Never underestimate the power of a mare and her instinct to protect her young. This is a story from the life of Half Moon, a Pryor Mountain mare.
This quick snippet of time happened on Sunday, October 5, 2014. Half Moon, like most of the mares, play a quiet, but powerful role in the success of the family bands. She is the daughter of Starman (now deceased) and Rosarita. Rosarita continue to share their lives together in the same band.
At this moment, Horizon, showed such an interest in walking straight down a grassy slope overlooking Mystic Pond. Something was definitely catching his attention.
It didn’t take long to realize he was interested in Missoula grazing quietly down the hill with his mother, Half Moon. The mother/son pair are in Mescalero’s band.
Horizon went down to check out the two-year old colt.
Horizon and Missoula checked each other out for a moment; nothing too dramatic, just some sniffing and a little squealing. It didn’t take long for Half Moon’s maternal instinct to kick in. She watched quietly for a moment, then raced over to the stallion pair.
She wheeled around and promptly double-barrel kicked Horizon!
Horizon, was stunned by the blow.
And then he walked away. Half Moon and Missoula walked off in the other direction. This was a very unusual scenario to see a mare take on a stallion like that.
Horizon walked off a short distance, then turned back to check things out.
Finally Mescalero realized something was happening with his band and he charged at the interloper, Horizon. The two mature stallions engaged in more classic stallion action.
A squeal in the distance catches Horizon’s attention.
And off he goes running.
All of this action happened in a matter of minutes. No changes happened as a result of the interactions, other than the new knowledge of a mare’s willingness to take charge when it comes to protecting her offspring.
PryorWild 