They are deaf. Or torn apart by mines. In Ukraine, even horses are suffering, reporters saw

“There are 111 horses living here, roughly the same as before the war. Our stables are very well known. We have a top breed of racing horses. But the war changed all that. If you look at the buildings, they are damaged from the explosions. Two halls are completely destroyed. All our horses are deaf, and the same is true of most horses in our country,” says Jevgenij, who is the manager of the stables in Vyšnev.

He is standing in front of a building that has been repeatedly bombed. A huge crater and shrapnel-strewn walls indicate the fate of the animals that were there.

Several employees could talk about happiness. “Three people who were working here at the time of the bomb have survived. Miraculously, almost nothing happened to them, except for shock, concussion and damaged hearing. They were saved by a thick wall and also the bodies of the horses,” he adds, pointing to the twisted structure of the roof.

There is nothing left here. Another crater is covered with hay and is in the middle of the area. The roughly five-meter hole resembles the fury of war, which also carries away innocent animals.

After hitting the stables, Russia waited a few months before things got back to normal and struck a second time. This time only a few meters from the site of the first attack. However, there were no horses here at the time, and those grazing in the outdoor paddock were not harmed by the explosion. Not physically.

“Some horses are afraid, frightened, others are apathetic. The war took not only their hearing, but also the joy of movement and life. That is why we are trying to move them from here. It has already been done with a few horses, but the costs are high. You have to get transport here, load the horses and take them to relative safety. For example, the Carpathians are suitable for this. There is beautiful nature there and the war did not affect it too much,” adds the stable manager.

The annual cost of caring for one horse amounts to tens of thousands of crowns. At the same time, the chance of a sale is almost zero. A deaf horse is not suitable for racing. Nevertheless, they continue to care for them here. Even if the state support is minimal – the money needs to be elsewhere – and the stable now has virtually no income.

Before the war, they were fed by very successful breeding, but also by hippotherapy, events for children and a riding school. The daily operation employed veterinarians, maintenance workers, nurses, riders, as well as administration. Now everything is taken care of by the administrator himself with one assistant.

Live canned meat

However, horses from Vyšnev are among the luckier ones, despite their difficult fate. A much worse fate awaited others. “When people fled from the tumult of war, many of them forgot their tethered horses. It was a slow and painful death for them. Some were torn apart by artillery fire, but also by mines. Some of them became a living can of meat,” explains Yevgenij, who has dedicated his entire life to horses and their care.

Ukrainian volunteers are trying to organize animal transfers with the help of charitable organizations. But only a fraction of the horses will get help. According to local experts, the move would be needed for roughly one hundred thousand horses. The Czechs and other countries are also involved in helping. But the war rages on, the front is shifting and it is likely that only a part will survive.