The Development of African Dawn in Cape Town

On the 30th of March 2007 the ILPH completed the fourth training module in just over four years, during this period the training teams have trained over 32 Farriers and 31 Saddlers. The success of this project to date is due to the dedication and the hard work of The Cart Horse Protection Association (CHPA) and the unity of the ILPH training teams.

On our first trip to Cape Town to start a training project we looked at the location where we would work from, where the student would be accommodated and feed from and the area that we would start the training.

This proved to be a problem as the facilities were to far spread around, the saddlers started to work in an area where the CHPA had their offices and the farriers worked out of three containers located in Epping. These locations were not the best facilities that our training teams have worked from and could be quite dangerous at certain times of the day, due to deep seated customs practised be the carters.

As time moved on the momentum and the enthusiasm of the CHPA increased fuelled by seeing what a difference the ILPH training was making to the welfare of the horses and the people who used them.

Over the next few years field trips were undertaken through the Cape flats, this was invaluable promotion to advertise the need and the importance of our work. Many horses and donkeys were worked on to show their owners what a difference correct showing and the correct fitting of harnesses made to the animals output.

March 2005 saw the CHPA reach a crossroads in their future, this was due to kind donations from our supporters which enabled us to help the funding of the new development of the CHPA complex. This was a great step forward in the development of the vision that a number of dedicated people from Cape Town had.

The remaining courses could now all be centralised under the one roof and easily administered by the office staff that were also able to move to this location.

The facilities for the training were now one of the best that the ILPH training teams work from.

Again full marks must go to the staff of the CHPA due to their forward thinking, they now have classrooms and a number of holding stables on site to care for emergencies that often occur at the most inconvenient times.

Law enforcement officers are now been lectured by students trained by the ILPH showing them the correct shoeing and fitting of harness, this is an enormous step forward for this establishment.

Over the remainder of this year we will be running two further courses bringing back the best of the best students to further advance their skills.

Pictured (right) are the staff of the Cart Horse Protection Association; back row, left to right: Karin Bothma, Sue Mutch, Diana Truter, Dee Terblanche. The middle row, left to right: Megan White, Cathy Spengler and the Front row: Ashley Deelman, Bonani Mangali and Julian Jordaan.