There were alot of people petting and feeding the foal,
including myself. Peanut was strangely nonchalant about it.
She was very, very unresponsive and withdrawn unlike the
other ponies .. and her appearance was very
emaciated. The foal tried to suckle from her but she didn't appear
to have much milk and it gave up. You could see her pelvic bones
jutting out prominently, and her ribcage outline could be seen
clearly. When she came over, her eyes were fixed on the
food in my hand. I gave her a few more handfuls, as did a few other
young children half my height. She used her snout and slowly pushed
the foal out of the way to get at the food. But when there was no
more food, I was still standing there observing her. The other kids
were petting and trying to feed the foal, which had ambled a few
feet away from her.
Peanut took a few steps forward.. she smelled my hand with the
empty packet of horsefeed, and tried to bite it when I lowered it.
She then levelled her snout right next to my head and studied me
with her left eye, and I sensed something was wrong so I stepped
back slightly - that was when she suddenly attacked without
warning.
Without warning meaning when she raised her head,
she did not fold her ears back, her eyes did not show any whites,
no curled lip or baring of teeth, no flaring of nostrils. She also
did not stomp her foot. The only thing that did not seem right was
the way she quietly studied me. About the way she looked at me in
the eye - I have seen horses give such looks but only those that
have been treated poorly before - I can only describe it as
contempt.
1 - The foal is very healthy looking, at least 3-4 months old. It
was odd that Peanut would still be so tired, unresponsive and
skinny as the foal had not just been born.
2 - If she was being protective of the foal, she would have turned
her attention to the children instead, who were all touching the
foal. I feel she was protective towards herself.
