When a nightmare becomes reality
The mare dies, the foal is motherless
Four weeks ago, David, a Noriker, was born on a farm in Pongau. Unfortunately, the mare died a few days after giving birth. The farmer desperately turned to Dieter Ehrengruber. There was a clear “YES” for the foal: no can do, no can do, the weaker one must be helped.
David was picked up from the farm and placed in an Aiderbichler horsebox with plenty of straw, a gentle journey began that took the little foal from Pongau to Flachgau in Henndorf. The stable was already prepared and the welcoming committee was ready at the foal stable: donkeys, goats, ponies and even Bables, the big pig.
This is how quickly animal keepers become surrogate mums
David drank the important mare’s milk before the mare died. Now it’s time to feed the little one. David refuses the bottle and the keepers have learnt from the farmer’s wife that he prefers to drink from a bowl. Our keepers have plenty of experience with rearing foals without a mum and prepared the milk substitute in a bowl.
Sounds simple, but David didn’t want any milk as soon as he arrived. He stood there with his long legs, his beautiful grey coat, the black markings around his eyes and looked as if he wanted to say: “Come up with something!”.
The body language didn’t ask for milk, but for stroking, cuddling and security
He put his head in a carer’s hands and wanted to cuddle. Just cuddling, feeling warmth, closeness and not being alone. David is proving to us once again that animals have feelings just like us humans, they communicate with people in their own way and want to tell us what they are missing: not milk, but closeness and the feeling of security.
Bubi has been fetched
Bubi is a little pony whose job is apparently to “adopt” and accompany motherless foals. Bubi arrived at David’s stable and we immediately realised that he had slipped back into the role of adoptive dad. Intuitively, he slowly approached David and sniffed him, they both opened their nostrils and slowly moved their heads up and down. David was delighted and he jumped around briefly, perked up his ears and perhaps felt something like happiness. Bubi now has a new job again, after having “raised” Chris, a five-day-old, motherless foal, around two and a half years ago, and still stands by Rambo and Finn.
David needs contact with conspecifics
David will be carefully integrated into a herd over the next few weeks. This is the only way he can learn how to “be a horse” and all his behaviour and skills. He will learn correct social behaviour and also certain boundaries.
Now David can be a “child” for once and Bubi and our carers show him the way. David also takes a liking to the big gazelle, a Percheron mare, and to Taschiba, a Tinka. Their size doesn’t seem to worry him. Every day there are other horses in the box next to David. They are the kind that live in a group and we want them to get to know the foal slowly, each on their own.
David communicates with his mouth and confirms to the higher-ranking horses around him that he is the lower-ranking one. With the help of “inferiority chewing”, David signals that he is the little one and accepts their higher rank without question. To do this, David opens his mouth, pulls his upper and lower lip over his teeth and starts to chew. The “big ones” know what the “little one” means.
There is a lot for little David to learn, but he has Bubi and all the other animals and people who have already taken him firmly into their hearts.
If everything goes well in his equine life, he will certainly live to be 35 – 40 years old. So now a young, lonely Noriker foal has found a family and everything will be fine.
