After the recent sub-zero temperature emergency that involved all of Italy, we can now give you an account of the difficulties we have encountered here at the sanctuary.

To begin with, we want to reassure you that the horses, confirming their characteristics, were in no way distressed by the very low temperatures and kept on leading their lives in the big pastures of Filicaja. Obviously we gave them more hay, making sure that even the lowest ranking horses could access food at all times. Not even the oldest horses (Petit, age 31, leading the group) wanted to be closed in their stalls but preferred to be outside, free.

The real problem was frozen water pipes, which forced us for over two weeks to find emergency solutions. We installed big water troughs near the fences and filled them two or three times a day, either by carrying buckets or by towing a big barrel with a tractor…at times a very difficult task, as was transporting the bales of hay, due to the ice and snow on the roads and in the pastures.

In the end all went well, thanks to Elisa, Michele, Wieke, Annalisa and Max. We are extremely grateful to these volunteers and to their commitment. They have taken care of our friends in the best of ways, in spite of the emergency situation.

Have a look at some photos of this Siberian February!

We also ran into a small problem, certainly caused by scarce understanding of the equine species: incredibly, we were sent a warning by ASL (the Italian local health authority) because someone passing by on the road had noticed “the horses standing outside in the cold”. Obviously the inspection by ASL officials had no consequences (there was no mistreatment, as all the horses were doing fine!). Further details will be given in a future newsletter.

The experience of the last few days has made us realize that we will have to organize better in view of the winters to come. One improvement will be insulating the water pipes. The cost of the material is not excessive, but it becomes expensive for us , considering the great length of the pipes that must be insulated.
With your help we can program this expense and be ready for another emergency without having to utilize such expensive means as an almost full-time tractor.

Your contribution is crucially important. Please help us today!