Hi all,
I have a question about a very very shy foal (we’ll call: Foal A). Mare is friendly with people, confident and has had confident foals. Fellow pasturemate broodmare is very friendly with people, confident and has had confident foals, including the half-sibling to the foal in question. Foal A’s sire is very friendly and comes from Hanoverian/Oldenburg lines with high rideablility/character. Breeder is very experienced. Foal went to inspection, so has been out in the world, is premium GOV (like sibling). The only unusual thing is that the foal was born in the early afternoon, out in the pasture.
Foal A is extremely shy and takes all cues from the confident sibling (hides behind sibling, in fact). Foal A is very nervous around people - not dangerous, just very nervous and walks/trots away from people when approached. It can be haltered but doesn’t want to leave the shelter and go out in the world. You have to work to lead it out. Nothing unusual has ever happened to foal A and it was born in a stable broodie herd (mom was not bottom of pecking order and an experienced mom).
Foal A is now 2 and is still very shy and afraid of the world (again, there’s no obvious reason). Pasturemate sibling loooooooooves people, so foal A lives with a good role model. But it doesn’t sink in. It sort of clings to pasturemate and will approach people only if pasturemate does, and always behind pasturemate.
Do they grow out of this with undersaddle work or are these kinds of foals always “afraid”? Has anyone ever experienced a foal like this and have any insight into how to deal with it? Is this genetic? What could be the origin of such incredibly insecure behavior?
I say “it” to be vague. Sorry! Thanks for any information about this very curious case!