OMG I'm crying over here! Horses are so special, I love them so.



Salt River Wild Horse Management Group

Amazing recognition of death in wild horses:
Sad, but beautiful.

We did our very best today, to help a young wild mare who's baby had gotten stuck and died during delivery. Our experienced field team had jumped into action and our vet was getting there as fast as she could, but sadly the mare went into septic shock and passed, the baby had simply been stuck for too long. She was a beautiful dun mare, just 2 years old, her name was Clydette, daughter of Bonnie.

But just as nature gave us heavy hearts and reminded us of how harsh it can be sometimes, it then immediately showed us how amazing it is also. So we'd like to concentrate on that, as it gave us all goosebumps.

Right after we moved away from her body, we witnessed how her band came and nuzzled her, after which the roan, her lead stallion, cried out for her very loudly. Shortly after that, they moved away from her body but stayed close.

Other bands heard that call and suddenly came out of nowhere and then knew exactly where the lifeless body lied, even while there were no other bands around when she passed.

What happened next was amazing; the other bands stood in line taking turns saying their goodbye's. First one band, then another. Then the two lead stallions of those two bands got into a short power struggle. Then you can see how Clydette's lead stallion comes running back one last time letting out a short scream in a last effort to protect her, or perhaps to tell everyone that she was his.

It takes a most highly intelligent species to understand and actually mourn death. We have seen bands mourn their losses before, but for other bands to come and mourn her death also was simply awe inspiring. These animals have evolved to have amazing survival skills and very close and protective family bonds. In this natural behavior, lies true scientific value.

This video was taken after her own band (with the powerful roan) had already said their goodbyes and walked on. This is approximately 30 minutes after she had died.

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