Guatemala.
A mountainous country, steeped in history and tradition
with jostling towns and cities and stunning remote communities, hidden in vast rainforests
set amongst rugged terrain
but as one of Latin America's poorest countries
working horses are still totally relied upon by families
that live in some of the world's most underprivileged communities
Most of the people from those villages, they live in poor condition, their income is so, so low
Sadly, all too often the hard-working horses show the signs
of the heavy workload they undertake on a daily basis
Most of problems are seen because of bad husbandry techniques
also there's a problem because of malnutrition
Today, World Horse Welfare in partnership with SABE, a local welfare organisation
is running a project to help the horses of Guatemala
We need a lot of help here in Guatemala and in Central America, we need a lot of help
so I think World Horse Welfare's work is really important here
Guatemala is a land built on the volcanic ring of fire, and today
an International charity is using that fire to help horses
and the families that depend on them, for their very existence
The working equine population here in Guatemala is quite important
we have over 250,000 working equines according to the Ministry of Agriculture
and will find them in most of the rural areas here in the country
most of the families have one or two working equines
and they use them to transport themselves and as the main transport tool for agriculture products
for firewood and also for food to and from the markets
Many people make a living by delivering firewood cut from the hillside rainforest into the town communities
journeys that can take many hours, over difficult terrain where a horse is essential
Here, if you want to purchase a horse you need to have about $300 - $350
which is basically a year's wage for a normal family
and it's very important for them to maintain them as much as possible
These hard-working horses are the most valuable asset for each family
but sadly, all too often they lack the adequate knowledge
and the professional support to care for them correctly
Many show signs of the hard lives they live
The main problems that you will see here are back lesions, hoof problems
especially fungal problems during the rainy season
you find also Colic's
and overall poor body condition score because of poor nutrition
And in one area of Guatemala in particular, the horse is a fundamental part of daily life
Zaragoza is located right in the middle of the Central Highlands
here in Guatemala, it's an area that has a very difficult topography
mountains, deep ravines a lot of forest, so basically there's no motor transport
that can easily access most of the communities here in Zaragoza
so, horses here are basically a necessity for people just to just to go from one place to another
World Horse Welfare recognise the need to train local people with the skills
so desperately needed in the Zaragoza region
but also understood the cultural challenges of working in these communities
The people in the communities they don't believe you or pay attention to you if they don't know you
you cannot come over and just say "hey, you should do this or that"
or "treat your horse like this" they're not even going to pay attention to you
but if you are family of your friends they are going to start paying attention to you
At a training center in the center of Zaragoza
local community members are invited to take part in a training course
in saddlery, farriery and also to become a community-based equine advisor
who is the go-to person for each community when they have any horse welfare issues
For us it was very important to engage local owners effectively
and we identified that by training fellow community members
they can engage more sustainably and these are people
that live and work in the communities
so we know that they're going to be involved for a long time in providing those
services to their communities, so it was very important for us to train them
train them also in a sustainable manner which involves them learning how to use
local materials that are readily available here in the region and also
how to make their own tools which is something that is very important for
them to maintain their service provision
Some of the worst injuries seen on horses, are caused by poorly designed and fitted pack saddles
which are laden with heavy goods and then transported from the hills down to the local markets
We are doing a farriery clinic and we've got this case of this horse
this is what happens when they use they old pack saddle
you can see this lesion right here is really bad
The World Horse Welfare saddlery team designed a new pack saddle
which means that the loads are better balanced
and lifted off the back of the horses
So this is the pack saddle, the one we did in Guatemala
and this pack saddle really helps the horses
now this horse is free of lesions
his owner, he feels happy too, he can see the difference now with his horse
And some of the students have now set up saddlery shops in their local communities
like Victor Manuel Guerra who now serves the community of Las Lomas
making and repairing tack for the region's working horses
In a mountainous region with rough unmaintained tracks and roads
looking after the horses feet is essential
The way how they have been shoeing their horses
the horses are have problems with their feet and it's a bunch of different problems we're finding
you should see the roads it's no way to a horse can walk in there without shoes
World Horse Welfare has been training farriers such as the father-and-son team
of Jimmy and Paco who live in a remote village in the hills
So the father-and-son they are working together now and in that area there are the only
two professional farriers and they are doing a great job
Paco, which is the father he's making the shoes and Jimmy is the one
who is in charge to put the shoes on, so they are working
they have their own shop now and they are getting more customers which is the most important
get the people into their shops and shoe their horses
it's not just for Jimmy and Paco it's for the rest of the people living in the community
because that community is located in the difficult terrain it's up in the mountains
so it's very important to have farriers and saddlers in the community also
to keep the horses feet in well condition it's really, really important
But the Zaragoza centre also looks after the veterinary needs of horses that come in to be treated
Veterinary student Stephanie has identified one area of concern
when looking at the body condition of the working horses of Guatemala
Parasites I think that's the first problem at the communities
parasites, and it's because they don't have a place to feed the horses
they feed them directly on the ground so i think that there is a reinfestation
of parasites, so i think that that's why this is the first problem
But the team and communities are looking into ways of creating a natural dewormer
using ingredients grown in a garden by community-based equine advisor, Alvaro Figueroa
and it's resourcefulness like this, in learning new ways of helping horses
that demonstrate the success of World Horse Welfare's project in Guatemala
We know the project is working because first of all we have seen positive impact
we have seen people engaging our local farriers and our local saddlers more and more
we see that owners are thinking more about welfare
they are thinking more about taking care of their hooves, taking care of their
pack saddles, they're thinking more of ways of you know, how to I can provide better nutrition
better feed for my working equines
and when you go to a community and see the changes that you have made, the impact
the positive impact, for me it's very fulfilling
horses are always there for us
and you know we should be also there for our horses
so it is important to maintain that relationship
to make it better, and to make it long lasting and sustainable