Living creatures and our friends are in danger!
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Recently my friends told me that they have been raising funds to buy a horse and I was really surprised. Why do people need a horse? Then they told me about a destiny of some horses from the Ratomka centre of equestrianism and horse-breeding which became “victims of the economic crisis.
” A few people who train in the Ratomka centre decided to buy a horse and more over to provide it with billeting and care. We interviewed Irena, a girl that bought her horse with sympathizers’ support.
My name is Irena Berezovskaya. I am 17. I study in the 11th form of BSE lyceum. I have trained in the Ratomka centre of equestrianism and horse-breeding since 2005. I started to work with Ganga from the end of 2006. She was moved from a dam section to training one. She was not ridden for about year and a half. Egor from triathlon and I started to train the horse. By the summer we have solved most of the problems of Ganga. Soon I started to take her into competitions and children rides.
Irena with the bill confirming buying the horse
Because of my age I had to leave the centre in September, 2008. I often visited Ganga. I also kept in touch with Natalia Ivanovna Stec, my first trainer. In the middle of December Natalia Ivanovna told me that stables in the Ratomka centre were going to be pulled down and most horse will not have place to live so it was very likely that horses would be killed for meat. We phoned Kraevsky, the chief of the training section, and he said that 6 horses from the training section were put up for auction. Ganga was among them. I was shocked. I immediately tried to find money. Hoping that the price will be one million of Belarusian rubles as for meat, I started to ask for help my friends and acquaintances, placed ads on the Internet. I have never thought that there are so many concerned people. I thank them very much. There would be no result without them. They helped me to collect 1 million Belarusian rubles. (about €300).
In some time I was informed that the price was 4.5 million Belarusian rubles (about €1300). Where could I get such money?! I constantly tried to verify the exact information whether horses would be turned into meat. But nor the vet from Ratomka, nor trainers, no one could say for sure whether Ganga would go for meat. I waited, as I did not have such money.
Soon Stec told me that her former horse Kadilak that had been recently sent to sweat in the rent, went for meat. It was a hard blow to her. Hatalia Ivanovna has a lot of friends in the centre and she must have been told about the possible prospects and the pass of her horse to meat processing factory. I understood that I could not delay. It was necessary to find the rest sum of money.
Sponsors from Russia sent me a big sum of money but it was still not enough. My uncle gave me some part. My friend Valeria and her family helped me very much; they lent me the rest sum of money.
Another problem rose, that of billeting. Near Minsk everything was very expensive. I even did not know what to do. But I got lucky again. One of my friends from Ratomka offered billeting in a shed of her relatives. The host will feed and water the horse. The billeting cost appeared to be acceptable. I agreed.
An application is written, the horse is paid for. I could not believe in this!
Finally 29.01.2009 we took Ganga with us.
I worried about other horses. Many of them were bought out. From the rent every horse was bought out except for Kabilak. Many horses were bought from the training section. However defected dams and foals went to the meat processing factory.
I think that everyone in my situation would act in the same way. I did not do anything great that could astound the public. Now I work with Ganga by Pat Parelli’s technique, use rope halter in riding. I think everything will be OK with us. Well, I hope.)