In September 2024 Daniele Longhitano and Judith Findley travelled to Lesotho to support World House Welfare and annual Semonkong outreach project. Judith tells us more about the trip. Lesotho, also known as the “Mountain Kingdom”, is a small landlocked country located within South Africa with a population of approximately 2 million people. The country has a high rate of poverty with an estimated 50% of the population living below the poverty line. Many people are reliant upon subsistence agriculture and livestock to survive, although the export of water and electricity generated through water to neighbouring South Africa also contribute to the country’s economy.
Veterinary provision within Lesotho is very limited, in 2009 there were just 26 veterinary surgeons registered on the national veterinary council, of whom 15 were state veterinarians involved in surveillance rather than clinical work. This leaves a huge disparity between the number of animals requiring treatment and the ability to provide them with essential care.
As part of the collaboration between the BEVA trust and World Horse Welfare I was invited to participate in an annual outreach project organised by a Christian missionary organisation called the Semonkong Hospital trust. The project operates from Semonkong, a mountainous rural community in the centre of Lesotho and offers treatment to livestock, equines and dogs.
Our initial arrival into Semonkong was delayed by heavy snowfall which made the mountain passes impossible to negotiate. As we undertook the drive a day late the scenery was spectacular, with a new snow covered mountain vista around almost every corner. Beautiful to see but I was relieved not to be the one driving. On arrival in the village we were met with the sight of hundreds of animals gathering in a field ready for treatment.
The project has an excellent team led by a group of experienced South African vets and ably assisted by a group of hardworking and enthusiastic South African veterinary students. The team are split into groups by species. The clinic focuses predominantly on preventative health care in all species including deworming, vaccination, blood sampling and swabs as part of disease surveillance. Castration of stallions and colts is also performed. It was quite something to see a horse hacking home an hour after being castrated, perhaps this, along with the lack of flies in the cold climate, is why there is rarely an issue with post-operative infection in this population of horses. The most frequent injury treated at both the main clinic and the satellite locations were saddle sores. These equids typically have poor body condition scores and are often ridden in poorly fitting and poorly maintained tack because there is no alternative. The wounds were cleaned and pockets of abscessation drained and flushed as required. We were able to construct various “donut” type pads to try and reduce pressure over the thoracolumbar spine and in some cases pad broken saddles directly. There were a number of other wounds, haematomas and eye conditions which were assessed and treated. As well as the main clinic there are a number of satellite clinics run each day at more remote locations which I was lucky enough to be involved in. Again, the animals flooded into these clinics and there was plenty to keep us busy although I think we all took a minute to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings. On the last day of the outreach the number of sheep arriving overwhelmed us and despite not having touched a sheep since graduating 16 years ago I joined the team carrying out the preventative care in the sheep shed. As ever, everyone there was enthusiastic, cheerful and willing to muck in and get the jobs done.
It was clear from my experience that injuries and the use of sub-optimal welfare techniques (such as using chains in place of bits which are then wrapped tightly around the animals neck so that the head cannot be extended to the ground) originate through a lack of knowledge and understanding, as well as a lack of availability of alternative equipment. Therefore; improving education is paramount in improving welfare for these hardworking animals. World Horse Welfare are working hard behind the scenes to train a group of motivated locals in horse handling and welfare in the hope that they can help to educate the owners of working equids and in time these teams may be able to help with basic veterinary care and farriery. These volunteers were essential for assisting with horse handling and communicating our plans for treatment and ongoing care with the owners, and without them we would have struggled. When discussing the cases seen with vets and nurses who had attended the clinics previously it was apparent that the year on year efforts on education has started to pay off as the injuries seen have been reducing in severity and number. This is testament to the hard work of both the outreach project and the efforts of World Horse welfare.
I found it challenging to think that after the project had finished this community would likely not be able to access further veterinary care for a further year, either follow-up for horses seen on this occasion or other horses that we had identified as needing treatment, such as a horse requiring enucleation, who did not receive the treatment because they had attended a satellite clinic where surgical facilities were not available. Moving forward it would be great to arrange a more regular veterinary presence to manage any ongoing concerns and provide timely treatment, but this obviously requires careful planning, local permission and funding.
At the end of the outreach project the large volume of donated tack and saddle pads were sold for a small fee to the local community, many of whom had travelled and queued for several hours to participate. They are sold rather than donated so that value is attributed to the items and their importance. There is a desperate need for affordable, durable tack that fits these small ponies and this could present an excellent challenge for someone with an entrepreneurial mind within many regions across the globe with working horses. But until such products exist we can contribute with the ongoing donation of simple bits, headcollars and saddlepads.
The outreach experience made me reflect upon the stark difference between my normal equine veterinary caseload and what I was seeing in this environment. It is, of course, a matter of cultural differences and differing perceptions of “normal” but the experience made me very aware of how much money is spent on gaining small amounts of performance advantage in our UK horse population and how far the same amount of money would go in an environment like this. I have a greater appreciation for the selfless work that goes into organising a clinic like this and much more understanding of the challenges that face working animals and their owners.
I am grateful to the BEVA Trust and World Horse Welfare, specifically to Penny Ward and her team for giving me the opportunity to get involved with this worthwhile project and to the Semonkong Hospital Trust for welcoming me into their community and for making me think.