How much ever is said about the disruption COVID19 in our lives, it will be less. It has been a game-changer, a forced metamorphosis that caused much panic to say the least. But if we look at the silver lining of this unending thick cover of COVID cloud, it handed us time(ironically). It handed us an opportunity to focus on what matters most and reshape how we
live our lives going forward.
We were all shocked into a Lockdown with no understanding of what it would encompass. Every family started to plan and purchase in advance till it had to actually ration purchases because incomes were mitigated, jobs were at stake. While every imaginable household was suffering its own uncertainties Equus Farm had a very unique scenario at hand. We had 8 grooms & helping hands who were all cut off from home. We are situated in the foothills of Aravallis which also means we are (thankfully, ironically) in a forested part of Gurgaon. Groceries & fuel are both available only through some hole wall setups. Imagine, fuel is not available; you thankfully have more than half a tank of petrol and then 10 human beings, 17 horses, and 19 dogs to feed. How would this ever add up on a daily basis, compounded for an uncertain period of time? Add on top of this, medical emergencies for rescue cases with negligible veterinary aid.
It takes every bit of courage to do the right thing in this situation. For many, it would have been easy to cut horse feed from 6kg per day to 4 or even 3kg per day and put all the horses on rest. But that would be like asking athletes to eat less, let their muscles atrophy, and be grateful for having a life. It would have been easy to stop feeding all our Street Dogs because all we had left was 1 quintal of rice and that would last roughly 2 weeks for our farm dogs. So what did we do — how did we not just survive but thrive?
One-word answer — Relationships.
At Equus Farm, we have always believed our Relationships to be more important than our Transactions. This is extended not just to our clients who come to learn horse riding but our Equine & Canine furbabies too! We saw tremendous monetary help from our clients who saw that we would need extra funding through this period to forward buy bulk food for our furbabies. Without asking this help came our way! Our veterinary doctors played on their lives to extend themselves to us whether it was blood tests, surgeries, or emergency visits — their hearts are made of gold. Our grain vendors & our vegetable vendors opened their stocks and stores to fulfill our needs at not 1 Rupee extra knowing very well our needs could be held at ransom!
But, what was most astounding was that for the first two weeks, when we did not have this help or any emerging reliefs we saw our human folk give up their needs for our furbabies. Our grooms & instructors gave up on their average share of groceries to ensure not one furry went with a lesser than average share of food. Whether it was the amount of Rotis, Rice, Dahi, Egg, Vegetables we consumer per person or it was cash volunteered from salary pools, not one person batted an eyelid before extending help.
Equus Farm founder says “I am most proud of the People & Relationships we have. We have stood the test of time & COVID to focus and provide towards what matters most to us and that is Humanity”
