In the past blogs I have always discussed a whole year, as I am now getting closer to the present, I am going to divide the moments slightly differently. In this blog I will talk about the first part of 2020. The part before the corona, the first quarter. In it I went on a ride through the snow, two foals were born and Press had to move.

January.

In the first month of the year there was some snow in the valley. Issy always has enough energy to be ridden shortly before the foal arrives and Finn also remained active enough for a quiet round. So we could really enjoy the beautiful weather! For Finn it was her first time out riding in the snow, but to her it's like she's been doing everything for ages. You wouldn't now she had only been under the saddle for a few months. Very proud of this horse, which I trained all by myself from foal until now to the top horse she is!

February.

The month in which the foal season starts! A period in which I always enjoy going into the stable to see if foals have been born. Issy was due this month too. Never before had I been with Issy when she gave birth. Now that I had a house nearby, I was eager to be there this year. After all, I could now keep a close eye on everything. On February 25, we thought it could be that far. I was in the stable around 5 pm, then it seemed to take a while, so I went home. An hour and a half later I went back to have a look, still nothing, she was also standing there quietly. A while later I went to the stable again, nothing... Just after 9.30 pm I looked out my window and saw that the lights were on in the stable. That meant someone else had come to have a look and it probably wasn't going to be long. So I put on my shoes and went down again. I looked in through the door and saw Issy twirling around a bit restless. It was almost time! I waited quietly at the door and watched so that I wouldn't disturb her, but could go in when it was about to happen.

10:39 pm the hooves could be seen! In the meantime I had gone inside so that I could take pictures and videos. Issy didn't let herself be bothered and continued without paying attention to me. I called the stable owner to tell him that it had started, he said that it couldn't be, he just went to have a look, when I said that the feet were already coming out, he came to have a look. Even though everything went very quickly, Issy couldn't quite get it together and we decided to lend a hand. At 10:43 pm Issy had given birth! When I saw the blaze, I was hopeful, until now the blazes were mares and the ones with a star were stallions. And yes! Also this year a mare, welcome to the world Intizara!

Intizara had been in the world for less than 5 minutes, when the neighbor across from Issy decided it was time for her too. Less than fifteen minutes later there was another foal in the stable! A special moment to experience this! The other people from the stable also came to admire the little ones. I waited for Intizara to drink for the first time and then finally went home at 12:30 am.

March.

The month in which things became very different in the world halfway through. Impressive had spent the winter in Mayrhofen. After some disagreement, I had to pick up Press immediately on March 15th. But where did I go so quickly with a horse! There was no room in the stable where Issy and Finn were standing. Everyone thought along with me and fortunately we quickly found a solution. Or so we thought. Early in the morning I picked her up and took her to the new barn nearby. I was glad I could have arranged something so quickly. In the afternoon I had to go up the mountain to arrange the last things there, as we would go into lockdown from that day on. I was eating my lunch on the mountain, when I received a phone call. The stable where Press was now standing was not free after all, another horse would return and so Press had to go to another stable that week. Little in panic, I went to Issy and Finn's stable at the end of the day. I spoke to the owner and luckily we found a solution so that Press could come to that stable after all. The next day I picked her up and she had to move again. Luckily, Press let it all come over her calmly and didn't seem to have a problem with the migration! Now my horses were all in the same stable, everything was arranged and me and my horses were happy!

From then on I was no longer allowed to go to the stable. We were in lockdown and were not allowed to do anything anymore. Everything was closed, except for the supermarkets. We were not allowed to go outside without a good reason. The horses were also not allowed, because they were fully looked after. Fortunately, I could see my horses outside every day from my balcony.

Early in the morning of March 28, I received a message with two photos. Finn had finally given birth to her foal. A stallion! I agreed with the stable owner that in the evening when everyone was gone, I could take a look at my foal. Of course I also wanted to admire my foal in real life!

Finn turned out to be just as sweet a mother as Issy and let me look at the foal. The sire of this foal is Sevruga and so the name had to start with S. I quickly decided, he was named Sensation! In the beginning he was very curious and came immediately to me for some cuddles. When it took him a little too long, he lay down and let himself be petted further. A huge cuddly animal!

To end this blog I just want to show you a nice video of Issy and Intizara.

Love, Fabiënne