W F Young Inc., manufacturer of the Absorbine range of equine products, is celebrating 125 years of manufacturing and distributing by launching a special edition of its ShowSheen hair polish and detangler. The company is also raising money for international animal welfare charity, Brooke.
Founded in 1892 by Wilbur Fenelon Young and his wife, Mary Ida, the company’s first product was Absorbine Veterinary Liniment. Wilbur delivered cargo with a wagon and a team of horses (pictured). Mary Ida was an avid horse enthusiast and cared for all their horses and the couple developed a formula of herbs and essential oils that became Absorbine Veterinary Liniment.
This year, it has added a limited edition 1.19 litre ShowSheen Original Hair Polish and Detangler with 25% extra product free to its range. Through product sales and the support of brand ambassador Charlotte Dujardin, Absorbine will raise money to support Brooke’s work in helping working animals.
Brooke works across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to improve the lives of over 2million working horses, donkeys and mules. Its work goes back to 1930, when Dorothy Brooke arrived in Egypt determined to find the surviving ex-warhorses of the British, Australian and American forces. These horses were sold into a life of hard labour in Cairo when conflict ended.
Searching for them throughout Cairo, Dorothy was appalled to find hundreds of emaciated and worn-out animals desperately in need of help. She wrote a letter to the Morning Post (which later became the Daily Telegraph) exposing their plight.
The public were so moved they sent her the equivalent of £20,000 and within three years, she bought 5,000 ex-warhorses. Most were old, exhausted and had to be humanely put down – but thanks to her compassion, they ended their lives peacefully.
Dorothy knew that thousands of hard-working horses, donkeys and mules still suffered so in 1934 she founded the Old War Horse Memorial Hospital in Cairo, with the promise of free veterinary care for all the city’s working horses and donkeys. The Brooke Hospital for Animals was born.
