Abused horses in Soweto will get proper care - and their owners will be taught to look after them correctly - when the Soweto Equestrian Centre opens in Moroka later this year.
The centre will offer rehabilitation programmes under the auspices of the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH). Abused horses in the township, where hundreds of the animals are used to pull carts to ferry coal to households, will be identified and helped.
Because of a lack of knowledge and education, carthorse owners frequently ill-treat their horses, underfeeding and overworking them. The centre will take in these horses, take them through the ILPH programme of inoculating, deworming and shoeing them, and getting them back into shape to again be working animals.
The ILPH, based in Norwich, in the United Kingdom, is one of the world’s leading equine welfare charities, aimed at improving the lives of horses. It advocates for “a world where the horse is used but never abused”.
Carthorse owners will also be trained in farrier and saddlery skills and will be given respite stabling for their animals. In addition, they will be given proper carts, saddlery and maintenance. The carts will be sponsored, and will be used as mobile advertising.
Enos Mafokate
Setting up the centre is mostly the result of the efforts of Enos Mafokate, South Africa’s first black show-jumper, and the City of Johannesburg’s Region D sports and recreation directorate.
Mafokate, who has competed in showjumping competitions nationally and internationally in the past three decades, runs a riding school in Mofolo, Soweto and also heads the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) horse unit.
He says he decided to open the centre when he discovered how badly the animals were being treated in Soweto.
“After my dream to open a riding school came to fruition in 1990, I turned my attention to establishing an equestrian centre in Moroka. Together with the City of Johannesburg’s Region D and a few other interested parties, we identified a site close to Elkah Stadium as a prime site to build the equestrian centre.”
Located in one of the poorer areas of Soweto, the site is approximately 28 hectares in size, large enough to allow horses to graze - one horse requires 7 000m² for grazing. It is zoned as a community facility and has an under-utilised recreation facility with an unused clubhouse.
Skills Boost
It is hoped that setting up the equestrian centre in the area will help to teach skills that will boost locals’ employment options, as well as build opportunities for young people to become involved in the horse-riding industry.
Getting funding to get the project off the ground has been difficult, but thanks to a grant from the ILPH, the centre will probably open as early as 25 May, according to Mafokate.
In October 2007, a group comprising of members of the City’s community development department visited London to source funding from the ILPH. It approved a grant of £80 000 (about R1,2-million / AUD$169,400) a year for five years – provided a non-profit organisation (NPO) was set up.
As a result, the Soweto Equestrian Foundation was set up. It will seek other funding and manage the ILPH grant, as well as implement the development programme. The foundation has six members, of which Mafokate is one, and three directors.
He says that the ILPH grant is welcome, but it is not enough to cover the cost of building the centre. It will have stables, grandstands, jumping facilities and student dormitories and will be built in three phases.
“We will have to find more sponsors to complete all the phases. We have already started refurbishing the disused clubhouse, [and it] will be ready by May 2008.”
In the first phase, a riding school and a sports and welfare centre will be set up. A stable block for 20 horses, paddocks, field shelters, a workshop, an office, tack and feed stores, on-site staff accommodation and a schooling arena will be built. This phase is expected to cost R3,7-million (AUD$525,000).
Once it is finished, the centre will be able to help the working carthorses, and offer welfare training and support to their owners. Also, non-riding equestrian skills training and equestrian sports will be provided to intermediate level.
The second phase is expected to cost R3,4-million (AUD$483,000). It will comprise of a regional competition yard, a skills centre and livery. Another stable block for 20 horses, a larger competition arena and a lunging ring will be added. Once this phase is completed, the centre will be able to train horses and riders to compete nationally and internationally.
To benefit the local community, the centre will offer subsidised riding lessons to township children and adults. It is hoped that some of these children will go on to join the centre’s sporting programme. Dressage, vaulting and showjumping lessons will also be offered.
In the final phase, the Soweto national competition venue will be completed and 20 more stables will be built, along with a clubhouse, student accommodation, a show arena, a spectator grandstand and a judging arena. It is expected to cost R8,3-million (AUD$1,180,000).
When this phase is finished, the centre will be able to host regional and national competitions, provide world-class equestrian sports training facilities and will have a horse training centre.
“The centre is going to be the pride of Soweto and many people will be introduced to equestrian sports, a discipline hardly known in the township. Also, carthorse owners will develop their businesses courtesy of healthier and stronger horses,” Mafokate says.
Written by Ndaba Dlamini, City Of Johannesburg.
Photos: City Of Johannesburg.