Animals deserve to be treated with kindness and compassion. ORANGE Nation Peru treats their packing horses and mules with dignity and respect. (We work with Mules and horses in our non-Inca Trail hikes).
No one is more concerned about animal welfare than our company. Here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about mules and horses, if you have any other questions – please ask!
We use mule teams and single horses for emergencies while trekking. We use more mules and horses than other companies allowing them each to carry less weight per trip.
We do not own them; each horseman has a team of about 20 mules and 10 horses. There are 7 Orange Nation Peru horsemen.
Their work hours and days are very limited. They can work 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, but this is the maximum.
No, it’s actually good. Sweating is the animal’s way of cooling itself. We collaborate with our horseman with vitamin E supplements into the animal´s feed to promote sweating and also add electrolytes to their feed to replace necessary elements lost through sweating. Animals never go more than an hour without access to water.
As an example, our animals are seen by a vet a minimum of 2 times a year or as needed. This is a requirement to work with us. This is part of our commitment to animal welfare.
The average weight of our animals is 1200 pounds.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. We hope this gives you a better idea about our services and our responsibilities.
