Fly Fringe Appeal
Update – Master Saddler helps sort through donated fly fringes
Stuart Russell, our Master Saddler and Instructor visited World Horse Welfare Head Office last month to check out the donated fly fringes and load up a suitcase full for his next trips to Honduras and Nicaragua.
Stuart said "the reaction from horse owners in Honduras has been fantastic, and they are quite touched that supporters of World Horse Welfare are thinking about their situation, their horses and what they can do for them. To think that someone five thousand miles away is thinking about their situation, they are quite touched.
"The amount of horses that we are dealing with, it's so important to keep this appeal going. There is in excess of three thousand horses just in San Pedro Sula in Honduras, and thats just in the first town we have worked in."
See how you can help at the bottom of this page.
You can watch a video of Stuart talking about the Fly Fringe Appeal below.
Your fly fringes help horses in Honduras
A big ‘Thank You’ to every one who supported our No Flies on Me Fly Fringe appeal by sending in fly fringes for the working horses in Honduras. So far you have sent us almost 300 fringes and donated funds to purchase 700 more.
In May a World Horse Welfare training team fitted the first fringes on the horses of San Pedro Sula, to the delight of local horse owners. "They are so pleased that such a simple device could be so effective," says Des Bridges, our training team leader. "We gave a fringe to a man named Jose, and he said he was amazed that the people of the UK could be so kind to do this for the horses in Honduras. He hoped that it helped to keep the flies out of his horse's eyes so that they didn't get infected."
The flies around the rubbish dumps are particularly aggressive, much more so than an average house fly. "One boy told us 'I would like one for my horse as the flies near the rubbish dump annoy me too'". More of your fringes will be taken to Honduras in coming months for the 3,000 Horses working in San Pedro Sula.
Background
When a team from World Horse Welfare visited Honduras to assess the wellbeing of the country’s cart horses, we found that nearly half the working horses in San Pedro Sula had open sore wounds around their eyes.
These were caused, and severely aggravated, by flies. Compounded by a lack of veterinary support in the region, these horses are plagued by relentless swarms of biting insects.
There is no respite as these loyal horses work through the day for their owners in the stifling heat and dust of a busy city.
We are asking for your support to help these horses. Even something as simple as a fly fringe would bring them some comfort.
- If you have a new halter fly fringe to spare, please download a form below and send it to us along with the fringe.
- Make a donation of £3 via our website and we will purchase one on your behalf.
- Take some photographs of yourself and your fly fringe and then ‘like us’ on Facebook and upload them onto our Facebook page
- Tweet about the Appeal on Twitter using the hashtag #flyfringe make sure you follow @horsecharity
Sending a fly fringe to us or a donation is a simple thing to do and will make a real difference to the life of one of these hard-working horses. As many cart owners use homemade rope halters to control their horses, we are asking for donations of halter fly fringes, which can be used without a bridle or headcollar.
Please download the form below and send with your fringes to: Fly Fringe Appeal, World Horse Welfare, Snetterton, NR16 2LR.
You can also find more information on World Horse Welfare's work in Honduras.
