Sorry I haven’t given many updates or photos yet. Its been miserable weather-wise and dealing with a sick foal in quarantine and a newborn means not much is getting done with him and he hasn’t been out of the stall yet except to go from one stall to another when I am cleaning stalls.
While Hope is a tolerant mother, she is not as interested in her baby as I would like to see. When I moved her into the next stall today, she was much more interested in getting out and where the other mares were than her baby, whom she was happy to leave behind. She would not call to him or even nicker and he was standing in the stall neighing at her and trying to figure out how to get out the open door. I kept walking her in front of him but she was ignoring him completely and he wasn’t catching on. I finally had to go lock her into the stall next door and then carry/push him up to the stall door, open it and push him in. All the while she was not calling or concerned, she just wanted outside. She doesn’t mind him nursing, but if something distracts her she walks away and will just push him aside not paying any mind to where he is. I am hoping when I turn them out she will get a little more protective of him and hopefully more maternal instincts will kick in. He seems fine but still very wobbly and unsteady on those flexy fetlocks of his.
Its supposed to be nice soon, so if not tomorrow, by Thursday we will have some new photos of his first adventure outdoors!
