I’ve been fortunate to spend my life living and working around horses. As you can imagine, they are pretty amazing creatures. It’s an astounding thing to think that these huge animals, that often outweigh us by more than one thousand pounds, are gentle and obedient to humans. They even let us put tack on them, climb up on to their backs, and ride them around.
A horse could end a human’s life with a single kick. But, they allow us to control them and teach them to do some incredible things like performing complicated movements, jumping huge fences, and racing at top speed. However, the process to turn a horse into a top athlete is a long one.
When a horse is born, it’s called a foal, and that little foal has none of the grace and beauty of their swift and athletic parents. Their legs are much too long for their short little bodies and they are clumsy and awkward. But, they do start to adjust pretty quickly. Because horses are prey animals and wild horses would have been in danger of predator attacks, it is normal for a foal to be up and moving almost immediately after they are born.
They get up, nurse, and it’s not long before they’re exploring the world around them. Each foal has a unique personality, and some are more energetic than others, but most foals have a playful streak. In fact, we have always found it beneficial to raise our foals alongside at least one other youngster so that they always have someone to play with and an outlet to burn off all of that extra energy.
The little foal in this video doesn’t have a playmate of his own, but that doesn’t mean that he stops playing. When some new human friends come to visit, he’s happy to show off his athleticism to the eager audience. He seems to be having a lot of fun and his owners and their visitors are definitely enjoying the show.
The foal, named Felix, runs around his small field as his mother and the humans look on. He gallops, plays, bucks, and leaps in the air. The entire time, mom keeps a watchful eye on her baby but is content to let him play. At one point, he leaps particularly high in the air and falls to the ground in a way that looks pretty painful. Within moments, his mom is right there, watching over him as the humans ensure that he’s not injured.
Little Felix is just fine, so enjoy his playtime (and his little accident) in the video below.
