A delicate meeting between herd mate foals.
The colt closes his eyes to heighten his sensory meeting with a new filly.
Several weeks his inferior, this filly is a force to be reckoned with for this sturdy colt.
With lightening speed, she rises up to administer a (mock) fatal jab. He never saw it coming.
A well-meaning mare steals a newborn from another mare and her own foal is (understandably) quite irritated.
(Another picture of the sassy filly shown defending the dirt pile a couple posts back.) In this image she is circling her mother with confusion and irritation over the attention given to another foal. Her beloved mother has stolen another mare’s newborn foal and everything got really weird after that. This event required intervention and I’m happy to report that the confused newborn was reunited with her mother and they were separated from the herd for a while to bond. All is well for all the horses and the brief disruption to the sassy filly’s esteem is corrected.
Dusk falls on That Herd members grazing in a blooming field.
While this is not a dramatic California Super Bloom example, it is a springtime bloom landscape with horses in it, which makes it better.
She’s a scrappy little filly.
In defense of her dirt pile, this filly shows her “I mean business” side. Her quick temper has been displayed with old or young herd mates, and her tireless and doting mother for many weeks.,
Just a couple of days ago, this colt’s long legs were folded up inside his long suffering mother.
Since I mentioned it was hard to see just how long legged he is, I have proof. He’s just a few days old in this image.
This brave mare welcomes a large and long legged newborn foal.
A good natured mare and her surprisingly large newborn colt.
This mare has hidden her new colt away from the rest of the herd. She favors the cover of trees, and the shadows each time I have approached. The colt, an obvious grey, has impossibly long legs which are not as obvious in the tall grass. I give him bonus points for having white around his nostrils. (My whole life, horses with white muzzles have stood out as extra attractive, like a movie horse). Not always a team player, this mare affectionately known as Iris, continues to stubbornly avoid rejoining the rest of the mares and foals. The colt will be in for quite a surprise when he finally experiences other horses. These images were taken the day he was born, so he’s only several hours old.
A veteran mother and her earned fatigue shows the day her foal is born.
A mare with a newborn filly appears wistful as the others move off to a new location.
A veteran mother maintains a protective zone around her newborn filly. She stays quietly within the herd, but she minimizes her wandering for the foal’s sake and undoubtedly, her own sake as well. She is recuperating from the birth of a large foal. The foal is not much more than twenty four hours old in these images.
Strolling through the neighborhood.
“I will tell you where there is power: where the dew lies upon the hills, and the rain has moistened the roots of the various plant; where the sunshine pours steadily; where the brook runs babbling along, there is a beneficent power.
–Edwin Hubbel Chapin
Looking a bit disheveled and weary, this new mother skirts the perimeters of the herd with her newborn filly. The foal is a day old and still has the wrinkly, albeit dry, wavy patterns in her black hair-coat.
Hey look! She’s the same color as the oak tree bark! At one day old this filly is a joy to observe. Bouncy and independent, her mother follows her carefree explorations instead of the normal foal-follows-mare arrangement.
She is unusual in many ways. She has an unusual face marking (not entirely visible in this pic), she is unusually stout for a new foal for a maiden mother, she is unusually fuzzy (but the hair-coat is welcome for the wet weather we have been experiencing), and she is unusual because she is completely unexpected, and the sire is a mystery. Despite the foal’s size, it was not obvious her mother was pregnant until the final weeks before birth. Life on the range has a few twists and turns.
These two foals are not more than a few days apart, but the bigger foal is shy about introductions. The delicate filly is willing to frisk about with her herd mate, but first she must win him (and his mother) over. She’s a charmer, so I’m sure she succeeded.
My first visit with a new foal on a sunny day. When I first observed her during a persistent rainstorm, she appeared brown. Of course she was soaked at that time. Now I can see she is clearly bay.
A new filly greets the brief sunshine during a long string of winter rainstorms. By human standards, animals endure lots of uncomfortable weather. By animal standards, at least in this climate, they are quick to respond to ever-changing weather conditions with ease.
A new foal, only a day or two old, accepts some harsh realities about life outside the womb. Rain and wind have been a constant for her so far. At least I think it’s a filly; not acceptable weather for camera gear either.
A January colt and his mother stroll through a glorious location. After a few rainy days, then a few sunny days, this is their beautiful home.
The new year has brought us a new That Herd member. Strong and flashy, this colt earns the distinction of the first foal of 2019. Be still my beating heart; the foals are coming!
I post different images across various social media. I rarely put the same image on other galleries, so take a look around.
That face you make when second place wins the day.
“Is there any instinct more deeply implanted in the heart of man than the pride of protection, a protection which is constantly exerted for a fragile and defenseless creature?” – Honere de Balzac
