It is well known that sea air can have a healing effect on people. But animals with lung and skin diseases also benefit from the dust-free climate. On some North Sea islands there are therefore cures for horses.
The eleven-year-old Hanoverian “Captain” would not have survived the summer. At least that’s what his owner Lena Albrecht from Meppen in Lower Saxony Emsland suspects. The horse suffered from severe asthma and could hardly walk. “Captain got sick three years ago and it got worse every year,” says the 35-year-old. The horse was highly allergic to grass and could only stand in the pasture with a fly blanket and mask. “He had to get cortisone two to three times a day with an inhaler.”
“Captain” no longer needs medication, nor does he need a protective blanket or a mask. “His fur is shiny, his nostrils look great, he breathes very calmly,” says Albrecht, adding: “It’s unbelievable. I didn’t expect that.” Since the beginning of June, the horse has been taking a cure on the North Sea island of Neuwerk, more precisely: on the hundred-hectare outdoor dike pasture of Alina and Steffan Griebel’s horse boarding house. A vet gave Albrecht the tip.
“The pasture is right on the water, there is no dike in front of it,” says Steffan Griebel. In this way, the animals could breathe sea air that was free of dust and pollen as well as containing iodine. “The climate is good for the animals and promotes the healing process.” In addition to horses with lung diseases, animals with skin diseases also recover on Neuwerk in the summer months. Most stay for three months for a cure, but some are there all year round. “They spend the rest of their lives here,” says Griebel.
The hotelier family Griebel runs the horse pension as a part-time job. Steffan Griebel’s father Volker started it 40 years ago. “My father was active in harness racing for a long time,” he reports. Word quickly got around in the horse and trotter scene about the effect the sea air has on the animals. “Most come on recommendation,” says Griebel. “We don’t take in more than 20 horses, otherwise the animals would split into two competing herds.”
In addition to “Captain”, the eight-year-old trotting horse “Ignatz von Herten” is also recovering at Neuwerk. “He didn’t pull through the last time he started,” says Michael Polubinski, spokesman for the 135-strong community of owners from North Rhine-Westphalia. “Ignatz von Herten” is a “charity” horse: what he earns from racing is donated to social projects. The veterinary examination showed that he had problems with his lungs. Now he is doing “enviably well,” says Polubinski, who expects the horse to be able to complete more races this year.
Ute Pansegrau is a specialist veterinarian for horses at the Lüsche Animal Clinic in Bakum in Lower Saxony. For several years she has observed that more and more horses are suffering from equine asthma, a form of chronic bronchitis. “Usually the horses came to us in late winter or early spring when the weather made them more stable again,” she says. Because the disease is mainly triggered by roughage or bedding contaminated with mold and dry, dusty hay. “Now I see horses like this in the clinic all year round.”
According to studies, 15 percent of the leisure horses that live in northern temperate areas now suffer from severe asthma, according to Ute Pansegrau. The cure on a North Sea island greatly relieves the symptoms. “The horses are usually in the pasture all day and have no contact with straw or hay.” However, long-term success will only be achieved if something changes in the husbandry conditions at home. “Unfortunately, if you have to, sometimes you have to consider changing stables,” she says.
There are also air cures for horses on other North Sea islands, such as on Pellworm. This summer there are around a dozen four-legged summer guests on the pasture of the Appelhof run by veterinarians Meike Ruppertz and Mathias Sielaff. Sielaff sees the cure as a supplement to the medical program of veterinarians on the mainland. After a summer on the island, the animals with lung and skin diseases would have one to three years of rest from their suffering. “It may not work for every horse, but it works 90 percent of the time,” he says.
However, some owners find it difficult to let their horses out of their hands. After all, Lena Albrecht has already visited her “Captain” on Neuwerk for the second time. “I’ve had him since he was three years old. We’ve never been apart,” she says. She received regular photos and videos from the Griebels. “I know he’s in great hands there.” That’s why she wants to bring “Captain” back to the island next summer.
