Bukittingi
Date of Birth: 30/05/2001
Gender: Male
Gotcha Day: Early 2016
Breed: Equus Ferus (Horse)
Ariane’s daughter Nastassia had a horse she really loved, he was a trotter she rescued, and after many years of riding together unfortunately he suffered and died of colics. So Nastassia was looking for a new horse she could ride and really wanted to save another trotter. She looked at many different ads and couldn’t find any trotter but she saw a notice for a horse who belonged to a farmer. Initially the horse was much too expensive for her but she went to have a look and discovered the man was an intensive pig farmer who kept his horse inside all day, he never went outside. The stall he was kept in was very dirty, with layers upon layers of mud, dirt and manure, you couldn’t see any straw. You would constantly hear the pigs screaming. The farmer didn’t know what to do with this horse so he wanted to get rid of it.
Nastassia was very hesitant but since the horse was in such a bad state, and after consulting with her mother, she took the decision to adopt the horse named Bukittingi (Buki for short). First he needed to be brought back in shape (literally) because he was very skinny. His feet were in a terrible state because they were burned by all the ammonia he was standing in all day. His feet are still quite weak.
Buki is very sensitive to a lot of things, because he got a bad start at life. He was born at that farm and his mother died giving birth to him. We presume that the farmer gave the foal some pig milk to raise him so perhaps that’s the reason he became so big. These are just speculations, of course. He’s sensitive in the sense that he’s allergic to everything and he has a poor immune system. Quite the “problem horse”.
Nastassia wanted to ride him but Buki was not into it at all, he doesn’t like to work. He had been stationary for so long that he got used to it. Since she was looking to practice her horse riding, Nastassia was looking for a family to adopt him, but obviously with all his health issues it proved hard to find someone who wanted him. At first Ariane put him in a horse pension in Holland where he was let out into a field multiple times a day and taken care of. He was undoubtedly in better shape but part of his diet at that pension were molasses which weakened his feet again. It became clear leaving him there was not an option.
Ariane wanted to bring him over here but nobody could manage to put him in a horse box. Even though he is “weak” by horse standards, he’s still a tall, strong animal compared to humans and when he puts his foot down, he’s as stubborn as a mule. So we had to wait to find the person who was going to successfully put him in a horse box and transport him all the way to the sanctuary. It took 16h to drive from Holland to the area. He arrived in the middle of the night and was dropped off at our neighbour’s horse club.
We then needed to bring him to the sanctuary but he couldn’t be fooled into going inside the horse box a second time so Nastassia had to walk him 3km from the horse club to the sanctuary.
Bukittingi is frequently getting treatments from osteopaths and he also needs supplements. We are happy to notice his health is improving.
Though all the members of our family used to go horse riding, that is a thing of the past. Since our eyes have been opened to the full spectrum of the animal cause, we no longer consume animal products nor use them for sport or otherwise. It’s all about respect, and we respect that horses and others are not here to carry us for fun. Horses exist just to be horses and for no other reason.