Minnie

Minnie is growing up to be a fantastic, smart little pony! Stunning, too! Minnie and SAFE volunteer Lexi participated in the Groundwork session of the most recent Joel Conner clinic and Minnie was a rock star!. She was soft and easy going in a large class of other horses. She stayed attentive to Lexi and made great progress in working with the flag and learning to be treated with fly spray. She’s only one year old and she has a lot left to learn (obviously!) but with her sweet demeanor, she will make someone a great partner one day. Since the clinic, Lexi has continued to work with her with the flag. The two have graduated to working in the round pen, and Minnie is learning to feel Lexi’s cues from a longer distance away. In her second session, Minnie responded as if she’d been doing it for weeks. She’s very smart and progressing very well. And she’s cute. The full package!

Minnie came to SAFE in January 2021 as a 6‑month-old filly with her mother, Checkers. We recently weaned Minnie from her mother, but we were sure to give her an Auntie to comfort her. Aunt Teddi now shares a paddock with Minnie and the two get daily grass turnout together. You will always find Minnie right next to Teddi, being her shadow, as they make their way around the large grass field.

When Minnie first arrived, our vet let us know she was low on vitamin E, so we added Nano E to her evening grain. After about 11 weeks on the supplement, she showed improvement so we have started to slowly cut back on the dosage. We have to watch her for any unusual behaviors, such as excessive licking, but so far so good.

Our plan for Minnie is to spend a couple years growing up at SAFE. Once our little baby Coco is 6 months old and ready to be weaned from her mother, we will put Minnie and Coco together. They will grow up together as “sisters”, hanging out with the Aunt Teddi who will teach them horse manners.