From 13-16 of May 2024, our equine outreach team, consisting of vet Kostas Okkas, dental technician Alkis Gkeskos and farrier Vaios Bakratsas, visited the island of Spetses, in Argosaronicos.
Spetses is a small Greek island with a rich history and beautiful buildings of neoclassical and traditional architecture. Regulations are strict for cars and motorbikes while, not long ago, equines were the only means of transport there. In nowadays, some people still maintain horses for riding or, simply, as pets. Horse-drawn carriages are, moreover, a characteristic of local life especially during the summer touristic period. Through collaboration with local organization Spetses Care For Animals AMKE (SCFA AMKE) our equine team stayed on the island for four days and treated 64 carriage horses.
This was the third consecutive Outreach Visit of the Equine Programme in recent years and, in general, no serious dental problems were encountered to the horses already treated in the previous visits. New animals were seen nevertheless, so three cases, required lengthier treatment involving sedation by the vet and motorized equipment by the dental technician: one horse had long hooks on its first upper cheek teeth as well as pointed ramps on the last lower ones. Those rendered it unable to chew properly and unwilling to let anyone touch its mouth.
Another horse had these ramps so long and pointed that were about to pierce its upper jaw. On the last day, our EDT also had to treat an aged horse with very long ramps on the first lower cheek teeth. The relief for these horses was immediate as the pain and discomfort disappeared and the horses managed to chew again freely without pain. A few retired, former carriage horses checked, had almost no cheek teeth left but were in a relatively good body condition thanks to satisfactory feeding regimes.
The carriage horse owners belong to all ages, younger and older. They requested and in general seemed to accept our advice and suggestions regarding health, nutrition and husbandry. What was most encouraging was that all owners who responded positively to this joint project’s call, do realize the importance of the, little known in Greece, dental care and requested it themselves. The majority seemed however hesitant or negative in accepting our suggestions on farriery and the type of shoes that should be used for their horses’ work. Although a small number do bring professional farriers to trim and shoe their horses’ hooves, many of these either don’t realize the importance of correct trimming and shoeing, or in order to save money they shoe their horses themselves. This however leads to serious imbalances and many times lamenesses.
They like to use rubber shoes or metal ones covered with plastic, as this way their animals don’t slip while working on the asphalt. Although this shows that they do care about their horses’ safety, the problem is that the shape of these shoes cannot be altered by a farrier, therefore they don’t always fit correctly to the hooves. One of our main aims on the island of Spetses, is to convince the carriage horse owners that they have to spend money and “invest“ on bringing professional farriers on the island, which they should trust for doing the best for their horses. The horses’ legs are important, so receiving services from a professional farrier can help the animal stay healthy and work pain-free for many years.
Our team’s working conditions in Spetses were ideal, with no distances needing to be covered. All animals arrived in one shaded place where our team worked hard to offer their services and education. Katerina Vogiatzi, founding member and responsible for SCFA AMKE, was there to offer any assistance needed and to take care of our team and of the whole organizing.
SCFA’s veterinarian Thalia Lazaridi attended the outreach work despite her own workload at the local small animal practice and with a lot of genuine interest she had the chance to learn and practice, so as to be able to offer the much needed basic equine veterinary services on the island, after our team is gone.
More or less thirty carriage horses were being examined and treated by our programme in the previous years. Thanks to our collaboration with Spetses Care for Animals AMKE, we managed this year to reach out to more than double of this number of carriage horses and to almost all carriage horse owners.
This was a successful start for our cooperation with SCFA AMKE, showing how working together can bring greater results. The cost of the professionals’ work was shared equally between AAG and SCFA AMKE, while the Carriage Drivers’ Association covered the accommodation, the transportation from Hydra and part of the team’s meals. The action took place under the auspices of the Municipality of Spetses, which partially covered the professionals’ meals.
We thank SCFA AMKE for the cooperation and we hope next year to expand our equine team’s services to a bigger number – if not all – carriage horses on the island, to improve their welfare and, if requested again from carriage horse owners, to organize more educational actions.
