Horses are sensitive animals that need care, attention, psychological comfort and a healthy diet. When exposed to traumatic circumstances, their psyche is affected and they lose their appetite. To recover and rebuild their muscles, sedatives are often used in their recovery.

Horseback riding is a sport that creates a close relationship between the horse and its rider. The animals need a safe environment, but the Gaza Strip does not offer this due to the recurrent Israeli military operations over the years, which led this type of sport to almost vanish.

Mahmoud Daghmash has a stable in the Sabra neighborhood district in western Gaza, where he breeds European and Arabian horses that he uses in wedding parties.

He told Al-Monitor, “Horses are my only source of livelihood. The last war [in May 2021] was devastating because an airstrike killed five of my horses. One night, a site near my stable was being targeted and I couldn’t go there for days to feed the animals. Finally, when I managed to go to my stable, I found Dana who had died of starvation. A week later, her daughter Dahab died; she had succumbed to the grief of losing her mother who was still nursing her. Dana was the most beautiful horse I had; she was blonde. Another mare gave birth to a dead foal, and two other Arabian horses were literally scared to death.”