2018, a year in which Issy had another colt, Finn had to start working slowly, I bought a foal and unfortunately also broke my back. That last thing has changed me a bit. It made me aware that life can be different quickly and it could have ended very differently for me, but I was extremely lucky!

Avanti.

February 22, at the end of the afternoon, around 5 o'clock, Issys third foal was born. A stallion. After work, I drove straight to the stable to see him. When I arrived, his legs were still a bit shaky and he was still wet. He had already been drinking and was pretty quick. I had a few names in mind, but once I saw him, none of them fit. After looking at him for a while, the name Avanti came to mind, it suited him perfectly.

In September he was presented to the jury, but was not selected as a stallion candidate. I put him up for sale. It took me a long time to find someone willing to buy him.

December 1 he moved to his new home. I sold him, coincidentally, to a Dutch girl living in Austria. Sometimes I still get a photo sent to me and how nice is it to know that he is doing well!

The fall.

In the summer Finn was back on the alpine pasture, I took part in the Show every Friday at the Fohlenhof and started the 30 day test for the young stallions in August. I had to ride two of them this time, Navur and Nobianco.

Both super nice horses to work with, self-trained and never had a mistake. But of course they remain young horses and something can always happen, as it turned out this time.

A few days before the exam was due to take place, things went wrong. On a Thursday I was riding in the arena. Shortly after starting, the young stallion started bucking. Why I don't know to this day. The buck itself was not a problem, unfortunately because my weight was hanging on one side due to the bucking, my stirrup strap broke. There was no stopping this, the horse jumped away from me and I fell backwards on my tailbone / lower back. Because of the shock I couldn't breathe, got up and held on to the fence. The year before I had also fallen off a horse and had bruised my tailbone, that hurt a lot more than I felt with this fall and so I thought, it is not too bad. I walked to the exit and wanted to sit on the bench for a moment. However, sitting was not an option. I put my hands under my butt and so I could kind of hang. The pain slowly got worse, colleagues asked if they should call the ambulance but I said it would be fine. I walked, as best I could, to the stables where I had a drink. Slowly it was not going so well and it seemed wise to go to the doctor.

I drove to the doctor together with a colleague. The pain intensified and I was given an IV with painkillers. Because it didn't look so good anyway, the ambulance was called and I was taken to the hospital. In the hospital I was examined from head to toe, pictures of my pelvis and spine, ultrasound of my abdomen, blood tests and urine tests, because a fall from a horse is counted as a fall from a big height. After quite a long time of waiting I was able to go to the doctor again. He showed me the photos and told me that there was no fracture to be seen and so it was a heavy bruise of my spine. This would be fine with a lot of rest. I was allowed to go. At that point I could barely move because everything hurt. With pain and difficulty I walked out and called my colleague to ask if she could pick me up. After that I drove home by car myself and went to bed.

The next day was the foal inspection. I could barely walk myself, so someone else took my foal to the jury. In the afternoon I decided to go to the doctor to get a sick report, since it was not possible to work for the weekend. In my head it was still possible at that time to just ride the test with the stallions that Monday. This all fell apart at the doctor. I asked for a sick report, which I did not receive immediately because I had no written diagnosis. The hospital was called and the diagnosis was sent. The doctor asked me to come along and told me that something was wrong. The diagnosis was a completely different story than the one I told, namely that I had broken and shifted 3 vertebrae.

At an urgent request, I immediately went to the sports clinic in Mayrhofen. Here new pictures were taken and a CT scan. It soon became clear that it was actually broken and the vertebrae shifted a few percent. Actually, I should have stayed in the hospital for a week. Since I was already home now, I didn't have to go back, but I had to stay in bed.

It was tough, no family around me, I live alone and so it was not that easy. Fortunately I had a very sweet neighbor who was ready to help. It could have been very different, it could have been much worse, but it ended well. Even though I still have pain, some times more than others, this will never go away completely, but I am glad that I can still do everything.

On December 3rd, after 3 months, I could finally get back on the horse! Very happy and grateful that I can still carry out my greatest passion!

Rainbow and Daisy.

Fortunately, there was also something nice that year. I bought a foal, Rainbow. A riding school from Germany bought also a foal, Daisy. They would come to the Zillertal together, so I would take care of Daisy. Rainbow would grow up with me and I would then continue to sell her as a riding horse. The two were best friends and very easy going. I went for a lovely walk with them, could do anything with them and just enjoy them.

Infinity.

At the end of the year, it was slowly time for Finn to get to work. Next year she would turn 3 years old and then we had to go for the studbook inspection. So she had to be in good shape. I lunged her a lot. I was not really busy with starting to ride her yet, sometimes putting on a saddle to get her used to it, but I think a good preparation is everything and so I took plenty of time! She was very eager to learn and picked up everything very well. She already knew lunging herself. But a bridle and girth were new. The girth was no problem, the bit took some getting used to and the strings also had to be tried out. She quickly understood what was being asked of her and did great! From here I could build it further, but I wouldn't do this until the following year!

All in all a year in which a lot happened, but I am certainly grateful for the fact that I can still do what I love to do, be busy with my horses!

Love, Fabienne