The Pony Farm

How did the ponies get on our property? In January of 2017, I (Andrea) was looking for a new renter for my father's fields. The previous renter had used it for making hay, but didn't need it anymore as he gave up his farm. On Facebook, I saw a post made by someone who was looking for a field for his three ponies. I contacted him (actually, I thought it was a girl at first, talking about stereotypes), he came over and fell in love with the place. He must have had some imagination to see the potential of the place as my father gave up his sheep farm in the 1990s and everything looked like a mess. Mirco, the 19-year-old renter had big plans: He wanted to start his own horse riding school. Step by step he bought a few more ponies and gave up his apprenticeship as an electrician (which he hated). In November of 2017, Wyman and I took over the property and we became Mirco's landlords. We already owned chickens and geese together, and eventually two pregnant sheep. Our son Glenn gets free horse riding lessons as we help Mirco with his ponies a lot. I also created a website for his business, a Facebook page and a YouTube channel.

​We are still trying to make this place look nice, but a lot of repair work has to be done. Things are not easy, especially since Wyman is not healthy and not allowed to be near dust. Other than that, life on a farm is a wonderful and healthy thing, we mainly do it for our son as we had to change plans when we decided not to move to the USA. We are trying to give Glenn a childhood of love and freedom and try to create a big furry and featherly family for him as his own (human) family gets smaller and smaller: His maternal grandmother died in April of 2017, his paternal grandmother whom he never had a chance to meet died in February 2015 and his paternal grandfather whom he also never met died just recently in November of this year. We do not know how long Glenny will have his own father as Wyman suffers from a chronic incurable disease. As an only child, it is a wonderful thing to have kids of different ages to come over regularly, even his girlfriend Martha who takes horse riding lessons together with him. 

​We are trying to generate some additional income to Wyman's full-time job as an account manager for a US-based financial firm. I recently graduated, but my type of job would very likely be hundreds of kilometers away from home. We are still trying to figure things out. We are also trying to generate some income here on our farm. People can "adopt" animals as we all saved them from the slaughterhouse. But in order to get people to come over and enjoy themselves, we need to fix this place up. The barn roof is a huge problem (the house roof too). We recently seperated as a couple and need to expand our apartment as long as my father stays in the big house. We live in a one-bedroom apartment which is attached to the house. Wyman works from home and has no office, I sleep and work on the couch. Things are not easy, but our main focus is Glenny. Step by step we are trying to make things better.

​If you'd like to help us, you can donate to Wyman's cause on gofundme.com or send your support via PayPal to andrea.oberheiden@web.de. Thank you!