Nora
She came back like a boomerang
From the perspective of an Aiderbichler
(written by Gisela Pschenitschnig)
In 2018, Nora, a tiger pony, came to a young owner who had fallen head over heels in love with the pony. It happens – many friendships between humans and animals are decided in a matter of seconds. The pony cost an enormous amount of money, but the young woman ended up becoming the new owner of the beautiful Nora.
Nora’s breed is of Celtic descent and the Tiger pony was created through various crosses. The breed has a lighter body than the Shetland pony and is athletically inclined. Nora has a pretty pony head with small ears and a thick mop of hair.
The young woman wanted Nora as a side horse for her second horse Luna, and both were to spend the summer months on the mountain pasture. Unfortunately, laminitis was diagnosed. Laminitis is one of the most painful orthopaedic conditions affecting horses, and there are various reasons for its development. The cost of treating Nora’s severe laminitis was beyond her financial means and Nora was, it was thought, sold to a good final destination. Thus began Nora’s strange journey …
The tortuous path of the horse trade was to take its course
Nora came to a pony ranch and there was no reason why she shouldn’t be well here. She was also assured that she could stay here for as long as she lived. The new owners were contacted again and again and assured that Nora was doing well.
The pandemic apparently brought about a turnaround for the ponies and all the other animals on the ranch. The animals were sold on again,but neither the location nor any other contact details were disclosed about the new stable where Nora had gone. Nora had also been sold on under a different name, which made the search more difficult.
The young woman launched an appeal on Facebook. The fuel in the fire around Nora almost escalated. Overnight,it “burned” on Facebook and many people thought they knew what had happened to Nora and where she was staying at the time.
A woman who allegedly knew Nora got in touch and wanted to forward the Facebook post to the current owner. This quickly shed some light on Nora. The woman sent photos to make sure it was Nora. Nora had also been sold to her as a healthy horse – the diseased hooves had not been mentioned at all during the sale. The serious diagnosis had been concealed, while at the same time a horrendous price had been demanded for the tiger pony. The price was so high that Nora’s new owner paid it off in instalments, just so that Nora could stay in her new home.
Nora was "given back" to the young woman
The young woman and the last owner remained in contact and at some point Nora was handed over as a “gift”.
After all the crazy goings-on surrounding Nora, Dieter Ehrengruber wanted to help put an end to the suffering. “Nora should go to Egg in Switzerland, where we have the specialists for our Aiderbichler horses. Let’s hope that they can relieve her pain there and that the pony will be able to walk well again!”
Never stop giving animals a voice
is the motto that I have unconditionally adopted from Michael Aufhauser. It is the job of us Aiderbichlers to take on the stories of animals and pass them on to people, especially when they are so incredibly painful and unfair to the animal, like the story of the tiger pony Nora.Just something to think about, your Gisela.
The profit motive and dishonesty must stop with living beings:
Only when the last tree has been cleared, the last river is poisoned, the last fish is caught, will you realise that you can't eat money.
~ Wisdom of the Cree Indians
