Things are not always as they seem. The innocent looking thumbnail image for this story isn't the mother and her newborn -- it's a bully that wouldn't let the foal nurse. This story has a dramatic twist and I wondered if I'd even be able to post these images as I watched the drama unfold. I promise this has a happy ending, however there are some graphic details/images and I honestly did not think that the newborn would survive another day.
On March 24th, I drove back to Sand Wash Basin for the first time in many months. My primary hope for this trip was to photograph at least one newborn foal. It's early in the season to see newborn horses, but not an impossibility. After only ~10 or so minutes while driving inside the HMA (herd management area) boundary, I asked myself, 'would I find any horses? would there be drama like the last couple times?'. No more than 15 seconds after I had those specific thoughts, I saw my first group of horses and the action began to immediately play out.
The group of 7 were between a quarter and a half mile away at first. I pulled out my lens just to see what I could see, and there was a very small baby with a bunch of adults. Something wasn't right, though. Before I could even get setup I could see dirt flying, a horse jumping over the baby and a gray horse kept trying to get near the baby. Two darker horses were chasing the gray horse away and they seemed to be very protective of the little one. At a distance, the gray horse reminded me of the aggressive gray mustang that tried to steal Wink away from her partner last time. Was this the same aggressive horse, or just another one that was getting too close to the mom, aunt and the baby?? A moment later the brown horses were chasing the foal, kicking at it and then one even fell right on top of the baby -- very nearly crushing it to death. What was I watching!?!
The gray horse watched on and tried to approach, but it was immediately chased off. The baby lay still and the brown horses guarded each side while they went back to grazing. I glanced at a couple photos that I just took and then I began to partially understand the situation. The most "protective" horses weren't the mother and an aunt -- they were two males. Was the gray horse the mother?? Was she caught up in a band of mustangs that had stolen the foal? What exactly was happening here!?
From the very beginning until the end when I decided to leave, this encounter would last just over 100 minutes. I watched on and tried to make sense of the situation. It was an unpleasant thing to see. Over and over the dominant male would bite at the little one, strangle it by the neck and chase it by nipping at its legs. The foal would collapse in exhaustion and then the males would leave it alone until it stood up again.
The baby did not know what to do. It needed to feed, but why was it seeking out the males? By lording over it the entire time, the mustangs had clearly given the foal the impression that one of them was the caregiver. The foal never tried to seek out the gray mare during these first 100 minutes, and the mustangs ran her off repeatedly as she came near the baby. After watching things closely and after reflecting on everything after-the-fact, my read of the situation is that the males must have immediately come between the baby and mother before the foal even had a chance to nurse for the very first time. This baby might have just been minutes old, but I am nearly certain it had never nursed at this point. The foal clearly did not know who its mother was, and it repeatedly tried to get milk from both the mustangs. They kept the baby close, but would kick it down or grab it by the neck whenever it would attempt to feed.
At one point, I sincerely believed that the baby had perished. The most dominant male squeezed it by the neck again and it was clear that the newborn was exhausted and in distress. The male dropped the baby and it fell limp to the ground. The baby's tongue was partially out of its mouth and it lay completely still. I couldn't see if it was breathing. During these next few minutes, I would quickly try to think about ethics, morals, and what I should do next. I was around 300-400 feet away at this point. Eventually the foal lifted its head and came to its feet. I was relieved.
What should I do? Should I intervene? It was a wild situation and I need to let nature run its course, but I was also sure that if this newborn didn't get milk from its mother soon, it would die. It might also die from getting crushed or severely injured by the cactus, rocks or other unforgiving features of this terrain. I decided that I would at least honor its short life and its spirit by documenting the moment as best I could. And I might have to give these mustangs a stern talking to.
The males continued to push the foal around. At one point nearly sending it off a cliff. I could see for sure that they gray horse was a mare and that the little one was a filly.
Another round of squeezing its neck and dropping the baby to the ground. I could hardly stand to watch. I decided to step closer. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do, but I wanted to see if the males would scram and maybe mom would be able to sweep in.
The males stood their ground. I stepped closer, the second most dominant male yielded a tiny bit. The dominant male stood his ground. I stepped closer - now maybe 100ft away. I shared some choice words and told him what I thought of him. Mother started coming in close, and another horse came in behind her. Maybe she understood that I was on her side? The dominant male flinched a little, but he continued to hold his ground. I stepped a little closer, reminding the big male out loud that he was a bully and that the needed to let the baby nurse.
Mom came in a little closer. I was maybe 80 feet away at this point. The baby stood up and tried to nurse from both males again, only to get pushed, shoved and kicked around.
At this close distance, I could see that the big male was being gentle at times, even if also being fairly rough at other times. He could kill the little filly in an instant if he really wanted to. Predators and territorial animals can sometimes play with their victim before finishing it. I had no idea where this was going, but I couldn't bare to watch it go down the wrong way. I had been there for nearly two hours and taken nearly 4,000 photos. I was very close and everyone was standing firm. I decided that I needed to part ways from the situation and only hope for the best.
I picked up my camera, said a few choice parting words and abruptly walked away. The males walked the opposite way at that same moment and the mother was briefly able to get right next to the baby (but I couldn't tell if it was nursing). They all began to walk away as I walked back to the car, but the males were still keeping the baby next to them.
Later the next day (last eight images of this story), I would see the group again from the distance maybe a mile or so away at first. I could tell that the little one was alive and it seemed like none of the males were bullying the baby anymore. The newborn was even consistently walking next to its mother, shadowing her every move. That was a great sign. The baby had survived the night and finally it was bonded with the right horse. I drove closer, perhaps to a half mile away from them. From there, I got a few distant shots of the baby nursing! That was exactly what I wanted to see. I decided to try my luck and walk their direction, but it was immediately obvious that there would be no repeat of the prior day's intimate encounter. The gray mother seemed in charge of the whole group at this point and she led them all away. I didn't try to follow and instead just walked back to the car and bid them farewell.
What a wild encounter. I'm thankful to know that the situation seemed to be on a better track, but I have so many questions that can never be answered. I'll be on the lookout for little Liberty next time I'm visiting the HMA.
