00:01Powerful, wild and endangered.
00:06The Bosnian mountain horse.
00:10Lamiya Djigal wants to give them a future.
00:13She already has five, including a foal.
00:19I breed the horses.
00:22Some go on as therapy horses.
00:26Those that are unsuitable are kept for breeding.
00:31But Lamiya isn't just a breeder.
00:35She's also a physiotherapist.
00:38Now she's combining therapy with riding.
00:41Primarily for children with disabilities.
00:44But it's something of a first.
00:46Bosnian mountain horses are famous for their strength,
00:49but notorious for their stubborn streak.
00:52It's not about taming them.
00:55It's about the horse working with you.
00:57It's less a horse than a colleague.
01:00That's how I approach it.
01:02If they agree with you, you can work together.
01:05And they'll give you what you want.
01:07This is her first therapy horse, Miška.
01:13They're getting ready to welcome a new, young patient.
01:17Look, take the blanket with a grip for the therapy.
01:23And make sure it fits.
01:24He's coming for the first time, so he won't use a saddle.
01:29That way he'll be in closer contact with the horse.
01:34The new patient Gabriel is rather daunted by the looks of things.
01:42The horse, the camera crew, it's a little overwhelming.
01:45But Lamija offers some gentle encouragement.
01:49Shall we have a walk with Miška?
01:54We won't ride yet. Just walk. On foot.
01:59Finally, Gabriel is persuaded to climb on.
02:05He only rides a short way, but that alone is a big leap forward.
02:10A few days later, Lamija sends us a video of Gabriel's progress,
02:20looking more and more confident.
02:27Horseback or hippotherapy worked wonders for her son, says Mirsada Begovic.
02:32The entrepreneur has founded several aid organizations for children with disabilities,
02:37including a well-known therapy center in Sarajevo.
02:41Mirsada believes there should be much more hippotherapy.
02:46Hippotherapy here in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still in its beginnings.
02:52But if we work hard and raise its profile, it has a great future.
03:02But it's unlikely to hit the mainstream very soon.
03:04The health care system in Bosnia and Herzegovina only covers basic care,
03:09and that doesn't exactly include hippotherapy.
03:16Lamija's daughter is all-in.
03:19At just 14, Aisha has her future figured out.
03:23When I'm done with school and my studies, I want to take over my mother's stable
03:28and do what she does now, have fun with the children and the therapeutic riding.
03:35It's my biggest dream.
03:39Her mother was just eight years old when she came to the Netherlands as a refugee.
03:47Right next door, a stable.
03:50Lamija says the horses helped her in overcoming her trauma.
03:53The Netherlands became her second home.
03:5630 years later during the Covid pandemic, she returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina with her family.
04:04Here she could make her dream of hippotherapy a reality.
04:09She doesn't turn a profit yet, but her husband supports her.
04:12They're funding the project step by step.
04:16Next on the list, a covered riding area.
04:19You can see it rains a lot here.
04:24That's one of our problems.
04:27We'd like at least part of it covered, so we can work even in this kind of weather.
04:33The weather.
04:37Lamija is confident they'll make it happen.
04:42Because if there's one thing she shares with a Bosnian mountain horse,
04:46it's that unyielding, stubborn will.
04:48.
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