When elena larrea He was 4 years old and he liked to dress up as a horse. His family had racing equines and he has always loved these animals. She now dedicates all his passion to Cuacolandia, a shelter for animals that were victims of exploitation, mistreatment and abandonment that she finances with her page of onlyfans.
We rescue and rehabilitate horses originating from abuse and abandonment. We have the horses from the Acapulco calenders, wagon horses that are the ones that pull garbage, Horses from the Mounted Police and horses in general confiscated for mistreatment and abandonment from different places”, Elena spoke in an interview with Emprendedor.com.
It all started when the news went viral that 17 mares were mistreated in Tonalá, Jalisco. Larrea organized his followers on social networks and denounced the poor conditions to which the animals were subjected.
The entrepreneur detected the need to have a shelter for retired horses and founded quacolanda property in the municipality of Atlixco in Puebla that is dedicated to giving these animals a second chance.
Cuacolandia and the godfathers for the horses
When a horse is rescued by Elena, it is sent to the hospital to be checked out. Since she is discharged, her food begins to rise, she begins to be given fodder and grain. She is also given to her by a “godfather” with one of the alpha male horses so that she can adopt him for a month and a half and then they are introduced to her herd. The alpha male then protects the new horse.
Cuacolandia currently has 42 horses, there was a time when it had a herd of 120 horses and 20 donkeys.
However, keeping a horse can be very expensive.
Between the food for the horses, veterinarians, blacksmiths, the entire payroll, the rent, more or less we spend about 100,000 pesos a month,” says the entrepreneur.
“The horses here no longer pull and send them to the trail”
Elena’s passion for horses is palpable. She grew up alongside her and she loved to ride whenever she could. But as she began to grow, she began to “make noise” to take the animal out of the stable, mount it, return it and leave. “I felt like I wasn’t exploiting it as such, but it did give me some guilt. I got together with a person named Tony Camil and she did veterinary sessions in the State of Mexico for garbage horses,” said the businesswoman.
Both women brought them doctors, saddlers, specialists, etc., and they treated these animals so that they worked in better conditions.
I used to say ‘The horses that here no longer pull, they send them to the slaughterhouse’”. Since they break something or are not right, they are not removed. They sell them by the kilo per meat.”
Then Elena received some of these horses from the garbage and the word spread that she was receiving horses from animal abuse and several municipalities that had blood traction began to send her equines.
Subsequently, he presented the Cuacolandia project to the governor of Guerrero Hector Astudillo.
I told him ‘You banned the calenders in 2014 and they continue to circulate’. He didn’t want to confiscate the horses because he didn’t want a scandal like the one in circuses where many animals were sacrificed,” recalls Larrea.
The president decided to send those animals to Cuacolanida and that was how the calenders came to an end. The owners were issued ATVs and the horses were removed.
A pandemic has arrived…
Before the health emergency, Cuacolandia was supported by donations and rides on the youngest horses. But soon social distancing made the operation untenable.
I had to give up more than half of the animals for adoption. I kept 38 horses. Now that I have started to generate a little more money, I have already rescued 6 more”, lamented the interviewee.
Elena had to lower the rental costs, stop giving certain fodder because she could only give the horses oats. “I saw them very black because I stopped receiving visitors who went horseback riding or equine therapies and who helped us raise funds.”
Finally, the entrepreneur reached a breaking point. “I thought: ‘Either I get money under the palm tree, or I’m going to end up abandoning all my horses.’”
Then he opened his Only Fans
Elena got to the point where she had spent her income, cut her payroll, and even sold her things. With that she could only support 7 horses and only for a while.
All my friends told me that I was pretty and that I was always naked on Instagram. ‘Just turn it up a little bit and open OnlyFans. The truth was I thought ‘Well, I’m already here. well burned(laughs) and in the worst case, I put my hand down, I close the OnlyFans and as if nothing had happened’”.
It was so that a couple of years ago Elena opened her account on the adult content platform where, according to her words, she uploads spicy images with class. Thanks to this content, the entrepreneur earns more or less 60,000 pesos a month and every peso that she generates from OnlyFans goes to Cuacolandia.
…But his family didn’t understand
Going to sell adult content on OnlyFans is incredibly popular because it’s kinky and few ever see it as a legitimate digital venture. It is the #25 site worldwide in popularity and has more than 190 million users, including 2.1 million content creators, according to the Sing House agency.
However, that made little difference to Elena’s situation.
My family disinherited me. They basically told me not to count on them at all because it was so sad that I ‘would end up doing those things’. My mom blocked me for ‘lack of self esteem and dignity’. I lost contact with my family, but it’s not like they’ll help me before opening Only Fans”, he recalls with some sadness.
When Elena told them that she needed help maintaining the rescued horses, her family’s response was “Well, give them away”.
They never understood that I was going to do what I had to do to protect the horses.”
Elena reflects that when she opened her OnlyFans account, everyone got mad, but the reality is that they never supported her. “So, if they are not going to help me, they are not going to hinder me. I lost contact with my family because of this, ”she sentenced.
“No one helped me until I took off my clothes”
Now that the Pandemic seems to be more and more distant, Cuacolandia begins to receive donations directly
“It was very difficult, because people don’t know the sacrifices I have had to make to protect these animals. I have 300,000 followers among all my networks, I asked for support every day, but they only came with OnlyFans ”.
Nobody helped me until I took off my clothes, and it is a reality.
Elena jokes that “when people found out that I was ‘undressing’ to help the horses, then the support began.”
Now Larrea is fighting to generate enough income so that the shelter is not only sustainable, but can open its doors to more horses. In the State of Mexico alone there are between 5,000 and 7,000 carriage horses working today.
“I would like to get hundreds of horses off the streets so that they have a dignified old age and that people see these horses that seem to be invisible because nobody cares about them. They have a voice and that’s me.”
Advice for women entrepreneurs
Larrea is aware that her path is not for all women entrepreneurs. But she asks them to lose their fear of pursuing her dreams.
“We are the owners of our bodies, our money and our consequences. We no longer live in the era where permission had to be asked for everything and if not forgiveness. We are independent. Do whatever you want. People are going to criticize you just the same.”
Now Elena asks that in general, consumers generate a vision that animals are with us and not for us. Those who want to support Cuacolandia can give donations in cash or in kind or by subscribing to the OnlyFans channel.
Finally, Elena Larrea’s message is that you don’t stop fighting.
I have seen them very black and I have been about to throw in the towel a thousand times, but I have not stopped moving forward. I know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it and no one is going to stop me”.
The last:
Entrepreneur.com We are the leading medium for Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs, with the most important news and content on startups and businesses.