Lebanon's crisis hits horse breeders and racers
STORY: The Lebanese tradition of
breeding and racing horses
is struggling to survive amid a
three-year economic crisis
Trainers say this stadium
used to house 3,000 horses
Now there's some 250 left
HORSE BREEDER, HOUSSAM CHARAFEDDINE, SAYING:
“Because of this situation, we were forced to give up the horses. We only kept two horses: Shams, the main one, and her daughter. That’s all, because of the high cost of living and this whole situation. Horses didn't cost us anything, they used to cost us very little. Now we gave most of them up in order to keep practising our hobby. We’ve had horses in the family since the days of our grandfathers, that’s why we can’t let go of them, even if we have to go hungry.”
The Lebanese pound has lost
more than 90% of its value
since the onset of the crisis
RACE HORSE TRAINER, ALI SEIFEDDINE, SAYING:
“The prices of barley have doubled, even tripled. What used to cost us $2,000 now costs $5,000 and it is still getting more and more expensive. The problems in Ukraine now have affected us even more. We are cutting back a lot, but it is expensive."
