[Sombrablu]

Traumatic. Intact males can be such lunatics! How these people watch these things happen and not interfere is the true miracle to me Id be throwing rocks or something I wouldn’t be able to help myself and I’d likely make it worse. What an amazing mare and beautiful foal. Fascinating but stressful video! Thanks for sharing this amazing footage!

 

[Linoone]

Traumatic. Intact males can be such lunatics! How these people watch these things happen and not interfere is the true miracle to me Id be throwing rocks or something I wouldn’t be able to help myself and I’d likely make it worse. What an amazing mare and beautiful foal. Fascinating but stressful video! Thanks for sharing this amazing footage!

These horses are mustangs protected by the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. It's a federal crime to interfere with them.

And that's without saying that interfering with large animals like horses while they're expressing natural behaviors... tends to end messily for the would-be "helper". It's our responsibility to allow nature to take it's course.

For what it's worth Patriot -The foal in the video- grew up and became a successful stallion in his own right. He's now six years old with two mares of his own.

 

[Sombrablu]

These horses are mustangs protected by the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. It's a federal crime to interfere with them.

And that's without saying that interfering with large animals like horses while they're expressing natural behaviors... tends to end messily for the would-be "helper". It's our responsibility to allow nature to take it's course.

For what it's worth Patriot -The foal in the video- grew up and became a successful stallion in his own right. He's now six years old with two mares of his own.

Oh for sure! That’s why I said I’d make things worse lol this is why I don’t go visits the wild mustangs around us, I know my limitations. I also don’t give a crap what Uncle Sam thinks haha I’d save a baby horse and go to jail forever without a second thought. This is why I ranch so I can help and interfere when necessary. I couldn’t compose myself. These people are amazing.

 

[Zimalia22]

Traumatic. Intact males can be such lunatics! How these people watch these things happen and not interfere is the true miracle to me Id be throwing rocks or something I wouldn’t be able to help myself and I’d likely make it worse. What an amazing mare and beautiful foal. Fascinating but stressful video! Thanks for sharing this amazing footage!

Another very good reason to leave well enough alone is if you were out there, the mare would attack you. Then it depends on are you agile enough to avoid it.

 

[Sombrablu]

Another very good reason to leave well enough alone is if you were out there, the mare would attack you. Then it depends on are you agile enough to avoid it.

I said throw rocks as in panic and be stupid not go down there and get between them 😂🙄

 

[wvfarrier]

I would not have wanted to be on the receiving end of those kicks....they were LOUD!!!

 

[Zimalia22]

I said throw rocks as in panic and be stupid not go down there and get between them 😂🙄

If you got close enough to throw rocks, the mare would still be after you.

I dont' care if it's a mustang, or a mare running on the range, you don't mess with them. They WILL take you out!

 

[Sombrablu]

If you got close enough to throw rocks, the mare would still be after you.

I dont' care if it's a mustang, or a mare running on the range, you don't mess with them. They WILL take you out!

Yeah again I was more implying I would irrationally panic from afar, like “how are those people being so quiet?” I’d be like banging things, throwing things, screaming or something trying to distract them. I agree with you, but I was mostly just laughing at my inability to not be emotionally involved and admiring people who can.

 

[Milton'sMama]

I was cheering her on when she was landing those double-barreled kicks and knocking the hooligans sideways. But I was gasping and anxious for the poor baby when he was getting bumped around and so close to the rude bachelors.

Mama mares are nothing to mess with. This is why a common method for dealing with bratty domesticated young studs is to toss them in a field of bred broodmares. They'll be humbled soon enough!

 

[ChieTheRider]

Wonder if the stallions would have tried to go after the foal if it was a filly?

 

[Part-Boarder]

OMG! What an awesome momma. I couldn’t watch past the first couple of minutes. So stressful for the mare right after having given birth.

 

[Horsef]

Well done, mum!

Next time someone asks what collection is for I’ll just show them this video.

 

[Linoone]

Wonder if the stallions would have tried to go after the foal if it was a filly?

I doubt it would've mattered, it's not like fillies come out of the womb sexually mature.

 

[Linoone]

OMG! What an awesome momma. I couldn’t watch past the first couple of minutes. So stressful for the mare right after having given birth.

Things get much better after the first few minutes, the mares' herd hear the commotion and come swooping in to protect her and the baby!

 

[wvfarrier]

Wonder if the stallions would have tried to go after the foal if it was a filly?

The bachelor stallions kill ANY foal so that the mare will come back into heat sooner. The sex of the foal doesnt matter. If a new stallion takes over a herd, the first thing he does is kill all the new foals.

 

[Linoone]

The bachelor stallions kill ANY foal so that the mare will come back into heat sooner. The sex of the foal doesnt matter. If a new stallion takes over a herd, the first thing he does is kill all the new foals.

Lol, I think you've got feral horses confused with African Lions. While stallions have been observed to kill foals -Including one particularly notorious case in this herd- it's ludicrous to say that bachelors kill foals just to bring their mothers back into heat. Mares naturally go back into heat within one to two weeks after foaling! It makes no evolutionary sense for stallions to kill foals for that specific purpose when mares are receptive again so quickly after birth.

Hell, this herd in particular has numerous accounts of foals definitively known for being by one stallion being raised by another! One rival pair ended up raising each others firstborn sons! And hilariously enough, one of said sons didn't even leave his natal band until he was five years old. His "step-father" never kicked him out!

And in another herd, I watched in real time a pair of bachelor stallions adopt an orphaned filly! When she was two months old, her mother was struck and killed by lightning. The rest of her herd survived, but ended scattered across a wide area and never joined up back together. The filly mustn't have gone far, because she was observed standing by her mothers side for several days afterwards. She would've died if the bachelors hadn't stumbled across the incredibly sad situation by chance. They led her away from her mother to a nearby waterhole and then proceeded to stick close to her for over a year. They looked after the filly- Played with her, kept watch as she slept, led her to food and defended her from other horses and humans alike. It was really quite moving, they took such tender care of "their" filly that one would've thought that they were her natural fathers.

 

[Aprilswissmiss]

What I'm most amazed by is the mare's complete awareness of all individuals involved and backward hoof-eye coordination. She times and aims her kicks perfectly so that they're only aimed at the offending stallions, even during those moments that they're all mixed in with her own herd and causing chaos. All the while being especially careful not to trample her own foal.