Ponyhof Naeve am Wittensee

Our daughter had a great time on the class trip and misses Motte a lot.

We couldn't make our one-night holiday apartment booking work through the portal, but the very friendly owner found us a room at the riding stable instead. Everyone was helpful and so nice, and we were glad it worked out. The location is lovely, just a few meters from the lake, and seems ideal for a riding holiday, especially for kids. Everything was clean, which wasn't an issue at all. The only drawbacks were that the rooms are quite dated and the dining room badly needs renovation.

There are rabbits and goats, and a nice playground with trampolines, wooden horses, and swings. The people are friendly and the surroundings are beautiful. Still, based on what I saw, I don't think the ponies' well-being gets enough attention, and I wouldn't return. I tried to keep this clear and objective. Feel free to ask if you have questions. Visiting the farm yourself is probably best. 😊 I've been there three times. As a little girl I felt very comfortable there, but now that I'm older and know more, I don't think the ponies are doing well. I've seen worse, but this still isn't good 🥲. The horses are ridden without saddles, and when one does have a saddle, it often doesn't fit. For example, Pocci hollowed her back and seemed uncomfortable when we wanted to jump small cavaletti, so we got her saddle to ease the pressure. It was too small and tight and made things worse. I pointed that out, but it wasn't adjusted. I can't say how things are now. I wasn't satisfied with the lesson and got very few useful tips. People are nice, and most are kind to the horses, but I feel the ponies are being harmed by too little attention and too much work. I'm no expert, but I also don't think it's right to dump horse droppings in the pony paddock. That creates ammonia, which damages hooves. Straw gets thrown on top, but I still think it's a problem. The hooves generally didn't look very good. Many horses nip, act sluggish, or don't want you to pick up their hooves, and it's brushed off as 'that's just how they do it.' When almost all of them show those or similar behaviors, I wonder if there's another reason. The horses' equipment could use some work too. The rooms weren't very clean. I don't expect much, but the weighed dirt could at least have been cleaned properly. The shower was a disgusting green color, so 8-year-olds would probably rather skip showering for a week 😂. Then there's that nice playground with trampolines, wooden horses, and swings.

My daughter loved her week at the farm, but what happened left me with no trust in it as a mother. She fell off a horse on day two. The next day an assistant called and asked me, as a trauma surgeon, to examine her over FaceTime. I'm neither a trauma surgeon nor do I have FaceTime. The assistant seemed overwhelmed and said she'd check with Ms. Naewe again. I was told my daughter was fine and would keep riding. I didn't understand the call, and heard nothing more. When I finally arrived to pick her up, she couldn't lift or use her arm. At the hospital, an X-ray showed her upper arm was broken. Accidents happen, but I should have been told, and she should have been taken for an X-ray. During her stay, she moved to another room and from a lower bunk to an upper one. She couldn't hold on to the ladder and fell off. My daughter says they then FaceTimed another mother, who is a trauma surgeon. That's a no-go under today's data protection rules. Apparently that mother recommended an X-ray. Mrs. Naewe never contacted me herself to tell me how my daughter was. After I told her about the diagnosis, she said she couldn't afford doctors' appointments and couldn't harm the child in an ambulance. I would have called her, of course, if I'd known how my daughter was doing and hadn't been told the day after the fall that she'd fallen but was still riding and everything was fine. My impression was that lots of young girls were trying to run the place, while Mrs. Naewe stayed in the background. When we picked her up, the rooms looked like a bomb had gone off. My daughter's medication also wasn't given unless she remembered it herself. My daughter had a lot of fun, but I wouldn't trust the farm with children. You leave your children there in their care, and I couldn't see that duty of supervision being fulfilled.