How Love Saved 250 Lives

Hanna Shulha and Volodymyr Vlastovets, a couple from Kharkiv, saved not only their horse club Happy Horseshoe from bombings and shelling, but also hundreds of horses of other owners, and took them to relatively safe regions of the country. And they themselves (with their entire household) moved to the village of Troyaniv, Zhytomyr region, where they continue to train children and develop equestrian sports in Ukraine.

They’ve relocated quite successfully, in their opinion. Of course, business at the moment is not that successful, but everyone is alive and relatively safe.

He took horses to Dnipro and Poltava

When the full-scale invasion began, Volodymyr began calling friends and acquaintances who worked with horses, asking for help in transporting the animals to safe regions of the country.

“On the fourth day of the war, I received a call from an acquaintance – Natalka Sviatukha, Ukraine’s best dressage athlete,”  recalls Volodymyr. “She asked very much to take her horses away, as they were located near the Kharkiv district road, where there was shelling and bombing. Natalka gave me her horse carriage, I took mine, and my friends and I took all nine of her horses to the Dnipropetrovsk region. Then other owners of horses who were in the war zone began to ask for help. We took the animals out almost under fire, but fortunately, not a single horse was hurt.”

An enemy shell fell between the house and the stable

On the 21st day of the war, a shell hit a Kharkiv high-rise 150 meters from the private house of Anna and Volodymyr. And the second fell between the stable and their house - on the territory where the horses were walking. Fortunately, the projectile did not explode. The couple, risking their lives, carried it away and put it on the side of the road. And if at the beginning of the war, Anna categorically refused to move, after this incident it became clear that it was necessary to find a safer place for their three children: 12-year-old Alisa and 6-year-old twins Maxim and Nikita. And for horses, of course.

“We found a place in Troyaniv by accident,” Hanna says. “One acquaintance, whom we came to visit in Zhytomyr Oblast, told us that there is a closed equestrian complex in the village of Troyaniv. We decided to see what was there and how, whether it would suit us. We went there and decided – this is exactly what is needed!”

The horses accepted Volodymyr and Anna into their herd

While we were at the equestrian club, which was already in operation, there were repeated air raid sirens and explosions from the nearby military training ground. When asked if the horses are nervous because of the sounds of sirens and explosions, Hanna replied that the horses are not under stress now and did not experience it during the move, thanks to the fact that Hanna and Volodymyr try to be calm the animals down and instill a sense of security in the horses. And since the animals consider the couple part of their herd, they feel his mood well and trust him unconditionally. Currently, there are 24 horses in the Happy Horseshoe herd.

“My parents hoped that my passion for horses would eventually pass...”

Hanna told me how childhood love for horses turned into the main business of her life: “My parents say that I was born with a love for horses. From the age of three, I asked them to give me a horse. Of course, I was given various toy horses, but I wanted a real one. Nobody knows where this passion came from, because no one in the family had ever had a relationship with horses. I saw a real live horse for the first time only at the age of 12, when on New Year’s Eve, they took me to the park and rode a pony. At the age of 15, teenagers I knew took me across the city to the Kharkiv Hippodrome, and I realized: this is my dream! I got on the horse, and the jockey took me half a circle. Since then, I started coming to the racetrack every Saturday. My parents did not approve of my passion and hoped that my views would change over time. I played a lot of tennis, athletics, swimming, attended a music school, computer courses, a modeling agency, studied foreign languages, but all this did not stop my passion for horses. My father wanted me to work in an office, wear heels and a business suit, and not look like a groom. But there’s nothing to be done, I have another vocation.”

“I bought my first horse while still a student”

At Hanna’s request to give her a horse, her parents always joked: “You’ll grow up and buy one yourself.” That’s how it turned out. Anna bought the first horse, Rector, herself, when she was studying at the Kharkiv Academy of Culture. It cost five thousand dollars, which was a huge amount for a student. Hanna gave everything she managed to collect for the horse at that time, including the money her parents saved her “for the future”, birthday gifts and earned in her free time at the stables. Of course, that wasn’t enough either – Hanna borrowed some from friends, and gave some back after the purchase, in fact, having bought a horse in installments.

“At first, Rector lived in the stable, where I got a job. After graduating from university, I received a diploma of manager-economist, but I did not exchange the stable for an office. Soon I found a coach and began to seriously engage in equestrian sports.”

According to Hanna, it was very expensive for the family to keep Rector in the stable, and the horse lived just in the yard of their part of the house, where a small stable was set up for him.

“I found children who wanted to do equestrian sports and started training them. Later, I got another horse, and then two more ponies that took the children for rides in the park. The omen of horsemen began to come true: “Horses have a tendency to accumulate,” Hanna laughs. :That’s how it turned out. I named my stable Happy Horseshoe.”

“My future husband gave me a horse”

Anna has been living with her husband Volodymyr Vlastovets since 2015. When they first met, Hanna learned that the horse she loved was put up for sale at the stable where she worked. Hanna casually told Volodya that she would like to buy this horse, but at that moment she couldn’t. And he gave her this horse. It was their first horse together. At first, Volodymyr worked as a truck driver, but later, when the number of horses in the stable reached 17, it became clear that Hanna simply could not cope without the help of her husband. There was nothing to be done, they started working together.

Happy Horseshoe settles down in a new place

All members of a large family live on the same territory – the family house is located next to the stable. They cannot imagine any other way of life.

They rent six hectares of land, buy fodder. However, to feed 24 horses, you need a lot of money. I asked Hanna whether the Happy Horseshoe brings enough money.

“No,” she replies. “We do not manage to cover all expenses from the income from the club. Volodya is engaged in transportation again, and still works in construction. Thanks to this, it is possible to make ends meet.”

I am interested in whether, during the relocation, any help was received from the state, the authorities.

“No,” answers Hanna. “We did everything ourselves.”

According to her, at first, they got a wary attitude in Troyaniv. You can imagine, a whole herd of foreigners in a village of one and a half thousand inhabitants. Fortunately, the vigilance has already passed, the Happy Horseshoe quickly integrated into the local community, and its owners have settled in a new place, are happy with their decision to move and are sure that everything will be fine, the main thing is to go your own way and not lose optimism, whatever happened.