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My first Arabian was an Ansata Shah Zam son that was bottle-raised from
birth (Mom had ruptured abdominal muscles prior to birth, they held her
together long enough for the foal's lungs to develop, delivered him via
c-section and never let the mare wake up---she was one of the last
Ferseyn daughters and they would have saved her if they could). Anyway,
Mikey was very personable and a bit of a criminal (what Arabian isn't),
but was never aggressive or had any problem related to being a bottle
baby. You'd never have known he was a bottle-baby compared to any other
horse, behavior-wise. He was a terrific horse and the only reason I
ever sold him was because he was too laid-back to really be happy doing
endurance. He now belongs to a young girl that got him when Mikey was
eight and she was 12 and they've been happily together for eight years
now.
I think what made the difference was that Mikey was raised by
knowledgable, experienced folks (Hatfield Arabians) that let him be a
horse without letting him turn into a spoiled, dangerous juvenile
delinquent. Any baby in the wrong hands can grow up to be a menace if
allowed to figure out that a) he's bigger than you are and b) bad
behavior will be tolerated if you're cute and fuzzy.
If the foal was handled well as a baby and allowed to be a horse, not an
overgrown lapdog, I would never turn him down just because he was a
bottle-baby. I'd say judge the horse you're looking at on it's own
merits and don't worry too much about the bottle-fed part of it. Having
a natural Mom is still the best, but the baby can still be a terrific
horse even if raised "artificially".
Just my .02 cents, of course.
Susan Garlinghouse
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