In 1991, everything was perfect in the best of the worlds. 

The « Phuket Riding Club » was a fancy club with great ambitions for the future. 

They even travelled with 3 horses for a eight-day trip around the island...

HISTORY

The “Phuket Riding Club” was opened in 1991 on the Island of Phuket. It was a very nice place, as a lot of capital was invested into it. They had about thirty horse imported from Australia, a large staff, comfortable stables, a sandy area for exercise, and most importantly, a telephone!

The customers knew of this place through their hotels, travel agencies, and taxis, and were thus numerous and well taken care of by the staff.

But the thing is, running a horse-riding club cannot be improvised!

It is a full time job where a certain minimum of skill is required. Very quickly the horses were injured, sick, or malnourished. The problem is that the situation in Phuket is very different from Europe or elsewhere, as there are no veterinarians or even pharmaceutical products for horses!

THE SAD TRUTH

First witness : Michel , former owner of the “Crazy Horse Club”, a horse-riding club opened in Phuket in 1989.

« I stopped running the club in 1994 and sold my horses, and some of them ended up in the “Phuket Riding Club”. I went to visit them later, and I had a nasty surprise when I saw that most of the horses were injured, and most importantly that they were never administered any health care! So I came back with some of my leftover medicines so as to disinfect their wounds and apply bandages to prevent flies from laying their eggs there. »

Second witness: Carole, a French rider on vacation in Phuket during the summer of 2000.

« I was on holiday in Phuket and I decided to ride horses, as I always do on all my vacations. I easily found the place thanks to the signs, and I went to take a look at the stables. This is where I saw the first horse, a large, malnourished chestnut horse, sitting on the fence, obviously suffering from severe sciatic. I called the stable hand and tried to make him understand the pain the horse was in. He went into the box and told off the horse, so as to make it change position. I screamed to make him stop harassing it. A hostess came along, all in smiles, and suggested that I go for a ride, which is exactly what I did… I took photos on the sly and left, crossing on my path numerous tourists on their way for a one-hour ride. I told them »: 

« If you like horses, don’t ride these! »

«[…] The horse on the pictures is called BOONCHUAY, and he had the worst injuries. Now, he has been sent away somewhere, but many other horses also have bad injuries.»

Carole was extremely shocked to see this, and it is quite understandable!

I manage to adapt to most situations, except the one I faced when I wanted to go for a horse ride in Phuket. Horses are my passion. I cannot just forget the state those poor animals were in at the “Phuket Riding Club”!

 

« May al the horse riders who have seen these photos join our action to ask the closure of this forsaken club. ... »

Carole’s message:

If you ride a horse that is injured or malnourished, and you pay for it, you responsible:

1)     You accepted to be taken for an uncaring idiot,

2)     You are taking advantage of the exploitation of suffering,

3)     You will leave without any pleasure,

4)     Horses are not motorcycles!!!

So, you must refuse to ride in this club that has so little worries about the well-being of its horses. In fact, for a relatively cheap price, you may finish off the horse.

« This horse could just not stand still, it was always moving to try to escape its pain...»

Broken back, sciatic, shattered lumbars, 

Malnourishment, ill-treatment… 

The life of this horse must be a real living nightmare!

Third witness: A regular rider at the club:

«I love horses, but the owner doesn’t seem so, because when one horse has a large wound and I complain to him about it, he tells me “don’t worry, he’ll be just fine soon”. One week ago, a pony that I liked a lot died because of a piece of wood that was lodged deeply in his shoulder. The piece of wood actually came from the horse’s own box. Since the stables are made of wood, the horses injure themselves very often. »

But the worst, most worrying testimonies come from regular riders at the club. We wil not reveal their identities, but this is what they have to say:

A fourth witness:

« When I saw your campaign, I thought that at last there was someone to help these poor horses, because I ride often in that club, and I am really disappointed, as I can never ride the horse I like as it is injured. It is horrible to see these kinds of things. »

Another witness:

« I saw many horses die in this club, and I would be pleased to help you with the petition you are organizing. I think it would be a lot better to ride healthy horses. »

So, do not get tricked again by false publicity 

Check the overall state of the horses ! 

Do not ride a sick or wounded horse !


 

Another type of advertisement, opposite, in the French magazine “Cheval Pratique”, February 2001

A world-wide campaign of information

The only thing we want is to end, by whatever means possible, the suffering of these horses.

To achieve this, we have alerted the most appropriate organisations:

The Royal Thai  Embassy in Paris
The Tourism Authority of Thailand
The French Horse Riding Federation
The French League for the Protection of Horses
The French League for the Protection of Endangered Horses
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation
The Phuket Magazine
The French SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
The “Guide du Routard”
Lonely Planet

If you were moved by these testimonies, help us. Tell your friends, related organizations, Thai officials about this site. Write to us, send us your witness accounts. It would be a pleasure to publish them here.

Site adress : http://multimania.com/briegel/phuketriding

  michel.briegel@wanadoo.fr  (webmaster)
  c.guillemart@voila.fr ( petition) 

   sign petition