Leaving my country…
I'm finally in Holland
I have many good contacts, but I'll save a few for later in case I'll need them.
Our journey began in Ben Gurion airport. It was nice at first, but then it became very scary.
Six horses were to go on the plane and Franky and I were to keep eye on them while flying.
So there I was, being nice, one of the guys…
All the time I kept on counting my bags. I was afraid to forget the smallest one- where I put my cat. (Yes, I took Farook, my cat, with me).
Then we had to put the horses in the boxes for the flight.
First came Kuba's stallion; the horse looked amazing. A golden coat with a long blond mane and tail, no shipping boots[1], no experience, nothing. Kuba took the horse, and went to the box without hesitating. The horse walked after him, and then, he stopped for a while, to see the exact path to walk on. All the workers in the Maman exporting station could not help them selves: they all took out their cellular cameras and started photographing this amazingly glorious little horse. (Well, little in comparison to the giant sport horses…).
After him came the two geldings. One is to compete in the world dressage championship for the handicapped, and the other is to go back to the dealer, since the client wasn't happy with him.
All the horses went in the box without any trouble, and all my stuff went on that box as well. Except the cat, which I wasn't sure I would remember to take…
Then it was the girl's time to get in.
I took Igrene with shaking hands. It all came back to me. On this same slippery surface, I once brought a mare from France
Anyway, I went slowly with Igrene, between Merlo
Every step of the way Igrene almost fell on the well polished concrete surface. All the machines were working, and suddenly one man pulled a big nylon cover, and Igrene became frightened, and I even more so. My dream could have ended at that point if something would have happened to her! And I kept on praying, please god, keep us safe, keep us from being hurt, please god, I hope my dream is the correct one, and I hope you think this is the right thing to do, please god, keep my mare safe, please………
We finally came near the box; I was so terrified, even more so than my horse…and the box wasn't open yet! We just stood there, between all the running tractors, on a slippery surface, praying for this to be over without any trouble.
And then finally, the box was open. Igrene started to go in. But then she sensed that I wasn't sure, and she didn't follow me. I didn't pull, because I didn't want her to step crookedly on the ramp that leads into the box. Franky saw that I wasn't confident. He took Igrene and just went into the box. She followed him without hesitation. Yep. First lesson for me- don't hesitate too much! This could lead to trouble. Be sure of yourself, and even if you aren't sure give your horse the confidence!
Now we got on the flight, and the boxes were on the plane, but one was placed in the wrong direction…they had to shift it, and there was a lot of bumping around, and that made the horses looked terrified. Of course it had to be the box that Igrene was in …
The flight began, and I was very happy, we sat in the upper part, it was just like first class, only less people.
After take off, we went down to check on the horses.
Igrene was looking strange, then, in the dark, I thought I saw blood. I lifted my eyes, and there it was, the separation between her and the other mare was loose, and Igrene was almost squeezing the other mare. And yes, Igrene had a wound in her left side pelvis.
Franky and I fixed the separation, I spoke again, to myself, asking god to help, hoping my plans are the same as his, but I do understand that what is supposed to be- will be.
After 4.5 hours we landed in Belgium Liege airport.
That was a different opera. The boxes came straight to the stables area in the air port. The surface was for made especially so horses wouldn't slip, and the people were quiet and helping.
We took the horses out of the boxes along with all the tack and also the cat…
Igrene was walking normally, so I became more relaxed in a way, hoping this wound was just a superficial one.
The vet came, saw the cat and started making trouble…for how long is this cat coming to Europe ? Is it your cat? For how long are you staying here and why?
I was looking at Franky, answering all the questions, hoping to be on the good side of the answers.
Then the vet called her colleague, and he approved the cat. So far everything was ok.
Then we waited for 3 hour until they released the horses.
Remember the gathering in Israel Liege
I saw Vibe for the first time, and then I met Dan, and last came Vasili.
At first I was trying to be nice, though I only felt like sleeping, and after standing for almost another two hours, I decided to sit. On the floor, I didn't care about the environment any more…then I started feeling alone, and started to understand that one of the prices I was about to pay for my dream was being without the people that I love. People who gave me a lot of respect and confidence…people in Israel who missed me, and now, I had no one who really cared about me with me…and that's a hard thing to feel, but I'm OK with the price. I chose to take this step for myself and I'll always be able to make the decision to return to Israel
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה