materials are sourced locally so as to ensure the sustainability of the training. In between modules students return to their communities with their tools to practice their new skills and are encouraged to attend the CHPA static clinics where they are paid for their services.
All students are supported by CHPA and an in-country co-coordinator. At the end of each course four students are selected by the ILPH trainers to become assistant trainers for the next course. There are currently five assistant trainers working with the ILPH on the current course. The aim of selecting assistant trainers is to ensure that when the ILPH have completed their project in South Africa, there will be a core of South African trainers that can continue to train members of communities who depend on horse and cart for income generation in the skills of harness making and farriery.
The Training Programme is fully funded by the ILPH. CHPA offers the infrastructure and access to the carting community. This partnership will assist CHPA in ensuring service sustainability, addressing the welfare of the working cart horse, uplifting the carting community and the regulation and development of the carting industry on the Cape Flats.
The ILPH has committed their International Training Programme to South Africa for the next five years. It is envisaged that from July 2005 the ILPH/CHPA partnership will have trained 20 qualified harness makers and 20 qualified farriers in the carting community. The Training Programme will be replicated in other previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa where horse and cart are used as a resource for income generation. The ILPH has committed to hosting this Training Programme for the next 5 years, which means that a total of 100 candidates will benefit from this initiative.
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Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats (Cape Town)
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CHPA networks with all local animal welfare societies in Cape Town and Western Cape on matters pertaining to equine welfare. CHPA also networks closely with law enforcement, traffic, government departments, justice departments, city police and SAPS on matters pertaining to horse drawn vehicles on public roads.
CHPA is a member of CAMASC – an advocacy organisation lobbying for the protection of animal rights.
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- Provide feed, farriery, harness making and veterinary services at static clinic sites, making these services easily accessible, available and affordable.
- Enrol the participation of cart horse owners and drivers in the expectations of the CHPA and other regulatory bodies and visa versa in order to establish formal agreements pertaining to the welfare of the working cart horse and the development of the carting industry.
- Maintain a proactive dialogue with the cart horse owners by providing them with regular reports on the health and welfare of their working horses and the conduct of their drivers to assist them in managing their working cart horses effectively.
- Improve the standard of harness by introducing the working harness developed by the ILPH, to eliminate harness repaired with wire, string, webbing and plastic thus ensuring safety on public roads and the welfare of the working cart horse.
- Standardise the carts used in the industry by developing a cost effective model with safety features with the assistance of cart builders in the carting industry and the Traffic Department in order to improve the overall impression of the industry and protect the interests and safety of the working cart horse and other public road users.
- Build capacity within the carting community by selecting members of the community to sign up on to the International League for the Protection of Horses International Training Programme to train as Farriers and Harness Makers, thus ensuring sustainable entities resulting in less dependency on the CHPA while at the same time economically empowering these individuals.
- Continue to operate our Mobile Clinic which responds to calls from members of the public, cart horse owners and drivers, law enforcement, South African Police Services and other welfare organisations so as to immediately alleviate and rescue any abused working cart horse.
- Focus on the enforcement of the regulations within the Traffic Control Act where the interests of other road users, the drivers and the working cart horses are protected.
- Network with the Department of Health and advise on various options of working cart horse accommodation and management in order to address the current health risks being experienced due to the fact that horses create the perfect conditions for the breeding of flies.
- Develop a program to ensure the welfare of each working cart horse is assessed on a regular basis in order to satisfy our donors that these criteria are being proactively managed.
- Increase the micro-chipping of all horses in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture to secure the identity of each working cart horse and thereby record the administration of African Horse Sickness and Equine Influenza vaccines which have become vital in the protection of the “Free Zone” established for the greater equine industry of South Africa. Maintain an accurate and up to date database of all the working cart horses in Cape Town.
- Identify and establish a permanent base clinic site in order to implement further formal training programmes, workshops and demonstrations for owners, drivers, the youth in the carting community, the public, schools, law enforcement officers, agricultural officials, animal welfare personnel, magistrates and prosecutors.
- Protect our environment by continuously looking for potential income generation opportunities for the disadvantaged communities on the Cape Flats, where working cart horses can perform functions of transportation or cartage e.g. rubbish disposal.
- Obtain funding for our initiatives by establishing long term relationships with grantors, investors and donors and demonstrating the achievement of the five year plan.
- Build capacity within CHPA to ensure that the implementation of the five year business plan is carried out successfully with careful budgeting and planning in order to protect the credibility that CHPA has currently within the carting industry.
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Our services are the programmes we provide for carthorses and their drivers.
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