A few weeks ago, we received a comment on our rescue page from a welfare organisation in Russia asking for our help in publicising the plight of two horses being taken on a long distance voyage from their homeland to Paris (see below). Disturbed by the information given, we felt we had to act to help the team at Equihelp in Russia. However, as we are the other side of France to where the horses would be entering the country, we had to find a way to work with other more local organisations.
We started with our friends Equine Market Watch in the UK. With EMW, we posted the information on the Horse and Hound forum asking for any help / ideas. We spoke to the WHW / ILPH who were unable to help until the horses reached France, and they spoke to the WSPA. At this point, the Long Riders’ Guild got in touch to say that they thought that they could help, and true to their word they were able to mobilise members in Russia and Germany to locate the horses and remaining rider. They are on their way to check the health of the animals and will report back to us all.
We just want to say a big thank you for the united response (and in particular to The Long Riders’ Guild). Hopefully this sad situation is now on its way to being finally resolved.
Dear colleagues!
I am writing on behalf of EquiHelp – the Russian Society for Protection of Horses, as well as of many Russian horse lovers. We very much need your help with the following problem:
There are two Russian guys, Valerii Popov and Ruslan Menschikov, who on March 22nd started a horseback endurance ride from the middle of Russia (Urals) to Paris which will last 157 days in total. There is a seemingly charitable idea behind the voyage – to promote hippotherapy and the Russian breeds of horses. While the idea certainly deserves respect, there are big problems with the horses and the organisation of this trip.
One of the horses is a !!! 3-year old mare called Neposeda. Two weeks ago, when the voyagers reached Moscow, we had a chance to look at her and see that she is in a very bad condition. She was exhausted and had definite pains in her back and loins. After about 500 km from the start point she also had a bad leg injury while crossing a river, which only was cared for after several days, when she appeared to have high temperature. Her rider in a private talk admitted that she might not make it to Paris and that he personnaly is ashamed of riding her but can not do anything about it.
Here are her photos, made in the middle of May
http://photofile.ru/photo/osh/115100791/large/118024779.jpg
http://photofile.ru/photo/osh/115100791/large/118024799.jpg
http://photofile.ru/photo/osh/115100791/large/118024821.jpg
The other horse, a stallion called Kombat, was in a better condition but his hooves, for example, haven’t been cared for about 6 months – this is the opinion of a farrier who looked at them.
The riders do not carry any food for the horses with them, there is no car to accompany them, they rely on stables which they meet on their way for food and shelter, but many stables don’t risk to let them in as the horses look really sick.
By now the horses and their riders are already in Poland. Their further route will be through Drezden and Stutgard to Paris (They are moving along the road which connects Moscow-Minsk-Warsaw-Drezden-Stutgard-Paris. In Stutgard there is planned to be an award ceremony for them by the National Award Academy which will be held in the residence of a Russian-German Society named after Ekaterina Pavlovna, the Queen of Württemberg (that’s what was announced here in Russia).
Somewhere on the way after that the mare will be left in one of German orphan home for children with disabilities, while the stallion will move to Paris to finish the journey at Eifel Tower and then get back to Russia…
We have tried to stop them here, but didn’t succeed, as, unfortunately, the problem of animal welfare is not at all a priority for the Russian government and society. Mass media here presents this journey as a noble deed. We do not have many opportunities to track the situation further, while they are in Europe. We can now only hope that some of the European horse welfare organisations could do something to help the horses and stop this mindless cruelty. We don’t think that making horses suffer is an appropriate way to promote Russian horses or to help children with disabilities.
The sponsor of the whole event is a Russian meat-processing plant “Veles”… Hopefully the horses do not end up there after this journey!
If you could somehow trace the situation and raise the issue if you find the conditions of this event as unappropriate as they look to us – may be it will make some people in Russia understand that this is not the way of treating horses and obtain popularity!
Thank you very much for your attention!
Sincerely,
Ekaterina Lomeiko
The Society for Protection of Horses “EquiHelp”
Moscow, Russia
http://www.equihelp.ru