1. Megan the ‘baby trainer’
We first met Megan when she was visiting her grandparents who live in Pine Valley; they thought it might be fun for Megan to see some ponies. That first time, Megan spent an hour brushing every pony we had – and as often happens with people who spend any time with the ponies, she was hooked. After that, Megan would try to come to see us every time she visited her grandparents. As soon as I saw her coming, I ran to grab the pony brushes. I know a good thing when I see it! Megan truly, truly loves the ponies and they love her back. But more than that, Megan is just a joy for us to have around.
Our little pony Bethany was born in August, entering the world at a whopping 14 pounds. Beth had little bit of difficulty at first because her mother wouldn’t let her nurse (she was the first baby born to Carousel and we think Carousel was just in shock and didn’t know what to do.) So for day one and two of Beth’s life, I had to hand feed her. Now obviously I wasn’t her mother and she knew it, so I would have to straddle Bethany and force the milk down. Even though I was giving her the nutrients she needed to live force feeding was not Beth’s idea of a good time. Therefore, Bethany’s first impression of humans was not that great. Because of this, Beth became shy around people. When we visited her she would run away from us.
One day when Megan came to brush the ponies she went to see our newest little blessing. To our surprise, Bethany didn’t run away from Megan. She must have sensed Megan’s sweet and gentle nature. Megan stayed about 45 minutes just loving that baby. That was a turning point for Beth. She decided that if all humans could give good scratches and cuddles like Megan does, then people might be pretty nice after all.
I have to say that Bethany is now the friendliest pony that we have and we owe it all to Megan. Bethany is so brave around people that by the time she was three months old, she started doing parades with the “big” ponies. Bethany will also cuddle up and take a lap-nap on anyone who is brave enough to sit on the ground by her. Nothing beats those lap-naps!
Great training job Megan – thank you so much! And you better get ready because we will have more babies arriving in the spring that will need you too!