Why do geldings get so excited about foals?

[SmartAlex]

My riding gelding saw our new foal for the first time today and got so excited he totally lost it. I'm not talking interest and amazement, I'm talking threw a fit then fell back in it. He was parading and craning his neck and bellowing as if he had seen the second coming. I wish I had video. :D

[JSwan]

Yeah - I have one that is like that with pigs. I mean - he really really moons over them.

I'm sure there is a grand sounding scientific name for the behavior but when I see it, I just shake my head and mutter, you silly knucklehead....then stand there and laugh. They are so weird sometimes. :lol:

Do we get to see pictures?

[SmartAlex]

Of Baby or Tantrum? :D

After thinking about that for a minute, I'm glad he got excited over the baby,and not some silly ole pig :D

[unbridledoaks]

I had a gelding who did the same thing! Freak out when he saw a foal. I let him come over and meet one of the ones we had on the farm. He sqealed and was so funny about meeting the foal, I lost it. He never lost sense of trying to find them...

[Foxtrot's]

Our gelding was the same when we had our lambs. He just loved them. Funnier yet was the crows. When they first bleated the crows would answer - I could see their beaks opening, yet they sounded like lambs.

[lizathenag]

my gelding used to be in a field across from where they would turn out the babies. He would stand at the fence and stare. If they wandered out of his sight he would get hysterical.

funny guys.

[XenophonKnows]

A baby helps Geldings remember fondly the days when they were intact. And a little baby means a Mommy is nearby by. Mommy's got one little baby, maybe she wants another....

[CenturyOak]

Caution should always be used around geldings and new babies. Sometimes they will attack the foal and try to kill it. I don't know why, I'm sure there is some scientific reasoning for it but I'd be very careful turning a young foal in with a gelding unless I knew from past experience that the gelding was safe around foals. Some are, some aren't.. even if they have been raised with foals around the barn.

Just be careful.. you may think he's mooning over it now but it's very possible for him to chase it, bite it and try to kneel on it. I've had at least one foal with lifetime scars on his neck from just such an encounter when he was 2 days old. Luckily momma got to him in time but I'm always super cautious now with introducing geldings to babies.

[brightwhitestockings]

HAHA i never knew that was a gelding thing, i just thought mine was weird. :lol:
Our neighboring farm has babies, and our x-c fild borders their paddocks. If there's any little ones out, my gelding will stop and stare (great song btw:D) and then try to walk really fast and excited over to say "hi!" Funny thing is if there are just plain horses out he spooks at them. :rolleyes:

[SmartAlex]

A baby helps Geldings remember fondly the days when they were intact. And a little baby means a Mommy is nearby by. Mommy's got one little baby, maybe she wants another....

That's what I told him... "I guess you know she's done "IT" at least once huh?

Don't worry, the mare and foal have completely seperate turnout. It did make me wonder what happens when people think it's OK to just throw everyone out together. What a mess that would have been. And I'm glad I had the forethought to put him in his stall while we moved the mare.

[zippandrich]

my gelding goes out with 2 coming yearlings. he's 5 and their body guard! lmao he loves his babies! he's adorable with them they sleep on both sides of him and he sleeps in the middle. but saying that he has also been out with babys before!

[Czar]

Ah yes, geldings & foals. Our gelding field abuts the field where our babies were turned out a few summers ago...they were VERRRY interested in what was going on as per these pics:

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2933014790097913210TWizvi

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2115483020097913210gKOerk

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2445533040097913210DASCMZ

And the objects of such intense & uniform scrutiny:


http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2428156390097913210wWQPwN - Typical of her

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2320143050097913210ogeyms

[WorthTheWait95]

My retired gelding is the same way. We always give him the babies post weaning to teach them how to be a horse...he's gentle but firm with them. When the babies are still new born all he does is stare at them and nicker...he keeps nickering at them up until they're weaned. He spends the first few days turned out with them just staring at them and playing with them :lol:. After a few days the novelty wears off and he starts teaching them their manners, though.

[NowThatsATrot]

The mare pastured next to my gelding foaled last summer, and he, too, was fascinated.

He and the baby ended up being best friends, which really surprised me because he's not the most social. I'd take him out to ride and she'd run up and down the paddock squealing for him. He NEVER whinnies, but he would always reply to her. When baby had her first trailer-loading experience he got very concerned.

After being overprotective for the first few days, Mama would leave the baby napping by the fence and go off and do her own thing, while my boy stood guard from his side of the fence. Dismaying for me, because the shade reached her side but not his, but it was pretty dang cute anyway.

The first day -- Willie fascinated, Mama annoyed, Baby oblivious:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b246/nowthatsatrot/critters/100_0082.jpg

But they were all pretty inseparable after a while:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b246/nowthatsatrot/willie/100_0077.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b246/nowthatsatrot/willie/100_0079.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b246/nowthatsatrot/willie/100_0104.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b246/nowthatsatrot/willie/100_0760.jpg

[Daydream Believer]

All horses on our farm are fascinated by new babies. The mares will all line up to admire the new baby and nicker to it, the youngsters also watched with fascination, the geldings are interested also but seem a bit uncertain as to why, and the stallions catcall and tell the mares to come and visit to make another baby.

[chism]

One of my fondest memories is when we had a foal born at the farm. Momma & colt were at the far end of the barn. This particular barn kept mare & foal in for about a week post delivery. The day of baby's first turnout came & we had to walk Momma and baby past all the occupied stalls to get to turnout. All of the horses were so excited they were nickering & whinny-ing trying to catch a glimpse of baby. It was adorable.

[dghunter]

Ah yes, geldings & foals. Our gelding field abuts the field where our babies were turned out a few summers ago...they were VERRRY interested in what was going on as per these pics:

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2933014790097913210TWizvi

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2115483020097913210gKOerk

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2445533040097913210DASCMZ

And the objects of such intense & uniform scrutiny:


http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2428156390097913210wWQPwN - Typical of her

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2320143050097913210ogeyms

Those pictures are so cute! The boys all lined up together are so funny :lol: I don't think either of my geldings have been around foals before but the one gelding is TERRIFIED of small ponies :lol:

[Bravestrom]

My husband and I were just discussing this. We had a filly on sunday and my gelding saw her for the first time today. The mom is my horse's sister and he is just so freaked out about the new addition.

It is so funny.

[horsecrazy]

My riding gelding saw our new foal for the first time today and got so excited he totally lost it. I'm not talking interest and amazement, I'm talking threw a fit then fell back in it. He was parading and craning his neck and bellowing as if he had seen the second coming. I wish I had video. :D

Hahaha that's too funny, I can totally visualize it.

My Trakehner gelding was/is this way. However, I always assumed it was because he wasn't gelded until he was six years old and he was bred a few times. It was embarrassing - he'd go totally gaga over them. We used to say that he must have thought he was the father... :rolleyes:

[MTshowjumper]

Caution should always be used around geldings and new babies. Sometimes they will attack the foal and try to kill it. I don't know why, I'm sure there is some scientific reasoning for it but I'd be very careful turning a young foal in with a gelding unless I knew from past experience that the gelding was safe around foals. Some are, some aren't.. even if they have been raised with foals around the barn.

Just be careful.. you may think he's mooning over it now but it's very possible for him to chase it, bite it and try to kneel on it. I've had at least one foal with lifetime scars on his neck from just such an encounter when he was 2 days old. Luckily momma got to him in time but I'm always super cautious now with introducing geldings to babies.

I agree. Before I owned her my mare, she was severly injured trying to break through a fence to save her foal. She has scars on her neck from slamming into the fence. The foal was taking a nap by the fence when a gelding in the pasture next to it pulled it under and killed it. Aparently the gelding was acting really interested in the baby and friendly up until that point. Ever since then my mare HATES other horses (apparently she didn't before). All the horses in the pasture would be grazing together on one end and my mare is off by herself on the oppisite end. God help any that come within a 20ft radius of her. I have had her for 6yrs and she is only just starting to get over this and hang out near other horses. She also used to panic when I rode in a arena with other horses if one came out of the corner towards us. Just be carefull!!

[Frank B]

A mare foaled in the stall next to my gelding, and when they took them out he almost came over the stall door. He could not stand for them to be out of his sight and would work himelf into a frenzy. It took him two or three days to get over it.

After that, they were just another mare and foal.

We kept him a long way away from the foaling stall after that, and never had any more problems.

[Tif_Ann]

LOL my QH is obsessed with the coming yearling filly that is at our stables. And she's in love with him too! Everytime we walk past her stall she reaches up and does the baby thing with her mouth, and he insist on going nose to nose with her and nuzzling. He's a big baby mentally himself, so maybe there is some common ground there, I don't know. I just tease him for falling for a younger girl :) And she's a gorgeous little QH filly, and he's a gorgeous QH himself (I've had several breeders comment on him and that he is "a magazine picture of what a QH should look like) ... I wish he wasn't gelded, they'd have beautiful babies (and his bloodlines are good enough he could have bred!)

[CatOnLap]

an andalusian breeder once told me that some geldings will try and "steal" a foal from a mare if they are kept together. Some sort of misplaced mothering or stud behavior?

I do have an elderly male cat that "mothers" my two puppies who are 10 times his size. He'll sit and groom them for 10 minutes, all around their faces and ears, and puts out a paw to hold them still if needed.

My old gelding has immediately fallen in love with any yearling I brought home and is a good safe uncle to them.

[pintopiaffe]

My stallion adores foals. He is the best babysitter/weaner on the planet. He is far more tolerant than mares, and lets them chew on him, climb on him etc. He's goofy for them. I love that he can be turned out with them.

Agree not all adults are fascinated in a good way... but I'm glad that my guy is a family man. ;)

My stallion is not oral at all. Doesn't bite, nibble, nip or play with things. One day after meeting his new son for the first time at about 2 weeks, I was looking out the window watching. Papa picks up a shallow, flat rubber feed pan by the brim, and starts flipping it up and down. I have never before nor since seen this behaviour by him. Bebe stood, watching, entranced. I KNOW Papa was entertaining him. "Hay, kid, look, MAGIC." :lol: They played with that feed pan for quite a long time that day. It just really struck me how complex their relationships are, and without anthropomorphizing too much, they have more emotion than we give them credit for, I think.

[Tif_Ann]

It just really struck me how complex their relationships are, and without anthropomorphizing too much, they have more emotion than we give them credit for, I think.

I totally agree. My mustang has always been a little standoffish, he was a stallion until he was seven, and the only real connections he's ever made has been with mares. He's always been a bit of a social loner, standing off by himself, near the herd but not friendly with the herd, you know?

I'm delighted that this year he has made a friend. They stand together, play together - rearing up and pawing, nipping at each other, etc., run around the pasture together, and all in all just give off that "best buds" attitude. They do have "friends" and "attachments", more than given credit for!

[classicsporthorses]

Some of my geldings love babies, others can take it or leave it. ALL of my mares, young and old, LOVE babies.

Now we have Eddie, who's been in for training with us for some time. Well the only pasture he will stay in is with my broodies, gets out of every other one (Mr. escape artist). This past year he took it upon himself to be the overseer of the foals. He was hysterically funny with them and whinnied to beat the band if we brought in the mares and foals or when we weaned the babies. He's just "one of the girls" now.

My younger stallion, he's nearly 7, LOVES babies, We took the new one (the rescued foal) up to meet him and Miracle nearly snorted him up his nose all while the colt kept licking Mir's face. We did this over a fence line. The geldings in the pasture could have cared less about the munchkin.

My daugther's 22 year old gelding is enthralled with babies but I would not put him out with babies b/c at feeding time he's an idiot.