Apollonia turned her dream into a wonderful life: the world in the country is much bigger than in the city | Lifetime

You see, I’ll have my own horse. Negro, ”Apollonia told her grandmother when she was still in school, when Negroes were picking strawberries. This time, the grandmother just shook her hand: “There will be studies, there will be another life and no horse will care.”

However, Apollonia not only bought a horse, but three years ago she and her husband Laurynas moved to live with her grandparents. Now she is creating her own life here, surrounded by nature with horses and other farmers: “It seems that I live in a stable with them.”

“Spotted pony”. This is what one young woman called her activity, but these places just don’t call it a farm. Maybe soon I will be in space and spend time. It is true that there is more here: the life of Apolonia and the man to the farm He helps her on the weekends after returning from work.

Acquired a horse in the first year.

The farm where Apollonia and her family currently live are her grandparents, and now her grandparents and her family live here.

A.Vaitkevičienė became interested in horses as a child, when she attended horse riding training at the Kurtuvėnai stud farm.

“Every summer they are there, all the forests are ridden. But the time has come when I finished school and started studying in Kaunas. Other worries, another life, university. This is how I get away from horses,” said Apollonia .

It is true that this distance was not long. One day the girl took and bought a horse.

“We go to the university, by car and you can ride a horse. So what? The fuel does not cost”, – the students were kind, pulling Apollonia by the teeth.

It should also be said that A.Vaitkevičienė chose village-related studies: he studied rural development administration.

And so it was with the horse.

“What a month I lived that student life. New friends, dates, parties. And it got boring for me. And what do you think? Apolonia asks. “That’s right, a horse appeared in the first year. It is black? Of course.

According to the woman, something strange happened. When she was not a student and rode in the Kurtuv Krzynai stud farm, her beloved horse was Sokas.

“It was my first horse. When I went to study, it seemed to me that I had left something of my part in the stallion. It seemed to me that she was very sorry about something, “Apollonia said.

One day when she was a student, Apollonia spoke to her sister about her love for horses, and perhaps more accurately, this horse. “If you sell that horse, I’ll give it my all,” Apollonia said to her sister.

Unbelievable, but the next day my sister saw an ad that this particular horse was for sale. Sokas.

He decided to live in the village for the summer.

“I bought it and brought it to Kaunas,” says A. Vaitkevičienė. To the bedroom? “No,” he yells.

“It just came to our attention then. I brought the horse from the Šiauliai district to Kaunas,” he clarifies again.

The girl found the stables where Sokas settled. It is true that they were at the other end of the city, so every day Apollonia drove from one end of Kaunas to the other, to take care of Soko.

Now that I think about it, where did this stubbornness come from? Later, I transported Sok here to my grandparents’ house. Here was more space, meadows. We only met with me when I returned to my grandparents, “said the interlocutor.

A year has passed, summer has arrived, followed by another. In the framework of student exchange programs, the girl went to Portugal for half a year, and then to the United States. While still a student, she met her future husband, Laurynas of Dzūkija, and soon celebrated their wedding.

The couple began looking for housing in Kaunas, interested in the banking conditions for a loan. Apollonia and Laurynas also looked forward to the increase of the family. The couple returned to the village from time to time and they both enjoyed it here.

And then another summer came. “We decided to live in the village for the summer. That’s what we told ourselves: let’s try it, ”Apollonia said.

There is no Acropolis nearby

It is true that those who have not had that change in their lives may not understand what that means.

“However, there were several thoughts when moving from Kaunas. I was wondering what I was going to do there. In the middle of the village, it is not clear where, ‘Akropolis’ is not close, I will not drive,” laughed A.Vaitkevičienė.

Apollonia remembers: after settling in the village, she felt peace, and the sounds of nature, which seriously changed the city, did not bother, but calmed down. Soon the young woman realized: nowhere else and did not want to be. The family has lived here for three years, and Apollonia has started her activities, which she still very shyly calls a business.

It all, she says, didn’t start right away. When her daughter Vakar was born, her mother spent a lot of time with her and didn’t think about anything with her baby. “But I started to feel pressured by the walls of the house. I’m not one of those who can close the pots.

When the man came back after work, and I told him to stay with the boy. I grabbed a bucket of paint and went out to barn. There were two horse stables, old stables and a lot of dust. I started to paint it. One night, another ”, said the interlocutor.

And when you paint, says Apolonia, you dream. Yes, one after another, the horses began to meet in the village. “I soon thought: how is my son going to grow up without a pony? This is how the pony came about, “said the woman.

There are horses and the money runs out

Apollonia soon noticed that there was also an empty bank account – there are horses and the money is dwindling.

“It just came to our knowledge then eat. So I thought: well, no, something doesn’t come out here. You have what you like, but you feel bad because that hobby costs too much and gives you no comfort. I started thinking about what should be done, how to apply what is already there to the activities, “said Apollonia.

After considering the woman, he realized he had enough: premises, space in town, horses. Apolonia began to think about free time for the children of the city.

“There are several game rooms in the cities. But I noticed that there is a need for the country for the children of the city. Those who do not have grandparents living in the village often do not even know what goats, horses and chickens are like. They only know the animals from the pictures, “said A. Vaitkevičienė.

This is how Apollonia began to invite the children and families of the city to the village: here they organize educations with horses and ponies, other animals, riding training, invitations to celebrate children’s birthdays and other celebrations, such as kindergarten graduations- schoolchildren, bachelorette parties, baptisms.

Apollonia not only introduces guests to animals, but also allows them to feel. For example, feeding, combing a horse, understanding what it means to sit in a saddle, hug a goat or pet a rabbit, and not only children but also their parents are involved in the activities.

For this activity, the woman bought more animals, so now Apollonia’s house is inhabited by ultra-thin-skinned rabbits, goats who love Caramel and Nut cats, chickens. And, of course, horses.

“That’s what I am, always looking”

Women have more ideas on how to expand their activities, she wants activities to be not only seasonal, but what to do, visitors will find here all year round.

According to Apollonia, it is very important for her to unite a community: those who love horses, love to ride horses and feel at home here.

“We do trainings not for profit, not for any economic benefit, but to unite the community, so that the same people come here, so that it is a welcoming place to come. Be a scream. That is my goal, – said A.Vaitkevičienė.

– I’m very sure that if you have ideas, you can do anything interesting and good. The most important thing is to have the desire to implement those ideas all the time. I don’t want to limit myself to this activity that is now. I want to expand it, look for solutions, and if one thing doesn’t work, try another. That’s who I am, always searching. “

Having settled in the village and started this activity, Apollonia says that she did not miss any acropolis she is not missing.

“When you start creating everything, you start attracting people who are just like you, as if they were alone. They think the same way as you. Sometimes we go out into the country with girls – friends, like-minded people. As we say: in the field with hair down. Then all the worries and problems disappear, there are many laughs. I come back loaded with so many good emotions, and that’s it north times better than the Acropolis. Everything is enough.

My husband and I have traveled extensively. Traveling and realizing that you will be fine everywhere you build the way you need to. It will not be the case that someone gives you something. And the world that lives here in the country is much bigger than living in the city ”.