The year 2008 to 2009 here on Ranch Shekinah has been filled with exciting anticipation of two new additions to our Ranch. Both Lady and Minnie were expecting within weeks of each other. We built two special baby nurseries for them that would give them plenty of space to move around. I spent time reviewing my books on “Imprinting” – something I’d looked forward to for years.
It all started with one of our visits with our good friends, Gerald and Darla and their family, in the heart of Amish community, Shipshewana, Indiana. They own a horse farm, and although we truly do love their horses, their just the pretext to visit this wonderful familyJ.
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On this particular visit, Rachel fell in love with one of their recently born foals. She couldn’t quit thinking about him for months and months, and finally struck a deal with her dad in an arrangement that would allow her to earn/get this little colt.
“There’s only one condition,” Rachel’s dad said. “We have to be able to move him soon to our farm.” I think he said this so that the kids could enjoy this little guy while he was still little.
This wasn’t the easiest condition, though. It was too early to wean Magic from his mom. But Rachel’s deal with her had conditioned she had to be able to get him sooner rather than later.
We talked to Gerald and Darla and they came up with a solution – Minnie would come with Magic to our ranch until he could be weaned, and then they would bring Minnie back home. This sounded like an excellent idea. However, complications ensued – the first night that Minnie spent on our farm, I fell in love with her on a Midnight Ride.
We made a proposal to buy Minnie; however, she was already in foal with another baby. The deal was struck – we could have Minnie, but the baby, when born, would be theirs.
We had two pregnant mares and by the technical due day, Minnie would come first, and then Lady. Minnie’s pregnancy went past the expected 11 month. Week after week went by, and still no baby. Darla informed me that Minnie often didn’t give birth until 12 months, but still, after that date arrived, no delivery followed. Every night we went to bed, we’d check our mares to see if “this” would be the night, as we had been told by everyone that mares usually gives birth at night.
A Week After Lady gave birth to HotShot….
It was a Wednesday night, around 9:00 p.m. – we were travelling home from a visit to my husband’s parents – and Rachel called me. She had gone out to the pasture to take care of the horses. She moved the geldings into another pasture, and when she came back to get Minnie, she saw something that looked odd. It was dark, and she couldn’t see clearly, but as she got closer she could see that there was a baby horse within a type of cocoon-wrapping half way out. Rachel had arrived just in time to see the unraveling of the wrap. She was in her good church clothes as she'd just come home from a local church youth group meeting. To get involved in all of this would be to ruin her new clothes. But - there was no time to run back home and get changed, so she stayed and assisted Minnie and her baby, marveling at the awesome miracle of birth.
As all of this was happening, each step of the way, Rachel was on the phone with me, telling me each and every movement that was being made.
This was the moment I had been waiting for – my love for Minnie had given me a greater anticipation of this baby then of Lady’s Hotshot. And here I was – 45 minutes away, unable to see the birth of Minnie’s baby. I did comfort myself knowing that at least Rachel was there, and that this was truly a unique experience for a young 17 year old girl.
I wish I could have tape recorded that phone conversation – Rachel was so excited being present of the birth of this little filly.
By the time we got Willow into her baby nursury and settled in for the night it was late. Rachel and I stayed for hours just enjoying "the baby."
Rachel named the new baby, “Major’s Precious Willow,” (Major is the stallion, and this is the protocol in naming a new horse.) Unlike Hotshot, she never moved when talked to within the womb. And when she was born, she was smaller, and more delicate. Hot Shot right from the start fit his name as he would strut and seek to be friendly towards us – but Willow was shy and sought to hide behind her mother. Where Hot Shot had come running up to us, Willow took almost an hour to figure out how to stand up and walk. Getting her and Minnie to their stable for the evening was difficult just because of Willow’s delicate nature.
This was a summer our family will never forget. We let the mommies and their babies roam our front yard daily.
I'd love to tell you that we kept Willow, but....she had to go back to Maple Grove Haflinger Farms in Shipshewana, Indiana.
This is the hard part about having horses when one gets attached.....
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Me, my mom and Audrey. 
