Rosa, is the newest addition to our horse herd.
She was born on February 25th, 2002.
(How old does that make her today?)

She will be registered as "Chex Country Rosa"
with the American Paint Horse Association, (APHA).
She will be registered as "Breeding stock" because
she doesn't have enough white markings on her body.

She's a pretty red color and has 3 white stockings
and a big white blaze on her face.

What does her blaze look like to you?

Rosa was weaned away from her mother at 3 1/2 months.
(The average age is 4 months.) For 2 weeks she and her
momma were at the same stable, but in two different areas,
where they could still see each other. This way they would
both feel comfortable while Rosa got used to her new
diet with no more mother's milk, and
momma, "Chex," would stop producing milk.

We brought her home when she was 4 months old.
We brushed her alot and I picked up each of her feet and
held them up for longer and longer periods of time.
I did this so that she would become more and more used to it
before the first time that the horse shoer came to trim her hooves.

At first, she balanced well on her hind legs.
When horses sleep standing up, they 'lock' their
front 'knees' and let one or the other of their hind legs relax,
so they're used to balancing on the back legs.
Rosa had to learn to balance with a front foot held up.
The first couple of times that I lifted her front feet,
she leaned into me and fell over onto the ground. Ha, ha!!

From now until she's 18 months old,
(Can you figure out when that will be?)
I'll only be asking/teaching her how to:
come to me, lead at her 'safe spot' behind my elbow,
and to keep facing me when I walk around her.