Jaipur Working Horse Data Set

Working horses, donkeys and mules are vital sources of traction power and income generation for many people living in poverty around the world. Unfortunately, this association with poverty means that many of the animals, like their owners, experience serious hardship and health problems. Working equids commonly suffer from lameness, often affecting all four limbs at the same time. The work reported here describes a two year project, working together with horse owners in Jaipur, India, to try to reduce levels of lameness in their horses. The project used participatory methodologies which were designed to empower horse owning communities and individuals to find ways of tackling the causes of lameness in their own animals. Four hundred and thirty nine owners of 862 horses participated in the study; either as part of an intervention group or a control group. The outcomes of the project were evaluated in terms of reductions in lameness severity and limb abnormalities in the intervention group compared to the control group. It was possible to assess these parameters on three occasions throughout the two year study in 149 horses. The intervention succeeded in reducing the amount and severity of lameness in the intervention group communities. This was achieved by owners finding ways to make changes in the way they managed and worked their horses and the participatory methodology encouraged them to support each other in implementing these changes. This study demonstrates that it is possible for horse owners to make changes that improve the welfare of their animals without threatening their own livelihoods, which are fragile at best. The use of participatory intervention methods allowed the horse owners to have control of the changes they made, making the less ‘risky’ in terms of affecting their income and more likely to be sustained over time.