Nora
The slaughter date had already been agreed
An elderly mare and a Limousin cattle were kept together in a pasture in the neighbourhood of a vet. Nora’s rescuer told us that the horse was breaking out more and more often and was also running around the street at night together with the cattle. This was now going too far and we had to put an end to it.
Nora’s rescuer is herself active in animal welfare and did not want Nora to be slaughtered under any circumstances. A good forever home could be found for the horse, but Nora could not be offered a species-appropriate home with cattle. So the call for help came to Gut Aiderbichl, where Nora also found a lovely new home at Gut Aiderbichl’s Moosfeldhof farm.
What did Nora learn from her friend, the horse?
Nora has been living in a large herd of cattle at Gut Aiderbichl for a few months now. Christian Kögl, estate manager, says: “Nora is doing well. She has quickly made friends with her mates and leads a happy life. She is extremely people-orientated. This is probably due to the fact that she lived with a horse in a pasture for three years. Nora has copied the horse’s way of life…”.
The taming of the wild horse was the beginning of the shared history of humans and horses. A horse can decode human emotions within a very short time. They are very social animals and highly sensitive. A horse is even able to recognise and react to human facial expressions. They themselves have seventeen different facial expressions.
So there is a strong bond between horses and humans. The horse certainly always had contact with people in the pasture, and Nora learnt over time what these encounters can mean: being stroked, called by name, given treats, etc.
Cattle tend to be shy and think twice before approaching humans and letting them stroke them. Thanks to her horse partner, Nora has learnt that there are people who mean well by animals and has become open to being stroked. She feels no stress when a human approaches her and enjoys the closeness of all her fellow animals and also of Christian when he comes to check on her.
"... it is difficult for us to leave the Nora to the butcher..."
The cow was accepted at Gut Aiderbichl, the vet bought her from the owner and sent her on her way to her new forever home. The appointment at the abattoir could be cancelled. Nora is happy and looks forward to Christian coming out to the pasture to check on her.
Horses love to sniff around the human soul, but cattle like Nora are also quite familiar with us humans. Let’s wish her a long, healthy life full of happiness and freedom in the pasture.
