Meet Shawnee
Shawnee is a very special horse who came to the farm when he was only 12 hours old back in 2005. He was an orphaned foal after his mother died shortly after giving birth to him. He was in a place where they were unable to care for an orphan. However we were called in by law enforcement who had been called to the scene because of the circumstances on the property. Shawnee was found just in time because he had some serious injuries (that no one ever figured out what happened to him) and he was lacking in the precious nutrition of the colostrum, or first milk, from his mother. He was rushed by police escort to a place that could give him that much needed nutrition and then brought straight to Spring Farm CARES where he has been ever since. Â
Sadly, Shawnee’s injuries were to dictate much of his future as they caused irreparable joint problems in his legs and left him unrideable. Shawnee was destined to live out his days here with us. Fortunately for Shawnee, we had a mare here on the farm who had raised a foal of her own many years before and she accepted Shawnee into her stall and helped raise him. We still had to bottle feed him around the clock for many months. And he had many medical issues and surgery and lots of treatments that he had to go through. Tasia, his surrogate mom, gave him a gift in life that he would never had otherwise had… a confident and kind (but firm) role model. Orphaned foals can grow up to be very difficult horses to handle as they don’t often know the appropriate boundaries between humans and horses. While Shawnee can be difficult in his own right, he was given those precious socialization lessons that only a mom horse can teach. It was a gift that Tasia left for all of us.
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Shawnee has been a companion to many old horses here on the farm over the years. But, sadly, he has lost them one by one to old age. It’s sort of like a toddler growing up in a nursing home. But Shawnee has learned he has a great mission and purpose in being here. He understands how much we trust him to be kind and understanding with the “old guys”. And he takes that role seriously. He is a very special soul and we are blessed to have him here. Even on the days where he tests the patience of his caretakers, which he does occasionally do… just because.
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