For World Horse Day on 20.8.2023
Horses have a soul that carries us
From the perspective of Gut Aiderbichl
(written by Gisela Pschenitschnig)
Every day when I walk through the horse stable alley, I realize what a small person I am in front of these big horses that curiously look at me in the morning. I feel insignificant and small and until a few years ago there was also the fear.
At some point I was to learn that this fear of the big, muscular horses with the huge hooves and their power comes from ignorance and wrong behavior. Michael Aufhauser said, "I think you want to, but you don't dare to pet a horse. Here, in this stable alley there is a great horse that can take away your fear if you let him!". Larry became my "professor."
Larry
Elegance in the shape of a horse
Larry, an Oldenburg, comes from a large dressage show stallll. There he was considered talented but not very ambitious. When it was over with his career, Larry was allowed to Larry was allowed to stay. However, he did not understand that the riders usually passed him by to get another horse out of the box. It was decided to give Larry a happy life at Gut Aiderbichl to make possible, and has been since then by his former owners and continues to be actively supported by them. On the day of his arrival, everything was very exciting for him. There he turned to the big cold-blooded horse Krümmel to him. The two became inseparable friends, until Krümmel, a huge Brabanter with the soul of a kitten, passed away. Larry mourned for weeks, and took Hedy, a German riding ponyinto his stable with him. The two live inseparably for many years in our A-stall, the old stable.
Bimbo
A Frisian from the circus
Bimbo came with other three Friesians from a circus. There There they showed their learned tricks for some years, until the circus had to give up.
Stallions work in the circus. Even before they arrived at Gut Aiderbichl the Friesians were castrated in the veterinary clinic. Bimbo showed very clearly for some time that he wanted absolute quiet. He also did not want any horses around him, until one day he fell in love with the ponies Amelie and Mariechen. Both ponies now live in the B-stable. As it is in life - Bimbo looked for ee new girlfriendher name is Princess.
Paula was only 6 months old
The butcher in Italy was already waiting
Did you know that horses for slaughter spend up to 60 hours in the transporter from Poland to France? Many horses do not even endure the long journey, are trampled down by the others and die. Among them are young, healthy horses.
As fate would have it, the young foal's path crossed with the founder of Gut Aiderbichl, Michael Aufhauser. The butcher in Italy had already been waiting for Paula. Michael Aufhauser always said: "Try to educate people. Try to feel what a horse suffers when it has to go on the slaughter truck. If you feel goose bumps and cold when you try, then that is only a very small part of how a horse feels. If you can pass on this horrible sensation to people, then perhaps the horse's last journey to the slaughterhouse will be half a meter shorter. People need to rethink ...". These words have accompanied me for many years. Paula unfortunately died at the age of 24.
The stress in the van to the slaughterhouse
Foals are born to die when the breeding standards are not right. If the foal does not meet the ideal, it is rejects. The next step is the auction. Here the foals are separated from the mother, from now on the foal belongs to the cattle dealer and then to the horse slaughterhouse.
How do horses feel when they have the long, torturous journey ahead of them? Numerous studies have shown that being locked up, confined, noises or vibrations are extremely stressful for horses. As a result, the immune system is negatively affected, and in addition to the physical problems, there are also psychological problems, great exhaustion and, in extreme cases, death. Can the legal requirement of 8 hours driving time on the cattle transport help?
It is the anonymity of animal sacrifice that makes us deaf to their cries.
~ Luise Rinser
Let yourself be carried by the soul of a horse.
Your Gisela
