Age of a Horse

Good Morning. Here is something useless to know for the day.

We all know that the young one of the horse is called as pony. But not many know that pony is a general term and there are further classifcations to it.

The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages:

Foal: a horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling. Most domesticated foals are weaned at 5 to 7 months of age, although foals can be weaned at 4 months with no adverse effects.

Yearling: a horse of either sex that is between one and two years old.

Colt: a male horse under the age of four. A common terminology error is to call any young horse a "colt," when the term actually only refers to young male horses.

Filly: a female horse under the age of four.

Mare: a female horse four years old and older.

Stallion: a non-castrated male horse four years old and older. Some people, particularly in the UK, refer to a stallion as a "horse".

A ridgling or "rig" is a male horse which has an undescended testicle or is improperly castrated.[16] If both testicles are not descended, the horse may appear to be a gelding, but will still behave like a stallion.

Gelding: a castrated male horse of any age, though for convenience sake, many people also refer to a young gelding under the age of four as a "colt".

In horse racing, the definitions of colt, filly, mare, and stallion may differ from those given above. In the UK, Thoroughbred horse racing defines a colt as a male less than five years old, and a filly as a female less than five years old. In the USA, both Thoroughbred racing and harness racing defines colts and fillies as four years old and younger.

Now are you Confused about what to call a horse. You better be.

source: Wikipedia

Mohan Rao.

If you want to know your past--look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future--look into your present actions. - Zen Proverb