Our little foal is turning one year-old tomorrow! You might remember we adopted Gemini and her week-old foal from Spring Creek Horse Rescue in southern Colorado. Gemini had been dropped off at the auction barn with her day-old foal, and the two were tagged separately to be sold for slaughter.
Jonah is growing into a beautiful young horse! Jonah spent the winter at our dude ranch learning some valuable lessons on "being a horse" from Trixie and Blackjack, including not to bother Blackjack while he's eating, and how to reach your forelegs through the fence to reach any available leaves or weeds growing too near the pen from Trixie! She's a very trusting little girl, in contrast to her mama, which illustrates beautifully how good handling grows a good horse. Jonah leads quietly, backs easily, knows "whoa" and will happily speed up when you cluck to her. For a baby, she sure enjoys her pedicures! She's also eager to meet you at the gate each day for her special yearling feed.
As a yearling, Jonah will be going along on some of the spring trail rides while learning to be "ponied" from another horse. She won't be able to wear a saddle or carry a rider until she turns two, and even then, she'll only be ridden lightly until she turns three and her growing bones start to close up.
How is her mama, you ask? Gemini came to us about four hundred pounds underweight, obviously distrustful of humans, and unwilling to share with us the secrets of her past. She spent the summer gaining weight and taking care of her baby. Today she is around 1000 lbs, with a rich bay coat, healthy once again. We weaned Jonah in September, and Gemini seemed pleased to be a free woman again.
Gemini has proved to be an especially tough customer. She'd much rather be left to herself than make the choice to befriend a human again. Ciara has rehabilitated a number of abused horses over the past eight years, but Gemini is proving to be the toughest yet. While she will eat grain from a tub on your lap, or allow you to touch her with a four-foot training stick, she refuses to be approached or wear a halter. After several months of rest this winter, she's been progressing rapidly this spring, and the wrangler crew is dedicated to enlivening her trust in people again. Hopefully, all of our wonderful dude ranch guests can help us with that!
How is Jonah celebrating her first birthday? She's going to get a special grooming, a couple of treats, and have her hooves trimmed! It will be a special day for our special little girl on this Colorado ranch!
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