During school vacations and on weekends, an easy and inexpensive way for families to entertain their children is to rent a horse or pony for a ride on the Corniche here. Most of these parents do not know that the animals on which their children ride are not the property of their mostly Yemeni or African handlers, but have been leased, like a rental car, on a monthly basis and are badly treated, poorly fed, and worked for more than 12 hours a day. In order to get more information about the conditions in which these animals are kept, Saudi Gazette spoke to a young Yemeni man who was earning money by giving children horseback rides on Al-Hamra Corniche . The Yemeni refused to give his name, but did say that he and his colleagues, who also brought horses to the seaside every day to give rides to children, rented the animals on a monthly basis from a stable in the Al-Khumrah district in the far south of the city. While talking to the man, Saudi Gazette spotted a police car and a deportation department van nearby, and noticed that none of the young men with horses seemed to be worried. When asked whether the police presence was a problem for him, the Yemeni said that he was not worried at all. Saudi Gazette then went to talk to the police officer and his colleague from the deportation department to ask them about their role in controlling the horse-rental business in the area. “These guys are working here illegally, but we gave up chasing them because once we do so, they start running away, riding the horses in all directions. This ends up in causing more danger to the beach visitors than letting them work,” the police officer said. He added that he and the deportation officer were part of a committee comprising members of the police, deportation department and municipality, and that this committee from time to time raids those renting horses and quad motorbikes at the Corniche. “However, our efforts are in vain as the number of these Africans and Yemenis is increasing,” he explained. The police officer and his colleague encouraged the media to highlight the issue so that the public will refuse to support these illegal workers by renting their animals for rides. “We can't do this job alone,” said the police officer. “We need people to understand that these men are working here illegally and are not conforming to any health and safety regulations,” he added. Saudi Gazette then traveled to Al-Khumrah district to try to find the horse stables which rent out the animals to the illegal workers. One stable in the district was owned by Khaled Al-Bassyoni, a Saudi national. Al-Bassyoni's stable housed a number of horses registered with the King Abdul Aziz Center for Arabian Horses. He said that neither his own horses nor any other Arabian horses were among those that were rented out to those working illegally on the Corniche. He added that the animals rented out to Yemenis to be put to work at the Corniche were bought from a weekly horse auction held every Monday. “We take good care of our horses,” Al-Bassyoni said, “We would never mistreat our horses the way that some others do.” He said that instead of these beautiful animals being thanked for making good money for their owners, they get mistreated and overworked. “These people have no mercy on the animals at all,” said Al-Bassyoni. At that point, Al-Bassyoni pointed to the owner of a neighboring stable, A. Al-Ghamdi, who happened to be present during the discussion, and said that he was one of those involved in the horse renting business. Al-Ghamdi was, however, not in the least embarrassed by Al-Bassyoni's statement. He readily admitted that he rented his horses to Africans and Yemenis and that he charged at least SR600 per month for each horse. Furthermore, he made a point of complaining about the condition in which his customers returned the animals that they rented from him. “I rent my horses to them healthy, and they return them back to me sick and unable to walk,” Al-Ghamdi complained. “They take them from my stable and accommodate them in streets somewhere in Al-Baghdadiyyah district. They take them to the beach from 4 P.M. and never return home until 4 A.M. or later. When they come back, the horses are exhausted and can't eat well, so they go to sleep immediately. When the animals wake up, the men give them a quick shower and take them back to the beach again,” Al-Ghamdi said. Al-Ghamdi's comments were corroborated by a recent Saudi Gazette story which reported that animals confiscated in raids at the Corniche conducted from time to time by the municipality are being housed in the city's municipality-owned zoo. An official at the zoo confirmed that the animals were in poor health as a result of being overworked and poorly fed.
