Five dark horses walk toward the camera at dusk on the Kruzi plateau, two of them looking into the lens.
Five dark horses walk toward the camera at dusk on the Kruzi plateau, two of them looking into the lens.

No one came back for them.

A line of about twenty horses walking along the far horizon under a pale evening sky.
A line of about twenty horses walking along the far horizon under a pale evening sky.

Wild Livno

This is the story of the wild horses above Livno.

Their ancestors came from the villages below the mountain.

They ploughed the fields and carried the loads.

When they were not needed, they were let up the mountain. When they were needed, someone came up for them.

1970s

People from these villages went to work in Germany.

They came home and bought tractors.

They were not needed anymore.

No one came back for them.

A lone dapple grey horse on orange grass, looking back over its shoulder.
A lone dapple grey horse on orange grass, looking back over its shoulder.

None of the horses that were let go is alive today.

The horses on the mountain are their descendants.

None of the horses that were let go is alive today.

The horses on the mountain are their descendants.

Three mud-streaked horses pressed together, a grey resting its head over a young chestnut.
Three mud-streaked horses pressed together, a grey resting its head over a young chestnut.

By 2008, people were shooting horses on the plateau, some for sport, some for meat.

Two men from Livno started a petition. In two months, more than five thousand people signed.

In December 2009, the town put the horses under its protection.

An adult horse and a foal alone on the edge of a golden plateau under a vast grey storm sky.
An adult horse and a foal alone on the edge of a golden plateau under a vast grey storm sky.

In 2010, volunteers counted them. There were 167.

  1. 2010167
  2. 2015418
  3. 2017about 500the year these photographs were taken
  4. Last countmore than 1,000

In December 2017, the town withdrew its protection. Drivers kept claiming damages for crashes.

In 2025, police caught a man trying to sell two foals. Prosecutors dropped the case. No damage had been done, they said.

The horses belong to no one.

A mixed herd crossing golden hills, a chestnut foal walking in the middle.
A mixed herd crossing golden hills, a chestnut foal walking in the middle.

Today they live without fences, stables or owners.

A foal with a white star looks into the camera from pink wildflowers while a bay grazes in front of it.
A foal with a white star looks into the camera from pink wildflowers while a bay grazes in front of it.

Prave se divlji, a nisu divlji.

They act wild, but they're not wild.

Oni više vole biti gore nego ovdje.

They like it better up there than down here.

A man from Potočani, 2015

Photographs: Vladimir Vujeva, Kruzi plateau, October 2017.

Some frames are extended or animated from the original photographs.

Sources