Heart to Heart - Equine

18/11/2025

I watched a band of wild horses by the beach.
I saw one stallion, three mares — one of them pregnant — three yearlings, and one young foal.

It was interesting to watch the foal doing his own thing and not being glued to his mum. In fact, I was trying to guess who the mum was, and it wasn’t obvious at all. The foal was busy munching grass, and he had a little bonding moment with one of the yearlings.

The mare closest to the foal was the one who looked clearly pregnant. Another mare looked like she might have given birth not too long ago and she stayed within eye reach, while the last mare disappeared behind the hill at some stage.

I really wanted to stay longer — I was so close to them, just sitting in my car. I wanted to see if my guess was right about the foal’s mum. And honestly, I could happily spend hours watching them. But I had a busy day ahead of me and had to go.

This whole thing made me think about Brumby. That foal was about the same age as her. It was good to see how he was simply part of the herd and not attached to his mum the whole time. So Brumby having her herd, and then having us for her milk supply, isn’t too far from normal.

She won’t have other foals or yearlings to be with — that’s the one thing I can’t give her at this stage. And yes, she already follows me into the shed, the house, anywhere really, especially when she’s hungry. So I guess there won’t be much “desensitising” needed later on. (I’m using this term for lack of a better one — I’ll explain in another post why I don’t actually like it.)

17/11/2025

Don’t let your ego make decisions about your horses.

Little Brumby (our orphan foal) naturally feels attached to us. We feed her and look after her. Luckily, she has a mare she follows around, and another mare who’s also been protective of her, so she does have that support. Still, there were a few times when the horses wandered off and Brumby hesitated, thinking about staying behind with me.

It’s fun having a foal following you around and wanting to be with you. But that’s just my ego. The important thing is that Brumby learns how to be a horse, and only other horses can teach her that. So I gently pushed her away to make sure she went with the herd.

I’ve seen many scenarios like this. The horse that lives on his own and is always so excited to see his human — that can really fill up a person’s ego. But if you know horses well enough, you understand that this horse is just lonely most of the time, and a human can only fill that gap for a short time (unless you’re spending your whole day and night in the paddock).

Or the horse that always nickers when she sees her human because she knows treats are coming. But then she behaves in a pushy, disrespectful way the whole time, constantly demanding food. Nothing deeper comes from that.

Loving someone means understanding their needs. We have a responsibility to give our horses what they truly need to be physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy. We need to look at the bigger picture, not just what they’re showing us in the moment.

Have you had a moment when you had to push your ego aside, to do what's right for the horse?

09/11/2025

Foal update

Brumby LOVES scratches. She loves them almost anywhere on her body, except her tummy and chest, where she's been more cautious. But she is now OK with these sensitive areas too, and accepting that it's part of life with people.

She has two mares who look after her and protect her and she seems quite attached to both of them. She is good with all four horses, but now I have two of them grazing at my neighbor's, she is left with her two adopting mums and she is quite content with that.

We reduced her feeding routine to 3 times a day, while she also fills up on grass. I'd say she's looking good physically, and also feeling a lot more confident.

06/11/2025

When you dare to exist for a moment without holding her bottle 🍼 😆

05/11/2025

Wild horses close to the sea, enjoying the spring grass. Quite possibly my little Brumby's original family.

04/11/2025

Foal update

Margo is showing Brumby how to get out and find the best grass. I can only blame myself because I've given Margo special privileges. When she gets out on her own, I allow her to roam. Some extra kg's will be good for her, and the other horses haven't been following her ways (which I did make efforts to block). Well, that was until Brumby came. Now she has a little partner in crime, if you can say that about this sweet little creature.

04/11/2025

30/10/2025

Foal update

When Brumby is not hungry and she comes to me just for scratches, it's a good opportunity for some little lessons - in between scratches. I picked up all her feet and we did a few steps of leading. I touched her everywhere, she is starting to really love touch. At the end of her bottle feed, she brings her neck close to me, saying "it's time for my scratches now".

She has a little attitude and could get angry if you stop. I am clear about my space and boundaries, so that's another lesson for her.

I love having a foal at home!

29/10/2025

Foal update - an interesting development.

Diamond was trying to take brumby away from Margo. It's really interesting because I was wondering if Margo chose this motherly role, or did Brumby just choose it for her. But when diamond was trying to take Brumby away from her, Margo got really angry and she kicked Diamond a few times. Not that he seemed too worried about it, the tough little guy, but it did make him stop - eventually.

It was a bit scary when Brumby almost got in the way of the kicking. But I'm not too worried now because I know that neither of them wanted to hurt her. It's more like they had a fight over her. Seeing Margo protecting the foal like that was also heart warming. Brumby is not just one of the herd, she has a new mum!

An hour after it happened, I went to check on them again and I saw Brumby standing close to Diamond this time. This morning I fed all the horses and while they were eating, I gave the foal her bottle. Diaomond is the first one to finish his food and he knows the others won't let him steal theirs - unless Margo feels generous and then she lets him have turns from hers - so then he came to Brumby and tried to move her away. I shoed him out of there quickly.

I'd say he is aserting his dominance over her, but I do also feel there are other emotions involved. Is this what jealousy in horses looks like? Diamond and Margo are beasties, and now this little baby is attached to her. It seemed to be about separating the foal from Margo. Or is it more from his stallion instinct (he is a gelding but he does show a lot of stallion behaviours), of wanting to take the filly to himself?

I'd keep an eye on him. If needed, I will take him with one other horse to a separate paddock. I wanted to keep things as they are for a bit, before making more changes for the foal, but the option is there, if I feel this is not safe. If this was a c**t I'd be more worried about Diamond's behaviour, but I really don't think he would hurt a filly and he is not showing aggression towards her, just trying to herd her.

What do you think about all that?

28/10/2025

Foal update

I can say that Brumby has integrated into the herd. Do you see her there under Margo? She seems to feel safe enough with all of them, but Margo is the one she stays close to the most. I don't know if Margo chose that motherly role, but she is not against it. She now has a little follower 🥰

This is Brumby's second week with us, and the first one with all the horses and without her first babysitter, the mini pony. So for now I'm leaving the herd together. But eventually it will be time to take two of them to my neighbour's paddock, because this is part of our grazing routines. The four of them are used to these changes, but it will be interesting to see how Brumby takes it. But don't worry, I won't take Margo away from her.

26/10/2025

At Horse-Mad Kids Club yesterday, the biggest challenge for the kids was to not overwhelm the new foal that's with us. Although I have to say, she didn't mind some attention, and the girls handled her well.

25/10/2025

We decided to keep the name the foal came with - Brumby.

Last night her babysitter pony left. She was here for one week to help Brumby settle, and that was working really well. It was not an easy goodbye for the little foal but the time was right and I did my best to help her. She now has a herd to live with, all accepted her as one of them.

During those settling days, the mini and the foal were protected behind an electric fence. Brumby learned quickly about these fences, it only took one shock. But she also learned that under the reel that's sitting on the permanent fence, the wire goes a bit higher - just high enough for her to fit under. That worked well because it gave her the option to venture out of her area when she chose to, and then quickly get back there if she needed to. And she did need to when Margo chased her. Interestingly, Margo is the one that Brumby now chooses to be close to the most.

It's great to see this little baby starting to feel at ease with her her new herd. Neither them or I can replace her mum, but she has a chance to be a normal and happy horse.