What Is a Baby Horse Called? Foals, Colts and Fillies

Horse names by age and sex

Horse people use a surprisingly rich vocabulary for different stages of life. These are the standard terms in English for a horse and its smaller cousin, the pony.

In horse racing, the age limits can differ. In British and Irish Thoroughbred racing, colts and fillies are horses under five, while in Australia the limit is four. A horse that has never had a foal is a maiden mare, and a mare kept for breeding is a broodmare.

Where do the words come from?

“Foal” comes from Old English fola, related to the Latin pullus, a young animal. “Filly” comes from Old Norse fylja, while “colt” is an Old English word that once meant a young donkey or camel as well as a young horse. Foals of donkeys and zebras are also called foals, and the young of related animals follow similar naming. You can find many more in our list of baby animal names, and some surprising ones in What is a baby bear called?.

How are foals born?

A mare is pregnant for about 11 months, around 340 days on average and normally between 320 and 370 days. Most foals in the wild and on farms are born in spring, when fresh grass is growing, and births usually happen at night, in a quiet spot. The birth itself is quick, often over in under half an hour once the foal starts to appear.

Foals are precocial, meaning they are born well developed, with open eyes, a full coat and long legs. Their legs are already close to their adult length, which is why newborn foals look so leggy. Their hooves are covered by soft, rubbery tips that protect the mother during pregnancy and birth and wear away within days once the foal starts walking.

How quickly do foals stand and walk?

Speed matters for a prey animal. Most healthy foals:

• stand within about an hour of birth, after some wobbly attempts;
• nurse within the first couple of hours, drinking the mother’s first milk, called colostrum, which passes on antibodies that protect it from disease;
• walk, trot and follow their mother within a few hours.

Wild foals of feral horses and Przewalski’s horses can keep up with the herd on the day they are born. A domestic foal weighs around 40 kg (90 lb) at birth, roughly 10 percent of its mother’s weight, and wild-born foals of smaller horses often weigh 25–30 kg (55–65 lb).

How do foals grow up?

Foals grow remarkably fast. They start nibbling grass and other solid food within their first week or two, though milk remains their main food for several months. They spend much of their first weeks sleeping flat out on the ground, playing in short bursts and staying close to their mother.

On farms, foals are usually weaned, or separated from their mother’s milk, at about four to six months old. In feral herds, foals may keep nursing until they are about a year old, often until the mare gives birth again. Play with other young horses, including chasing, rearing and mock fighting, teaches them the social rules of the herd.

Larger horses take longer to mature fully, because their larger bones take more time to finish growing.

When do young horses leave their family?

In feral and wild herds, both young males and young females normally leave their birth band when they are about two or three years old. Young colts join bachelor groups of other males until they are strong enough to win mares. Fillies usually join another family band, which helps avoid inbreeding.

Fun facts about foals

Every Thoroughbred has the same birthday. For racing, all Thoroughbreds in the Northern Hemisphere officially turn one year older on 1 January, and in the Southern Hemisphere on 1 August.

Foals can be born with curly hair. A foal’s first coat is often fluffy and curly, and its tail is short and bushy. The coat is shed within the first months, and a foal’s color can change noticeably as it grows; gray horses, for example, are born dark.

Foals of hybrids are rare. A mule foal, born to a horse mother and a donkey father, is still called a foal, but mules themselves almost never have young of their own, as explained in Can mules have babies?.