Foalie Friends

I want Foalie to have a friend.  He is beginning to bounce and annoy Hetja, his long-suffering mother.

BN2A5861

So I asked Bjørn if I could borrow a standard Shetland mare and colt foal for Foalie.  We took the beautiful Aria and her son around yesterday evening.

BN2A5871

Hetja was very unimpressed with my brilliant idea.

BN2A5866

She was a cowbag.

BN2A5876

Little Foalie, however, was desperate to talk to his new potential friend.

BN2A5901

For a while we were hopeful that this was a good plan and all would be well.

BN2A5908

But Hetja would have none of it.

BN2A5910

Last night, I received a message from Jo saying that she had to split them up as Hetja would not give up her cowbag status.  Not good.  The foals now would get to know each other with a fence between them.

BN2A5910

We went over this afternoon to find everyone together again and a tentative peace reigning.

BN2A5927

Hetja had given up chasing and apparently had knocked down the fence between the two families.

BN2A5931

While Daisy fed carrots to Hetja and chatted to Foalie, I went over to see Aria.  She was fine, a few bites but nothing worrying.  I fed her a carrot and told her to see how things go.

BN2A5937

We will constantly monitor the situation. I think, and desperately hope, that the the boys will make friends and the mothers will leave them to it while concentrating on the more important matters like eating.

BN2A5938

To be honest, I was surprised at Hetja’s cowbagness but Foalie is her first foal and she loves him to bits.  She will calm down, eventually!

2 thoughts on “Foalie Friends

  1. Bigears

    poor Aria, comes to do a favour and is treated like shit

    it is quite scary how possessive and defensive a mare and foal can be – I couldn’t let Suze out with the herd as she made it clear she would kill

    Reply
  2. Linda

    Ah, someone is quite protective of her firstborn beautiful boy. But, if she knocked DOWN the fence, it sounds promising that she’ll come around…
    (P.S. This sort of thing is SO interesting Frances – thank you for sharing it.)

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Linda Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *