Update from FNMZ Europe October 2019

“Realize that the Living One Is the Real Condition of life, the Real Condition of all forms—and be Happy.”
– Adi Da Samraj

We are excited to share this update from Fear-No-More Zoo Europe, which features:

Updates on the horses, birds, and chinchillas
Lotte & Bart’s 5-day 60 km trek walking side by side with horses Leyndur and Tosca
Our vision for creative paddock design
Our exploration of Intrinzen, an innovative training approach where the main goal is to empower horses to be expressive, brave, and find joy in movement

Horses

We are in the process of slowly updating and expanding the horses’ paddock paradise. A paddock paradise, or track system, is a way of keeping horses that emulates their natural lifestyle as much as possible. This system encourages movement and seeking/foraging behaviour, obstacles like logs or hills can also be added to create more natural challenges and enrichment. Another benefit is that it makes the (holistic) management of the land easier for us.

We currently have the most basic form of paddock paradise; a single track along the edge of the main pasture. The horses and alpacas live mainly on the track with hay distributed at different points along it. When one of the pastures is ready to be grazed, the gate is opened and the herd gets access until it needs rest to regrow. We are currently working on adding a new bit of track so all 5 pastures are connected to it, which will make it a lot easier to give the herd access to these pastures and to manage them.

Map of a paddock layout — This is the most recent version of the paddock paradise design we are aiming to create. This design is an ongoing consideration with the various groups involved, including the garden and forest. The area in the red circle is the track currently being built.

Photo of post in the ground to make a fence — Putting posts in for the new track

Photo of horses and alpacas walking along a path to the next feeding station. — Horses and alpacas walking along the track to the next feeding station.

Horse Trek

At the end of July, Lotte Braithwaite, Bart Driessen, and horses Leyndur and Tosca set out on a 5-day trek, covering over 60 km, mostly on foot and staying with friends and at riding schools in the area. They were also joined by two friends and their horses.

“Walking side by side with a horse and our little horse-human herd for 5 days was a special experience. Leyndur was the perfect companion, it was obvious he was enjoying himself. I could trust him completely to be calm in any situation we came across and he often took the lead of the group, with ears forward and steady, confident steps. The many hours of walking and time spent together with Leyndur deepened our relationship a lot. On day 4 a very special thing happened. I had decided I would only walk beside him, no riding. I believe that riding is completely the horses’ choice, not the human’s. But as we were walking I suddenly got a very clear image of us riding, it was so sudden and clear that I just knew it wasn’t from me apoteketgenerisk.com.. so I just went with that feeling and got on Leyndur’s back.. it was so special.. he was so sweet and I felt so safe on his back… we rode for a short while before I felt it was time to get off and thanked him. I felt so honored that Leyndur invited me onto his back. Over the course of the trek there were many more moments where Leyndur amazed me, he started showing a level of exuberance we didn’t know he had, a quality that has only grown since then.” ~ Lotte Braithwaite, one of the primary zoo carers at Fear-No-More Zoo, Europe

Photo of 2 horses and 2 people walking along a dirt path next to a field — Tosca, Leyndur, Lotte and Bart on day 4

Photo of a man and a horse crossing a wooden bridge — Tosca and Bart conquering the bridge on day 1

Photo of a woman riding a brown horse on a path next to a field — Special ride with Leyndur on day 4

Intrinzen Training

The horse team at the sanctuary has been studying Intrinzen for over 6 months now, which is an approach to training where the main goal is to empower the horses to be expressive, brave, and find joy in movement. It is based on current movement and motivation science and works with positive reinforcement.

“Engaging with the horses in this way has been an absolute joy for everyone, it encourages and even requires creativity and humor from the humans. The horses are loving it too, they always want to join in and we are seeing amazing changes in them.” ~ Lotte

Asha, one of the mares, was already quite energetic and motivated to move, but easily spooked. Lately she’s been braver, more self-confident and gets anxious less quickly. She’s been expressing a desire to explore more outside of the main horse area, so we have been taking her out for short walks/wanderings around the sanctuary. It’s a slow process as she does still get easily anxious around new things and places, we only go as far as what Asha feels safe with and when we get to the edge of her comfort zone we might invite her to go beyond it a little bit before turning back. Doing it this way sets the entire thing up as a positive experience where at no point is Asha forced to go over her boundaries and be afraid, there is only open invitation.

Photo of a horse standing on a wooden pallet. — After 3 sessions of being introduced to the pallet/pedestal, Asha finally gathers the courage to step onto it.

Photo of a woman standing next to a horse — Working on a posture exercise with Asha

In October Steinar Sigurbjornsson, co-creator of Intrinzen, came to the Netherlands to give a 3-day clinic for the first time, which Lotte and Bart attende.

“One of the main things I love about Intrinzen is the value it places on joy, humor, creativity and empowerment for both horse and human and all of that was very much present at the clinic. It was great to be with a group of people who also value these things in the relationship with horses. It was very inspiring to watch the lessons, the change in some of the horse-human combinations in only a few days was amazing. We came home with a lot of new ideas and insights.” ~ Lotte Braithwaite

Birds

Lint is a male African Grey parrot. He is the only African Grey we have amongst the many birds and he is doing really well. He is always hanging out in the big aviary waiting for somebody to say hello to. He is very relational.

When the weather is colder Lint tends to be more inside. To keep him busy, he has a climbing wall with special stone perches. They serve several purposes. They trim his nails and they are also good for exercise. And of course they keep him entertained.

In the wild, African Grey spend large parts of the day searching for food. When an African Grey is kept as a pet, it is extremely important to give the birds toys, inside which you can hide their favorite treats. This helps to imitate natural habitats and behaviour. Lint is often busy for long periods of time searching for the treats.

Photo of a gray parrot sitting on a perch in an indoor enclosure — Lint in his indoor enclosure

Chinchillas

We recently bought new brushes and mops for the chinchilla areas. As the forest had been recently clearing trees we were able to take some birch branches and put them in their cage. Chinchillas are nocturnal and also love chewing wood. They will chew any types of wood they can so it is important not to have wood that might be toxic for them. We hope to build a new chinchilla area next year with a much larger outdoor space for them. We have to make sure that there is no wood they can chew through though!

Support Fear-No-More Zoo

We are grateful for your support of Fear-No-More Zoo! All of the money donated to Fear-No-More Zoo goes toward our ongoing, basic expenses which directly supports the animals. These include hay, grain for treats and training, special supplies, salt and minerals, hoof trimming, veterinary care, infrastructure, repairs, and continuing education for staff. In the future we hope to raise monies to upgrade our facilities and infrastructure to better host visitors.

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