“Our horses don’t know what a man on his back is”

My love for horses began at a young age. I went to my grandmother in Ukraine, and there was an ordinary village stable where I disappeared. And then for a long time I did not contact the horses. But it turned out absolutely by chance that a friend of his daughter has a horse with which he does not know what to do. The horse was athletic, promising, and we bought it. 

For a while we went to competitions to admire our horse, but that was not enough. We began to delve deeper, take an interest in the life of our horse, other horses, stables, and it turned out that everything is not so rosy in this horse’s life.

We also went to the stud farm in Polochany to admire the horses: the sight of the herd rushing at sunset was beautiful. And once we arrived and saw how the foal was injured before our eyes. The next day we came back to see what was wrong with him. They didn’t let him go to the pasture, he stood in a stall, but since the farm was not very rich, no one was going to do it much. We called the vet, took a picture, and it turned out that the foal had a fracture. We asked if it was for sale and the answer was yes. We performed an operation on him for our own money, then they refused to sell him to us, but when it turned out that we needed to do a second operation, negotiations began again on the sale. The operation was done in Belarus, right in this stable. And finally we took the foal.

Since horses are herd animals, they do not live alone, a companion was needed. And we went to the Admiral (Mikosha). He was culled for the sport. He has a very good breeding record and his siblings are still chased by buyers, but the Admiral’s hind legs were an X like a cow’s. His legs straightened up, probably a month after the purchase, because we gave him an excellent walk.

When we bought it, we were told that Admiral was a great house horse, a “mattress”, but when we brought him home, the mattress was never seen again. On the same day, he jumped over the neighbor’s fence, trampled on all the garlic, and has remained so since then.

The third horse – Los Angeles, we named him Angelo – we got it 2 years later quite by accident. We drove to Polochany, they showed us the horses, and they showed him too – they said that, most likely, he would go for meat, as he was injured at 4 months and since then his hind legs resembled skis when moving – they did not come off earth. We invited the veterinarian, took a picture, and we were told that, most likely, he would remain so – it was too late to do something. But we still took it. The horse was in a very bad condition: fleas, worms, and the hair was long, like a dog’s – horses don’t grow like that. I combed it and cried – the brush just went over the bones. The first month he just ate, and then he discovered that, it turns out, there is another world. We gave him a spine massage – as best we could, and now the horse moves perfectly, but hangs in the air, as if dancing. Now he is 7 years old, and when they took him, he was 8 months old.

But it wasn’t some sort of planned rescue. I generally do not recommend saving horses to anyone – it is responsible, difficult, and this is not a dog that you can bring in the trunk.

It is impossible to fall in love with a horse just like that – many people are afraid of them. But only those who do not know horses are afraid of horses. A horse will never do anything wrong without warning. 

In a herd, horses communicate by signs, and a horse will never bite or strike without showing warning signs. For example, if a horse has blocked its ears, it means that it is very angry and says: “Step back and don’t touch me!” And before hitting with the back leg, the horse can lift it up. These signs need to be known, and then communication with the horse becomes not dangerous.

Although, since the animal is large, it may want to just scratch its side against the wall, and you will find yourself between the wall and the side, and you will be slightly crushed. Therefore, you must always be on the lookout. I had to grow my hair and collect it in a ponytail so that I could always see the horse, even in windy weather.

Now we have 3 horses, and each has its own character. For example, our Admiral is the most temperamental, playful, and although they say that a horse has no facial muscles, everything is written on his face. If he is angry or offended, it is immediately evident. I can even tell from a distance what mood he is in. Once a kite was sitting on a pole, and Mikosha was getting close to him – you could see how he was prancing. And when Mikosha came close, the kite flew away. Mikosha is so offended! He is all limp: how is it?

In the morning we let the horses out (in the summer at half past five, in the winter at 9-10), and they walk all day (in winter we periodically let them warm up in the stable). They come home themselves, and always an hour before dark – they have their own internal clock. Our horses have 2 pastures: one – 1 hectare, the second – 2 hectares. In the evening, everyone goes to his stall, although Angelo likes to check other people’s “houses” as well.

Our horses don’t know what a man on their back is. At first, we planned that we would call them in, and then, when we began to look after them, this thought began to seem strange: it never occurs to us to sit on the back of a friend. 

I can sit down when the horse is lying – it will not jump up, they are not afraid of us. We don’t put anything on them – just shout “Mikosha!”, And they rush home. If the veterinarian comes, we put halters on them – this is enough so that the horse does not accidentally twitch.

At first it was physically very difficult to take care of the horses, because we were unaccustomed to this and it seemed that it was just a disaster. Now it doesn’t seem so.

But we can’t go somewhere all together – only one by one. It is difficult to trust someone with animals – we do not have such a person. However, since I have been to many places, there is no longing for the fact that I do not know the world.