Our German Shepherd Sadie is foster Mom and best friend to our orphan colt KRH Khaleed Naseem. On June 2, 2010 KRH Khaleed Naseem was born but we lost our beloved mare KRH Summer Breeze who died giving birth to this handsome colt by Ansata Shukri. Sadie immediately new that the bewildered little colt needed her and she became his Mamma. She gave him love and companionship and played with him. Two years later they still have a special bond and are best friends. Enjoy the photo slide show of them and read more below.

The pictures above show the incredible bond between our orphaned Arabian colt who never knew his Mother and our German Shepherd Sadie who immediately and without hesitation became his Mom and best friend. We have always had a German Shepherd dog, and all of them have been a member of our family and good with the horses. In the summer of 2009, we adopted a 7 month old puppy from the Front Range German Shepherd rescue in Denver, Colorado. Sadie had been a city dog and at first, she was frightened of the horses. She quickly lost her fear and is a natural at herding and playing with the horses, of course safely on the other side of the fence. Sadie loves being part of foaling and watching the new babies. Sadly in June of 2010 we lost our beloved mare KRH Summer Breeze foaling. Her foal a beautiful colt by Ansata Shukri had a difficult beginning. KRH Khaleed Naseem (meaning Immortal Breeze) was three weeks early and no Mom. That first night I fed him colostrum from the supply I keep in my freezer and because I didn’t have any milk replacer powder on hand I also milked 2 of my mares who had foals earlier in the year. Khaleed still did not have adequate passive transfer and required a plasma transfusion and a series of penicillin shots. Sadie immediately became Mamma to little Khaleed. The first month we fed him every hour around the clock and then went to every 2 hours. Yes caring for an orphan is demanding. Sadie never missed a feeding! My husband usually did the 2 and 4 am feedings and if he happened to over sleep Sadie with her great internal clock would come and nudge his hand or put her nose on his face, a gentle reminder that it was time to feed the baby. When my husband was out of town for a week I was doing every feeding, exhausted is an understatement! Sadie would wake me up, put her paw on my shoulder, give me a kiss on the cheek, and keep nudging me until I was up and fixing his bottle. When Khaleed was ready to be outside, we built him what we called the playpen. Actually, a small run which we attached between our house and barn this gave Khaleed room to run and play. Plus it was handy, just outside our front door making those daytime bottle feedings easy. We really wanted to keep Sadie’s visits supervised, after all, she is a German Shepherd with great herding instinct and we did not want Khaleed to be chased. Well Sadie had other ideas! She found a spot where she could squirm under the panels and join Khaleed. They ran and played together, and had a version of tag. Sadie would touch and nudge Khaleed’s legs and give little play barks and then they ran to the other end of the playpen. Khaleed would then nudge Sadie on her back, turn and run to the other end with Sadie right alongside! They had a ball they played with and they would lie down and rest together. We have raised several orphans over the years and I think Khaleed was the most content. I am sure that Sadie’s attention made a big difference. As Khaleed grew into a rambunctious yearling and now 2 year old, we wanted to keep them separate for Sadie’s safety. After all Khaleed was a spirited Arabian Stud colt and we did not want him to accidently hurt her. But Sadie insisted and would occasionally sneak under the fence to spend time with her baby! This year, Sadie seemed to realize that perhaps 2 year old Khaleed was growing too big and she had not snuck under the fence for some time, much to our relief. July 14 , 2010 Khaleed is 2 years and 1 month. I could not find Sadie and went to check on her; there they were at the far end of the pasture Sadie lying down and Khaleed contentedly grazing nearby. My heart lurched a little at the sweetness of their bond, but also a little fear as he could run her over, kick her or strike at her. I called to her but Sadie would not leave Khaleed. So I grabbed my camera, kept watch, and snapped away. I am awed by their friendship, affection, and gentleness with each other. And the fun they have, still playing ball! Of course, Khaleed has become a permanent member of our family, as we could never separate him from his friend Sadie. We look forward to the future and the beautiful foals he will sire for our farm. Sadie will have equine grandchildren.