Horse pond
A horse pond , also known as weed or bet (southern German), was a place in a river , stream or pond or a large spring where horses and other draft animals could be brought into the water after work, cleaned and watered . In the summer the heated horses were cooled in the water.
history
description
The flooding or betting was created on local rivers, ponds or larger spring catchments. Their subsoil was mostly paved so that when the animals stepped on the ground was not churned and watering was impaired. When accessing the water there was usually a device to tie up horses or other draft animals. Most of the time the bets were used at the same time, after the introduction of domestic water pipes in the 19th and 20th centuries, exclusively as a water pond .
Etymological derivation
In southern Germany and Switzerland, the expression "bet", first found in the Franconian and a little later also in the Alemannic language area, is known to the north, also weed or Flemish Wedde , a word that originally referred to the flood and later also extinguishing water reservoirs. According to Kluge , it is “a derivative of betting , which means 'driving animals into the water', which in turn is a derivative of wading . Betting literally means wading someone or something, leading to floods and potions . In addition ahd. Wati (fem.), That from abstr. 'Flooding, watering (of the cattle)' in the local meaning water container, where that happens, was transferred ”.
Names of places and bodies of water as a reference to former horse ponds
Many bodies of water that were used as a horse pond have the syllable Ross in their name; like the Rossneckar in the Pliensauvorstadt . The Rosenbach in the Neckarbischofsheim district also originally bore the name Rossbach because it was probably used as a horse pond. The name of the Bohemian municipality Koněprusi literally means horse pond ; The place names Prusy and Prusinovice , which occur in Moravia, were also derived from it. The same applies to the frequent places called Marbach , since the prefix Mar-, as in the Marstall, mostly comes from Mehre as a synonym for Ross.
The name components Wette , Wett and Weed , which have often been handed down to us, also refer to former horse ponds : for example Bei der Wette, Wettebrunnen, Wetteplatz, Wettegraben, Wettbach or Weedgasse or An der Alten Weed in Bad Windsheim .
Dismantling and relics
In a letter dated 17 February 1841, an anonymous expressed Eisenberger citizens Eisenberger message sheet about the planned transformation of the horse pond in the center. The plans seem to indicate that the original purpose of the water was abandoned and the only aim was to get an extinguishing water reservoir. The horse pond at Gramatneusiedl suffered a similar fate in 1925 .
Remains of what was presumably a medieval horse pond were uncovered on Cadolzburg in 2006 . The paving on the ground, which consists of sandstones, as well as seals made of clay and pool walls have been preserved. The earliest evidence of this horse pond is a sketch by Landgrave Moritz von Hessen . The Schwemme probably retained its original appearance until the end of the 19th century; later it was used as an extinguishing water pond and finally, after the surrounding walls were demolished, it was filled with earth.
At the Markgröninger Wetteplatz, the flood plastered in the Middle Ages is still preserved. The bet , which is about twelve by five meters in size , was spanned by a vault in the 19th century and provided with an enclosed staircase. From then on it was used as an extinguishing water reservoir and well with a handle pump (see picture).
Horse-washing and art
In many cases, especially during the Baroque period, horse pools were artistically designed. In Altenburg z. B. In the 17th century the horse pond in the castle courtyard was decorated with a statue of Neptune standing on a column.
The baroque Salzburg Marstallschwemme dates from the late 17th century and is decorated with the sculpture of a horse tamer by Bernhard Michael Mandl and today with Secco painting by Franz Anton Ebner (from the middle of the 18th century).
The subject of horse pond was also artistically designed e.g. B. by Constantin von Mitschke-Collande in his painting Horse Pond , which was shown at the International Art Exhibition in Dresden in 1926 , or by Arthur Illies in an aquatint drawing.
As a rule, horse ponds were simply facilities of daily use - a typical example shows a photograph from the Frankfurt district of Ginnheim from 1911 and the still intact pond in Ippesheim in Central Franconia, first mentioned in 1718 (see picture).
Restoration and new construction
Today, some of the horse ponds are being returned to their old state, for example at Lenné Park in Gorgast , or, as in Homberg (Efze), converted into a water feature to revitalize the old town. Occasionally horse ponds are re-established, for example in 2004 at the Rückersdorfer bathing lake.
Modern swimming pools for horses
Horse ponds are now also used as training facilities to improve the condition of horses or to support injured horses during rehabilitation. Modern swimming pools for horses are large pools filled with water, with a non-slip entry ramp for the horses . They are usually so deep that the horses have to swim. Often you will find horse pools with a diameter of 12 m and a depth of 3 m.
Medical benefit
Swimming is an atypical sequence of movements for the horse. The horse tries to keep its head out of the water and pushes its back through. The water pressure can put a lot of strain on the lungs and heart. Overloading should be avoided. In horses with unstable circulation, health problems such as aortic injuries or collapse can occur. Swimming training has a positive effect on horses that have recently been operated on, as standing times are shortened, blood circulation is stimulated and wound healing is accelerated.
During the training, the training intensity cannot be influenced, the training duration is variable. The performance of the horses cannot be controlled and checked. Due to the species-atypical swimming movement, there is no targeted strain on the entire bone, muscle, ligament and tendon apparatus, which the horse needs in its normal movement.
If pools are only so full that the horses can still walk, a certain training effect can be achieved. The horse runs more controlled against the water resistance, which can especially serve to condition the horses. The pool must have a non-slip floor.
literature
- Silke Wurm: Behavior and physical strain of horses on the treadmill in the water . Dissertation at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Giessen, p. 27 ff, Giessen 2004. Available online
- Renate Schönfuß-Krause: Horse pond - bath, watering and refreshment not only for horses . In: die radeberger, ed. 36 and 37/2017 ( digitized version )
Web links
- Tierklinik Seehof ( Memento from March 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Hydrotherapy
Individual evidence
- ^ Friedrich Kluge : Etymological dictionary of the German language . De Gruyter, Berlin 1960, p. 844.
- ^ Friedrich Kluge: Etymological dictionary of the German language . De Gruyter, Berlin 1960, p. 844.
- ↑ The brooks of the Neckarbischofsheimer district ( Memento from August 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.prusy-boskuvky.eu/index.php?page=historie-obce
- ↑ http://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/receive/jportal_jparticle_00072832
- ↑ http://www.haidhausen.org/kultur-muenchen/pferdeschwemme-auf-der-cadolzburg_100132_102647.html
- ↑ http://www.altenburg.eu/sixcms/detail.php?id=5271&_lang=de
- ↑ Horse pond - built in 1693 according to plans by Fischer von Erlach ( Memento from July 9, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.deutschefotothek.de/obj30120363.html#%7Chome
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The Weed in Ginnheim 1911
- ↑ http://www.moz.de/index.php/Moz/Article/category/Seelow/id/179739
- ↑ www.naturpark-nlh.de