When a mare is pregnant, she knows ahead of time when she willl give birth, so just about three days before she gives birth, she'll go away from the herd, but not too far away, for then she might lose them, and makes a little area for her and her soon to come foal.


As soon as the foal comes into the world, it and its mother instantly bond. The foal instantly knows that the first horse it sees is its mother. And a few minutes after the mare licks the birth sack off of the newborn, she stands up, breaking the embelocal cord that connects their bodies, and after and hour, the foal succeeds in standing up, and begins to nurse, or suckle.
The mare's milk is vital to the foal's survival. It build the foal's strong bones and gives the foal strength and speed. Without the milk, the foal wouldn't grow up to be a strong mare or stallion, and it wouldn't survive in the wild.
After a day or two of bonding with the foal so they know each other inside and out, the mare returns to the herd and allows the herd stallion to investigate the foal to see if he or she has some sort of disease or weakness which may put the herd in danger. If the foal does have any weakness or disease, the stallion has no choice to either leave the foal, abandoning it from the herd, or to kill it. This is a heartbreaking task for stallions, and the mothers, but it is better to lose one than all.
After about two years or so, the mother begins kicking the foal when it tries to nurse, and she begins teaching the foal to grazde on grass and drink water. By this time the male foals are known as colts, and the females are known as fillies, but if you are reffering to both genders, at this age they would be called weanlings, because they are beginning their weaning stage.
When the colts turn three, they must be kicked out of the herd, for if they were kept in, they may overthrow the lead stallion. The fillies stay until they are about four or five, so their mothers can teach them what they need to know before going out into the world.
But the mares always remember their foals, and the foals always remember their mothers.