CM – Romania is a country in which horses are part of the landscape. But Romania is also a country that is not known for animal welfare. Every year, terrible images go around the world – old, worn out or unwanted horses are sold to slaughterhouses. With the accession of Romania to the European Union in 2007 the borders for meat exports openend. Since then hundreds of thousands of Romanian horses have disappeared. Today, Romania is one of the leading exporting countries of horse meat. The slaughter is also questionable. Over and over again secret transports are discovered, where up to 60 tonnes of horse meat are found. Officially there are no horse slaughter companies in Romania. Despite this, the country is the third largest horse-meat exporter in Europe.
The Romanian Denis Stefan, an actor by profession, has always had a special passion for horses. He wanted to know more about the animals, visited numerous courses and read countless books on the subject with the intention of becoming a „horseman“, understanding the horses better and using this knowledge for training his own horse. In 2007 Denis became a horse trainer. In 2011 he was the first Romanian to take part in the World Championships of Kassai Horseback Riding Schools.
Non-violent horse training
Denis Stefan discovered that he was able to work with horses that were troubled – and achieve success with them. In 2012 he launched the „Romanian Horse Program“. The aim is to teach horse owners how to teach their horses in a non-violent way. Within the scope of the program he offers clinics all over Romania, which are well received. For his program Denis Stefan travelled through the country a lot and saw many unsightly things. He set himself the goal of working particularly with problem horses and give horse owners and also welfare organizations such as Vier Pfoten support.
Not rideable, not trainable – off to the butcher!
In spring of 2016 Denis wanted to help a friend find a horse. The two went to a horse breeder, where Denis himself had bought his horse Ardo. In a shaby box with little light he spotted an unobtrusive mare, which, according to the barn manager, was waiting for the pickup to the butcher because she was not rideable: „She’s crazy, she’s been in the box for a year now. She is an Anglo-Arabian mare but nobody can ride her, nobody can train her, she has to go.“ Without thinking about it for long Denis Stefan decided to buy the mare – but it was not possible. In Romania horses declared as slaughter horses can only be purchased from slaughter houses. Denis didn’t give up and hoped for the horse to be taken off the slaughter horse list. But it didn’t quite work out the way he wanted it to: An italian slaughter house bought the mare. Denis Stefan didn’t let loose and managed to convince the italian butcher to sell him the five-year-old mare for 300 Euro (the average income in Romania is € 498). „I took her out of her dark box and brought her to a place where she was supposed to feel good. She was among many other animals – sheep, goats, dogs and even an ostrich were there. I let her enjoy her freedom from February until March. It was a little better for her. She loved to stand in the sun, but she wouldn’t let anyone touch her.
After the mare came to rest, the Romanian started working with her: „At first it consisted only of stroking, I wanted to get her confidence,“ says Denis Stefan. „I believe very strongly we should do what is good for the horse and provide comfort. I want trust and respect first of everything else. My role model is Tom Dorrance. I’ve read a lot about different Natural Horsemanship Programmes – Pat Parelli, Clint Anderson, Buck Brannaman – out of everything I read and saw I picked out what made the most sense to me. My goal was to find the comfort zone of this disturbed mare, a point that she was able to enjoy! I found out that she liked to be patted on the forehead. Soon I discovered that she tried to get close to me when something scared her. I started to do lots of liberty work. I got her to follow me, to change directions, I got her to adapt her speed to mine.“
The following video shows a part of Denis Stefan’s work with the mare saved from slaughter:
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„The more I worked with her, the more she trusted me. I called her „UMA“ – that’s the japanese word for horse. Her character fascinated me more and more every day. I worked with her for four months and I am convinced that we can go a long way. One of my goals is to show the world what can become out of a horse which was meant for slaughter.“
The big goal: Americana 2017 in Augsburg (Germany)
In Romania it’s not easy to find an experienced trainer. The trip to Augsburg will be expensive. Denis dreams about gaining experience with a pro. „It’s probably not possible to travel somewhere with Uma just for training, but it’s simply impossible to find a professional western trainer here in Romania.“
Denis Stefan would like to spend a few days with a professional western trainer and learn from him, then go back to Romania and Uma and implement what he has learned.
Denis hopes that the promotion of his request and his YouTube channel attracts sponsors: „I would like to give this mare, whose value nobody appreciated, who was not loved by anyone, the opportunity to represent Romania successfully at one of Europe’s largest Western Show, the Americana in Augsburg.“ He would like to start Uma in reining and horsemanship classes. „The whole thing will not be cheap, we are looking for help!“
There is a Paypal Account for „Project Uma“, donations are welcome.
And maybe there is a pro who would let Denis Stefan work with him for a few days and give him tips for his training with Uma. And who knows…maybe the „crazy and untrainable“ Uma with a death sentence will become the surprise star of the Americana 2017.
Denis Stefan is looking forward to any kind of help: denis_stefan_5@yahoo.com or on Facebook Denis Stefan.
