When I first came to Gili Trawangan four years ago and saw the working horses lined up in the sun with flies on the horses’ wounds from pulling heavy loads, I was shocked.
The Gili islands off the north west of Lombok rely on horses for transporting people, island supplies, building materials and trash, because the island has no motorised transport.
I refused to use the cidomos (horse and carts) because I felt sorry for the animals, but over the years I’ve been back to Gili many times and noticed conditions of horses seeming to improve so I wanted to find out more to bring you the facts about what really goes on with the horses in Gili.
I was asking questions and just as luck would have it, there was a pop-up horse clinic happening the next day so I went along to have a look!
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The pop-up horse clinics are run by a group of visiting vets, students, farriers, leather workers and horse enthusiasts from Australia, alongside local vets and students.
Veterinary students from the University of Melbourne and Western Australia’s Murdoch University hold clinics twice a year, providing free check-ups for the horses and offering information to owners to ensure the best possible care of the animals.
The biggest issues of concerns that tourists tend to notice are irritation wounds from the harness straps and a lack of a drinking water stations but the experts are working with the locals to manage these issues.
Melbourne University Veterinarian Lecturer Charlie El-Hage says he doesn’t see a lot of abject cruelty.
“They’ll often get rub wounds from any gear that’s on, sometimes they get allergic skin conditions just like us and in the tropical heat that can get infected.”
“We need to communicate clearly what we think the problem is and what we’d like to do.”
“[Sometimes] they say ‘no we don’t want you to let the horse drink because last time we did that he got a colic, upset tummy, we give him water in the feed’ so I guess unless we think it’s a medical emergency, I guess we’ve just got to let that sort of thing go.”
In fact, in the past, the horses drank salty sea water but these clinics have helped to inform locals to use fresh water in the feed mix.
For the last 7 years, the international charity Animal Aid Abroad, along with local groups Horses of Gili and Gili Eco Trust have worked together to improve the health of the horses here.
Everyone here has worked to raise funds for the program, through gathering donations, running quiz nights, and other unique methods.
Georgia Ward, from the regional Western Australian town of Manjimup, who has horses of her own at home, held a wood raffle to raise funds.
“I had a trailer load of wood and I ended up raising just under $700 AUD. A lot of it was my horse community helping but then a lot of it was also Manjimup community.”
Ms Ward says while the standards are very different and can appear shocking, the locals are trying their best.
“It’s a bit of a shock really when I got here I was warned but still seeing it, it’s a bit surprising, it’s so different to how we use horses back home. They’re for fun really.”
“[But here], the way they live and the stables, they use whatever they can find to hold them together. I can see they all really love their horses but it’s just very different to the way we love our horses back in Australia.”
The donated equipment is an incentive for local horse owners to bring their animals to the clinic to receive check-ups, treatment and education.
“We are really happy to know more, educate for us how to look after our horse. Before we are doing it without the manual and regular traditional, we just wash and we take care of the nails of the horse, we bring to the traditional cutting man for the nails.”
There is also a horse hospital in Gili Trawangan, set up and run by expat volunteers, which is also helping to teach locals the best practice for improving the standard of care the horses receive year-round, after some shocking incidents due to misinformation.
And the local veterinary students taking part in the clinics say this hand-on experience is second to none.
So the big question is: should we as tourists be supporting the use of work horses in Gili Trawangan and beyond? The experts say we should.
“Some tourists will come to Gili islands and they see these horses with the carts and panting in hot weather and I guess there’s a lot of negative sentiment about that and whilst their concerns probably are valid, I guess it’s really important for people to know that these ponies aren’t just left to flail on their own.,” says Dr El-Hage.
“They’ve got teams of international veterinarians, farriers, leather workers, students, nurses…over 20 people are part of the team that visit regularly and in constant communication with the locals about the health of these horses. And what’s been a really positive change is that many local Indonesian veterinarians are involved and they look forward to the project.”
“They’ve all improved markedly over the last four or five years.”
“If people don’t support the horses, so if people say I don’t want to get a cart ride, they’re not giving any money to the people that run the horses therefore they’re not going to be able to look after the horses any better. That’s how they make money so if they can’t afford to feed their families, they’re not going to feed their horses so basically the best things tourists can do is support it and that’s the best way to look after the horses,” says Ms Ward.
What do you think? Leave a comment on the YouTube video.
