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Marianne Cornelis, "the Belgian one", was a art teacher;
Christian Vergez, "the French one" , was a ski instructor.

…We met at the UCPA (Sports holidays centre), both horseback riding teachers at the time. Our shared passion for teaching, nature and horses brought us together.

We soon decided to become self-employed. We had to find a way to make a living working with horses, while at the same time taking care to respect them and avoiding exploiting them. We wanted to set in place a fun and creative pedagogical system

In 1980, we created "La Ponetterie", one of the first pony-clubs in Belgium, where we decided to live. Its peculiarity was that the ponies were allowed to live in herds, in meadows and open paddocks the whole year round. That allowed them to fulfill their natural needs for fresh air, motion, social bonding and almost continuous grazing. The 30 acres domain was managed using organic methods

Really, "La Ponetterie" was as much about ecology, ethology and aducation as about teaching

When the time came for a change of life, it was obvious to us that the ponies would not be left behind, that the "seniors" would be allowed to grow old peacefully and that we would continue looking after them

Today, the 160 acres of the domain of Ensarnaut provides them with a real horse paradise

The Gites, built using eco-construction, allows us to welcome you and help you share our passion for nature and animals in a coherent fashion

We will help you observe the ponies in their natural state as they reveal, little by little, their secrets to you; And of course, if you want to ride, we will guide you during your pony-trek.

We will give you the Rosetta stone that will allow you to decypher the nature that surrounds you. We will give you pointers if you want to go discover a still preserved region, the "Haut-Astarac"