Continuing from yesterday’s post (“Let’s Play Doctor (Part 1)”), I concluded that post with a Gila wild stallion rushing towards the newborn foal:
Seeing the stallion approaching her newborn foal, momma rushed in and began to kick at the stallion:
With that reception, the Gila stallion galloped off to join the rest of the Gila herd. Likewise, the mare followed the stallion back into the herd. As we looked back at the little foal, it was again attempting to stand up on it’s own, albeit unsuccessfully:
Then, an unexpected and somber action occurred, a Gila mare (not the mother) came in and walked up to the little foal who was now lying down resting from his unsuccessful attempt to stand up. But this mare (I don’t know if this was the same mare that was earlier trying to encourage the little guy to stand up, but sure looked like it) abruptly bent down and bit the little foal, not once but twice. Note the wince of the little foal as he struggled to cry out:
Seeing this action and hearing her baby’s cries, the mother mare rushed back to her baby’s side and then turned towards the intruding mare, to confront it:
With this last blow, the mother mare chased the intruding mare back into the Gila herd. About this same time, we noted the stallion approaching the little foal again. Not knowing if the little guy was hurt from his recent encounter, 3 of us set down our cameras and ran to the foal’s side, while waving off the stallion as it approached. With that, the stallion raced back towards the herd. At that time, Weldon Lee (Weldon is a good friend and fellow nature photographer) decided it best to try to get the foal up on it’s feet, before the little guy got roughed up anymore. As Weldon picked him up and held him on his feet, I grabbed a couple of shots:
I titled the last couple of images “Training Wheels” :o)
So now you know the end of the story, right? Don’t be too quick! There was still more action to follow. Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of this action-packed day with the Gila herd of wild horses!
