Foal in the herd

Most hoofed cubs are born almost ready to lead an active life, and foals are no exception. They are born sighted, have good hearing and are ready to follow their mother on the first day. So almost immediately the kids join the life of the herd. How does a foal live in a herd, how does he communicate with his mother and other horses?

However, in the first days, the mare does not let anyone near the foal, and does not let other foals near her. Therefore, if a foal is left without a mother, people have to make efforts to save him.

If the herd is wild, the mare leaves to give birth to a foal and returns a few days later. When the mother senses danger, she either covers the foal with her body or takes it to the center of the herd to protect it. The predator will not climb into the thick of the herd, but other horses, if they panic and run, can knock the baby down.

In stables, foals are usually weaned from their mother at 6 to 7 months, but if this is not done, the mother will feed the cub with milk for up to 1 year. Although plant foods form the basis of the diet after 6 months, milk feeding remains an important component of the psychological bond between mare and foal. Under natural conditions, the mare herself begins to drive away the grown foal a few days before the birth of the next one.

But even if the mare stopped feeding milk to the foal of the last year, this does not mean that she does not keep in touch with him. They can form friendships, stick together and groom each other. If the mare is separated from the foal, then after some time, when she sees the grown child, the mare does not recognize him.

A foal meets a stallion in natural conditions at the age of 1-2 weeks. The stallion makes sure that the foal does not go far from the herd. If the foal is a mare, then even when she grows up, the stallion will not perceive her as a sexual partner – of course, if she grows up in the same herd.

If the foal leaves the herd, the stallion remembers it for some time, and then stops recognizing it and perceives it as an outside horse.