Samantha

Samantha, the subject of the Butterfly post, was foaled in 1990, sired by Clarion and out of Rosemont Rebecca. Like her 3 sibblings, she was about 15 hands, bay, deep-bodied, straight-legged, but had Rebecca's somewhat long head, which Rebecca got from her dam Illawana Satin. That long head was a strong trait but everything else was so good, we did not mind.
Samantha was Rebecca's last foal as she had an uterine hemmorage birthing Samantha. She survived but I would not risk her life for another foal. Poor Samantha spent her first five days cooped up in a stall waiting for Rebecca to recover. Once out in a larger area, she became a Sandeater, and she was a major Sandeater. I had foals before her that ate sand to one degree or another, but she was really dedicated to it. My vet and I were frustrated about it. He had many clients whose foals ate sand to one degree or another. We all had different feeding programs and it was his feeling that it was not a mineral imbalance but just something the foals did. If they survived it, they all grew out of it in their yearling year, just quitting it one day and never again having an interest in eating sand.
All my ground here is sand, so finally I got some more stall mats and matted a small pen opening to a matted stall and that had to become her living quarters. Every day, I took her out into the arena for supervised exercise time. I think I had more exercise then her as I had to run around chasing her when she would stop for sand. We survived it, and she stopped eating sand shortly before her 1st birthday. Whew.
The sand eating was the reason I started to pony her on trail rides. It was a good way to get her some exercise without wearing out myself.
She grew up into a beauty and the right home came up for her so she left here. The person who got her, still has her after nearly 15 years or so. She remains fondly in my memory.