Horse Health is Public Health

Imagine a life where every drop of water for your family, your cooking, and your cleaning depends on your horse.

Families’ Livelihoods Depend On Their Working Horses

 Without their horses, countless families in Nicaragua couldn’t feed their families–they depend on them to pick up recyclables, pull carts from the quarry, bring crops to the market and more. But in the community of La Laguna, they are even more central to the community because all water in this town is brought in by horse.

In La Laguna horses are central to the community because all water in this town is brought in by horse. Our vet team showed up on June 20th and provided vet care to 104 amount of working animals. Over the span of two recent clinics in La Laguna, our vet team provided veterinary care to 159 working animals. 

Global Strays Provides Free Vet Care In A Region Where Vet Services Are Critically Needed 

As Global Strays noted in our last horse clinic in La Laguna, these conditions make horse owners especially  eager to learn how to protect and care for their horses. Uriel Bermudez, a horse owner at the clinic, noted that at least 20 or 30 families he recognized from La Laguna were waiting for treatment at the free clinic, “Everyone came; it was full.” 

Dr. Lester Tapia,  and the rest of Global Strays’ Nicaragua horse team, made sure horses received tetanus vaccines, deworming,  dental and hoof care, general wound treatment, and screwworm  education  The team also performed emergency surgeries, bone setting, and other urgent treatments.

When Taps Run Dry: Horses Become the Lifeline for a Parched Community

Residents in La Laguna will tell you that they haven’t had running water for two years. But in fact, the families and animals living there haven’t had consistent access to running water for well over a decade–and it’s the community’s hard-working horses that allow the families in La Laguna to survive. The lack of water affects their lives, putting an immense burden on the residents and their horses,  “If you go out with your horse  in the morning, you don’t go in the afternoon–and if you are out in the morning, it’s just to bring water for you to use.” explains Kenia Davila.

Like Davila, most people need to decide whether they will use their horse to get much needed water or whether they will use the horse to make some money to feed their families. The families in the community spend several mornings a week transporting enough water to survive, others have to spend their limited resources paying a neighbor to bring them water.

As Enrique Chamorro, a horse owner, explains, their horses’ health is directly tied to public health, “They’re our cars, they are our machetes–a horse and cart. There is no water, there hasn’t been for more than two years and we have to carry water…so we have to be very careful.”  

Through vet care and education, Global Strays is supporting the community’s horses. After receiving treatment at our clinic, many of the horses of La Laguna are  healthier, and because of this, the residents have a chance for better health as well.  Bermudez noted of his horse at Dr Tapia’s follow up visit,  “Thank God, he’s perfect. He is healthy, there haven’t been any  problems.”