VIDEO: The Taxman Cometh and He’s Totally Huggable

After weeks of anticipation, the pregnant Eatonville rescue horse adopted last year by in Rosedale finally gave birth to a sprightly colt last week.

A miniature like his mother, Beauty, he arrived on April 15, the traditional deadline for filing income taxes. So naturally, owners Jim and Sue Miller decided to name the newborn Taxman.

Carmel-colored with a fuzzy newborn mane, Taxman bears the same dark stripe down his back as Beauty. He’s got long, gangly legs, an abundance of energy, is curious, and very social, said Sue Miller.

“I’m just delighted he’s healthy,” she said. “His legs are straight. He doesn’t have any problems. He looks really good to my untrained eye even. He has all the little horsy moves.”

That was welcome relief. The Millers had worried about the impact Beauty’s poor condition at the outset of the pregnancy could have on her foal’s development.

The mare was among the 78 undernourished horses and other animals living in squalid conditions at an Eatonville-area home until their high profile rescue last June. She was four months pregnant and still looking frail when in September with two other adopted miniature horses.

"For the lack of care they had previously, I am so glad [Taxman] doesn't have any defect of some sort,” said Miller. “But obviously, Mother Nature takes care.”

Indeed, Beauty is doing equally as well. Miller said it’s obvious she’s been a mother before. The mare settled easily into the role, she said, and has been very patient – even when the colt gets a little too rough during feeding.

The Millers had hoped to be on hand to witness the birth of the new foal. But Beauty had other plans. The mare wasn’t showing any signs of going into labor the night before the birth, Miller said. Yet the next morning when her husband rounded the corner of Beauty’s stall, there they both were.

But the consolation prize is just as special. The couple has stationed chairs outside of the pasture where mother and son are free to run.

“We just sit and watch them for hours,” Miller said. “He’s such a sweety. We’re just enjoying him while he’s still little.”