2023-05-20 06:13:00
This event is repeated here in Germany every year at the end of May. In 2023, it will take place on Saturday, the 27th. The first photograph was taken on one of the past such days several years ago at the very culminating moment when the only herd of wild horses in Europe – not feral, but from time immemorial living here in the wild (!) – flies like a whirlwind into a spacious arena near the Westphalian city of Dülmen in front of through the eyes of twelve thousand spectators.
The clatter of hundreds of hooves, dust in a column – today one-year-old wild stallions will be caught here. Here’s how it will go…
However, we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit. A couple of hours before this delightful moment, the herd is still grazing peacefully not far from the arena in a spacious paddock.
Reserve
The day before, foresters had driven horses from all over the reserve here – four hundred hectares of fenced forest, which is twice the area of the Principality of Monaco. The wild horse forest reserve (Wildpferdebahn Dülmen) is a private reserve created more than a century and a half ago by the local dukes von Croy (Herzog von Croy) in the Westphalian region of Münsterland.
wild horses
The first mention of wild horses in these places dates back to 1316. For many centuries, they hid from human eyes in the neighboring Merfeld swamp, but in the century before last, a herd was nevertheless discovered, after which they began to hunt horses.
As a result, the number of the herd was reduced by five times in just one decade, but the then Duke von Croix decided to save them from extinction. About thirty of the last wild horses were captured on his orders to be settled in the ducal reserve – in natural conditions, but under protection.
Heritage
The herd grew to four hundred heads. All young mares are kept, and one-year-old stallions are captured and sold to control population growth and prevent fighting. In the wild, such herds usually consisted of a dozen mares and one stallion. In the Dulmensky reserve, the stallion is settled for only a couple of months a year.
Color and shades
One of the signs of wild horses is a gray mouse color, but peat and reddish-yellow shades are found in the herd. These are genetic traces left by stallions of English ponies, tarpan horses, and Przewalski’s horses. As for the latter, they were brought to Germany from Mongolia at the end of the 19th century.
New life
Noon. An endless stream of spectators stretches to the arena from the parking lot, into which the neighboring ducal meadow is turned for one day. Tabun will fly into the arena exactly on schedule, but before that, visitors will have demonstration performances. These horses a couple of years ago were the same wild stallions caught in Dülmen. Today they will show the audience what they are capable of, what they were taught by the owners who bought wild one-year-olds at the auction.
Kind, but with character
Dulmen wild breed – horses are low, unpretentious, hardy, strong, kind, but with a character that requires special patience. Perfect for teaching children to ride or for sledding. Previously, stallions caught from the herd were used as working horses in mines or in agriculture.
Natural conditions
Speaking about this wild herd, it should be noted the presence of certain features inherent in domesticated breeds, for example, the hanging mane of some horses. Wild horses have erect manes, but there are also enough of them in the herd. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that the Dulmen herd has always developed according to the rules of natural selection – in the forest, without the help and intervention of man.
Reserve rules
No veterinary care, minimum contact with people – these rules were adopted in the reserve a century and a half ago. Wild horses, if the need arises, use the forest and meadow grasses as a kind of green pharmacy – for example, the bark and buds of trees. The only human intervention here is weeding out young stallions in the spring once a year. Meanwhile, demonstration performances preceding the main action have already begun in the arena.
To the arenas
This horse was captured the previous year. He has already learned something, but has not yet been circled, which is usually done at the age of four. He walked around the arena in the traditional form of … catchers, whom we will soon see, that is, a kind of local Westphalian cowboys. The preliminary program is similar to a circus performance, in which horses of different breeds participate – under saddle or harnessed to carts.
Dust column
The clatter of the herd’s hooves, which has taken off and is rushing towards the arena, is heard from afar. The music was muted and the stadium announcer was silenced to allow the audience to enjoy the unique moment. Clicks of thousands of cameras dissolve in this sound, like raindrops in the ocean. Excited horses will make several circles around the stadium and stop in the center, taking up all-round defense.
Premiere and weather
The need to catch stallions arose at the beginning of the last century, when the number of the herd reached its current level. By this time, the area of the reserve had doubled compared to the original two hundred hectares. The premiere of a kind of Westphalian rodeo took place here in 1907. The tradition was started. On this day, the weather, which was even called ducal, never let down.
Westphalian cowboys
The fishing team consists of residents of neighboring villages in the vicinity of Dülmen. The area here is rural, peasant, there are many horse breeding farms. Valiant fun – naked human hands against wild horsepower. The fight always starts one on one. One of the catchers is trying to grab the stallion’s neck to direct the movement …
Strategy and tactics
Then two or three more people come to the rescue to prevent the one-year-old stallion from hiding again among other horses in the herd, knock him to the ground and, holding him in this position, put on a bridle. Here you can hear the reaction of the public and comments in the stadium during the capture of the tenth and eleventh stallions on this day in 2011.
Last resistance
The bridle is an intermediate victory. Now, for her, the young stallion must be taken to a separate paddock, in front of which he will be implanted with a chip, and then sent to wait for the auction. Stallions used to be branded, but this tradition was abandoned due to criticism from animal welfare societies.
restless day
Friederike Rövekamp – chief ducal forester. In the arena, she stands out with her traditional uniform. She is not directly involved in catching wild stallions, but it is she who is responsible for what happens on the field. In a conversation, the chief forester admitted that she did not really like this day …
dangerous moments
She especially dislikes this day because of such moments… One of the young German cowboys, seized with excitement, did not want to let go of the stallion and let himself be dragged into the herd. However, if you follow the rules, usually life-threatening situations do not arise.
Everything is fine
Fortunately, everything worked out. Fifteen minutes after the medical assistance was rendered, the young man returned to duty to the applause of the public, but the stadium commentator urged him to cool down and not climb into the heat. As you can see in the picture, wild horses avoid people, the herd rushes past the one lying on the ground, bypassing it like a foreign body.
Until next year
The restless day is coming to an end. The same-year-olds, having received numbers, are waiting for the auction in a separate paddock. The average price is about 400 euros, but in some cases it can reach 2500-3000 euros. Part of the proceeds goes to the needs of the reserve. In the center of the arena, the unsifted part of the herd is still circling. In the far corner behind the fence, horses with foals born this spring are calmly watching what is happening. These experienced mares, as the stadium commentator calls them, know that they will soon be released back into the protected forest to their native free meadows.
P.S.
Auctioned young wild stallions will spend one more night in the arena in the paddock. Before transportation, they need to take a break from stress and first close contact with people. The new owners buy a kind of lottery ticket, figuratively speaking, a stallion in a poke. It is impossible to make predictions about the character and qualities, which is officially warned before the auction.
Crown Prince von Croix, giving advice in an interview to horse lovers who have bought a wild one-year-old stallionsaid that for acquaintance it is best to take a thick book, put a chair in the stable and, sitting next to him, just read it for a start in order to let the horse get used to himself.
#Wild #horses #Germany #restless #day #stallions