Unguwan Doki: Kaduna community where horse grooming is serious business

The first picture which meets the eye on arriving at Unguwan Doki area of Kaduna city are trolleys of fresh grasses lined up in contrast to the weather beaten mud structures cracked at several angles, but which are still effectively housing horses that were bleating loud enough to be heard a few yards away as […]

The first picture which meets the eye on arriving at Unguwan Doki area of Kaduna city are trolleys of fresh grasses lined up in contrast to the weather beaten mud structures cracked at several angles, but which are still effectively housing horses that were bleating loud enough to be heard a few yards away as if they knew food was nearby.
Old men listening to transistor radios held in hands with tale signs of decades of caring for horses as their fingers are knobbed, prematurely wrinkled or scarred from injuries. With wry smiles exposing tobacco-stained teeth and gap filled mouths, they shyly welcome our reporters and urge them on to the mosque where the village head was praying.
Conspicuously above the stable where they are sitting is an inscription that reads: ‘Crescent Stables: Horse Haven.’ The community couldn’t be any better described.
In Hausa language ‘doki’ means horse, while ‘Unguwan’ means a hamlet or village. In the city of Kaduna there is a community ‘Unguwan Doki,’ located between the Sultan Bello Primary School and the Sultan Bello Mosque on Ali Akilu Road, opposite the National Museum, where horses have stables either for polo or racing.
Kaduna’s first horse stable was situated in the present day Kabalan-Doki, where a police college is located. Horses were trained and used by soldiers of the West African Frontier Force (WAFF) set up by the British colonialists in 1897 because of concerns over French colonial expansion in territories bordering on Northern Nigeria.  
The Premier of Northern Nigeria, the late Ahmadu Bello, however, later transferred the stable to its present location, Unguwan Doki.
Before then, the British had started using the horses for sporting activities such as polo, which has since been adopted by a few elites in the North. Polo is otherwise known as the “Game of riches and death.’’   
An authority on rearing and training of both racing and polo horses, who worked in the stable of the late General Hassan Usman Katsina, Malam Muhammad Rabiu (Kurma), revealed that the Sardauna probably transferred the stable as a result of noise from gunshots from trainee police recruits at the Police College. He said the noise made the horses uncomfortable.
Late Air Vice Marshal Usman Muazu while military administrator of Kaduna State, ordered that Unguwan Doki be relocated, but the intervention of the late General Hassan,   (Ciroman Katsina), saved Unguwan Doki from the firm grief of the military decree or order. He said the stables would be fenced with a modern gate to give the changing city of Kaduna a face-lift. This led to the naming of the gate of Unguwan Doki as ‘Ciroma Gate.’
In Unguwan Doki, horse stables have changed from the traditional round huts of the first generation, made of clay and mud, to the second generation made of concrete blocks with windows for the horses to peep out and have some fresh air. While the third generation made of concrete block stables have high roofs and fittings such as ceiling fans to ward off flies and mosquitoes as well as other embellishments for the well-being of the horses.
On care of the animals, Ali Ibrahim, the community’s village head, himself a groomsman for over 30 years, explained that a horse needs to be feed, kept clean and have its surrounding tidy.
“The trainer should be conscious of its health. When you leave a horse in the night, you have to check it in the morning and observe if it is healthy,” Ibrahim explained.
“If it is not, it will not be standing when you approach it, it will be squatting. The main sickness of horses is either stomach pain or malaria. During the hot season we bring them out of the stables for feeding and exercise by 6 am and during wet season by 9 am,” he said.
“If you put your fingers in its mouth and it feels cool but the nose is hot, this is a sign of malaria fever. You then call a veterinary doctor. Sometimes they administer a drip to it after other medications. Horses do not have large intestine as other animals, but have small intestine,” the village head added.
This is the reason groomsmen have to be careful with feeding because horses know the voice of their keeper even from afar. “They do not eat the food they have urinated on,” he said.
Usman Jihadi, who has been a wrangler for more than 30 years, says: “Race horses are fed millet, which makes them to run faster, but polo horses cannot be fed millet always as it will make them run so fast that they cannot be easily controlled. As polo horses need to halt, turn either left or right depending on where the player wants to go in pursuit of the white wooden ball,” stressing that that is why they mostly feed polo horses with seven types of grasses to make them physically fit for the rigorous   of ‘the game of riches.’
However, Unguwan Doki has undergone many changes due to development and urban planning, while recognition by the Zazzau Emirate Council has uplifted its status from a ward or ‘Unguwan’ to a village or ‘Gunduma’ and the upgrading of some horse trainers to reputable polo players.
Malam Hafizu Musa, who holds the traditional title, ‘Danmasanin Unguwan Sarki-Ta-Yamma’ (Unguwan Doki), said different horses are trained for different activities – polo horses are trained to do rigorous sport and carry players of different weights and sizes; traditional white horses are for military parades, while royal horses are for Sallah festivities or durbar at special events.
He said sometimes, retired polo horses are sold to durbar enthusiasts or the owner keeps feeding them till they die. Sometimes retired horses are given out to trainers who would sell them to Igbos for traditional rites during the burial of   royal title holders.
There is much ado about caring for horses, but not much can be said about caring for the environment in which they thrive. Even sighting horses, the stench of their wastes which reeks through the community alerts all of their presence. Also in dire need for refuse disposal, there is a need for gutters and running water at the ‘horses’ haven.’
The unguwan has an active business side. Ibrahim said the prices depend on the horse’s size, health and speed during the bargain as well as the purpose for which it is being bought. While the price of a fully grown Argentine horse ranges from N1million to N3 million, Sudanese horses are the most expensive in Africa, followed by ‘Tallon’ from Kenya, Chad and Sudan, and ‘Bargazal’ or ‘Dan-Arewa,’ since Nigerian horses are either from Kano, Sokoto or Borno.
“Horses are also hired out for between N1,000 and N3,000 per hour during traditional ceremonies like turbaning rallies, durbar among  others. And Zazzau district heads hire horses from us during Sallah celebrations at N10,000 to N15,000 for a two-day durbar in Zaria,” Ali said, adding that the proceeds cover feeding expenses of the horses.
Even the waste from the animals isn’t wasted. It’s sold off in kilos to farmers, he adds.
Ibrahim brags that he knows nothing more than horse breeding and training. “Through this, I married, raised my children and built a house from my income as the curator of the breeder and trainer under the stables of the late Genral Hassan Usman Katsina,” he said.
Other auxiliary labourers in the Unguwan Doki are the grass cutters who cut, transport and sell to the horse breeders. They are mostly youths from Sokoto, who come to the community as seasonal labourers every year to earn a living.
Unguwan Doki’s story is incomplete without the mention of its teenage wranglers who feed, clean, with or without a saddle transport the giant animals from Unguwan Doki to Murtala Square where the big boys plays Polo. They also transport them back to Unguwan Doki at the end of the day’s practice or tournament. They are also hired to partake in mini durbars within and around Kaduna when a prominent person is awarded a royal title by a district head, during marriages or anything of interest. These boys can handle the beasts with agility and enthusiasm to the admiration of many.
One of the wranglers, who is making waves and has high hopes for the future, is Muhammad Ismail. He earned the name ‘Riba,’ meaning profit, as within a range of four years he learnt how to handle a racing horse, though he yet master a polo horse.
Ismail, who is in school, once had an accident while speeding during a mini durbar and recovered after a month, but this did not deter him as he is still pursuing his desire to become not only a wrangler but a successful horse jockey, a professional polo player and a university graduate.
Another wrangler, 12 year-old Abdulrashid Ibrahim, who is in primary school, said he has been learning horse-breeding for three months now. “The excitement for me is that it is a profession that yields money on any level from cleaner to trainer to amateur and then professional racer and polo player,” he said.
With three horses in his care, he reels out their names as ‘Sparrow,’ ‘Big Horse’ and ‘Kiriku,’ the baby of the trio, like a proud father would of his children. “I wash and clean the stables and their environment of feeds remnants, dung and urine,” he said gently caressing their mares one after the other.
This affection was visible to our reporters when a water vendor narrowly missed bruising a horse, ‘Gas.’ He was severely warned thus: “If your trolley as much as touches this horse and then you injure him, I will finish you. You think I’m taking care of him for nothing… just try me.”
He said  “A healthy horse attracts gifts from the owner and if otherwise, it does not attract any gift, but rebuttal.”
To those who want to learn the art of horse-riding, Riba and his peers are always available at the Murtala Square daily from 4 pm till night fall coaching youths and little children at a token.
For the residents, life couldn’t be any more interesting and communal than it is with the horses. The community is special because it entered the history books being referred to as ‘village in the city’ with mud huts dating up to 80 years. Most of these have been converted from horse homes to human homes, some others shops.