At a kampung near the Grogol River in Kemanggisan, West Jakarta, a group of delman (pony-drawn buggy) drivers live with their families and their animals.

In a stable 25 ponies are housed in 2.5-meter wide boxes.

The delman is celebrated as an icon of Betawi culture, often found in public recreation areas.

During former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s tenure delman were banned from the National Monument (Monas), Central Jakarta, because the ponies’ droppings littered the area, one of the city’s most important landmarks.

But the ban was recently revoked by Governor Anies Baswedan and the buggies are starting to return to the Monas area.

One delman driver, Adan, 57, said he took care of his pony by himself. “My pony, Japer, has been with me for 20 years,” he said affectionately, adding that he had been a coachman in Jakarta since the 1970s.

Adan said every time Japer fell ill, he would give him human medicine. “Just like humans, horses can easily catch a cold. If that happens I just give him Inza [a cold remedy with naproxen as the active ingredient],” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Adan also said if the pony suffered a severe cold, he needed to draw the pony’s nasal mucus out using a mixture of salted fish flakes and other ingredients. “I insert the mixture into his nostrils, then his snot should flow out easily,” he said.

“I also gave him herbal drinks made of curcuma, brown sugar, and warm water routinely to make him strong,” he added.

Another coachman, Subur, 41, had a special way of treating his pony. “Every time I buy a new pony, I make an offertory ceremony,” he said while patting his animal, Jaka.

Subur will make tumpeng (a cone-shaped serving of yellow rice accompanied by assorted side dishes) and invite people to eat and pray together.

“It is a way to wish him a good luck in entering the world of the delman,” he said.

Benvika from the Jakarta Animal Network (JAAN) confirmed that the delman coachmen in Jakarta did not obtain formal training and often practiced experimental approaches in treating their ponies.

“I witnessed many coachmen treating ponies’ wounds using mercury,” he said, adding that the wounds would be smeared with mercury powder taken from used batteries. “The wounds would seem to heal from the outside, but many horses caught cancer from this method,” he said.

Benvika said his organization had tried to provide workshops and counseling to Jakarta coachmen in Kemanggisan in 2009.

“We even took some of the coachmen for an excursion to Yogyakarta. We tried to adapt Yogyakarta’s approach in managing their pony-drawn buggies in tourist spots, such as their organization system, their way of treating the ponies, and even the coachmen’s way of dressing up to increase their value as tourist attractions,” he added.

The initiative was not well received among the coachmen as they often violated the agreed rules, such as providing at least one day off each week for their ponies.

Now JAAN can only can rescue overly abused ponies from their coachmen based on reports. A recent example being the case of Chester, an old delman pony who was thrashed after collapsing on the street in Depok.

“Chester is now enjoying his retirement in the Arthayasa stable and horse-riding facility,” Benvika said, adding that JAAN had rescued around five ponies since 2009. (gis)

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