All my animals!

Whether it’s Olga, Katja, or Bella, every animal on our farm has a very special place in our lives. Every creature, no matter how small, is given a name by us. We raise most of them from a young age and develop a very special relationship with them. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a rabbit, a pig, or a cow—every animal, big or small, is welcome here.

But on a farm like this, you can’t always just take animals in, welcome them, or give them life. Saying goodbye is also part of it. So it is always an exciting event when it comes to auctions or sales. This year, it turned into a very special event.

It was in September, and my husband Matthias drove to Maishofen with our colt, in the hope that he would be selected as a breeding stallion.

But everything turned out quite differently. In the end, Annrei bought Vulkan; the stallion is going to England. But Annrei will tell the story of why she came all the way to Maishofen herself.

“About Vulkan and me

My name is Annrei, I work as a leadership trainer and mediator, and I am a musician.
I became aware of Maishofen as an auction site through a newsletter from ‘Animal Spirit,’ an animal welfare organization. I found the accommodation and the encounters with the horses up for auction there to be exemplary, so I had time to engage with the animals on-site—I looked at each one and sought contact. All horses react differently. I liked three of them, but one would not have been obedient, the second had no particular interest in humans as partners, and only the—actually!—very last one, in a second section of the stable, a very handsome young stallion, trusted me and engaged with me. I asked to be allowed to hold him, and he followed me without suspicion. Amazing, I thought. Such a young animal that can engage with me and accept leadership. In particular, the horse had the quality of positioning himself as higher-ranking, yet still accepting the needs of the counterpart as guiding. That is a wisdom I try to teach in companies. Anyway, that’s how it happened that, completely against my previous plan, I sat down in the auction as a bidder and bought Vulkan.
His owner offered for me to spend the following night at the Zittrauerhof instead of the local inn—and to organize the transport of the young animal from there. So I made myself useful as best I could, helped with the apple harvest, cared for the horse tack, and was invited to share meals with the open-minded family. ..Vulkan is now in Bergisch Gladbach, and in a few months he will come to England, living right ‘on my doorstep’ so that I can train him as a therapy horse through daily interaction.”

And so, it’s not just Vulkan’s new life that is taking its new course. Every year, several animals from our farm find a new home, and it is always lovely for us to receive an email or photos showing how the animals are doing.

Your farmer Katharina