Untung was rescued in Jakarta in 2009. Having worked as a carriage horse in the center of Jakarta for over 15 years, he was known as the ‘macan’ (panther) as he was small but very strong and according to the handlers, very “agressive”. Carriage horse don’t last long in Jakarta. They are literally worked to death in the heat, in the traffic, serving only as a money making tool with the little care possible. Grass quality is bad and grass is even hard to get, so the horses are fed little and during the day are not even watered. JAAN actively started to campaign for better welfare for carriage horses since early 2009 after observing horses literally collapsing on Jakarta’s streets. Untung was one of them. He was worked to death, when the jaan team found him weak lying at ‘tempat kuda andong kemanggisan’ , unable to move. Our team started to treat untung, then still named ‘macan’ for his ‘vicious character’, only to find he dissapeared after two days. A horse dealer had taken him ‘elsewhere’. Determined to help untung, jaan searched all over Jakarta and found Untung in worse state in the area of Ampera raya,Jaksel. Untung had been punctured with bamboo by the handlers to ‘clean the blood’ as the horse handlers believe. He was bleeding from his chest and in pain. The horse handler was awaiting the moment to slaughter untung to be sold as meat.
We loaded Untung on our pickup truck& brought Untung home to care for him intensively. We removed the bamboo from his chest. We provided him good food and helped him stand up and lie down untill he was strong enough himself. We named him Untung, as he was lucky to at least escape the horrible life as carriage horse at his old age. We searched for a perfect retirement for him which we found in Salatiga at Havana horses. Here the horses are kept in natural way and provided the best possible care: it’s horse paradise. Untung finally was able to live the life he deserved and able to walk freely and make friends. For this we can’t thank Havana horses enough!! This week we had to say goodbye to ‘Opa’ Untung. Rest in peace❤️#carriagehorses #horserescue #havanahorses