Summer holidays: time to move the Lambregts household to France again. Like in 2012 we took Beau along with us as well. He was declared fit after a long rehabilitation of 4 months, and Mary and the girls just started building up Beau's strength again. He was loaded into the trailer, and we drove through the night without any problems. In France he was offloaded, had a quick taste of fresh grass in our garden, and then was put in his box in our barn for a rest. The next day he met up with his lady friend Image, the village pony, who is keeping him company during the holidays. Life of fresh grass, free roaming in our garden, and some daily exercise started.
After a few days Beau started to show some signs of colic (severe intestine cramps), and the local vet was called. His injections did not help, and panic mounted, as colic will be deadly when treatment does not work. After the 3rd visit of the vet it was decided to move him to a specialist clinic, and at midnight Mary and Paula left for a place between Grenoble and Valence, a 2 hour drive. They came home exhausted early next morning, and Beau was left in the care of the clinic. The main treatment was “greasing the system” until he started producing horse shit again. Luckily Beau improved quickly, and after 3 days came home. Although he did not have any problems last year, the colic was most likely caused by the change in diet to fresh grass, and the change in climate to hot summer weather. Building up his strength started from scratch again…
Outside all this excitement life in Bassey continued as usual: some work in the garden, hiking, climbing Via Ferrata’s and cycling. The girls also got infected by the cycling bug (probably helped by the move of stable owner Cecile to the Ardeche region), and joined Piet on several rides. They also cycled up Alpe d’Huez with a few of the village grandkids, something we planned for the end of the holidays only! The weather has been tropical, real summer with some thunderstorms, so we spend a lot of time reading and playing cards in the shade as well.
Beau's first careful steps near our house
Susan and Dorien in the Via Ferrata of St. Christophe
Dorien on a tricky stretch of the same Via Ferrata
Piet's bike on Col du Galibier, the highest mountain pass in our region
Paula and Dorien taking a break during a hike
Dorien and Piet near Alpe du Pin
Checking directions
Mary and Beau on a recovery ride after his colic
Along the Romache
Dorien arriving in Le Mollard
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