Gracia came in my life when she was barely 4 months old. I noticed a picture of her on a selling website in the Netherlands and it was love at first sight. I bought her and she never left. I have always taken care of her and I have seen her every day except for holidays and when she was in quarantine in Belgium and Canada. She is now 14 years old.

Just before we left for Canada I had started her under saddle. She did very well and picked up the basics very fast. A couple of times a week we went for a trail ride in the area close by. Just a ten minutes walk. The trail ride itself took us generally 2 hours. Nice and relaxing. Most of the time. Sometimes she noticed some very exiting things behind the bushes, but never so much that I couldn’t control her any more.

Arriving here in Canada was a huge disappointment. The barn where I had stabled her was only focused on dressage and the horses were always ridden indoors. Going outside was the same thing as cursing. Also the only nearby “trail” was riding in the ditch. Not a huge problem, she was used to all kind of traffic, but the garbage including barbed wire and glass wasn’t very inviting. The other option was to take a trailer and drive to the mountains. But going alone wasn’t an option because of safety. And I did not have a trailer (yet). Only thing left for us was settling for the indoor arena with rules which only allowed you to ride and do your dressage. Even the freestyle and groundwork weren’t allowed.

I was soooo happy we finally bought our own acreage and I could take her home!!