Obituary Lola
The little, wild aunt
Lola came to the Gut Aiderbichl Henndorf meeting farm as a seven-year-old pony. She had once been bought by her owners as a riding pony, but very quickly made it clear to them that she thought next to nothing of riders on her back.
Even as a young pony, Lola suffered from laminitis, which was one of the reasons why she didn't want to be ridden. At some point, the last alternative for Lola was to be the butcher. Before that happened, Lola's owners contacted the animal emergency center at Gut Aiderbichl and asked for their pony to be taken in. Lola was to be spared the butcher after all.
For many years, Lola, the small, wild aunt, lived in the main stable lane together with Mundl. Mundl had a fondness for small ponies, and when his wife of over 40 years died, he gave up completely. He no longer wanted to eat properly and suffered from the loss of his partner. We didn't want to lose Mundl under any circumstances, so the keepers came up with the idea of making Lola his new partner. However, we couldn't discuss this with Mundl and he didn't want to know anything about Lola at first. She just stood there. Quietly and patiently.
Lola showed that she was one of the "strong ones". She put up with Mundl's dismissive nature. Mundl himself obviously forgot that he had wanted to give himself up. He ate and drank and watched very closely what Lola was doing. It went on like this for weeks until we realized that Lola had won. The two horses stood next to each other and sometimes she tried to cuddle up to him. She was no longer just tolerated, Mundl saw Lola as his new life partner.
When the two of them walked back from the paddock to the Hofstallgasse, it sometimes happened that Lola ran faster than Mundl. There was a loud whinnying "Wait for me!" - maybe that's what it meant.
Lola suffered from repeated bouts of laminitis and the pain became more and more severe. We spared no effort or expense to provide Lola with everything possible during these difficult times. The last bout of laminitis was so severe and violent that our vets, groomers and farrier were at a loss. Nothing seemed to help relieve Lola's pain.
Lola's eyes told us more and more what she wanted: let me go. In the presence of all her keepers and her Mundl, Lola fell asleep peacefully. Her wild heart became quieter and quieter until it could no longer be heard. It was simply calm and quiet.
So the essence of a candle is not the wax, which leaves its mark, but the light.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
