A man and his horse — exactly as it ought to look.
Why we are writing about them
When they gave us Steiger, we could simply have said thank you and had a fine extra horse. But their decision deserves more than silence. We want to praise them out loud — and more than that, we want to help them.
They are furmani, men who work decently with horses in the forest. They do not overwork them, they do not squeeze the last out of them — and that is precisely why they do not earn much. A horse that is not driven to the limit simply does not produce as much as a horse someone works into the ground in the forest. They chose the harder, more honest way. And that way is not rewarded.
Bad luck that hurts twice over
Lately the men have had truly rotten luck with horses. Over the past few years they have lost four. One they lost to an injury, another to health problems. The third was a beautiful black stallion — he collapsed right there in the forest and to this day nobody knows why. It was not from hard work; they had pulled almost nothing that day. And now Steiger has had to retire as well. For someone who gets rich on horses it would be an inconvenience. For men who work honestly and do not earn much, losing four horses is an enormous blow — it threatens their living.
Why we want to help them with an appeal
We would like to help these men buy a proper horse for the forest. We know they will not work him into the ground there — as, sadly, many others do. Nothing bad will happen to a horse who ends up with them. So supporting them does not only mean helping people in difficulty — it means securing a good home for another working horse.
„When a person does wrong, punishment comes. When a person does good, the system sends no reward. So we will send it ourselves."
And this is the deeper reason why we are doing it. Our laws and our system are built to punish wrongdoing — when someone does something bad, the penalty catches up with them. But when a person does good, as far as the system and the law are concerned no reward ever comes. Good is treated as if it went without saying. We think it should not be that way. That is why we want to reward these men for deciding as they did — so that a good deed does not go unanswered.
An appeal in support of Steiger's owners
The money raised will go towards the men being able to get a healthy horse for work in the forest — in place of the ones they have lost over the past few years.
Scan the QR code with your banking app, or use the account details below. The payment reference will be pre-filled with „Furmani" (the draught horsemen).
Bank transfer (SEPA)
Account holder: RIO o.z.
IBAN: SK97 8330 0000 0027 0350 7560
BIC/SWIFT: FIOZSKBAXXX
Payment reference: Furmani
Our account is transparent, every payment is public here. Before you confirm, please check that the recipient is RIO o.z. and the IBAN ends in 7560.
Photo gallery
The men and their horses at work in the forest.
What we need right now →
A light aluminium shovel for mucking out, a corrugated pipe for a reservoir, LDPE hoses for a water supply, concrete utility poles. Maybe you know where to find them.
Thank you →
Everyone without whom it wouldn't work: those who come to help and those who support us professionally.