Birthday Whinnies on Wednesday

#1 here. Believe it or not, this is a triple birthday week for the horses of The Poupounette! What were the odds that of my four horses, three would have birthdays three days in a row? So, we had birthdays on Monday, Tuesday and today.

I would like to start with today's birthday as it is the most special. Our beloved HOTESSE is 25 years young today! The first photos I have of her date back to 2004, although there may have been some earlier ones. She lived a good part of her life until recently in the fields near Poupounette Central. Over the years, she produced 10 foals, 4 boys and 6 girls. The first one, a boy, was born in 1999, and the last one, our very own Heloise, was born in 2017. I have managed to keep track of six out of the ten, two being with me, one having gone to Germany, two being with a breeder I know, and then the first boy who became a breeding stallion, and sired 75 foals over the years!

Hotesse is a very, very special lady. She is strong and kind and never makes a big fuss. She is full of love, and nothing makes me happier than the knowledge that she will live out her life well loved and looked after. My thanks again to those of you who helped me make sure of that. Yesterday being the middle birthday day, I went to visit the horses, and took these shots of Hotesse:

I also made this collage to post on Facebook:

At the bottom is a photo of Hotesse with baby Violette, above that on the left, she is seen with her son Ebene (who went to Germany), and it is of course Heloise on the right with her. The oldest photo is the snow portrait, which was taken in 2004 when she was only 9 years old.

Now to the Vs. Violette's birthday was on Monday, and Vidock's yesterday. They both turned 11 years old. They got lots of treats, of course.

I made a collage for VIOLETTE:

And one for VIDOCK:

If anyone had told me that, in my 60s, I would be the owner of 4 Percheron draft horses, I would never have believed them, but there it is. So much responsibility but also so much joy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

HOTESSE

VIOLETTE

VIDOCK

AND MANY HAPPY RETURNS!

💜💛💚💖💓💚💛💜