A new mother and her foal make a game of browsing together on spent oat tops. The afternoon light is steeped in the warming hue caused by smokey air from a nearby wildfire.
FYI:
When you select individual blog posts by clicking on them, a selection of thumbnail links to previous posts can be accessed.
A lone colt wanders through a late day meadow turned glittery and golden on this, the longest day of the year. Summer solstice is not rare and a full moon is even less rare, but the two together, on the same day, happens once in a lifetime. This very day, we not only get the Summer Solstice, but a full moon as well. This has not happened in about 70 years. The longest day of the year will transition into a night sky illuminated by a full moon crossing low in the sky.The Strawberry Moon, as it’s called, marks the ultimate strawberry harvest time; also called the Golden Moon for the amber tint caused by the thick, low atmosphere it is viewed through.
Kids will be kids, even horse-kids. This little guy romped about merrily; he was caught up in his own little game and giving it his all. It is always a highlight to watch the foals test their skills and courage. The green grass has long since disappeared and the spring foals are burly and rough now so it’s nice the see a cute “baby picture”.
Strolling in stride, mother and newborn present a pretty picture. One of his ears is a bit smashed from his former womb position but that will straighten out quickly.
Four white stockings, a crooked blaze, refined head, and bright eyes make this newborn colt a handsome addition to That Herd. Along with his good looks, he also has the distinction of being the final foal born for the current year.
I often see horses as I move about my every day life. Horses standing in paddocks, horses wandering through a dusty corral, horses in all sorts of artificial cultures; horses confined. My entire life has been connected to horses and their care and training. The life of a domestic horse includes any number of restrictive situations and habitats. For the most part, I have experienced horses that are well cared for, content, wanting for nothing basic, loved even. They lead a perfectly acceptable life under the care of competent handlers. Within the limitations of civilized life, this is the norm. When I met That Herd, I began to understand the very real power of freedom and instinct. Living truly free, under the rules of nature, can be unforgiving. Living in a free range environment, like That Herd, with little management or intervention is freedom with some added insurance. Compared to the myriad of horses I have known, That Herd horses are more in tune with their evolutionary values. They are instinctive more often than responsive. They face hardships, retain knowledge, solve problems, and gain spatial aptitude. They adapt to inconsistent quantities and qualities of feed and water. They have social lives and constant mental stimulation. It is wondrous to observe the very real ability of domestic horses living, for the most part, and behaving as nature intended.
“Surviving is important, thriving is elegant.” – Maya Angelou
The day’s last light touches a mare who pauses in a field of springtime mustard growth.
“Oh, grassy glades! on, ever vernal endless landscapes in the soul; in ye, – though long parched by the dead drought of the earthly life, – in ye, men yet may roll, like young horses in new morning clover, and for some few fleeting moments, feel the cool dew of the life immortal on them. Would to God these blessed calms would last. But the mingles, mingling threads of life are woven by warp and woof: calms crossed by storms, a storm for every calm. There is no steady unretracing progress in this life … ”
–Herman Melville
So often I miss moments that show something significant, whether it be personally to me or of remarkable equine behavior. This was one of those moments where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time to capture an amazing visual of a band of horses rushing by through springtime brush. This was the one shot I managed to take.
A recent visitor to this blog asked if tri-colored paint foals are ever born in That Herd. Yes, sometimes there are tri-colored foals. An example of one attractive horse is shown in these two images.
Fate whispers to the warrior
“You cannot withstand the storm”
and the warrior whispers back
“I am the storm”
An imperfect beginning for this newborn will lead to a horse fated to be worthy of greatness.
What a little rascal he is. This precocious colt routinely tries to nurse off of a mare that is not his mother. I have not witnessed him having success but my visits are limited. He knows no boundaries with the other mares, foals, or stallion. Charming and clueless, he is tolerated even in his cheekiest moments.
Horses often have favorite companions. Sometimes alike dispositions align and sometimes opposite dispositions associate. Horses buddy-up in pairs or small groups and spend a lot of time together moving throughout the day. These relationships have longevity if given the opportunity to live together, long term. Even after long absences, horses that like each other come together again. It is also just as common for horses that live together to simply coexist among fluctuating partners according to need or mood and pecking order. Some horses do, however, seem to make real friendships.
These mares (and now the addition of a foal), are long time companions who have grown up together and prefer each others company. Included in their chosen group are one or two other individuals who seem to be somewhat less attached constantly to the group.
A glorious sea of dry mustard stalks surround a lone colt creating an image that evokes a longing to explore and curiosity about the unknown.
Although his approach was friendly enough, her response seems rather negative.
I realize I have pointed this out before on this blog, but it continues to intrigue me. Stallions, for all of their demanding herding behaviors, know when to let soon-to-foal mares and just-foaled mares alone. The rules change for new mothers for a couple days. The eminently expectant and new mothers are not included in the herding routines set by the stallion. I’m not saying that they would be left behind, but they are allowed to move about on the far fringes of the herd, and at a more leisurely speed. This considerate behavior seems beyond the scope of an equine intellect, but it does occur. In this image, the stallion is moving the herd of mares and foals to another location for water but he walks past the mare that just foaled and she follows in her own time.
Pleasure comes in the form of belly-scratching brush. As a newborn, one would have to imagine that a foal has never experienced a good belly rub. Just look at that face, pure happiness!
Believe it or not, both of these images are of a positive conversation between a mare and stallion. These interactions are brief and seemingly random but there is likely more to it than that. Stallions constantly check in with the mares in his harem, interested mares, pregnant mares, old mares, all the mares. Sometimes the conversation is entirely gentle and sometimes it’s almost violent. No one is upset in a negative way, even in the first image that looks aggressive.
For those of you who read my previous post, here is a glimpse at the special features included on that particular foal.
Sporting teddy bear ear fluff and a rather unorganized star splash of hair on the forehead that dribbles into a defined zigging and zagging face squiggle, this new colt is an irresistible addition to That Herd.
I like this picture because the mare and her new foal are matching in their muzzle lip tension, ear, and eye positions. This is a very new foal with profound ear fuzz (hidden in this picture) and a squiggly strip attached to his star marking. Early morning sunshine brought two mares down from the woods with newborn foals, this is one of the two. Prolific mustard flowers dot the image foreground and a pollen dusting covers the foal’s back.
Bonding with her newborn, this mare shows a softness in her expression that is readable. Responding to cues and encouragement from her mother as well as taking in a lot of new information and learning the ways of a terrestrial, this baby has a lot to take in. You can see the umbilical cord stump and tell-tale wrinkly ear hair of a newborn foal.
