This year’s Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival attracted an unusually large number of both tourists and Bolesławiec residents. At the local Market Square, visitors can buy truly beautiful products, traditionally ranging from ceramics to clothes, jewelry, local delicacies and all kinds of handicrafts. There are also parades of clay people, performances by excellent artists, entertainment in front of the stage, as well as an amusement park and numerous attractions for children. And it is right here that the horror begins.
I leave home before 10 a.m.; the heat is already pouring down from the sky. On the main fairground, I pass people with dogs tugging at their pets because, after all, they are getting under people’s feet…
On the sun-drenched square behind the Orka swimming-pool complex, in the only grassy area in the entire commotion, five saddled ponies stand motionless on about 20 square metres. Occasionally, a customer appears in the form of a 20- or 30-kilogram toddler reaching out their arms; the pony, led by a “carer,” makes a circuit of the square with the child.
Three hours later, the ponies disappear from the grassy enclosure and are brought into the very heart of the event: there is no shade, the little horses are standing on the pavement, and it is about 32 degrees. The animals have saddle pads, with a leather blanket lined with fur on top, and black leather saddles.
At home, I call the Animal Rights Inspectorate, the Bolesławiec Municipal Guard and finally the police. At the inspectorate, I leave a message on the answering machine; the woman on duty at the Municipal Guard informs me that they have already received several similar reports, but that the services lack the authority to intervene in this matter. The police say they have a great many reports and may come even in two hours—to check whether the horses have water.
We return to the festival and wait patiently, but nobody comes. It is clear that the city received the money and nothing else matters. The municipal services are not interested in the problem, even though they received at least a dozen such reports… Why? How much is this silent consent worth to the City Office?…
I decide to speak with the daughter of the ponies’ owners, whom an employee had previously pointed out to me. I ask why the animals are standing in full sun wearing all their tack (which is as hot as a sheepskin coat!); I touch one of them and pull my hand back because the leather blanket is scorching. The girl insists that—quoting her exactly—“but they aren’t dressed, this isn’t any clothing, they have water. Have you ever been to an equestrian competition? (I happened to ride horses and have attended such events, so I know she is lying.) The horses there stand in the sun all day and sweat like hell, and nobody makes a fuss.”
To further accusations about the lack of shelter from the sun, she replies: “if I have a field, then what do you think, they stand (the horses) in the sun too, because what, when it’s hot, they aren’t supposed to go outside? And don’t you take your dog out on a nice day?”
It is 2:30 p.m., 31 degrees, and the ponies’ “carers” are stripped down “as if for making soup”; the animals walk in the sun in the worst heat, kicked in the sides by children who cannot get on. Mothers take photographs and everyone is very happy… There is no shortage of customers.
After a while, a security guard approaches me because the woman in charge of the ponies reported that I was taking photographs of her. We talk for a moment; I can see that he really likes the ponies. He approaches me once again with a message from Ms X. When I ask about the legal basis, he backs off. He returns to the animals and strokes them.
It is 9 p.m. Amid drunken whistles, loud music and a river of people, the ponies are still working. The animals are very tired; almost every passer-by asks why they look so sad.
Today (Sunday), the ponies will be giving rides again. Starting at 10 a.m.
We are not made of the same clay. Many seem to think, as in Orwell, that they are more equal than others. Let us not be deceived by this emptiness and ignorance. There are so many attractions at the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival that we do not need animals to satisfy our whims.