Our story actually started already in 1994. Back then, I bought a 2-week-old foal, Filou, a Bavarian warmblood. I had dreams of a horse that comes to me, when called (“Don’t disturb me while I’m grazing!”), reacts to the tiniest aids (“Leg aids? I don’t react to those.”), loves to work with me (“I was NOT born to work!), happily loads on trailers (“I’m NOT going in there, I weigh 700 kg, you can do whatever you want!”), with whom I can go on trail rides by myself (without another horse and rider) (“Well, I’m going back to the barn, even without you!”) and who’ll accompany me through thick and thin (“That thing looks dangerous so I’ll run away as fast as I can, even through fences or people, if I have to.”).
Don’t get me wrong, I love Filou to bits and learned an incredible amount from him. But of my dreams back then almost none came true. In 2015 our mare Noraly (a Dutch warmblood) died unexpectedly of a septic shock. I had had 2 horses for 10 years. After the initial shock I felt the desire stir to have 2 horses again. But after all the (pasture) injuries and lamenesses my husband had enough of warmbloods. He told me that if I had to have a second horse, I had to get a smaller, less injury prone one!
Where can I get a horse, which was allowed to grow up in a herd, has no traumas from rough treatment and has been lovingly trained to carry a rider? I grabbed the phone. “Horst, I’m looking for a smaller horse for myself”. “Come to Muenster and choose one!” Horst replied. So I did and chose the back then 5 year old Favorita (I call her Fav). She is an offspring of Londrino and Alfama.
Fav and Filou (who is meanwhile 28 years old) get along great, but they could not be more different from each other. Fav loads without any issues. I was able to ride on trails unaccompanied when she was 6 years old. She loves to work with me. She reacts to the smallest aids (I only need to think “trot” and she will trot). She comes to me when I call her. I will never forget how I was lounging her when she was 6 years old and directly next to the lounging ring a shed got dismantled with a chain saw. Fav did not care. Neighboring our previous barn was a pasture with several pigs. Almost all horses of the barn (no matter whether big or small) would not go past the pig pasture, which meant that the horse owners could not ride on the nearby trails. Fav went past the pigs without hesitation. I could not be more proud of my little mare Fav!
Every day I cannot believe my luck that such a horse was entrusted to me and that all my horse dreams came true after all! I cannot wait to travel to Segovia as soon as the covid situation allows and choose my second Pearl!!!