Time flew by quickly and we grew bigger and started grazing when we were about three months old. Now I wondered why I had not done this before, because the juicy meadow tasted very good. But probably that was also due to my teeth, with which I could not yet chew properly at all.

I stood outside on the paddock one morning, when Dan was not yet there, and watched curiously what was happening in the early morning hours. Birds were chirping in the trees and a warm breeze was blowing around me. The rays of the morning sun tickled my fur and nostrils. There were few people in the yard at first, but eventually Tinka joined me. I greeted her and was happy to see her. My mother was standing in the box eating hay, as was Estelle, as she did most of the time when she was in the box.

Then I remembered my question, which I had forgotten for a while. I made sure my mother didn't hear me and hoped for an answer from Tinka, which I had so often expected from my mother.For a moment Tinka considered, then said, "You know, Estelle didn't have it easy before she came here."

I pricked up my ears so as not to miss a word and looked at her eagerly. Tinka paused for a moment until she continued, "As a little foal, she was separated from her mother way too early. I think she was the same age then as you are now." I shuddered. Already, to have to get along without my mother I would not find at all nice. Poor Estelle.

"But why?", I asked Tinka before she could continue. "I don't know," she said truthfully.Estelle's ears twitched in our direction and her muscles tensed briefly. It must have taken a lot of courage for her to do what she did now. Slowly she came out to the paddock as well. She eyed us tensely and hesitantly said, "If you want...if you want I'll tell you the story."

Quite astonished, we looked over at her at the same time. I had never heard so many words come out of her mouth. And there would be more. Even my mother had come outside in amazement when she had heard a few words from Estelle's bright voice, even if they had been very soft. Estelle lowered her head and sheepishly pawed with her hoof, and a few small stones flew under the fence, startling two birds that had found something to eat there.Then Estelle cast a shy glance at us. We all looked at her questioningly, but that must have made her a little nervous, because she started chewing on a few tufts of grass.

After a few doubtful moments, she began to speak: "I lived as a small foal on a small private property with my mother Encora and my half-sister Equina. Equina was three years older than me, so our owner Tara had already started breaking her in."Breaking in, what was that? I wonder if that was training or a badge."I was three months old when my mother died of colic, which Tara hadn't noticed. My mother was a little older and tried to hang on, but it was clear she wouldn't make it without medication"Poor Estelle. I felt so sorry for her and for a brief moment I noticed the pain in her eyes. It had to be bad enough for her to muster up the courage to tell us the story and have to remember all the details again. Estelle paused for a moment before speaking again. A soft, brittle undertone had crept into her voice. "I needed a foster mother, but mares who had lost their foals were hard to find and Tara didn't have the money to buy another horse. It took Tara three whole weeks to find someone, so she had to bottle feed me for that long, and it wasn't pretty at all. Besides, Equina was breaking in every day, so I was often alone in the meadow. The catch was that the owner of the mare lived five hours away from us and I had to be taken to him.

I was very sad when I also lost Equina and after the long, exhausting ride with the horse trailer, which I had only climbed into once before for practice, I arrived at a completely foreign farm, with unknown horses and unknown smells. We had to stop every two hours so Tara could feed me. By the time they led me into the stall, I could barely stay on my feet. A large stall with a big spotted mare, Varis, was pushed open and I was led inside. After my halter was removed, I lay down on the floor and immediately sank into a semi-sleep."

The whole thing was cruel as I visualized it. Separated from her mother and sister, five hours away from her home. It couldn't be that bad for older horses to move, because I had seen a new face join us at the farm sometimes, but she had to move when she was as old as I was now."When I woke up again, we sniffed each other. She smelled kind of funny and she wasn't that personable either. Varis did let me drink all the time and was nice to me when I needed something, but most of the time she stood outside by the paddock and talked to the horses next to us."

That had to have been awful for her. I couldn't even imagine living without my mother."When I was finally old enough, I was weaned from Varis, which wasn't that hard because I didn't miss her," Estelle continued, "A month later I was shown at a foal show.

There I was in a paddock with three other foals until it started. Everything smelled strange and a lot of people came up to look at us. Afterwards I was picked up by a young woman. I was very nervous because I had never done anything like this before. She led me around the course, sometimes at a walk, sometimes at a trot, and that's how I got the state premium. That same day there were people interested in me and soon I was sold on and in the end I ended up here."A lump had formed in my throat. Estelle stared at the ground, turned her back to us and disappeared into her stall. We didn't get to see her again for the next while.