Untitled - Think Like a Pony Club

Titania’s Tales
The first thing that a newborn foal feels when she is born is
her mother’s warm breath blowing softly and her warm tongue
licking her. This cleans and warms the new foal.
The mare licks her foal.
Sight
d
n
u
o
S
Taste
Smell
Touch
So that the mare can recognize the smell and taste of her new
foal, she sniffs her all over. They nicker softly to one another
and learn to remember the sound of each other’s voice.
Titania, the new foal will never forget the feeling of her
mother’s touch, the sound of her nicker or her smell.
Like the young of other animals, foals who are born in the
wild are an easy target for predators who are looking for
and easy meal. Foals spend about 11 months developing
inside their mother (the mare) so that they can stand, feed
and run soon after they are born. This is in case they have
to escape quickly away from predators.
The
foal
drinks
milk.
Titania must stand and drink milk as quickly as possible so
that she is prepared and ready to move with her mother. This
can be difficult as her legs are long and wobbly.
The young of all mammals suckle.
Titania’s mother guides her to the
udders between her back legs. The
mother will help the foal by nuzzling
and guiding Titania with her nose.
After drinking the warm milk,
Titania feels stronger and soon can
stand easily on her own.
The milk
makes the
foal feel
warm and
strong.
Her coat is now dry and f luffy and she looks beautiful in
the morning sun.
The mare is very protective and watches out for danger.
Titania feels safe as her mother is never far away. The mare
warns anyone or anything that could be dangerous to stay away!
She uses clear body
language signals to show the
girl that she does not want her
to come any closer!
The mare protects her foal.
The mare pushes the foal
with her body.
Titania’s mother pulls faces and warns the little girl not to
come too close. She then takes the foal away by pushing
Titania with her with her head and neck.
Young foals are born with teeth and it is not long before
Titania is nibbling grass as well as drinking her mother’s milk.
The foal nibbles
the grass with
her teeth.
As she grows, Titania will eat lots of different types of grass,
herbs, trees and shrubs.
By eating a varied diet she will grow strong and healthy.
Titania watches her mother to find out where the best places to
eat, scratch and play are. Titania grows in confidence!
Eat
Scratch
Play
Build
confidence
If Titania ever feels afraid, she will call to the mare using her voice.
Her mother is always nearby for protection and reassurance.
As Titania grows, she loves to explore, play and feel the
ground beneath her hooves. Moving around helps to keep a
foal’s hooves trimmed and their bones strong. Just like you,
young foals need plenty of fresh air and space to kick up their
heels and play!
Movement is important to a growing foal.
As Titania grows, she becomes more confident, brave and
adventurous. Foals are very curious! This curiosity is how
Titania learns about the world. She starts to make friends with
other horses and ponies in the herd. Just like you, ponies need
company and friends.
The foal is making new friends
Young foals can be easily hurt in play fights. They let older
herd members know that they mean no harm with body
language. These signals include lowering their head and neck
and making gestures with their mouths.
Titania greets her sister, Aurora, and wants to play. Before
they can be friends, Aurora has to let the foal know that she
is the boss. It is easy to see by Aurora’s face and body
language that she does not want to play just yet.
The foal’s sister does not want to play.
All young foals must learn to read other animals’ body
language and use their own body language to communicate to
others. They use these signals to show how they are feeling
and what their intentions are.
The foal
uses body
language.
When Titania is afraid, she becomes tense and clamps her tail
tight to her body. When she is happy, her ears point forward
and her face looks relaxed. It is easy to work out how a pony
is feeling by looking at the expression on their face, especially
their eyes and mouth.
“Mum,
where are
you?”
All ponies know and understand these body language signals.
Ponies only have a few voice calls that they use to talk to
each other. When Titania loses her mother, she often calls out
with a neigh that means, “Where are you?” Her mother is
never far away and may nicker softly back to reassure the
young foal, “I am here, don’t worry!”
Titania is very alert and holds her head high to watch the world
around her. Horses have big eyes that are positioned on the
side of their head, this means they can see in almost every
direction. This is helpful when you need to be on the look out
for danger such as a hungry predator.
The foal and the mare are alert.
Now Titania is a few weeks old, she has mastered the art of
getting up and down easily. This is very important because she
spends a lot of time lying down and sleeping.
The foal loves
to sleep.
As Titania grows, she will nap for short spells whilst
standing but still needs to lie down once or twice a day
for a deeper sleep.
Titania loves to spend time with her friends in the herd and is
always ready for a good scratch. She enjoys nuzzling and
mutual grooming sessions with her special friends.
The foal loves a scratch from her
special friends.
The foal loves to play in the snow!
Titania was born in the spring when the weather was warm
and spent most of the summer months growing. As the winter
draws near, she begins to grow a thick fur coat to protect her
from the cold and rain.
Titania is two years old in this photograph and has grown to
be a respected member of the herd. She still stays close to her
mum for comfort and support.
Watch this space for the next in Titania’s Tales!