Today our podcast travels to Indonesia, to the tiny group of the Gili Islands, situated North of Lombok and East of Bali. Indonesia has a few native pony breeds which is unusual for a tropical island nation. Horses have always played an important economic as well as religious role in Indonesia and especially so on the Gili Islands, as they have banned all motorised vehicles. So pony carts are the main way of transportation there. At the same time the odds are striking, no natural sweet water source, very little grass and few skilled vets or farriers. Add Corona and suddenly the situation gets really bad for most of the ponies and their owners. I am talking with Tori Taylor, an American who made the Gili Islands her home and as a veterinary technician, is predestined to help the ponies. She has founded the NGO Horses of Gili and helps to feed and care for them. Additionally she has started to teach local kids riding on rescue ponies, all in the middle of the Corona pandemic. https://equestrianadventuresses.com/2021/06/11/horse-podcast-ep-144-saving-the-ponies-of-the-gili-islands/