The next days were actually the same as the others. I was very tired and slept a lot.

On the fifth day after my birth, however, Dan opened the door to the paddock in front of our box. Curious, I stepped outside. The paddock was the same size as our box. Outside, the wind brushed through my fur and I saw strange animals sitting in the trees making strange sounds. They sounded nice, kind of like when Dan came through the barn alley. Then he sometimes made noises like that, too. It was a little colder than in the stall, but I still enjoyed the fresh air. There were other people walking by our paddock, either getting their horses next to us or getting ready for riding lessons. There were three school horses on the farm, but they were in the stall across the street. Passing the stable, we had a good view of a huge paddock where other horses were already standing. It must have been nice to gallop across there with the other foals standing there. Next to us stepped a young mare who greeted my mother.

I also stepped up to the fence and she sniffed me. I stretched my head and snorted at her. "Don't be so impetuous," my mother admonished me. "Let it go," the mare replied, "he's still small." The mare next to us was named Tinka and was also a Haflinger just like all the other horses on the farm. The stud farm had a Haflinger breeding program, I learned.

Tinka's human, approached us. She was also bred here, but she was too young to be bred herself, so Tinka had a foster share for this year. Tinka's human was very nice. Her name was Kim and she often had a carrot for my mother. She also petted me briefly before putting a green halter on Tinka in the paddock stall, which looked pretty good on her. Her coat was a bit dark for a Haflinger, only her legs were light and she had a thin blaze on her forehead. Kim walked with her now to the grooming area and a head from the other side next to us looked out into the yard. For a moment a longing took hold of her eyes, but it was covered by hopelessness and she pulled her head back into the box.

She was also a young mare named Estelle. She had no foster ownership and was mated for the first time this year. Estelle was more to herself and with her my mother did not talk often, only when it was necessary. She was a very bright light chestnut, but had only one small star on her forehead. She was a very pretty Haflinger, which would have made one think that she would have been rather more forward. Longingly I stared again at the paddock, where other foals were playing and frolicking. Would I also be in the paddock soon? I would like to meet the others right now, because it had become a bit boring. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)