Do you still remember...
Cosimo - a Hollsteiner gelding with "flaws"
A horse lover bought Cosimo, who was advertised as healthy and was still very young, from the horse dealer. He was a big Hollstein gelding with a height of 1.90m.
It turned out that the new owner had been deceived by the dealer, because Cosimo was lame. In addition, he suffered from a chronic disease and in connection with this, Cosimo had problems with his hind legs. An infection cost him a lot of strength and it was completely impossible to ride him.
Returning to the dealer was not an option
The woman was angry with the merchant for deceiving her. She wanted to help Cosimo, and that meant, above all, not returning him to the merchant. For sure, that would have been Cosimo's death sentence. She turned to Gut Aiderbichl and asked to take Cosimo in at our sanctuary.
The grooms have experience with the care and treatment of chronically ill horses and are always in contact with the doctors in this regard. So it was decided to give Cosimo a home.
Cosimo and his new family
Cosimo was grateful, a cuddler, a people pleaser - you just had to like him. We now knew that Cosimo was suffering a lot with his "elephant foot" and tried very hard to help him. The infections were taking a lot of his strength and so it was agreed to transfer him to the newly completed A-stable. This is a special stable for older horses and those with severe health problems.
A barrier-free stable for the great Cosimo
Cosimo enjoyed the best care and veterinary care in the A-stable. He was content and had many friends around him. We knew that the discomfort would not go away and often had to get him up. He was constantly visited and cared for by the vet, but his increasing weakness could not be overlooked.
Horses cannot express their pain
Horses do not have a sound to express pain. They endure their pain. That is why it is very important to perceive the animals and observe their body language closely. Humans have to learn to interpret the behaviour of the graceful horses, of which Cosimo was in any case one.
We knew what to do...
Cosimo could no longer stand up on his own, everything had become very burdensome. His eyes had a very particular look. They said: "Thank you for giving me such a good life, but now it's time...". His grooms and all the horses were in the stable when we let our big one go. We will never forget you, Cosimo.
