It has been a while since I wrote a blog. In the last blog I told you that Infinity had had a foal and that the horses went on the mountain. In the meantime all horses are in the valley and my foals are sold. In the summer I have been very busy with teaching, with the foals and with work. Now that everything has calmed down a bit, I have time to sit down and put everything in order. What have I experienced this summer?

Summer.

Impressive had been on the alm for a while. I tried to go and have a look every week. By default, the camera goes with it! The cover photo of this blog is me and Impressive. A fantastic view, I can enjoy it every time again.

This year I decided to put Issy on the alm together with Isamiya. Issy's hooves were very bad and kept breaking. I hoped that if she would walk without shoes on a soft surface for a while, maybe it would recover by itself. June 18 was the day. We brought Issy and Isamiya together with another mare with a foal to the Alpine pasture. She was placed on the Horbergalm. A different alpine pasture than Impressive, but no less beautiful! The foals immediately started to play and seemed to enjoy themselves. The mares, on the other hand, lowered their heads as soon as we let go of them and stopped looking at us. I think they liked it!

The months of July and August were very busy on the campsite, I was teaching a lot and I didn't have so much time to go to the alms. Fortunately, there were others who went to see if they were doing well. And a big comfort, when I went to check on them, the horses usually didn't have much time for me, so I wasn't missed!

Sevimli grew very fast at the campsite and was already getting cheeky. His big brother Sensation was very interested in the fact that he wasn't the youngest any more and was amazed. He also developed well and slowly became a big boy!

Infinity also participated a lot in the lessons at the campsite during the summer. Unbelievable that she is only 5 years old, she does it all so well! In the weekends I rode her myself, to train her some more. The training of the foals also had to start slowly. The foal inspection was coming up again. Sevimli obediently went away from his mum to go for a little walk. Despite being so young, he did very well.

At the end of August we took Isamiya down from the mountain so that I could start training her. Issy stayed at the pasture, she had become very thin because of the foal and so she could continue eating. Loading the trailer was not easy. The other foal was in place, but Isamiya panicked. She did not know what was happening and did not like it. In the end we managed to catch her and get her on the trailer. She had always been a very affectionate foal and I was afraid this would work against me. But the next day at the stable I could put a halter on her in one go and it was as if nothing had happened. Also practising walking went well, but there was one thing I had to pay attention to. If she was scared of something or wanted to look at something, I couldn't pull on the rope. She could not handle the pressure. But if I let her watch for a moment, let go of the rope, then she immediately walked with me again!

Foal Check Day.

On 2 September was the foal judging. First, I presented Isamiya. You can see her on the pictures with the purple halter. She did very well, showed herself very well and we got a IIa+ class. I was very pleased. Then it was Sevimli's turn. As he was only 4 months old, I didn't want to wean him off yet, so I presented him together with Infinity. Infinity appeared to have the same problem as her mother. All energy in the foal and nothing left for herself so unfortunately she was too thin. But she had to hold on for a while. Sevimli also did well at the inspection, but as expected he was not selected as a stallion candidate. No problem, because I already had a buyer for him!

Nice news to mention! At the campsite I got the opportunity to have my 'own' stable. Here I could finally have my horses all together. Issy and Impressive will move there later this year. Sevimli stays at the campsite and soon got a friend. Stanley, on the pictures above the Haflinger with the red halter. He would come to my barn and not only him, but I also bought the little foal Jazz, the spotted mare on the pictures above. She is the same age as Sevimli and born on May 6.

We built a new fence where the young horses could stand. Now I had my own Kindergarten! With Isamiya I now had to start lunging. At the end of September the auction was planned and then we had to show ourselves from our best side.

Foal Auction.

The 25th of September we left early for Ebbs. We were on time and after the number had been properly clipped, we were allowed to enter the hall. Here the interested parties could have a good look at the foals. I knew from some of them that they were interested in Isamiya, so there was good hope! With number 16, it was our turn pretty soon. The foals in front of us in the same class were not very popular. Finally it was our turn, I walked with her into the ring and got ready to lunge. It took a while before the bidding really started, so I could take my time and let her get used to it. Once it started, it went really fast! There were several bidders. Because Isamiya was very well behaved, I could look around to see who was bidding. When the price was very good, the bidding stopped. I listened to the name that was called out, to know who had bought her. The name said nothing to me, but she stayed in Tyrol!

Very happy, you could not make me happier. While eating on the grandstand, I happened to see the buyer. We got acquainted and I was very reassured. A nice man with his daughter. What more could I want! I immediately said goodbye to her that day, but I knew that I could certainly visit her again!

Pasture Season.

Issy had also left the mountain but was allowed to continue her long holiday on the big pasture. On the mountain pasture she hadn't gained much weight so we tried again. She went really fast there! When I went to see her after 2 weeks, she was already full of weight! Of course she is pregnant again, so it is allowed!

October 3, it was also time to take Impressive down. She was still on the alm with another horse. All the others were already down in the valley. The weather was about to turn, so it was about time!

There was a strong wind on the mountain pasture and the horses were happy to go with us. We took them to the field where the other horses came running to the trailer. Once on the field, we were no longer in sight and it was as if they had not eaten for a week. Now they can stay there for a while until the weather gets really bad and the grass runs out. After that, life will slowly start for Impressive as the studbook registration is planned for next year. But for now, she can still enjoy!

Love, Fabiënne