Jule Drown’s newest trail horse is Clementino, shown here with dam Porcelana and Drown. The Paso Fino colt was born Easter Sunday.

Since I owned only two horses last summer, my husband raised an eyebrow at the need to add two stalls on our new ranch. But he went along with the plan, assuming we could board a horse or two and make a little money. I, on the other hand, had a different motive. Somehow, I’d talk my husband into letting me buy a Paso Fino broodmare in foal.

I discovered a 12-year-old gray Paso Fino mare with outstanding bloodlines and a sweet disposition who’d been bred to a good Paso Fino stud for her third foal. Soon our new Paso Fino mare, Porcelana (which means “porcelain” in Spanish), was added to our little herd.

After an early show career, Porcelana had spent recent years as a couch potato cum broodmare. A firm believer in exercise, I quickly put Porcelana on a regimen of groundwork and trail riding. I also began using her to give riding lessons to my friends, including teachers from Central America who are studying for a year in Tucson through a University of Arizona program.

As her pregnancy advanced to the final two months, Porcelana preferred eating grass to going on rides. To protect my pregnant mama, I let her graze the winter grass on our property while I kept the other two horses in the little fenced pasture so they couldn’t hurt her. One afternoon, I heard loud squealing from inside the house and rushed outside to see what was wrong. Porcelana had opened the gate to the pasture with her nose and strolled inside, kicking viciously at the other horses until they got out of her way. She wanted to be with them and preside as the queen mare.

We knew the time was drawing near when Porcelana wouldn’t have the energy to even waddle down our dirt road with me on her back. I made plans to be present at the birth to imprint “my baby,” since I’d be keeping it (along with the other three horses) as my trail-riding mount and companion.

A week prior to the expected foaling time, I hosted a Tucson Saddle Club ride that started from our home. After the hustle and bustle of many guests, a long trail ride, then training another horse following the ride, I fell asleep exhausted that night.

At dawn the next morning, I went out to feed and was surprised to discover a strange animal had gotten into our fenced property and was standing in the breezeway of our mare motel. I was puzzled — deer? Great Dane? I looked over at Porcelana in her stall and it suddenly dawned on me: It was Easter morning, and the baby had been born! The poor little guy had somehow rolled out under the pipe rail and had wobbled around looking for mom. He had spiny cholla cactus parts stuck on his body from lumbering through cactus. Now he was trying to suckle under the lip of a large trash can in the breezeway. I quickly pulled off the globs of cactus, reunited him with his frantic mom and ran for my camera. All was well.

The little colt attracted a parade of visitors, both friends and neighbors, on his birthday. One neighbor learned of his arrival and came over right away to see him, wearing her pajamas. A family down the street knew I was awaiting a foal and stopped to see what the commotion was all about. They were on their way home from Easter Mass. Dressed in their best, they dodged hay, cactus, and manure to get a good look at my Easter baby.

Auspicious beginnings for my newest trail horse.

Jule Drown is a freelance writer based in Tucson, Arizona. To pay for her horse habit, she works as a nonprofit agency executive. She may be reached at juledrown@juno.com.