Kofka had all her ribs exposed, Stain hasn't seen for ten years. They found a new home here

The foundation from Łubianka near Toruń deals with saving horses, mainly those that worked in riding schools or were used for riding by private individuals. He takes care of several horses.

The most endearing story by far is the one about Caffeine. Mrs. Ewa found it in an advertisement on one of the advertising portals. She was described as a 12-year-old quiet mare. However, she looked very miserable in the photos.

– When I went there, I saw the saddest horse in the world. She was very thin, about twenty-five years old, a tired mare that was tied to a manger in the stable. She lived with farmers who did not have a tractor and plowed the fields with horses. They said the mare didn't want to do it, they didn't know why and that's why they had to sell her. It was clear that they weren't bad people, but Kofka didn't even have a name. She also hasn't had a run or sharpened hooves for many, many months. But all her ribs were exposed. It was obvious from the shape of her belly and the very collapsed spine that she had been giving birth to foals for many years, and she had certainly worked hard under the saddle – says Ewa Stefańska.

The whole situation took place almost six years ago, and Kaffeina is still alive and doing great today. – Thanks to the frozen marks on her sides, I found out that she comes from a famous Polish stud farm and that she was born in January 1990, which means that she will turn 35 in three weeks – adds Mrs. Ewa.

Today, Caffeine is everyone's favorite, the heart of the foundation. – At the moment, she is missing almost all her teeth, so she eats pulp and suffers from asthma, but thanks to eliminating hay from her diet, her condition is very good – emphasizes Ewa Stefańska.

The second horse that the story touches him is Stain. She is almost 24 years old and has been completely blind for about ten years. – This is a horse that was born to me when I was a child. She taught me how to ride, but most of all she taught me to respect the nature of horses.

– In the case of Plama, the chronic disease became resistant to treatment and led to atrophy of the eyeball, i.e. its disappearance. Very rarely, it affects the right and left eyes. In our case, unfortunately, this happened. Many people told me that I should put her to sleep or, worse, give her up for slaughter. I couldn't imagine this. Even then, my mother and I decided that we would try to give her a normal life. After a few years, I opened a boarding house for horses and a foundation – adds Ewa Stefańska.

– Stain's getting used to the new conditions was very difficult, and fitting her horses into the herd that would be her guides was even more difficult. Her life was stabilized thanks to Vampire – a large, older pony that was bought back from heavy recreation. He became her eyes. Spot also lives free-range, and it is heartwarming how well he knows his paddock and how he can flawlessly find the waterer, the shelter or the hay. She learned to respond to voices. She comes for meals, and I even work with her from the ground from time to time to keep her motor skills intact. However, most of the time, Spot moves carefully and slowly, but thanks to our determination and belief that she can live, she is happy now – emphasizes Mrs. Ewa.

He points out that the stories of their horses are usually very ordinary. As he admits, “the foundation doesn't take sad photos of them for fundraisers, they show the world as it really is.”

– The stories are also true, we do not exaggerate them. When the owner of a horse loved him very much, but neglected him out of ignorance, and then gave him to us so that he could have a peaceful old age, we talk about it openly and do not pretend that it was otherwise. Maybe that's why we don't have enough donors to always have enough for everything. After all, the stories of horses that are transported for meat receive much more media coverage than those of horses that worked in nurseries. Unfortunately, their life is as bad, or maybe even worse, than that of horses bred for meat. I don't know, there's probably no point in judging it, but every life is valuable, including or especially those who have spent their entire lives on someone else's account and in return only receive sales anywhere when they can no longer work, emphasizes Mrs. Ewa.

Everyday life at the foundation is not easy, although no one here complains. – We work in a small team. Me, Adrianna and Kalina, i.e. the presidents in muddy Wellington boots, two volunteers and one gentleman who helps with heavier work in the evenings – says Mrs. Ewa.

Morning feeding starts here at 7 a.m. and lasts two hours. Evening takes place from 5-7 p.m. – These are the two main meals when all the horses eat. In the meantime, we have lunch at 11 a.m. Horses that tend to lose weight and those that cannot eat hay eat here. The next meal is at 4 p.m. and the last one at 8 p.m. Some horses must be fed with grass pellets, i.e. pelleted hay soaked in water. Some of them are because they don't have teeth and can't handle hay, and others because they have asthma and any dried grass causes them to become allergic, explains Mrs. Ewa.

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However, this is not the end of everyday duties. In addition to the basic ritual, it is necessary to check whether the horses are not cold, and also to look at how they move (many of them have greater or lesser problems with the musculoskeletal system) and to check how they breathe at rest due to asthma.

– In warm months, when this disease intensifies, we often count the number of breaths per minute to check whether they are within the norm. If deterioration is visible, we administer inhalations or contact a veterinarian to verify whether medications should be administered. In addition, there is often something to lubricate, dressing to change, etc. Another aspect of the work is rolling out (without a tractor) or transporting hay in bales. We dress them in large nets with small holes. Thanks to this, its intake is similar to natural conditions – constant access to roughage, but in small bites – sums up Ewa Stefańska.