It’s very hard for me to ask for help, but over the last weeks and months, I have received so many votes of encouragement, and 2026 is the year of the fire horse after all. How does the saying go? The "no" is safe, the "yes" is a bonus.

We started from zero. Actually, not zero, but 2 horses and the two of us, which quickly turned into 3 of us. For the first few years, Jonas's parents and his sister supported us with food and housing. Yes, we were that poor; we couldn't afford food. Slowly, and with a lot of sacrifice, we grew financially more independent. We built a business from scratch. We made a name for ourselves. We advocate for horses and still have so much potential. But we still don't have anything to our name. We lost a lot of footing again. Why? Because we don't want to "dispose" of our oldies (5 retired horses at the moment). We keep our retired horses; we don't overwork the young and healthy ones. We try to do our best to keep all of our horses fairly happy, fed, and clean. It's taking its toll, especially without machines. 

Every year, we get older and cannot cope without a tractor anymore. I am 46, and Jonas is 49 years old. Affordable hay comes in big bales of at least 300 kg, the fields are flooded with every rain, and filling the stationary racks is unbearable. Ground maintenance is very important and so very out of reach. Water supply with a wheelbarrow for 13 horses in southern Portugal when the next hose is at least 100 m from the water buckets. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Long story a bit shorter than my usual chit-chat: we are in desperate need of a tractor and ask you for help. There, I said it, and it feels liberating and scary all at once.

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