At the age of five Benno Kuttenkeuler didn't speak a single word and couldn't concentrate for long.
Today, 13 years later, things are different: The Mammendorfer is about to graduate from school and is doing an internship with a farrier.
It was horses that helped him find his way into life.
Hanshofen - It smokes, then it smells of burned horn.
Benno Kuttenkeuler continues to hold the horse's hoof, but turns his head to one side to avoid the acrid smell.
Even if he has already experienced the procedure many times: this part remains uncomfortable.
The 18-year-old is currently doing an internship at farrier Martin Rest. Today the horses at the Tashina Haila Ranch are getting new irons.
That Benno Kuttenkeuler treats animals so naturally was hard to imagine a good 13 years ago.
The five-year-old was always on the move, easily distracted.
He found it hard to concentrate and didn't say a single word.
Until he came to the ranch as a kindergarten child.
A donkey named Lina awakened the boy from Mammendorf's love for animals - and she got him to talk.
Lina only responded to speech.
That was a big problem for the mute boy.
“But at some point he choked it out and said: Come on Lina,” says Petra Burkart-Kuttenkeuler, Benno's mother.
The spell was broken.
The boy gained confidence in the horses and began therapeutic riding, which Lucia Gattermann has been offering in Hanshofen for twelve years.
“Benno was able to come to rest with the horse and developed his first words,” she recalls.
A special non-verbal communication arises between humans and animals.
"Horses appeal to all of our senses and touch us in the heart." Petra Burkart-Kuttenkeuler also says: "Benno has made enormous progress here."
What is therapeutic riding?
The term “therapeutic riding” encompasses therapy, support and sport in a broader sense.
In a narrower sense, it means horse-assisted therapy and support in the fields of medicine, education, psychology and psychotherapy.
The target group are children, adolescents or adults with physical, mental and social developmental disorders or disabilities.
The focus is on promoting development, while riding skills are rather secondary.
Specially trained horses are used for therapeutic riding.
You are characterized by a calm, patient, sociable, sensitive character.
Therapy horses are mostly small horses (Haflinger, Freiberger) and ponies (Icelanders) with a height of about 150 cm.
Many people come to Lucia Gattermann with different worries, problems and disabilities.
“There are so many impairments,” she says.
Some of their riders are autistic, others have trauma.
"I try to work out your individual personality and to strengthen you", says the qualified riding teacher.
She often shares the hall with other riders.
Nobody looks funny there when someone suddenly makes loud noises on the therapy horse or behaves in any way conspicuous.
"We have a particularly successful integration here," says Lucia Gattermann.
And Inno Näßl, the owner of the stable, adds: "You were also very easy to integrate."
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The route: Benno Kuttenkeuler marked all the farms he visited during his internship.
Also in the picture (from left) farrier Martin Rest, Petra Burkart-Kuttenkeuler and Lucia Gattermann.
© Hartl
It didn't take long and Benno became more and more independent over time.
Now he does everything on his own - cleaning and riding.
"He has become a real horse professional," says Lucia Gattermann proudly.
"And he's become more confident."
Benno Kuttenkeuler is currently showing what he can do at Martin Rest. He met the farrier on the ranch.
Because he comes every two weeks with his mobile workshop to shoe the horses.
At some point the idea for the internship arose.
“I often have interns with me,” says Rest. He “gets along really well” with Benno Kuttenkeuler, who accompanies him for a week.
So that the 18-year-old could get used to, he was accompanied by his mother for the first few days.
Together the trio visited many horses in the region.
Benno Kuttenkeuler also included a map with the route in his internship book.
Several kilometers have come together.
The 18-year-old really enjoys the work.
He prefers to do the so-called nailing out.
In other words: the removal of the nails from the removed iron.
Benno Kuttenkeuler does not yet know whether he will become a blacksmith after completing his training at the Bruck Cäcilien School or whether he will take up a profession with horses.
“I still have time to think about it,” he says.
"Maybe I'll become an auto mechanic too."
But no matter what he chooses, he will remain connected to the horses.
After all, it was them who helped him into life.
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