32 EqUUS 498 AUTUMN 2019increased our chance to
observe this event.”
The researchers watched
the foal for nearly six hours,
making notes on his be-
havior as well as that of his
dam and other members
of the herd in his vicinity.
They noted the activity of
the nearby horses—such as
feeding moving, resting or
social interactions—every
fi ve minutes and document-
ed the approximate distance
between all the observable
horses and the injured foal
every two minutes.For the fi rst several
hours, the herd was walk-
ing, but the foal moved only
when prompted by his
dam. Eventually, the foal
went down and was unable
to stand. His dam stayed
close by grazing and occa-
sionally nuzzling the foal.
About 15 minutes later, the
herd began to move again,
leaving the dam and foal
behind. The stallion re-
turned to the dam soon
after and attempted to
herd her away from the
foal. After the seventhattempt, he was successful
and the dam left, whinnying
to the foal 10 total times dur-
ing the separation. The foal
responded only once.
A few minutes later, a sec-
ond group of horses arrived
in the area and remained
within 20 yards of the foal
for about 40 minutes. All
the group members initially
showed interest in the foal,
but most eventually started
feeding nearby. Two adult
females, however, remained
interested and licked and
sniffed the foal for severalminutes. The foal’s dam
watched this interaction
from a distance and whin-
nied 44 times, but the stal-
lion prevented her from
approaching. The foal re-
sponded only once, after the
other adult mares had left.
The foal’s dam briefl y re-
turned to his side later in the
day and clashed with bach-
elor stallions who showed
an interest in her, but not
the foal. Eventually, the dam
moved away from the foal to
join the herd, which was 200
meters away. The foal stoodMuch remains to be learned
about how horses perceive
death, but researchers advise
taking their emotions and
reactions into account when
making management decisions.CR
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