Naturconexión – How we adopted Troya and Pferdinand

Animals are our companions on this planet. Some of them, like dogs and cats, we grow fond of and take into our homes. At the same time, we eat others — chickens, pigs, cows — and call them farm or production animals. Is there a contradiction in that? Not necessarily, if we remember that plants are living beings too, and we eat them as well. Life and death are connected. A wise man once told me: “The dead feed the living.” This has to do with the respect we owe to all animals, plants and living things.

Cruelty to animals

In today’s livestock industry, however — whose final product we usually see only as a packaged piece of meat in the supermarket — that respect has been lost entirely. Often, without knowing or wanting to, we eat meat from animals that have suffered badly in mass production. This meat machine, driven only by profit, has replaced our sensitivity with products that put us at a complete distance from the animal as a creature that feels. Those who make animals suffer tend to work out of sight, but it happens day after day.

The miracle of a rescue

Fortunately, every so often the miracle happens: these cases come to light and the animals are rescued. That is what happened in our story, when the Fusagasugá council seized a lorry carrying horses and mules in a state of complete neglect and malnutrition, and began the hard work of bringing them back to health. When we heard about it, we offered to adopt one of the horses. It was a little early, in truth: we had no stable yet and no space planned for them. Even so, we completed the paperwork with the council and set about building the stable straight away.

The Naturconexión Foundation steps in

When we went to collect the horse two months later, we had a surprise: the mare was pregnant and had given birth to a foal. Overnight, we had two horses. We decided to call the mother Troya and the foal Pferdinand, playing on “Pferd”, the German word for horse, and the name Ferdinand. Both animals were seen by local vets, but there was a serious shortage of medicines. For that reason our Naturconexión Foundation decided to donate the medication needed to treat the other 16 rescued horses.

Two happy horses

Today both horses are with us, happy in their stable and their small paddock on the farm. They always have fresh water and hay. Because of the mistreatment they suffered with their previous owners, though, they are still wary and easily startled. It will take us several weeks to earn their trust completely. Even so, it fills us with joy to be able to offer them a better life, and a dignified one, on our farm.

We had the chance to change their lives and we did not hesitate for a second. We are deeply grateful to the Fusagasugá council for all their help.

Alexander F. Eckmann

Co-founder