Foxtail Estate

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Foxtail Estate is a barn focused on breeding Irish Cobs and Lusitanos. We dream of adding another breed to the list - such as Welsh Cob or another kind of Cob - but for now we start in the small, and make a solid sire-line for ourselves first. The barn is located in United Kingdom, and even if we get quite a lot of snow, we love it here!

The owner is Alexander Dalgaard and his longtime partner Damon Doukas who co-owns the place, and writes on the barn's blog. The horses here are mostly focused on Dressage, but some (the Irish Cobs) does Driving and others (the Lusitanos) does Working Equitation. The barn's logistics and plans are all made by General Manager Anna Davids, who is the one cracking the wip, and making everyone do their job.

The WE focused part of the barn is mostly run by Linnea Coste - rider and stablehand - who is the one who knows the most about that discipline - Damon and Alexander are just along for the ride.

Romantic? Yes, practical? Nope. Now we are all soaking wet xD

GE Sezuan spooks again at a rock that “wasn’t there before”, Damon Doukas works to settle it.

Ah, yes. The very dangerous rocks which have NEVER in Sezuan's lifetime been there, when we go for trail rides *facepalm*

The weather is miserable, Damon Doukas takes GE Sezuan into the arena for a training session.

I started today's training outside, but then suddenly it began raining heavily. Those who knows our facility knows that the outside arena is kiiinda far away from the indoor one. Even if it's in the same building as the stallions' barn. So it's safe to say that I was pretty much soaked, when I reached the indoor arena. And I definitely wasn't smart enough to wear rainclothes or anything, because well... it has been so hot lately! But not today.

Training indoors came along nicely. Alexander was of course smarter than me, and had actually brought a jacket with him to work, while I was riding around in wet clothes.

When I was nearly done with training, and just having Sezuan walking around to cool of (and probably dry too) Lily came up to me. She was of course grumbling about not having brought her rain coat with her either. And I knew that she was the one mainly responsible for getting the horses from the pasture to the barn(s) for dinner and drying off.

So of course I offered to help her, when I had put Sezuan in his stall. I was already wet, so what's a little more water, right? xD

Lily Davids & Linnea Coste prepares Foxtail's Bravio & Foxtail's Vittor for an upcoming show.

It's exciting to soon be entering shows with the Lusitanos. Vittor (the black one) is still pretty green as a young horse - just reached 5 years old - so I am mainly working him, while Bravio (the bay) is a lot more experienced - competes in Grand Prix. So even though I am usually the one to train and ride him, he works just fine with a different rider/changing riders on busy days.

(Hey, it's me the player. I finally fucking finished Foxtail Estate's facility! xD)

The heatwave this past week has been horrible. Especially for the mares who are very moody (and pregnant), which definitely doesn't make the situation better. The get hosed down daily, but still they get on each other's nerves. Especially Maria and Betty. Princess seems to keep in the background, which I honestly think is very wise of her.

Linnea's POV

Just a few everyday pictures from the finally finished Mare Barn at Foxtail Estate! It has taken a lot of time to get this particular barn finished and up-to-date with today's standards, since everything was very old, and there was some kind of water leakage we had to figure out as the first thing - before we could do anything that resembled fixing up and renovating stuff.

But now we are here, the weather is great and we have tried out the plumbing by giving Maria (Foxtail's Lady Marmelade) a bath! Even the tack room has been set up and ready to use. This also means that Lily's niece Sonya can start helping with the ponies, as Alexander is talking about aqquirering some Welsh mares as well.

INTERMEDIATE I

Foxtail's Inspector Mullet by Lily Davids

Foxtail's Hantke by Alexander Dalgaard

INTERMEDIATE II

GE Sezuan by Damon Doukas

GRAND PRIX

Foxtail's Bravio by Linnea Coste

TRAINING

Foxtail's Chicago Joe by Damon Doukas

Foxtail's Vittor by Linnea Coste

PRIX ST. GEORGE

Calderwicks Danciano by Alexander Dalgaard

Foxtail's Avalon by Alexander Dalgaard

Foxtail's Dixie's Dancer by Oliver Jäger

DRESSAGE

Calderwicks Danciano by Alexander Dalgaard

Foxtail's Avalon by Alexander Dalgaard

Foxtail's Hantke by Alexander Dalgaard

GE Sezuan by Damon Doukas

Foxtail's Chicago Joe by Damon Doukas

Foxtail's Dixie's Dancer by Oliver Jäger

Foxtail's Inspector Mullet by Lily Davids

Foxtail's Bravio by Linnea Coste

Foxtail's Vittor by Linnea Coste

Behind the scenes

I kinda made a bet with our new groom, Viper, who is boarding her two Appaloosas here at Foxtail Estate. The bet was basically that I said I could talk Alexander - bless your heart, my love - into buying a very unlikely horse/breed. In this case a Stock Horse. A kind of breed Alexander has absolutely no interest in, as they can't really be used for Dressage and do well in it.

So I made that bet with Viper, and began working him. Showing him pictures of different Stock Horses, narrowing it down to a Palomino Splashed White APH from Stevie McCloud.

I ended up winning the bet though! Which means that Viper - who is the only one with experience with Stocks - is now the newest horse's new rider! His name is 46R This Catt Is Tough, but Viper just calls him Tuffy. And what did I win from this bet? A HUGE box of chocolate!

In the picture below Tuffy is meeting his two new pasturemates, Viper's own horses Lime and Chief.

Damon's POV

We always get back to the Friesians. Even when Aletheia and Baukje retired last year we have been missing the breed - Alexander too, even if he won't admit to having feelings (he is a big softie though!). So today three Friesian stallions arrived to Foxtail Estate, because we just had to have the breed with us again. I am beyond thrilled to have these boys at the stable.

So everyone please say hello to Hantke (orange), Keimpe (yellow) and Potter (blue)! The snow has also finally disappeared, and we are welcoming spring with these three trotting Friesians.

Damon's POV

Last night we got a lot of snow, so naturally all horses were inside for the night. And as it continued to snow and snow - snow storm level - throughout the day, we have only let them out just now, at 6 PM. Of course young Valtor was very energetic, and tried to start some playfighting with Vittor (who is the same age as him), but Vittor wasn't in the mood.

Bravio seemed to want to come inside again, as he hid in the shelter/shed, since we got him outside with the others xD

Damon's POV

Today's program has consisted of training and a goodbye. Lily has started working with Smartie (Red Dun) on his canter, which has caused him trouble in the past, so they work hard on it! My love kept a watchfull eye on them, helping whenever needed, so they can get a good canter going.

We have also said goodbye to one of our broodmares today. Fiera has moved to Lola Dakota's barn Haras de l’Hestrelle. They were looking for another mare, and we were looking to get her sold, so that was the perfect match!

On the picture below you see Lily with Fiera (the black one) and Fiera's son Foxtail's Joaquín aka. Jokke! He is almost 2 years old today exactly, and seems to become a tall boy, as he is almost already as tall as his mama.

Foxtail's Bravio & Foxtail's Vittor by Linnea Coste. GE Sezuan Foxtail's Avalon by Alexander Dalgaard & Foxtail's Chicago Joe by Damon Doukas

Damon's POV

These days I am working hard on getting Joey ready for his first show, which is actually his first show, as he is only 6 years old, and hasn't done a lot before we got our hands on him. His trot is getting really good under rider, and I am excited to get him ready.

He is really the best boy, so gentle and sweet while having an extra gear, when you need him to step up.

Today my love was watching while we trained, ready to give some pointers if needed (which it probably was), as he is a more experienced rider than I am. At least when it comes to Dressage. It was nice to have someone point of the fails and the good part, so I/we can improve!