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Newborn Horse Learns To Eat: Viral Photo Draws Crowd, Fun Facts About Newborn Horses Are Just As Captivating

By Glenn Hadley
Published on: 15:59 PST, Jun 4, 2017

A now-viral photo of a newborn horse who is learning to eat has drawn a lot of attention online.

It is widely known that adorable animal pictures frequently go viral, but this one will more than likely pull your heartstrings much quicker than you expect. As shown in the photo, the newborn horse strikes a pose while eating that blends creative efficiency with adorable acrobatics.

The way that the small and skinny newborn horse is bent over shows that he is not necessarily comfortable with or fully knowledgeable of how to do it properly. However, that lack of knowledge is apparently not stopping this young horse from nourishing himself on his own one way or another. During a time when everyone loves a solid underdog story and crowds are always drawn to movies (live-action and animated) about animals trying to make it through life, it is no wonder why this picture has become such a big hit in a relatively short period.

The picture of this adorable newborn horse was posted on Reddit Sunday by user Peepjynx. Within less than 10 hours after its posting, it generated over 22,600 points on Reddit with 93 percent upvotes.

Newborn horses (or foals) are amazing animals in general, especially when you consider the growing list of accomplishments they achieve and activities they perform almost immediately after birth.

According to The Spruce, a newborn horse is able to stand up, walk around, and even trot shortly after being welcomed into the world. Within the first two hours of his or her life, studies have shown that foals are capable of nursing and moving around. Otherwise, it could be signs of a medical emergency that will require the urgent assistance of a veterinarian.

With most healthy foals, they are able to master the art of walking and trotting — preparing to transition into the wonderful world of galloping within their first 24 hours of being alive.

Another tear-jerking highlight of a newborn horse’s birth and the early stages of their life is the uncanny bond that they have with their mothers. Studies show that mother horses (or mares) bond quickly with their young foals. Unlike human mothers and children that are able to communicate and bond verbally and with physical expressions of affection, mares and newborns are able to communicate in a way that is not easily detected by the human eye.

Mares have a little more time to bond with their children than human mothers during the internal developmental period as well. Instead of the standard nine-month gestation period endured and experienced by human mothers, mares are known for bonding and growing with their foals internally for nearly 11 months before introducing them into the world. There are even some occasions when a foal can come up to four weeks late, meaning that the mare’s pregnancy could possibly extend to a full year before eventually giving birth. This is why most professional breeders aim for the early spring months, allowing foals to grow and develop after they are born the following summer.

Another impressive “fun fact” about newborn horses is based on their nutrition and nourishment. For instance, a young foal will start his or her days of grass-eating approaching the end of their first week of life. They will reportedly start eating both hay and grass before turning 10 days old. Unlike human children, the foal will require more than just their mother’s milk within only the first two months.

[Featured Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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