A Horse

A Horse


In October 2014, my daughter asked to go horse riding with her friend.
A Belgian restaurant had recently opened in Nakhon Ratchasima, and my daughter became friends with their daughter Maryssa who was a member of the horse riding club at the Military base in Nakhon Ratchasima. I agreed and she went every Saturday with Maryssa to the horse riding club.

My daughter became attached to one particular horse, Domina.
She brought every week carrots and apples to feed Domina.
Even sometimes on school days, she went to feed Domina and take care of her.
Domina was like a pet for her.

But the soldiers and even the higher military people did not take of their horses and Domina's health was quickly deteriorating. Not only Domina, but the other horses as well. Even the field where the customers were riding horse was quickly turned to an ugly piece of grass with rusty fences.
The horses were used to run races at the nearby race field and were donated to the soldiers when they became too old for racing.

I could not stand the suffering of the horses and went with my daughter to an other Equestrian club in Nakhon Ratchasima. But I wanted to save Domina.

One day, I went to the military field and spoke with the Lieutenant who was in charge of the horses.
I offered him 50,000 baht (about 1,500 USD) for Domina. But he declined the offer.

I asked the owner of the Equestrian club to help me with the purchase of Domina, but the offer was declined again. The lady at the equestrian club had been donating food and other things to the military and she went to the leader of the military field in Nakhon Ratchasima were she made clear that she wanted Domina or she would stop her donations to the military.

A few days later, she called me and told me that the soldiers had brought Domina and she was taking care of the horse now.

I went to her farm with my daughter, but what I saw was beyond any belief.

Domina was just skin over bones and full of open ulcers caused by the fleas. The soldiers choose rather to let the horse suffer than to sell it.



We went every weekend to visit the horse, sometimes even in the weekdays to visit Domina and take care of her. Sometimes, my daughter took her for a walk in the paddy fields. But riding her was impossible.

Domina died peaceful in 2018. 




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