Ebert

Ebert came to us from war-torn Ukraine. He arrived at Ktosiowo as part of the help we gave to a horse stud in Kharkiv, to which we had been sending support in the form of feed. Along with that support came him – a horse on whom the war had left a clear mark. When he reached the sanctuary, he was very frightened, nervous and lost. He spent his first days in a stable he did not want to leave. Every movement, every sound made him anxious. The war had taken away his sense of safety and his trust in the world.

Ebert is a hot-blooded horse – beautiful, fast and sensitive. He is not easy. He does not trust straight away. He needs time to warm to a person, and sometimes, if someone “doesn't suit him”, he won't even let them come near. He is very cautious and alert – as if he constantly has to check that nothing bad is about to happen.

Before coming to us he had never known life in a herd. His world was limited to working with people and to wartime everyday life, in which horses were rarely let outside because of the threat of attacks. Paddocks, pasture, freedom – he had to learn all of this from scratch. Step by step, Ebert began to discover life in a herd. Adapting took time, but the herd turned out to be a safe haven for him. Today he knows how to enjoy the freedom that open space gives him and he has found his place among the other horses.

He is skittish by nature – as befits a hot-blooded horse – and a born athlete. Luckily, he never ended up in competitive sport. Instead of pressure and demands, he got what he needed most: time, calm, stability and love. The herd gave him a sense of safety. We gave him a home.

Date of birth: 23 January 2017

Scratches I like best: only from a chosen few

Secret: he is a flat-earther