Annual Report 2024

(Excerpt: the full report can be requested from Epona Foundation for Horses and the Environment c/o Mermagen, Kesselstr. 15, 53797 Lohmar)

The year ended with pastures standing under water from the rain. Temperatures were below zero for many weeks and the horses' drinking troughs were frozen over in the mornings. Every now and then it snowed a little. In the mornings, the horses waited for their daily hay ration. Even the beginning of the year was not as dramatic as 2023 with its severe drought. It rained and the pastures turned green in the spring. Except for a few weeks in winter, there was enough green to graze on.

As in previous years, there were also changes in the Epona family in 2024. We had to say goodbye to Jumpy and welcomed Julio and Sarah.

A life completed

Jumpy died on October 31. He lay in his shelter in the morning, with no signs of pain or struggle. His life was complete and he had obviously surrendered to it peacefully. As his date of birth was unknown, we estimate that he was 25 years old. Jumpy had been a loyal companion, especially to Kosmos, and once the herd had made it clear to him that he was a horse and not a bull (see also the 2013 annual report and “Our horses”), he was easy to handle. Nevertheless, he always remained his own man and didn't eat everything, especially when it came to medicine or additional products to alleviate his Cushing's disease. If he pricked his ears in warning, it was better to move to the side, and it was wise to keep a wide berth around the back of his body.

Kosmos took the loss of his friend surprisingly calmly. It was almost like an old married couple who seemed inseparable, but when one left, the other blossomed in their new-found freedom. Kosmos quickly made new friends who obviously admired him, groomed him lovingly and never left his side. And Kosmos is enjoying himself.

New arrivals from Italy

Dona Hollemann called us at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, she could no longer look after her animals and asked if we could help. It was through Dona Hollemann that Marlies Kamps got to know the horses and later decided to set up the foundation. The name EPONA also goes back to Dona. Marlies had already assured Dona many years ago that she would never have to worry about her animals, because she would take them over in an emergency. In May, Mercè and Marlies took the horse trailer to Lake Garda in Italy to visit Dona. Any missing papers were quickly and unbureaucratically obtained with the help of the vet. The grey mare Sarah and the pony, or as Dona says, the mini horse Julio, went into the trailer without any problems, spent the night quietly in a large stable on an old horse farm in the Camargue, got out in Sora, felt at home and were immediately accepted and integrated by the herd. Julio thought he had to go on a few more excursions. He went in and out under the fences as if there was no electricity. We suspected that his thick coat surrounded him like a protective shield.

Julio Cesare had been with Dona for 17 years. She had bought him in May 2008, when he was just two years old, from a neighbor as a “gift” for her Cisco. She had been warned that horses and ponies would not get along, and were usually even hostile. The opposite was true. When Cisco tried to attack Julio to protect his girls, the two donkeys Lulubel and her daughter Suzy Wong, Julio skillfully dodged him, stood under his hindquarters and started licking his penis. Cisco didn't know what hit him, and Dona couldn't believe it. Since then, Cisco and Julio have been inseparable and have stirred up Dona's “Animal Farm”. She always said, “Julio has the mind of a three year old kid, so smart ....”.

Here in Sora, Julio also behaved very cleverly to find and assert his place in the Epona family. He observed calmly, avoided arguments and when the moment was right, he took what he wanted. In the beginning, Julio and Sarah were still very close, but over time they each chose their own friends and became more and more independent of each other.

Sarah is an Anglo-Arab-Sardinian mare. Dona bought her as a dressage horse after the death of her beloved Cisco in May 2014. She was nine years old. At the beginning she was still in a riding stable, but Dona later brought her home. Julio missed Cisco terribly and Sarah was no substitute. He accepted her, but she never became a beloved friend. When Julio came to us, he followed the big gelding Lord and eventually convinced him to play with him. So the boys romp around the pastures with Tobby, while the mares look on in amazement.

Vegetarian paella for friends of the Epona Foundation

In the fall, we invited all Epona helpers and friends to a vegetarian paella: Mathilde, the horse dentist, who lovingly makes sure that the grass and hay can be shredded and utilized well every year, Silvia our Craneo-Sacral specialist, Toni, the horse tamer, Ramon, who takes care of the finca, Ramon, who looks after the finca, the forest and the pastures and always draws our attention to rare animals, Mercè, who knows every horse almost better than she knows herself, her husband Xevi and their son Marti, who was born when the Epona gang came to Sora in Catalonia from Normandy eleven years ago. ..... THANK YOU!!!

Otherwise, the year was quiet, the days filled with work for the horses, maintaining the pastures and fences, the forest and the natural water resources. Thanks to the abundant rain, water is flowing again in the stream valleys that dried up in 2023. The small ponds in the upper part of Finca Terradelles de Dalt are filled to the brim. This is also part of the independence that the horses enjoy when they find natural water reservoirs on their land. As “only” eleven horses and ponies live on the 36 hectares and hunting is of course prohibited, many wild animals have re-established themselves.

Projeto Uerê

Annie Hasemanns (volunteer at Projeto Uerê, e-mail: annie.hasemanns@gmail.com) reported to us from Rio de Janeiro:

Daily life in the favela of Maré, where Projeto Uerê is based, is becoming increasingly complicated. Dealers from other areas are gathering in Maré and the number of robberies is increasing dramatically. In particular, many cars are stolen in the city and the individual parts are then sold in Maré. In the Nova Holanda favela, a new building that had been financed by a gang for money laundering purposes was demolished over a period of weeks. The residents had already paid for their apartments, or at least paid a deposit, and were now thrown out by the police and the entire illegal new-build complex was torn down to its foundations.
Teachers from local public schools no longer have the desire or energy to work under these risks and are looking for jobs in the suburbs. Uerê had children who had no teachers for Portuguese and science for months.

We received the following report from Uerê:

The year 2024 was very difficult in the slum as operations by the military police caused lots of interruptions in the routines of the locals. Parents could not leave their homes to go to work and children could not go to school as directors of schools and healthposts were ordered to shut down before the police operations were to start. Consequently also Projeto Uerê had to shut down on many occasions. An increased number of days with lack of energy or water supply was making the lives of the locals even more precarious. Regardless of all the obstacles Yvonne and the team kept high spirits and do what they can to give children a chance to develop, to feel safe in the project, to have joy and to focus on school as away in a better future. The teaching methodology, developed by Yvonne, in the meantime is spreading both in Brazil and also in Europe. Most recently pedagogic staff in Paris learned how to approach traumatized refugee children and children living in the poorest arrondissements of Paris.