Nyota is the third of three full siblings (the first two are also fillies); there is also a rather closely related, actively breeding stallion who is the product of Nyota's paternal grandsire Skogheims Viljar and maternal granddam Hirse Klattrup.  In short, this is not a pairing we would have chosen ourselves because the Fjord gene pool is small enough already, and Hallie's sire is under-represented on top of that.  But while Hallie was away from our farm, she and Nyota's sire purportedly had their own ideas and acted on them.  Gotta love life with animals; it's never boring!  Despite our lack of involvement in the choice of sire, mom Hallie is a stunning example of the Fjord breed, and Nyota definitely has a lot to offer, having inherited the lion's share of Hallie's physical talent as well as Hallie's love of interacting with humans.

When we first purchased Hallie, we of course could not be certain that she would mesh well with our herd and suit our own equestrian desires.  Now that we've gotten a chance to know her better, it's clear that Hallie herself is going to be staying at Lost Creek for life.  But keeping Hallie means we're not in a position to keep any of her foals (or rather, at least not for a number of years).  As a result, one lucky person will be welcoming Nyota to their own home.

If one of the current inquirers proves to be the right match, Nyota will leave Lost Creek sometime after weaning is complete to begin the next chapter of her life.  Otherwise we will retain Nyota for additional training and socialization within our herd while we continue the matchmaking process.

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Nyota is a Swahili word for "star", and indeed our Nyota is already quite a star, appearing frequently in videos on the Horse Speak® Club!  The name "Nyota" is also associated with Nyota Uhura, the communications officer on the original Star Trek series.