Atticus is now 1 month old. I cannot believe how fast he is growing and developing. I am really starting to see the downside to him being an only foal and Ella being separated from a herd. I understand it's for their safety and best - BUT I also now realize that Atticus doesn't really have anyone to play with.
We didn't IMPRINT him (a process I've read about where within the first few hours of life the foal is separated from the mother and exposed to certain things/situations in order to desensitises them for later on in life - e.g. handing their legs, feet, mouth, ears etc and or exposing them to blankets, bags, or different things that might generally spook a horse). First of all I'm not sure anyone was around within the first few hours, our guess is that he was born in-between 2:00 am and 4:00 am and the facility owner found in in the morning while checking on the horses around 6:00 am (standing and dry) secondly I don't live on the property therefore have a time constricted schedule and to be honest don't know enough about foals let alone a process such as this. However, the first day he was handled by the Vet and the Vet's Assistance during his and Ella's examination. Up until then I really didn't know how Ella would even react, was she an over protective Mum? Would the foal be incredibly scared? After watching the Vet I determined she was aggressively protective and the foal remained calm providing Mum was fine.After that they were left alone (although monitored and fed) for two days and then not disrupted again until the following Sunday night (the foal was born early Friday morning) when they were brought into the barn due to a Severe Thunderstorm warning. Baby followed close behind Mum and I left them alone in the indoor stall (again, not entirely sure how comfortable Ella was and how she would react and certainly didn't want to upset her in the tight confines of the stall and risk her stepping on/trampling the foal).
A few days later we starting occasionally touching him, getting him used to us (we'd talk to him) let him smell us an gently nibble on our sleeve end or shirt bottom (realizing he's teething and not to spook him) then I started taking off any light sweater I had on and would drape it over his back, one day it rained and we were unable to relocated them in time - therefore the Mare and foal were pretty wet, we took the opportunity to towel dry him and then drape the towel over his back and let him walk around with it until it fell off.
As of late, this handling and interacting with the foal (although I limit it to our daily routine/chores, my husband tends to spend a bit more time with the foal) I've notice he's become a LOT more comfortable with us, so much so that is as though he views us a herd members (horses) and try's to play or gets overly excited when we (mainly me) come into the paddock. These actions come across as charging directly at him and then skidding to a halt, rearing up and extending his front legs as if boxing to swinging his hind end around or spinning to buck, kick out at me/us. He hasn't quite bucked, although he has kicked out slightly while trotting beside me and lightly connected with the bucket I was carrying. This to me is slightly unsettling, I realize he's playing AND doesn't have play mates BUT this can become very dangerous, very quickly - especially at the rate he's growing. Can you imagine a 900 - 1100 lb horse doing this and then expecting yourself to be assertive yet CALM?!?
So my job now is to quickly learn an effective way to discourage this behaviour without breaking his trust, causing him to become fearful OR head shy! Tricky. Don't get me wrong, I am very impressed with his progress, he approaches us, he's fine with us touching him, rubbing down his legs, even picking up his front feet, he's ok with blankets on him, didn't give us too much trouble the first time he wore his halter. I'm glad he is healthy, happy and active - I just take it seriously and realize we have a huge responsibility to our foal, which is making sure he grows up polite, respectful and with minimal vices as possible.
If you have any tips, suggestions or ideas - please do not hesitate in sharing. He's teaching me a lot already, although I'm positive he's learning body language and effective communication himself, I am better able now, to recognize dominance or aggressive body language when I'm watching him play or watching his Mum with the other pasture horses. Such as, pinning ears, ex hauling loud and fast through nostrils (like a snort), low head and fast quick movements (these are mainly from his Mum) to arching of the neck accompanied with a prance or slow trot that almost gives the appearance of being taller (raised tail, ears forward) this I've learnt from the foal.
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