Daddy, daddy cool: stallion-foal relationships in a socially-natural herd of Exmoor ponies.

Different forms of direct paternal investment have been described in mammals. One such species where paternal care was noticed, but remains poorly understood, is the horse (Equus caballus), where the male keeps a long-term relationship with several females and offspring. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the interactions between the harem stallion and his foals.