Here is a link to a video my photographer friend's mentor put on fb, hopefully you can view it. It shows the mare barn with all the mares chained to the trough along the wall, and the foals laying around. (Official website of that state stud here.)
The video is interesting to me because this is how my horse was brought up in a Polish state stud. These are government run breeding farms in places the government considers the particular breed to be important to their national identity.
I have no idea if they tie up the babies like this but Mag seems to be very good at standing tied, so I suspect they do.
The other thing I thought was interesting about the video were the comments (German):
"If the mares could only move around, it would be great."
"It looks pretty bad if you don't know better."
And then the photographer (Germany's most famous photographer) piped up, "This is what happens at virtually all state studs - the mares come in for grain in the afternoon and get individually inspected for health/injuries, then they go back out onto huge pastures the rest of the day."
Then the consensus was that these horses live better than most privately owned horses in Germany, especially after the photographer posted one of her photos of all the mares and foals at pasture.
Wish I knew more about Mag's former life in Poland.
Here is Mag's mother (the best photo I have of her) at the Michalow state stud where Mag was born. (With both parents having wrong-side manes, Mag never had a chance!)
Here is another photo from Michalow. I was surprised when I found this photo because Mag arrived wearing this very halter.
Proof!
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12 comments:
I love how people see a single moment and assume that it reflects everything. We are so quick to judge without information.
Teresa, could you see the video? You're right, people are quick to jump to conclusions when it comes to animal welfare. The look of it (concrete building, tie chains hanging along the wall) does kind of remind one of the way cows are kept in Winter here. In our neighborhood we have several milk cow farms (very small) and they do indeed spend the entire Winter in barns, sometimes tied up! But then, they get the entire Summer out on huge pastures, so.....I needn't get too upset.
I love seeing things from other cultures. Tying them for feeding is really not that different from bringing them in to stalls for dinner. I tie my horses to the fence to feed because I have no stalls. Those horses look happy, relaxed, and well cared for.
Dom, could you see the video?
Tie stalls weren't uncommon when I was a kid--usually they were converted dairy barns that were sorta converted for horses. The horses would be brought in at night and given hay and grain and left there, tied overnight. Then in the morning, out they go to pasture.
With cows, they'd be brought in and fed and milked--the tie stalls kept them from moving around and kicking over the milk bucket. This was prior to mechanized milking machines of course, but farmers don't throw anything away, they just re-purpose as needed! Cows would spend about 1-2 hours tied, morning/night, and then put back outside.
I've seen pictures of those types of barn before. I think it's really cool. The babies all look so cute napping in the deep straw.
Wrong side mane? Isn't that a bit like saying, if your hair naturally parts in the middle, that it is somehow wrong? Of the last 3 horses we will ever have, 2 have manes that fall to the left and the third has a mane that is so thick that it splits and falls on both sides. I think they're all lovely.
Wow he is really a different horse now.
We have a Lippizan winter training farm about an hour from us. It is open for tours in the winter and to watch the training sessions. The tours opens some of the barns and grounds.
p.s. "wrong side mane" I trained Fee's mane to fall to the left on purpose, to show off her tattoo! Also, I'm right-handed, so having her mane on the left means it's not getting tangled where I hang my tools.
Hi Lytha, if you’d like to know a lot more about the history of the Polish Arabian, check out the award-winning documentary made by Horsefly Films, “Path to Glory – The Rise and Rise of the Polish Arabian Horse”. Here’s a link to their website if you’d like to check it out: http://rareequinetrust.com/pathtoglory. (I may have mentioned this film to your previously but I can’t recall.) Wishing you continued good times with your boy! Vicki W.
Sirje, he changed so quickly.
Ellie, are the horses only there in Winter?
Aarene, I remember you telling me you did that, successful mane training!
Nine, I think I have seen it, I'll look: )
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