Giza's working horses get a five-year welfare programme, starting with 700 horses
The Egyptian Equestrian Federation and the Longines Global Champions Tour have announced a five-year plan for the horses that work around the Pyramids: feed, water, vet care and training for owners, for about 700 horses first and 2,000 later.
The horses and carriage animals that carry visitors around the Pyramids are to get a five-year welfare programme. The Egyptian Equestrian Federation and the Longines Global Champions Tour announced it in Cairo on 26 October, two days after the international show jumping tour held its first event beneath the Pyramids.
The programme covers working horses and other animals on the Pyramids plateau and in the wider Giza area. It is being built with the General Organization for Veterinary Services, Orascom Pyramids, which runs visitor services at the site, and Brooke, the international charity for working horses and donkeys. Its first phase is meant to reach about 700 horses, and a later phase about 2,000.
According to the organisers' announcement, it builds on what already exists at the site, namely registration, microchipping, vaccination and veterinary checks, and adds four priorities: better access to feed, clean water, vet treatment and essential medicine; education and training for owners and the people who look after the horses every day; regular welfare monitoring with clear rules for responsible ownership; and a long-term fund. The federation and the tour have pledged money to it, and riders, owners, sponsors and the public will be able to give once a donation route is set up. No amounts have been published.
Some help is going out straight away. Unused feed from Red Mills, one of the tour's partners, and unused hay from the Cairo event are being handed to working horses through the federation, and grooms at the event offered spare equipment and veterinary supplies, which will be checked before they are passed on. Jenny Ellis, Europe representative of the International Grooms Association, has been named as an independent overseer. "This initiative marks an important step forward," said Dr Ismail Shaker, president of the federation.
The condition of the Pyramids' horses is one of the most common complaints from visitors, and the organisers say a detailed roadmap, governance and funding figures will be announced once they are final. For now nothing changes in how you book a ride: rides and carriages are still arranged on site. If you take one, choose a horse that looks healthy and rested, avoid riding in the midday heat, and do not accept a ride on an animal that is limping or visibly thin. The donation route for the public has not been opened yet.