News

Winter at the Domaine de Sié

Can you see the “mouflons “in the top left hand corner?

Tornade on the plateau de Beille- Angaka

Tornade on the plateau de Beille-Angaka

Return from the mountain pastures

The mares came back from their summer pastures in good health. The foals have grown a lot and have developed their winter coats. As a result of meeting so many walkers in the mountains they are already semi-tame. They will now spend their winter at the farm and weaning will soon take place. The foals follow a training programme to ensure their successful breaking in.

We welcome an Afghan delegation

As part of a co-operation agreement between France and Afghanistan, the prefecture received two Afghan vice-consuls for 10 days. We were asked to welcome them as part of the programme for the environment which protects local breeds. After all, Merens are the living symbol of the Ariege, aren’t they?

Thus on the 21^st November 2012 we warmly received:

-Mohammad H.Gardiwal, vice-consul of Nangahar

-Shahid Shawali, vice-consul of the province of Parwan

- Shakeeb Khairzada their young interpreter

-and Jana Kralova, a trainee at ENA who organized the visits.

Everybody had to bring boots because of the wet weather. Sadly, the driver had none but happily used some old Wellingtons, property of the Prefect himself.

We went first to the indoor school where they saw the young saddled horses being ridden. We explained how the horses are trained and we also showed them the photovoltaic panels installed on the roof which allowed us to finance the building.

Next we visited the different herds, both mares and stallions. They were able to stroke Réal and Jaffar and admire the young males in full gallop. They saw mares and foals back from the mountains and were introduced to our breeding programme. Horses are a luxury for Afghans. They are associated with their national sport, Bouzkachi and cost 15000-30000 dollars! When the rain stopped there was the chance to see Astrakan, a young two and a half years old stallion and Topaze a gelding in harness. After taking photos, they visited the farm on a carriage pulled by the two horses and came back covered in the mud from the paths but all wreathed in smiles and laughter. The final session was a film on transhumance at which everyone had green tea and cakes. They left delighted with their visit which was perhaps much less formal than the others they had had. Below is a link where you can read more.

The horse that was not afraid of the cold : for a news report about this horse see : page face book of sie-merens.com.

The Merens breed at the Mazère Agricultural show

Aladin represented the Mérens breed at the Agriculture show. In the midst of crowd he was able to show his characteristic calm and confidence.

A new book about the Mérens breed

“Le Mérens cheval d’estive “(The Mérens and their summer pastures)




Discover this magnificent book about the Mérens with a preface by Xavier Paquin. The book chronicles the life of a herd of Mérens horses over four seasons. There are 200 stunning photos. Written by Marc Thedon, published by “Le pas d’oiseau “.

Bouan

A meeting of breeders but also a reunion for family, friends and lovers of the Mérens horse.

Our stand was there with our stallion Réal de Sié as well as several fillies and geldings ready for sale. As well as Xavier, Simone and Lauriane, the younger generation were also here to look after them - Nicolas and his son Eloi, Raphael from Marseille, Isabelle from Belgium. They were joined by Marie, Coralie and Laura young and newly graduated as well as  Masseurs, Kinesitherapeutes, Laure, Maxime and Julien… There was a wonderful atmosphere on the stand. Isabelle had devised a demonstration for all the horse riders as well as the  breeders : massage exercises for flexibility, warm up exercises, stretching to do before and after riding to avoid problems. There were also specific massage techniques for the neck and back that we all enjoyed. Another activity was the work of our Breton friend Jean, an artist who used china ink and wash to portray all the horses present, portraits and sketches taken from life that delighted us all .

Saturday : Lots of contacts with potential clients which we hope will materialise.

Sunday morning : The famous Supreme championship and our beloved stallion Réal de Sié, who became Supreme vice Champion.

Sunday afternoon : This is the traditional Bouan show, special mention was given to Tornade

 from our stables who pulled a carriage for the occasion. Isabelle Corbiere charmed us with her accordion. We were proud of the work Tornade does on the Plateau de Beille in extreme conditions, demonstrating the breed’s qualities ; a good head and a good upbringing. After the traditional Derby, we broke camp reluctantly and arranged the reunion for next year.