The non-profit association Friends of Mio was started with the aim of enabling a place where land, animals and people can meet. Friends of Mio supports one of Scandinavia's largest sanctuaries for horses and other animals, the farm Friskeröd outside Tanumshede. About 160 animals, which would otherwise have been euthanized, live there under as natural conditions as possible. They live there for the rest of their lives.
Emelie Cajsdotter founded Friskeröd in 1995, and since then has been responsible for the operations on the farm. Emelie has written three books, Zander and the time, All the king's horses and It sings in the grass. She has been on Swedish television and participated in several podcasts. Now the animals at Friends of Mio need your help. One way is to become a member or a donor. Foreign payments and gifts are sent to IBAN: SE7950000000051561023868, BIC: ESSESESS. Address bank: SEB 106 40 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN or to PayPal. Also send an email to info@friendsofmio.com and your membership or gift will be registered. On their website you will also find other ways to contribute!
Why Mio? Mio was a pony, who for most of her life worked as a tourist horse at High Chaparral, a western-themed theme park. At the age of twenty he was retired and sold to a family, who in turn contacted Emelie to find out more about how he was doing. At our first meeting, he described how he met an incredible number of people during his time as a tourist horse. All these experiences had given him invaluable insights into the relationship between horse and human. And these he now wanted to share. After some time it was decided that Mio would be allowed to move at Friskeröd, and he then lived on tje farm until his death at the age of thirty-one. During this time he shared what became his signature; Mio's principles. The only way to really absorb this teaching is to practice it, and experience it with your body and mind wide open. But Emelie will still make an attempt to summarize the basics. Both seen from Mio's own perspective, as well as how they are described by the horses who picked up his memory threads and carried the message on.
Imagine if several people could get a second chance?
Photo: © Friends of Mio
Watch Emelie's film about the horse sanctuary: