A foal gained the trust of her owner when she proved that she had all the makings of
what it takes to be a majestic black beauty.
Coconut makes first contact with the world a memorable one thanks to the support and
loving care of her mother.
Coconut was born at "Down under colour" a farm in Melbourne Florida, which was located
by breeder.
The parent animals would meet up on a daily basis to socialize with each other and the
baby animal.
The site is owned and run by a couple Scott and Jackie Nelson.
They mostly focus on a special breed of horses that have one very noticeable trait.
The couple has a variety of paint horses including American and Australian paint horses.
These animals sport very distinguishable markings on their coats that are comparable to those
of a cow.
The horses have not just one, but two colors on their coat and these arrange themselves
into Pinto markings that grant the animals, a mesmerizing appearance.
And with their horses winning award after award, the Nelson’s are highly regarded
within the ranch community.
In light of such success then, they were certainly a safe pair of hands when it came to coconut’s
entrance into the world and subsequent upbringing.
Her birth was a highly anticipated one in fact, the excitements began when the couple
found out that a mare Polka was pregnant.
All along the Nelsons knew that this would be an unusual birth because the father was
a stallion named Chief who also lived on the ranch.
This meant that the foal would most likely have interesting markings, but which ones?
Well, the couple would have to wait and see.
Unfortunately for the Nelsons, they had to wait a whole 11 months before they could see
the results.
Horse pregnancies are notoriously long drawn out of affairs.
And at the end of it all, they only produce one foal, but for Scott and Jackie, this just
made it even more thrilling.
After almost a year Polka finally went into labour.
So much had been leading up to this moment and while Scott and Jackie were tending to
polka in her hour of need, they were beguiled by what they saw.
It turned out that the result was even better than they could have ever hoped for.
The couple were amazed to see that Polka’s foal was a medicine hat horse and incredibly
rare type of Pinto horse.
Unlike other Pinto horses, they have a white coat punctuated with dark spots on their body.
In addition, they sport dark fur on their faces and ears, hence the name medicine hat
as well as on their chest, which many say looks like a shield.
Otherwise known as a war horse, the little foal given the name Coconut.
The Nelsons wasted no time and sharing the news with the public and videoed coconut’s
first steps in the outside world.
With the caption, “coconut stretching her legs to an audience.”
The footage shows the full running with enthusiasm, which is remarkable considering that she is
just two days old at the time.
As the apple or coconut of Polka’s eye, the new mother cannot leave the foal unattended
for one second.
The footage shows her firmly sticking to coconut side even when she's running around.
Polka takes the opportunity to gaze across the fields too alongside the new arrival.
And it isn't just Polka Who's enamoured with the foal.
Indeed, the other horses from the ranch, take a good look at the latest member of the clan
as well.
They also show coconut what their majestic galloping as a group looks like much to the
delight of the cameraman, presumably Scott, who says, “oh, and of course that's bluey!”
Commenting on the horses’ reactions, the narrator says, “the other horses are very
excited and interested because it was the first time, they had seen coconut.
The narrator goes on to add, “they have seen other foals and the mama Polka is part
of the herd and had just been out with them a few days before, it was amazing to watch!”
At one point in the video, coconut even has the courage to interact with the couple’s
dog Pixie.
The video shows the foals curious nature as she lowers her head to inspect the dog, venturing
closer and closer Pixie affectionately licks coconut’s nose, much to the foal’s surprise.
Later in the video, we hear Scott saying, “Pixie, I think you passed.
I don't think you're a threat.
It looks like coconut is an old hand at making friends.
Scott is evidently enchanted by their new edition, continually cooing little coconut
throughout the video.
Intrigued by the foal’s rare markings, when she comes close to him Scott says, “turn
here and let's see that little shield on your chest!”
Coconut, isn't very co-operative however.
And the video seemed to be a huge hit with horse lovers when it was subsequently posted
on YouTube.
Indeed, coconut captured the hearts of many and before long more than 3 million people
had watched her prancing about.
The video attracted lots of comments.
All of them praising the young foal, one YouTube viewer wrote- “I was searching for a video
to lift my heart a bit, having lost my very special cat, just a few hours ago.
And coconut was just the right thing I needed.
Thank you for posting this precious little gift for all to enjoy.”
The Nelson's treated coconut’s growing fan base to another video, two weeks later, providing
an update on her progress.
The full displayed signs of strong growth showing off to her fans by running two laps
at high speed around her mother before calling it a day.
Scott is thoroughly enjoying the display and yells “go coconut!”
to rally her on.
Moreover, viewers seemed just as delighted a Scott, from the comments it's obvious that,
coconut again, brightened up some people's days.
One user wrote- “this was the sweetest video of today.
Thank you for posting it, I’ve shared.”
Meanwhile, another commented- “I love the videos, please keep doing them.
I love her.
Thank you for sharing your time with her.
Since then, coconut has gone from strength to strength and grown into a beautiful mare.
The couple kept people updated on her progress through their, down under color Facebook page.
And although she wasn't the cute foal that she once was, Scott and Jackie still seemed
completely devoted to her.
The Nelsons were happy to have enjoyed coconut for so long, but over time found out she was
in high demand and sold her for an incredible amount seventy-four thousand dollar.
It was also a perfect deal, as an animal is worth plenty.
Even So it must have been hard to say goodbye to the medicine hat, Marvel.