Book Club: Horse Life Lesson 1

Let’s begin our first lesson by following real horses along their life cycle and learn about the joyful and sometimes sad parts of owning and caring for horses. Let’s get started…

Lesson 1: The Life Cycle of Horses

Lifecycle means, from birth to senior citizen and sadly, to death. Yes, horses get to go to the great green pastures in the sky one day. Later, we’ll talk about how to care for our furry friends to keep them as healthy and happy as possible.

Let’s follow Presence, and her foal Merlin, through their life cycle journey and see where they end up!

The Pregnant Mare

What’s a pregnant mare? A female horse getting ready to have a baby! What a miracle! How does that baby get born? The mare, or mother, lays down and gently delivers the baby on the ground. This could happen outside on soft grass or in a barn, on a pile of sweet-smelling straw.

Lesson 1 Challenge: Reading and Comprehension

Much To Learn About Foals!

A Foal is a Baby Horse!

Foals can stand, walk, and trot a short time after birth. A foal should be up and nursing within two hours of birth. Call the Equine Veterinarian if the foal takes longer. These Vets specialize in horses. Foals can gallop after about 24 hours.

In the wild, horses have a rapid birth which helps to protect a mare and foal from predators when they are at their most vulnerable. Predators are animals that hunt and eat prey animals like horses. Prey animals are grass eaters and forage for grass.

No Foaling Around!

Foals will start to chew grass after about one week. They mimic there mother and learn lots of lessons that will keep them safe in the future.

At about 10 days old, they’ll start to eat a bit of grass and hay, which is dried grass. By two months old, foals need more nutrition than only the mare’s milk. Nutrition is the process of providing food necessary for health and growth for living beings. Just like cattle and other mammals, foals are raised on their mother’s milk.