Croissant

On 10 April 2017, a small pony was born, white with a golden coat. His name is Croissant, a Haflinger pony standing about 130 centimetres tall.

The Haflinger breed comes from the Alpine regions of Austria and Italy, known for its golden-chestnut coat and flaxen mane and tail. Though not large, these ponies are sturdy and full of stamina, with a calm, gentle, clever, people-loving nature. For that reason they are used all over the world for children’s riding lessons, leisure riding, therapy riding, and family companionship, and are dearly loved wherever they go.

Croissant has the Haflinger’s most endearing qualities. He was always patient and gentle, waiting quietly for each student. Many children meeting a horse for the first time overcame their fear in his broad, steady stride, and fell in love with riding because of him.

In April 2022, at five years old, Croissant came from Taiwan’s Solomon Stable to the Hannover Equestrian Club and became a teaching pony the children adored. Every day he worked in earnest, guiding one student after another through their first time in the saddle, their first time steering, their first time building trust with a horse. With his patience and tenderness he quietly helped many people grow, becoming the most lovable and dependable little teacher in everyone’s eyes.

Then, in May 2024, fate changed his life. An accident during a lesson dislocated Croissant’s right shoulder. Treatment saved his life, but he could no longer carry the work of teaching, and had to retire early.

To let him recover, his caretakers first placed him temporarily at the Zhufeng Farm in Beitou. As time went on, though, they found the farm short of hands, unable to give a retired horse the quality of life he needed. There was not enough hay, and no proper stable to shelter him from wind and rain. Croissant grew thinner and thinner, and his spirits sank. The pony who once loved to be near people began to fear crowds; whenever anyone approached, he would shrink back and shy away, his eyes full of unease. The little teacher who had helped children grow slowly closed himself off.

When his caretakers saw that his body and spirit kept declining, they decided to find him a home truly suited to a peaceful retirement. And so Croissant came to the Suiye Farm Retired Horse Sanctuary.

Here he no longer has to work, and no longer has to bear any pressure. Every day there is ample hay, a clean and comfortable place to live, a stable that shelters him from the weather, and caretakers who respect his pace and keep him gentle company. No one hurries him. No one asks him to give. People simply keep him company, patiently, waiting for him to find his trust in people again.

Day by day, Croissant began to change. He grew willing to come close to people again, to stroll at ease across the grass, to enjoy the sunshine, the breeze, and the happiness of living alongside other horses. Though his right shoulder carries a scar that will never fade, and he can never return to the work of a teaching pony, his life has not lost its value.

The Croissant of today no longer needs to prove himself. He can graze in peace, bask in the sun, and take slow walks, spending each day in the company of friends. Because here at Suiye Farm we believe that every horse who has given itself to people deserves a retirement in which it is respected, cared for, and loved. And Croissant, at last, has found a happy second life of his own.