THE FARM WITH THE SKYRIAN HORSES

My wintery trip to the island of Skyros left me with great things to remember and cherish.

 

Wanna know what moved me most? It was the locals’ unconditional love for their home island and the affection they show to the lovely Skyros Pony.

 

Spending two hours at the local welfare farm managed by Stathis and Amanda, was more than enough time for me to realize how important is the project they run. I was instantly in awe with their project; The “Skyros Island Horse Trust” was founded in 2006 with no more than 3 horses. Today, more than 37 Skyrian horses are taken care of with love in their vast farm.

 

Their goal was one and only one; to shelter and protect the rare Skyros breed.

 

At this point, I have to admit I knew close to nothing about that breed except a few photos I had seen here and there. The Skyrian horse is one of the rarest and oldest horse breeds in the world making their first appearance 55 million years ago – there is even a connection to Homer’s Iliad and Achilles himself. They had been brought to Skyros by Athenians around the 5th century BCE. 

 

This farm, is now their cozy home.

Love and care are the two key components for the amazing work on this farm.

 

The efforts to preserve the Skyrian horse breed are usually made under extremely difficult conditions, especially if you consider the fact that the maintenance costs hit a sky-high level. Volunteers from around the world visit the farm every year, live on the island and spend their days taking care of the horses. Reading the story of Georgia will help you realize how important the work of the farm is, as well as how much these animals need the human affection. Georgia, a 7 months-old horse found with a broken leg in two different parts, was taken care of with great love at the farm and got to run again with the support she got from the people there!

 

It's a place where men, horses, dogs, cats, roosters and chicken live happily together.

 

And they're doing such a great job!

Words can't express just how much the farm’s story moved me – I will do everything in my power to contribute to the protection of the Skyrian horses.

 

I'm so glad that this trip became a chance to watch firsthand the efforts made by Amanda and Stathis on the farm - I'm particularly glad that you can learn everything about their work too, through this blog.

And hey, there's a way to help too; check it out here.