Animal Aid Abroad works hard to support the Gili Island rubbish ponies project, whereby Australian and local Indonesian volunteer veterinarians, farriers, veterinary nurses and others gather in Indonesia to run a two week clinic to treat working equines and train local owners in how to provide the best care for their animals.
The recent trip in April and May 2019 was split into two weeks to cover Gili Island for the first week, and Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, Gili Meno and Lombok for the second week.
Thanks to a fantastic effort by the team of Australian and Indonesian volunteers, the first week of the Gili island Clinic went really well. The team managed to achieve 52 health assessments, including vitamin injection and deworming; 25 hoof trims or shoes; 15 dental checks; and 14 new gear donations including harness padding, bit, bridle, halter and lead rope, or boots.
This time the team got to complete much more thorough health checks, with more time for training as well. Thank you to the hard-working and dedicated team, who helped to make a huge difference to the working equines of Gili.
For the second week of the project, a big thank you goes to the Australian and Indonesian volunteer team who gave up their paid work or studies for the week and traveled to Indonesia at their own expense to help the horses that work on Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, Gili Meno, Lombok and Sumba.
Volunteer Amanda Drought, a veterinary student from Murdoch University said, “The horse owners were appreciative and receptive of our help, as were the local vets (who have expressed interest in future collaboration and education). I think it was a great success… I’m very excited for the future welfare of these horses.”
The very proficient and able team who assisted in the second week included a wonderful group of people with different skills, experience and backgrounds, each adding to a very successful but exhausting week.
Volunteer Dr. Esther Van Herwaarden from Melbourne said, “It was such a good week. Everyone did an amazing job and worked really hard. The people on Lombok were really receptive…There were a lot of local vets there who were interested to learn from us. There is quite some work for the village horses there, they were definitely in worse shape than the Gili Trawangan ponies. Looking forward to returning in November to volunteer.”
Volunteer Dr. Peni Wahyu from Java said, “The horse owners we did meet, were very enthusiastic and interested in our program and the upcoming horse clinic in November. They are very keen to find a place for our November clinic and inform other horse owners. Word is spreading fast about what we do and that help is on its way.”
Thank you to all involved in this fantastic project!
Featured image: A working equine gets a dental check as part of the recent clinic. This image and all images in this story via Animal Aid Abroad.
