Hoofbeats

In January mare Deneb aborted a nine month old foetus. The foal would have been a pinto stallion. Deneb had been with the stallion Regulus for nearly two years. She had recently been captured by the stallion Capella. Eyewitnesses (not members of Arkwild staff) reported seeing her mate with a stallion, probably Capella. She aborted shortly thereafter. This is normal practice among wild horses; the dominant (winning) stallion wishes to secure survival of his own genes. This is part of ‘survival of the fittest,’ Unfortunately, there are so few of these horses that the loss of even another stallion is devastating. While Arkwild wishes to secure a free and unfettered future for the Wild Horses of Abaco, establishment of a preserve and sheltering of pregnant mares from stallion encroachments are critical to saving the herd.

During one frightening period mare Nunki was also captured by Capella and he was attempting to destroy her foetal foal as well. She managed to evade him until her regular mate, Mimosa, drove Capella off. We are nervously anticipating the birth of Nunki’s foal . If we can have the Portable Corral delivered in time (pending Bahamian government waiver of the import duty) and if current limited observation allowance permits us to judge when the birth is immanent, we hope to use the corral to shelter Nunki from the local dog packs until the foal is safely up on its feet, has fed and can run from danger.



			Mare Aborts After Stallion Attack
		In January mare Deneb aborted a nine month old foetus. The foal would have been a pinto stallion. Deneb had been with the stallion Regulus for nearly two years. She had recently been captured by the stallion Capella. Eyewitnesses (not members of Arkwild staff) reported seeing her mate with a stallion, probably Capella. She aborted shortly thereafter. This is normal practice among wild horses; the dominant (winning) stallion wishes to secure survival of his own genes. This is part of ‘survival of the fittest,’ Unfortunately, there are so few of these horses that the loss of even another stallion is devastating. While Arkwild wishes to secure a free and unfettered future for the Wild Horses of Abaco, establishment of a preserve and sheltering of pregnant mares from stallion encroachments are critical to saving the herd. During one frightening period mare Nunki was also captured by Capella and he was attempting to destroy her foetal foal as well. She managed to evade him until her regular mate, Mimosa, drove Capella off. We are nervously anticipating the birth of Nunki’s foal . If we can have the Portable Corral delivered in time (pending Bahamian government waiver of the import duty) and if current limited observation allowance permits us to judge when the birth is immanent, we hope to use the corral to shelter Nunki from the local dog packs until the foal is safely up on its feet, has fed and can run from danger.