Taking a ride in a carriage or on a donkey can be a fun and memorable holiday experience, and make a valuable difference to the local economy.

But overwork and bad practice can lead to animals suffering. Many horses and donkeys spend all day every day carrying heavy loads, as they taxi tourists across tricky terrain at bargain prices, often under the blazing sun, with little shade, water or rest.

Exhausted animals suffer heat stress, injuries, dehydration, beatings and wounds as part of this ‘holiday experience’ with their poor owners working them hard to bring in a daily income.

If an animal is treated well it can work happily, without suffering, while providing valuable income for local people and enjoyment for tourists.

For this reason, the Brooke has launched its Happy Horses Holiday Code, to help caring travellers make responsible choices.

Watch shock footage of animals suffering for tourism

What are the issues?

Worldwide, there are many factors affecting the welfare of working horses and donkeys, including the size and strength of the animals, the distances and terrain they must cover, and the equipment and healthcare available locally.

These factors vary enormously from country to country.

This makes it extremely difficult to set specific and consistent standards for working hours and maximum weights.
It is for this reason that tourists, tour leaders and the owners themselves are encouraged to look at individual animals to determine whether they are fit for the journey.

However, there are common issues facing working animals working in the tourist trade. Here is a round-up of some of them; and some of the steps we are taking to address these issues in our countries of operation:

Overloading
Poor owners may allow large tourists to ride small donkeys in order to ensure they earn enough income.  Heavy loads can increase the risk of serious issues like bone fractures.

• We are helping by... training owners to understand how overloading can harm their animal's welfare
• Asking tourists to consider their size before riding a horse or donkey overseas

Beatings
Beside causing fear, beatings can cause severe and painful wounds which may become infected.

• We are helping by...  teaching tomorrow's owners by performing educational puppet shows to children about good welfare practices
• Encouraging travellers… not to take a ride with an owner who is beating his animal

• Traditional 'remedies'
  While there are successful traditional practices, harmful practices causing great pain and suffering to animals also still exist and are widely used.

• We are helping by... offering direct vet treatment and training trusted local people to pass on best practice.

Dehydration and heat stress
Working animals need plenty of water and shade to avoid losing essential minerals and salts as they sweat.

• We are helping by... directly tackling malnutrition and dehydration in all of the countries in which we work.
• We have put up shelters … in popular tourist resorts such as Edfu and Luxor to ensure hard worked tourist horses get some respite from the sun.

What can I do …?

Every person has the power to prevent a working animal from suffering. The Brooke is calling on all tourists to take action against their anguish by simply following the Brooke’s ‘happy horses holiday code’ Download pdf

Please click here to give your name in support of our activity and to find out more about our work

Brooke’s network of mobile veterinary teams, field clinics and community animal health workers is active in ten countries worldwide.

Our methods are well-researched, low-cost and sustainable, and they make a remarkable difference to the health and welfare hundreds of thousands of working horses, donkeys and mules - and the people who depend on them.