A frontier is a place that’s both physical and metaphorical. Our ongoing series, Dispatches from the Frontier, shares encounters and insights from life on the ranch, where the inner and outer wilderness converge.
Dispatch from John Hauf, Founder and Director
Several years ago, when our mare Gitana delivered for the first time it was close by the house and corral where we’d brought her to keep an eye on the process. When she finally foaled, Gitana wanted nothing to do with the tiny filly, who wandered amongst the other horses, and now some humans, eagerly seeking where to nurse. We brought the rest of the horses into the corral while we decided what to do, but the foal, calm yet confused, wouldn’t follow so we picked her up and carried her in our arms.
We tried giving the mare and newborn their own, protected space. We tried tying the mare and guiding the foal to her. We covered the mare’s eyes so she couldn’t see. We backed her into a corner so she couldn’t escape so easily. We built a makeshift chute with an opening for the foal to nurse. We hobbled her so she couldn’t kick. We lay Gitana down and milked her, guiding the increasingly forlorn tiny one to the goal. This went on for hours and not a darn thing worked. Gitana firmly and steadfastly rejected her new youngling.
We’d brought Ceniza, a white mare that had foaled for her second time just a month before, into the adjoining enclosure with the thought that perhaps it would provide a calming influence. By now the rejected foal had given up on Gitana and was following us humans. At least we didn’t nip and bite. It walked through the gate, straight up to Ceniza and began to nurse. Ceniza’s foal, displaced, walked around to the other side and began to nurse as well. And so, it remained, a happy ending. Ceniza, you’re a hero!
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John Hauf founded Patagonia Frontiers in 1999 to connect people with wilderness through education, conservation, and adventure. From our wilderness ranch home, Patagonia Frontiers offers multi-day trekking, horseback trips, mountaineering, and education programs in the heart of Chilean Patagonia.