Pottok's in Parc National des Pyrénées

nobody@flickr.com (B℮n) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:35:00 -0800

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Please take your time... and enjoy it large on black

A cute young Pottok Foal stands near the river stream Gave de Bious at Parc National des Pyrénées, situated 1,372 metres above sea level in the Pyrenees Mountain Range of Atlantiques, France. A foal is a young horse that is under a year old. When a foal is born it is very quickly able to stand up as well as to run - possibly in order to escape predators or to reach its mothers milk. A foal is usually weaned between 5 to 7 months old. In the wild, young foals have to be protected from predators especially when they are first born, and they would be an easy target for some predators on the mountains. There are still bears in the Pyrénées. Every animal that lives at this height in the mountain range must be well adapted to thinner air and be able to survive by its own instincts. These horses have been living in these mountains for hundreds of years and they can be quite shy animals. Young Foals grow so rapidly however that they should be able to protect themselves and run free on the mountainside within a couple of days.

We were high up in the Pyrenees at the mountain stream Gave de Bious at elevation of 1371 meter. We met these beautiful little horses named Pottok's running free along the river, 3 km from the mountain pass Portalet d'Aneu and border crossing in the Pyrenees, between France and Spain. The young Foal came running overconfident towards me at high speed! Lucky I could escape on the ridge of this bridge.

The Pottok - little horse, pronounced pot-ee-ok is a pony native to the Pyrenees of the Basque Country in France and Spain. The pottok's origins may lie as far back as 10,000 years ago. Ancient cave paintings in the area show pottok-like horses. They are thought to descend from the Magdalenian horses of 14,000 - 7,000 BC. There are now only a few hundred left and all have owners. It has small but sturdy hooves for mountain walking and adaped well to the mountain life.
Horses treks around lakes and high mountains of the Pyrénées is a great adventure. The landscape is a succession of lakes and torrents in a wild atmosphere of high mountains. During a horse trekking adventure you might be escorted by vultures and izards. It is the favourite territory for the Isard, the Marmot, the Desman, the Lammergaier. It is a world of grandiose landscapes. An area of exceptional natural heritage without barriers or fences... where animals are totally free. Let yourself be charmed too by the Pyrenees National Park.

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Pottok's in Parc National des Pyrénées