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140 M AY/J U N E 2 015 UNTACKED A CLOSER LOOK AT: The Brooke USA e new U.S. chapter of an established British organization is educating owners of working equines around the world to improve the lives of these animals and their caretakers. B y M E G A N B R I N C K S P h o to s c o u r te s y o f T H E B RO O K E CHARITY SPOTLIGHT I n the sport horse world, where most tack rooms contain unlimited choices of bits, five different weights of blankets, and endless combinations of feed and supplements ready to mix and match for each specific horse's needs, it's easy to forget the working horses around the globe. Enter e Brooke, an international charity and advocacy group aiming to ease the burden on working horses, don- keys and mules by educating owners on simple ways to prevent injury and pain and promote longevity. e organization's history dates back to 1934, when its namesake, Dorothy Brooke, founded the Old War Horse Hospital in Cairo. e wife of a British Major General stationed in Northern Africa, Brooke became a tireless advo- cate for the estimated 20,000 World War I cavalry horses that had been aban- doned or sold locally there following the armistice—many of which were suffer- ing from malnutrition, neglect or abuse. In the early 1930s, Brooke raised enough money to purchase 5,000 of these equines outright, and the hospital she opened added a mobile unit in 1938. Over the next few decades, what became known as simply "e Brooke" expanded operations throughout the Middle East and Asia, to Jordan, Pakistan and India, with a focus on improving the lives of working equines. Today, e Brooke services 11 coun- tries in Asia, Africa and Central Amer- ica and has administrative branches in England, the Netherlands and, as of this spring, the United States. e Brooke The Brooke partners with professionals around the world, such as these veterinarians treating a donkey in Pakistan, to advocate for welfare and equine healthcare education. >> WHAT IT IS: The Brooke is an international animal welfare organization dedicated to improving the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules in some of the world's poorest countries through treatment and owner training. The Brooke USA was established this spring as the 501(c) (3) U.S. branch of the organization.

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