# Hi from France !



## Ondine

Hi everybody,

My name is Astrid, I'm 21 years old and I suscribed on this forum in order to share my everyday life with my mare and most of all to improve my english. Moreover, I want to discover how you live with your horses in different places and countries.

My mare is named "Ondine", she is 9 years old and i don't know what her breed is in english. She is half heavy horse and half saddle horse. We have been together for 1 year.

Now, she is 3 miles from my house, on a new ranch (we are the first customers) in a big field with 2 horsefriends. We like to go for rides.

I'm happy to join you ! 

PS : I'm sorry if I don't understand everything.


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## gigem88

Hello from Texas!! Do you have some photos of your horse?


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## Ondine

Hi Gigem ! Woow ! From Texas ! 

Of course ! The first day, with her donkey friends :



With me :







In the snow, the last winter :






When she arrived on the Serena Ranch, in march 2011 :




On June 2011 :






Her friends, Serena and Djebelle :


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## tinyliny

She is gorgeous!!! I love her face, especially. That place looks like horse heaven, too. Where in France is this?
We are so glad to have you on the forum, to bring in the European perspective . Welcome! Bienvenue!


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## Druydess

Bonjour Astrid! 

She is lovely! And your English is very good! Bienvenue!! (Welcome)

A bientot! (Bye for now)


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## Carleen

Welcome to the forum, Astrid!

I am sure you'll find lots of helping folks on here. Your mare is gorgeous!


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## Allison Finch

Welcome from North Carolina!!

So nice to have you here. Your horse is wonderful. Is she a Percheron cross? I hope you enjoy it here.


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## HorseLovinLady

Welcome to the forum!!


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## Ondine

Thank you very much for this warm welcome ! And thank you for my mare.

Tinyliny, we live next to Lyon, in the Natural Regional Park of the Pilat (Parc Naturel Régional du Pilat in French). It is a wonderful place ! The heaven to do horseriding.

Allison, in French, my mare is half "Trait Comtois", and half saddle horse. Her mother is a Trait Comtois and her father is a saddle horse but I don't know the breed.

Oh, also I suscribed on this forum because I'm a novice, Ondine is my first horse. And I have many questions and doubts. At the moment, we work a lot at foot, because I broke my leg in May 2010. But I’m getting back to do horseriding, gradually. In September, I will take lessons (western riding) with her, at Serena Ranch.


And now, my little story with Ondine :

I have dreamt of having a horse since I was young. And I saved my money gradually (birthdays, Christmas...) in order to buy a horse, one day.
And last year, many girls in my school class had horses. Why not me ?
I thought many weeks in order to see if I had enough savings to buy a horse but also to take care of it. And I had enough savings ! So, I did it : I bought my horse !
And now, I'm very happy with my big Ondine, she is so kind (even if she is naughty sometimes !).

Ondine has been at Serena Ranch since last March. Serena Ranch is a new boarding place. At the time being, I’m the first and only customer. The ranch has been open since last March too, and there are still lots of things to do (an arena, a lunging ring, an indoor arena, inside stables…). There are 36 ha of fields for the horses and in order to collect hay. A part of the ranch will be devoted to the breeding of Quarter Horses. There is one stallion at the moment : Storm Arlan Peppy, a cremello Quarter Horse aged 2. The owners of the ranch want to do palomino Quarter Horses.
There are 4 horses beside Ondine, they belong to the owners of the Ranch : 2 mares Djebelle et Serena. And 1 gelding Irish Cob cross (Filou), and the young stallion. They’ll soon have a donkey named Pompon.

Serena, Peppy and Djebelle :




Filou, which is in an other field with Peppy :




The photo that was on the net when Ondine was on sale :




Ondine's sister and mother. I got this photo from her previous owner :




And now, in Serena Ranch :




Oh my god ! Ondine is pulling her tong out ! How cheecky !


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## Alwaysbehind

:wave:
Welcome to the forum.

Your mare is very cute and your English is better than many of us who speak it as our one and only language.


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## Ondine

Oh, I'm very happy because my level of english was getting lower and lower !

Thank you for my Ondine !


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## SocietyJoe

Bonjour, bienvenue sur le forum. Je suis sûr que vous adorerez le forum et c'est vrai, vous ne parle très bien anglais.



 

[Hello, welcome to the forum. 
I am sure that you will love the forum and thats true, you do speak very good English]


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## Ondine

Merci beaucoup SocietyJoe ! (Thank you very much  )

I'm a little lost, now, but it will be ok !


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## Mocha26

Bonjour! 
I've been to France and that's still the only thing I can be positive I'm saying right! 
Your horse is beautiful! Enjoy the forum! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Allison Finch

I love leaning about breeds I am not familiar with. I found this about your horses draft side, for those interested.

Home - Cheval de trait Comtois - ANCTC






Beautiful horses.

And, Ondine, don't worry about you English...it is great! MUCH better than my French!!


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## Ondine

Thank you for this wonderful video ! 

Comtois are labour horses basically. I found this about Comtois horses, in English :

"Comtois (draught) : a draught horse of the Franche-Comté, a mountainous region in the east of France. The breed is very ancient and could trace back to germanic horses which were imported by the Burgondes. At the beginning or the 20th century the Comtois has been crossed with the Ardennais. Comes mainly in bay or chestnut with flaxen mane and tail. Elegant action, which is seldom seen in heavy horses, energic, deft and sure-footed horse. Its breeding has been developped in all the mountainous regions of France (Pyrénées, Alpes and Massif Central) for meat consumption. Could be now the most numerous draft breed in France, before the Breton."

Source : Lexique du cheval! Dictionnaire des races - T

And thank you for my english !


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## coffeegod

Welcome to a fellow draft cross owner! Ondine is stunning and I love the name.


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## Ondine

Oh thank you ! I see that your horse is half Percheron ! Is they a topic about your horse ?


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## Oakley Eastern Miss

Welcome! It's nice to have someone else from Europe (i'm from the UK) and don't worry about your English, its very good 

Ondine is lovely too, snow photos are really cute.


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## Ondine

Thank you for everything Oakley ! Where do you live in the UK ?


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## Cheyennes mom

Bonjour! Bienvenue/Welcome from BC 
Ta cheval est tres belle! Your horse is SO beautiful!!
your english is awesome! I used to speak a little french...I took the french program 2 years ago and then I had french class last year. this year I'm taking spanish though. I guess I can still speak some french...can hardly spell though


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## Ondine

Thank you Cheyenne ! What is BC ? 

I speak spanish a little. You can right to me in French if you want  I suppose your French is fairly good !


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## Cheyennes mom

BC is British Columbia, it's in Canada...La Colombie-Britannique, c'est dans le Canada


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## Ondine

Oh ok ! Merci


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## Cheyennes mom

de rien  est-ce que tu veux d'aller a la salle de chat? (Do you want to go to the chat room? Did I say it right?)


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## Zimpatico

Welcome to the forum! I took 6 years of French in school and don't remember any of it...

Your mare is beautiful! I look forward to hearing more about her


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## Ondine

Cheyennes, yes I do ! But I don't know how it works 

Thank you Zimpatico ! Where can I speak about Ondine, in which topic ? In Members Journal ?


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## outnabout

Bonjour Ondine... encore de Texas!
Welcome to the forum! Your mare is absolutely gorgeous.
Je suis prof de français (I am a French teacher) and have two horses, my mare Nessie and 5-month old colt Eli.


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## Ondine

Thank you for everything Outnabout ! Oh you are a French teacher, and which classes do you teach ? 
Oh, your horses are gorgeous too ! And Eli is very very cute !! Is Eli Nessie's baby ?
Buckskin is my favourite color, I think !


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## Ondine

I'm going away for one or two week (in the south of France), and I won't be able to come on the forum. Have a good holiday !


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## coffeegod

Ondine said:


> Oh thank you ! I see that your horse is half Percheron ! Is they a topic about your horse ?


I hope you are enjoying your holiday. Hugo has a page here. There aren't many pictures but I plan to take more this weekend.


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## Ondine

Thank you Coffeegod ! See you later ! I'll watch your horse's photo !


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## outnabout

Ondine said:


> Thank you for everything Outnabout ! Oh you are a French teacher, and which classes do you teach ?
> Oh, your horses are gorgeous too ! And Eli is very very cute !! Is Eli Nessie's baby ?
> Buckskin is my favourite color, I think !


I teach the entire program at my high school, Levels I through IV. Thanks for the compliments on my horses. I also love buckskins. Eli is not Nessie's baby, but Nessie did have two buckskin fillies in the past.

Have fun on vacation! Going to see some "Crin blanc" in the Camargue?

Non-French forum friends, there is a region in the south of France in the Rhone delta area known for its native white horses. "Crin blanc" is a classic film about a young boy who befriends a wild horse.


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## Druydess

Ondine said:


> I'm going away for one or two week (in the south of France), and I won't be able to come on the forum. Have a good holiday !


Au Revoir! Enjoy! J'ai des amis en France. Ils vivent dans Feyance, près de Nice.

(I have friends in France, They live near Nice)

Have a great time!!


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## Ondine

I came baaack !

I have never seen this film, Outnabout, I'll watch it on internet. I didn't go to Camargue this year, but I've been there several times and I saw Camargue Horses and Camargue Bulls. I did several rides on horseback, it was fantastic, in the middle of salt marshes (forgive me for the bad quality of the photos, I hadn't a good camera at that time) :














My horse during the riding (he's not a Camargue Horse) :






Camargue Horses :
















Thank you Druydess ! Last thuesday, I went near Nice, too !


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## outnabout

Ondine said:


> I have never seen this film, Outnabout, I'll watch it on internet.


Welcome back!
Hope you can find it... it is a very old film.


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## Ondine

Thank you Outnabout !
I'll tell you if I find it !


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## Cheyennes mom

Ces chevaux sont tres belles!!


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## Ondine

Merci, Cheyennes !


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## mgarzon

Bienvenue! J'habite au Quebec, ou on parle francais aussi  (I live in Quebec, where we speak French also). Ta jument est tres belle!


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## Ondine

Merci mgarzon ! 

I have relatives in Canada, in Montréal !


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## mgarzon

Cool! I live very close to Montreal, but in a very 'horsey' area.


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