Heat kills over 20 horses in Saudi

Soaring summer temperatures killed more than 20 horses in a Saudi city in the largest natural carnage to hit these animals in the Gulf Kingdom, the Saudi Arabic language daily reported on Saturday.

The horses, mostly English, died separately during a period of few days in September when humidity rose to one of its highest levels, the paper said.

All the horses were found dead inside their stables in the eastern industrial port of Jubail, the paper said, quoting owners.

“I lost one of my best mares, with an estimated value of more than SR35,000 because of a surge in humidity rates…another horse worth over SR25,000 also died,” the paper quoted horse owner, Walid Al Obaid, as saying.

“Other owners also lost horses…I think more than 20 horses were killed during this heat wave…they could not tolerate the high temperature because they are not Arabian horses…most of the dead horses were English.”

The paper quoted another horse owner, Abdullah al Sahli, as saying many stables in Jubail lack cooling systems because of the high electricity tariff.

He said many owners resort to pouring water on their horses every hour to cool them down and save them from perishing.

“I lost three of my best horses because of the high humidity,” said Hashim Suwaid, another horseman. “I am planning to move them to other less humid cities in the country next year to ensure their safety.”