Grönemann et al. (2015) (S. 14) empfehlen folgendes Verhalten für Reiter/innen bei Wolfsbegegnungen:
- Keinesfalls fluchtartig davon galoppieren, sondern Ruhe bewahren.
- Die Pferde nebeneinander (als Einzelreiter auch allein) den Wölfen zugewandt aufstellen, damit die Pferde die Wölfe sehen können.
- Um die Pferde nicht zu beunruhigen, keinesfalls in die Hände klatschen oder mit den Armen fuchteln, sondern darauf achten, dass die Pferde ruhig an den Hilfen stehen. Natürlich kann man laut rufen.
- Sollten die Wölfe sich nicht gleich entfernen, sollte man im Schritt langsam auf die Wölfe zu- oder an ihnen vorbeireiten. Dabei muss natürlich Platz vorhanden sein, damit die Wölfe ausweichen können. Wenn man bemerkt, dass die Wölfe den Reitern folgen, sollte man sich sofort in oben beschriebener Weise den Tieren wieder entschlossen zuwenden. Dabei ist es wichtig, auf die Situation angemessen zu reagieren, d.h. durch entschlossenes Vorwärtsreiten auf die Wölfe zu zum Ausdruck zu bringen, dass man nicht bereit ist, diese Nähe zu tolerieren. Aber es ist ebenso wichtig, sofort durchzuparieren und anzuhalten, wenn die Wölfe zurückweichen.
- Auf keinen Fall sollte man den Wölfen folgen oder hinterher reiten, um z.B. Fotos der Tiere zu machen. Wölfe sind wie alle Wildtiere, wenn sie in die Enge gedrängt werden, zur Verteidigung bereit. Außerdem stehen Wölfe in Europa unter strengem Schutz und es ist verboten, den Tieren nachzustellen.
- Nimmt man seinen Hund mit auf den Ausritt, gilt es zu beachten, dass Wölfe Hunde als Konkurrenten in ihrem Territorium betrachten. Hunde sollten deshalb in Wolfsgebieten angeleint sein und am Pferd und am Menschen bleiben.
Das folgende Video zeigt in beispielhafter Weise, wie diese Empfehlungen in der Praxis umgesetzt werden können.
Es wurde von Tove Muhrbeck, einer Hobbyreiterin aus Stockholm, im Jahr 2017 aufgenommen und freundlicherweise zur Verfügung gestellt. Sie arbeitet als TV-Journalistin. Das Interview mit ihr wurde im Juli 2021 geführt.
Und hier erzählt Tove Muhrbeck in einem Interview mit dem VFWPW die Geschichte hinter ihrer Begegnung mit dem Wolf:
I live in Stockholm. I started to ride when I was 9 and I have ridden all my life, except from the period when I was between 18-29. I am 46 now. Holly was 9 when she died so I had her from she was 5 until she died. 4 1/2 year. She was not broken when I bought her so I did that work by myself. She was a big horse, 178 cm high. Unfortunately she died one year ago due to an accident regarding her leg. That was the worst thing ever happened to me. She was the love of my life and so talented! She was a Danish warmblood and she was 6 years old when we met the wolf. We competed sucessfully in dressage and was just about to start the Msv B level. Holly was a very alert horse with a lot of energy. She was kindhearted to everyone, humans as well as other animals. I hacked a lot with Holly. At least 3 days a week. She could be nervous sometimes and very fast reactive that she would just swing her self around 180 degrees and run away. Once when she did that I fell off and broke my foot because of that 😆. I have never met a wolf before and as far as I know, Holly hasn’t either. The wolf we met didn’ t radiate any anger. The wolf just popped out from the forest when me and Holly was out riding. She looked only like a young curious dog. She also seemed to be lonely and just wanted some company. She followed us in approximately 200 meters in a distance as close as 10 metres. Holly was a bit nervous but as I was calm she was too. I turned around facing the wolf as I wasn’t afraid at all and I wanted to see if I could look a little closer to the beautiful animal. When me and Holly came to a bigger road the wolf decided to stay closer the forest. Actually she looked a bit sad and insecure of what she would do now. It seemed that she just wanted company. I rode with Holly the same way as we met the wolf many times after and she was not afraid or insecure. For me it was a great encounter of fascinating nature! I will probably never met a wolf again during a horsebackride as we usually don’t have them that close to Stockholm. The wolf I met became famous as more people saw it and even though she wasn’t angry the society decided that she came too close so they shot her. It was a young female wolf. My attitude towards wolf is kind of complex. For me as a woman living in Stockholm it was just an exotic happening. I can see the problem of people living in the countryside with animals such as sheeps etc getting killed by wolfes. But I still think you must respect the wolf. It is part of the nature, the same way as humans are. You just have to get a long and if you can’t, you should move. The wolf was probably there long before you. My attitude towards wolfes has not changed after I met this one. I have always been thinking the same about them.
This wolf I met was just seen alone not with other wolfes. Before I met her I’ve heard that she existed because it’s so rare spotting wolfes close to Stockholm and people saw her before me.So newspapers wrote about her. But no one (as far as I know) have met the wolf during a horsebackride. I would also like to say that I think that if a wolf is very close to humans in a city and shows aggression it should be shot if you can’t transport it somewhere to a safe place and new district. And to riders who meet wolf I would give the advise to keep on calmly riding. Talk to the horse and the wolf like a dog.
(Tove Muhrbeck)