My 12-year-old daughter’s 9-year-old Welsh Pony gelding (named Taffy) was moved to a new stable about eight weeks ago. Six weeks after the move, Taffy was introduced to the mares and allowed to graze and socialize with them. Since four of the 16 mares had two- to four-month-old foals, we were more than a little nervous that the mares would not take well to Taffy. However, one mare and three-month-old foal appeared to almost instantly bond with Taffy. This bond has become so strong that Taffy will not be separated from the foal until the foal is stabled or boxed away from him. Often the mare rushes into her stable and Taffy brings in the foal. This is the first time Taffy has ever had any real contact with a foal, and it appears he’s become smitten. Is this normal? More importantly, my daughter is afraid that when she starts riding him again after his equine flu convalescence (another six weeks), that Taffy might behave badly when she takes him into the neighboring field to work him.

Any suggestions to avoid separation anxiety and risk to horse and rider would be welcomed.          Liz and Chanel

First, it is quite normal for males to look after foals. In horses living in herds under natural social conditions (with stallions and young males in the bands with mares and foals), it is quite common for the harem stallion or a young male sibling to take over the “babysitting,” if you will, of the youngsters, most of the time once the foal is over a couple of weeks of age. Without knowing all the details of the particular relationship and Taffy’s behavior with the foal and mare, it’s a good guess that this gelding’s relationship is kind of part Dad, part playmate. People describe these relationships of geldings quite often, and we see it ourselves here from time to time, so I believe it’s fairly common. For example, a common recommendation for reducing weaning stress in foals is to pasture the mares and foals with one of these babysitter geldings for some time before weaning, and then remove the mares and leave the gelding to protect the foals