Tara is the first and the only private-owned Polish pound for horses which have been bought out and rescued from death transports, labs as well as inappropriate breeding conditions on farms. Here the horses stay till the natural end of their lives: they are neither sold nor slaughtered.
Tara is financed entirely from private means. The financial abilities of the owners, Scarlett and Peter Szyłogalis-Jankowiak, are barely sufficient to cover the current expenses. Nowadays Tara houses about 60 horses. The cost of their maintenance and veterinary care is increasing steadily. The pound is located on the 50-hectacre farm taken on lease with beautiful pastures, stables, farming buildings and a water well. In the neighborhood there is no river like the one in 1997 that, by flooding, forced Scarlett and Peter to run away with their animals.
And the landscape is really breathtaking.
Scarlett founded the pound in 1995 and she financed it entirely from her own financial resources. In the beginning she ran it all by herself on the outskirts of Wrocław. She divorced her husband and with a small baby-son by her side she took the bull by the horns. She has always been persistent. Nobody and nothing could stop her realizing her plans. She could have had one or two magnificent horses and a peaceful life. However, that was too simple and trivial. She wanted to have it all at once: a whole herd of horses, but not the ones admired by everyone. She chose horses rejected by others, ailing, old and ugly; what's more, doomed to death.
A lot of friends questioned her reasons and common sense. Nevertheless, some of them helped. For instance, Peter. He is an incredible man: an Indian and a cowboy combined. From the very beginning of their acquaintance he proved to be a reliable friend that was always there for her. During the memorable flood in 1997 it was Peter who rescued the animals. The flood was the trial for both Scarlett and Peter. They came through it, stayed together and got married eventually.
In 1997 horses, dogs and cats were rescued, but all their possessions were taken away by the flood. Scarlett and Peter tried to rebuild their pound, but the flood returned. They had to look for a new location for their animals. So they again took a farm on lease, this time at Poręby (Twardogóra) 70 km from Wrocław. This is a special place where horses can live till the end of their days. "Each animal" says Scarlett "which comes here can stay forever."
"This is very beautiful" say some.
"This is foolishness" say others.
They could have earned a lot on foals sold for breeding as well as on horses saved from slaughter and tailored to be saddled up. "That's true," says Peter. "It would have been easier, had it been a normal pound. Ours is rather a hospice. Of 50 horses just 5 can be saddled. Above all, they are live creatures. We can't move them from place to place like wooden blocks. It really gets tough sometimes. We quite often have to live from hand to mouth. The most important thing, however, is horses that can't lack anything. We sometimes do with just bread and butter with a slice of onion."
"Then, why do you keep horses good for nothing?" ask some visitors. "Well, let's take Łańcut with a big hole under his eye! That's very expensive and time-consuming." Such remarks make Scarlett and Peter furious. These horses have the right to live. They are happy. They spend all days (in summer also nights) grazing on green pastures. They are looking for a partner. They make true, lifetime friends. Why should we deprive them of all these? Why should we put them to death, even if they ill and senile. We have been forced to take such extreme measures three times. We had a horse called Elegant. He came to us from the experimental lab of The Academy of Agriculture in Wrocław, where he was a blood donor. In the beginning we didn't realize what he had been through. However, when the people from the Academy came for the first time, the swaying and staggering animal could hardly stand on his legs. When we noticed how much blood was taken making the horse weaker and weaker till it finally fell over, we decided to help. When we got a phone call from the Academy again, Peter said the horse had died. He was with us for two more years.
Most horses in Tara pass away naturally. When Murka felt her end coming, she lay down where her friend, Cytrus, had been buried. We put her into the grave like all other horses. She rested on hay in the hole with a handful of oats, a carrot and an apple lying next to her mouth.
At such places the contact with death is inevitable. Scarlett knew this, but she couldn't have predicted how difficult such partings would be. She couldn't have known either how moved and touched she would be while witnessing the birth of foals. Dolly, which, in doctor's opinion, was infertile, has just given birth to a wonderful stallion. Young horses are hope to the pound. When they grow up, they will be taught to be saddled up. And then Tara's owners' dream will come true: to found a horse-riding school and hipotherapy. This will enable healthy horses to earn money for those ailing and indolent ones.
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