Elsa The Miniature Princess

In November of last year, I was called to foster three miniature horses. I was told one of them was pregnant, but that’s all I knew about the mother to be. When I showed up to the University of Minnesota to pick up the three little angels, I saw a wide-eyed wide-bellied beauty stare back at me, and it was love at first sight.

We quickly gave the mini mother to be the name Elsa because it was clear she was a princess, a tough princess who fought hard amongst difficult circumstances to keep herself and her unborn baby alive. Elsa was severely underweight, full of worms boasting one of the highest worm counts I have ever heard of, and had trouble walking not because of the growing baby inside of her but because of her painfully overgrown hooves.

We quickly decided to become foster failures and emailed Minnesota Hooved Rescue asking to be considered to adopt the sweet princess. We were thrilled when we are given an adoption agreement to make it all official.

While Elsa has a long way to go in terms of recovering from her malnourishment, she is thriving and comfortable. We consider ourselves blessed to have her in our lives and to have a team of caring and talented people who help us daily to care for her. Our barn manager and staff feed her, clean up after her, and tell her she is pretty. Our volunteers make sure she gets all the pampering and exercise an expectant mother needs. Our vet makes the best recommendations for her care. Our farrier, Jeff, with 4thehorse, donates his time and services to get her walking comfortably again.

This week has been terribly exciting for us as Elsa has begun to show signs of getting close to foaling. We are unsure of exactly how far along she is, but we are guessing that her baby will come sometime in the next three weeks. All of the barn is buzzing, waiting on the little prince or princess to make its debut. We have a due date contest going on and a baby name suggestion list. So basically, we have been throwing Elsa a baby shower, and if a baby shower, then she might as well have maternity photos too. I wanted to have some pictures of Elsa pregnant not only because she is as cute as can be but because I wanted to remember her strength, determination, and resilience during a difficult season of her life.

Elsa is a portrait of a strong mother.

Farrier: 4 The Horse, Jeff Hackler