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Live Encounters Magazine July 2023
Beauties of Bosnia, photo feature by Katie Costello.
This photo feature is best viewed in the pdf.
As a girl growing up in the 80’s the mere name of Bosnia caused me to shudder. Every night our American TVs were filled with the war going on in Bosnia, the burning of Sarajevo, the endless land mines left behind making it nearly impossible to navigate. The absolutely horrific human crimes that went on during that war. When I learned that there were wild horses in Bosnia, though, I knew I had to go. In April we went to Livno, Bosnia in Herzegovina and met with the wonderful owners of Livno Wild Horses Adventure Tours. To say this was one of the best days of my life would be an understatement. Our guides took us to the top of the Cincar mountains, the plateau Kruzi are home to more than 800 horses. Truly, heaven on earth.
The history isn’t incredibly old. Within my lifetime, as people were fleeing from their homes due to the war, they took their horses to the top of the mountain in hopes that they would survive the conflict. And survive they have! These beautifully majestic animals have a way of seeping into your soul. Because they were working horses, they have draft stock in them. I love wild (feral) horses more than anything-and these horses were different than many of the others I have seen. The stark contrast of those mountains made it a beautiful scenery, where their food was plentiful with the many open plateaus. They are very substantial horses. They were displaying and speaking with their body language to one another, and many different behaviors were offered.
At the end of this amazing day, our friends had prepared us an authentic vegan meal…as if seeing those horses weren’t enough! I can be so fussy with food, and had already started to think up the excuses that I would use as to why I couldn’t eat the food…however, everything was absolutely delicious. It was amazing. I recommend this outfit if you are EVER near Bosnia. They were top notch! After our meal it was time to part ways. My only wish was that we had more than 1 day with them.
© Katie Costello
Katie Costello was born and raised in Hubbard, Ohio, USA. Her greatest passion in life has always been to help animals. She is lucky enough to be a licensed veterinary technician and owner of The Canine Campus Training and Wellness Center and The Canine Campus Bed and Biscuit Inn, where she helps animals through behavior work, does training of all types including aggression, fear, and service dog work. A vegetarian since she was 6 years old and a vegan for the last 15 years, she currently has 7 dogs, 5 cats, 7 chickens, 3 roosters, 1 very special turkey and 2 farm pigs that are amongst her dearest friends.
She is founder of 2 non-profit organizations, K-9’s for Compassion (Co-founded with her father), a therapy animal group and The Together 3 Journey, a service dog organization. She has been on the board of many animal organizations throughout her life, including Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary and C.H.A.I.N. (Community Helping Animals In Need) and SVBT (Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians) She enjoys freelance writing about (mostly) animals for different magazines, with her favorite being Live Encounters!