When the first mare, Mercer's Belle Starr, started showing signs of labor, I pulled up the nearest bale of hay and was prepared to W...A...I...T. Not her idea of a sleep-over. She simply put the whole deal on HOLD until I left. The next morning, I rushed to the barn to find, of course, a new shiny foal wobbling around that stall. I was overjoyed, and wanted to just leap in there to meet the little fellow. But..... one of the "horror" stories that came to the front of my mind was about a mare that attacked someone who went into the stall with a newborn, so I reluctantly stood where I was.....for about five whole minutes. I couldn't take it, and cautiously entered the stall. Belle and her baby were in the corner, and she shook her head at me as if to say, "You.... you just stay over there and be quiet." Yes ma'am. So there I was, twenty feet away from this miracle, sitting in the corner and doing what I was told. Story of my life.

Pretty soon, the baby peeped his little head from around his mother and peered in my general direction. I had read that foals cannot see very well after they are first born. I figured that he probably did not really see me in my "time out" corner, so I continued to just sit there and observe. What I saw were two little eyes continuing to stare straight into mine, and four wobbly feet making their way across the straw-filled stall.... to me. Belle nickered softly, "Come back here....", but her request fell upon two deaf little ears as he continued his journey to the other end of the stall where I was. It took a while for him to make it over, but pretty soon, that soft little nose was snuffling over my hair, my ears, my nose. He seemed genuinely interested in everything; my skin, my fingers, my clothes, my SHOES. He was REALLY checking things out. And every so often, he'd wobble a step back and take another good look at me, always looking me right in the eyes.

Not a word was said, but I'm not really sure who welcomed who on that day. It was if he was saying, "Hi! Welcome to my stall....," and he wasn't even 12 hours old. I had never seen (and have never since) a newborn foal walk away from his mother on the day he was born and so calmly and confidently walk right into our hearts. But that little blonde-headed fellow had made it a point to let us know he was there to stay.

His registered name became "Premier's Royal Show Off." His barn name is "Shoii," which is Japanese for "colorful silk." He has never changed since the day he came into this world. A lovable clown, he often lets himself into our shop to check out Frank's tool collection, or if Frank is working on a fence, Shoii is right there to, well, not exactly HAND him the tools, but to supervise and.... boost morale, yeah, that's it. He has an incredibly high play-drive, which makes him extremely fun to play the Parelli games with, as he always has a different idea of "Well, let's try it THIS way.....," as he shakes his shaggy blonde mane with his ever-present sense of humor. We have so much fun together.

When new horses arrive, he is the "Good Will Ambassador." With his cheerfully smiling eyes and "Hi! Welcome to my Pasture" demeanor, he makes even the most uncertain horse feel at ease with a friendly scratch on the withers.

Same way with people. We've had folks come by to see our horses, and some have been quite nervous to go out in the field. Shoii is the first one to come up, and if he senses apprehension, he'll stand a bit farther away and simply extend his nose for a "handshake." The walls usually come tumbling down at that point, and he's made another forever-friend.

When Shoii's pasture-mate, Prince, was born shortly after Shoii arrived, we could do NOTHING with that baby. He would run underneath his mother to get away from us, and it was MONTHS before we could actually touch him. We wondered what in the world we'd done so very wrong because we were just expecting another "Shoii." Since that time, we've learned that there never was, and will never be another Shoii. Some horses just come into the world with an opinion of how things ought to be, and that was Shoii. He is truly one in a million. And he just seems to "wear off" on the other horses. Since he and Prince have grown up together, Shoii's "good ol' boy" personality has rubbed off on Prince to the point where he has also become another one of our most loved horses. I suspect Prince would not have been the same without his "brother's" continual support of "don't be afraid, you can do it... hey, watch this.." attitude.

When the other horses have finished eating and have "moseyed" back out into the pasture, there's Shoii- standing patiently by the gate. Waiting for our "time" together. Always looking me straight in the eye, with a nod that says "Come here....", and when I go to stand next to him, he wraps his neck around me, in the best horse-hug one could hope for, and nickers softly, as if to say "We will ALWAYS be friends...." and I know in my heart that we always will.