2020 has been a difficult year for many with the pandemic and had a huge impact on everyone, including our voiceless friends - the animals. Simhasthita, a 10 year old girl, has grown up around animals and her love for them has been passed on to her from her family. Apart from caring for multiple dogs at home, she learnt horse-riding from a very young age and even has experience rescuing birds in distress. Part of her animal-caring education comes from volunteering at Samabhava - an NGO that works for the welfare and protection of abandoned horses, ponies and working animals. During the lockdown, the NGO had major difficulty in procuring daily supplies including animal feed. It is at this juncture that Simasthita pitched in to support them. Through her self-directed YouTube videos, she raised INR 75,000 even as the donations poured in from far and wide.

Simhasthita Singh volunteering/at work at Samabhava, an NGO at Palace grounds, Bangalore, India. She helped raise INR 75,000 during the lockdown through her self-directed videos. In her video she introduced Samabhava and the work they do. The video was shared on social media which helped raise funds for Samabhava.

Simhasthita Singh grooms Survivor, a pony rescued by Samabhava. Grooming is an important part of horse care. Grooming a horse daily allows the handler to check on the horse’s general health and well-being.

Simhasthita Singh gets the horses and ponies feed ready at Samabhava. She mixes the sprouts with oats and bran and puts them into separate bowls which are fed to the horses.

Simhasthita Singh gives Sultan his food and watches over him while he eats at Samabhava.

Simhasthita Singh with one of her favourite ponies Sultan. Sultan was found amidst heavy traffic on the streets of Bangalore. He suffered from a deadly and extremely painful hoof disease called ‘Founder’ or ‘Laminitis’. He was barely able to walk. With lots of care from the NGO he lives a secure life.

Simhasthita Singh stacks up the horse feed in an auto. The feed is then transported to the rescued horses and ponies that have gone out to graze at a different locations.

Simhasthitha Singh records another YouTube video. She has made different videos for Samabhava introducing the NGO, talking about the work they do, introducing the rescued horses and ponies and their injuries and handicaps, the cats and dogs at the NGO. She makes one more video with the hope to raise more funds as Samabhava has 2 new horses, 1 with grievous injuries.

Simhasthita Singh checks to see if everything is ok with the recording she’s made. She usually records the videos with the help of her brother. He also helps her edit the videos.

Simhasthita Singh has a discussion with Sandesh, the founder of Samabhava. They discuss the tasks she has done for the day and the tasks that are pending for the week. They talk about the injuries of the rescued horses and ponies and what needs to be done for each horse and pony.

The first video that Simhasthita Singh made on Samabhava which helped raise 75,000 INR for the NGO. It was then shared on social media to raise additional funds.

Simhasthita Singh watches the India vs Australia match with her family. She loves playing cricket and even trains at a cricket camp.

Simhasthita Singh during her online class at home in Bangalore, India. During the pandemic schools were closed and classes were conducted online

Simhasthita Singh gives Mo a hug. Mo was taken in by Simhasthita’s family from CUPA, a shelter for stay animals. He started going out to graze with the ponies rescued by Samabhava and then became a part of their herd. He now spends most of his time at Samabhava in Bangalore, India.

Simhasthita Singh rubs Mo’s head. She says that they love each other, and he loves the head scratches that she gives him.

Mo - the donkey, tries to rub his head on Simhasthita. Simhasthita and Mo share a special bond. He loves rubbing his head on her.

Samabhava is an NGO at Palace Grounds in Bangalore, that works for the well-being, welfare and protection of abandoned horses, ponies and working animals

Many NGO’s and volunteers came together to cook food and feed the street dogs/Indies. Food was delivered to different areas. One such area is Palace grounds. Palace grounds has over 500 street dogs. The dogs were dependent on food and scraps from the wedding halls. With no weddings happening, the dogs had no food. Food was cooked and dropped off every evening by volunteers at different gates at the palace grounds. Simhasthita along with her father and a few volunteers would feed over 100 dogs every day.

A few street dogs at Palace grounds, Bangalore, India. During the lockdown millions of street dogs went hungry. With shops and restaurants shut, the canines’ main source of sustenance—garbage scraps was gone. Many NGO’s and volunteers came together to cook food and feed the street dogs/ Indies. Simhasthita helped feed over a 100 street dogs every evening during the lockdown.

Simhasthita Singh gets Thunder ready for her riding lessons. She helps the groom with saddling Thunder up for the lessons.

Simhasthita Singh at her riding lessons at home in Bangalore, India. She rides three to four times a week.