Obituary Vera & Ernie
Faithful and reliable, Vera pulled the carriage for 18 years
Vera had been a special mare for her coachman. The man had tears in his eyes when he handed Vera over to Aiderbichler employees Martina and Michaela in 2019.
For almost 18 years, Vera and her owner were one heart and one soul. There was a sense of trust and love. Even when Vera was already an Aiderbichler and had found her new home at the animal visitor centre in Henndorf, he visited his Vera regularly.
For years, Vera was used for wedding rides, carnival parades and harvest festivals. Vera was reliable and ambitious and marched fearlessly through traffic, crowds and was not at all fazed by noise. As the coachman told us about his Vera, tears streamed down his cheeks.
An injury and osteoarthritis meant the end of his career as a carriage horse
Due to an injury, she was no longer able to go on long rides. Unfortunately, Vera also suffered from osteoarthritis and so she was once again harnessed for one last carriage ride alone with her owner. The man sat sadly on the coachman’s seat, holding the reins and knowing that this would be his last ride with Vera.
Hot tears turned into tears of relief
The coachman showed Dieter Ehrengruber photos of Vera as a cuddle horse at weddings, pulling a church bell, etc. There was a lot of pride in his voice. There was a lot of pride in his voice until he tearfully asked to take his Vera to Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf and Dieter Ehrengruber took the burden off the man.
Vera’s illness took its toll on her
Vera’s osteoarthritis in her front legs was treated by the animal carers with all available means for years. The decision was made to move Vera to the A stable, as there were more opportunities to turn her out to pasture or paddock and more time could be spent on the Noriker mare and her aching legs.
In the last few weeks, we noticed that Vera’s pain was increasing and the medication and therapies were no longer having the desired effect. Vera became calmer, no longer wanted to eat and her eyes tried to tell us: Let me go.
The team and the vet discussed Vera’s health situation again and everyone agreed that we would have to let Vera cross the Rainbow Bridge at the age of almost 27.
All the animal carers and friends were present to say goodbye. Vera radiated a wonderful sense of calm and slipped peacefully into the pasture, where there is no more pain. A wonderful horse had said goodbye in the way she had always been: calm and level-headed and without making a fuss. Goodbye dear Vera.
Ernie whinnied like crazy for his mum Hummel at the foal market
Horse markets are degrading places for the mares and their foals. During the auction, beer is served, people eat and laugh loudly. Nobody cares about the mare who will neigh for her foal after the auction, nobody cares about the foal that turns its head after its mum who is being led away.
An auction like this was the last time Ernie would see his mum Hummel. Ernie was reluctant to be loaded. He wanted to go to Hummel. Gut Aiderbichl bought Ernie and Hummel and all the other ponies from a circus and transported the excited animals to Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf.
Ernie and mum Hummel safe at Gut Aiderbichl
Nothing bad could happen to the herd of ponies now. Ernie ran like the wind across the farmyard with his friends, his mane blowing in the wind and bursting with joie de vivre. His mum Hummel loved the big horses and turned the heads of some geldings, such as Lotto Vulkan. Unfortunately, she passed away eight years ago.
Ernie had become an old “gentleman”
At the age of 20, Ernie started to suffer from aches and pains and last year we noticed that he was losing more and more weight. He became quiet and stood in a corner, losing touch with his beloved pony gang at the farm.
A carcinoma was diagnosed, which explained Ernie’s withdrawal. We decided to relieve Ernie of his pain.
It’s always hard to make that final decision and in Ernie’s case it was even harder.
Our “Bärli” – as the animal carers affectionately called him – fell asleep quietly and we knew that the only right decision was to let Ernie move to the large horse pasture on the other side of life.
Dear Vera,
Dear Ernie,
Your biographies are deeply engraved in the hearts of the Aiderbichlers. Your life stories were not just any life stories. They were exciting, loving and thrilling and will always stay with the people who knew you.
Take care, dear Vera and dear Bärli-Ernie.
Whenever the wind blows through the branches, I know you've been there to check on things.
– Unknown
