What is "foal"

Foal \Foal\ (f[=o]l), n. [OE. fole, AS. fola; akin to OHG. folo, G. fohlen, Goth. fula, Icel. foli, Sw. f[*a]le, Gr. pw^los, L. pullus a young animal. Cf. Filly, Poultry, Pullet.] (Zo["o].) The young of any animal of the Horse family (Equid[ae]); a colt; a filly.

Foal teeth (Zo["o]l.), the first set of teeth of a horse.

In foal, With foal, being with young; pregnant; -- said of a mare or she ass.

Foal \Foal\ (f[=o]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Foaled (f[=o]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Foaling.] To bring forth (a colt); -- said of a mare or a she ass.

Foal \Foal\ (f[=o]l), v. i. To bring forth young, as an animal of the horse kind.

Old English fola "foal, colt," from Proto-Germanic *fulon (cognates: Old Saxon folo, Middle Dutch volen, Dutch veulen, Old Norse foli, Old Frisian fola, Old High German folo, German Fohlen, Gothic fula), from PIE *pulo- "young of an animal" (cognates: Greek polos "foal," Latin pullus "a young animal," Albanian pele "mare"), suffixed form of root *pau- (1) "few, little" (see few).

"give birth (to a foal)," late 14c., from foal (n.). Related: Foaled; foaling.\n

n. A young (male or female) horse, especially just after birth or less than a year old. vb. (context equestrian English) To give birth; to bear offspring.

1. n. a young horse

2. v. give birth to a foal; "the mare foaled"

A foal is an equine up to one year old; the term is used mainly for horses. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is nursing from its dam (mother), it may also be called a "suckling." After it has been weaned from its dam, it may be called a " weanling." When a mare is pregnant, she is said to be "in foal." When the mare gives birth, she is "foaling," and the impending birth is usually stated as "to foal." A newborn horse is "foaled."

After a horse is one year old, it is no longer a foal, and is a " yearling." There are no special age-related terms for young horses older than yearlings. When young horses reach breeding maturity, the terms change: a filly over three (four in horse racing) is called a mare, and a colt over three is called a stallion. A castrated male horse is called a gelding regardless of age; however, colloquially, the term "gelding colt" is sometimes used until a young gelding is three or four. (There is no specific term for a spayed mare other than a "spayed mare.")

Horses that mature at a small size are called ponies and occasionally confused with foals. However, body proportions are very different. An adult pony can be ridden and put to work, but a foal, regardless of size, is too young to be ridden or used as a working animal. Foals, whether they grow up to be horse or pony-sized, can be distinguished from adult horses by their extremely long legs and small, slim bodies. Their heads and eyes also exhibit juvenile characteristics. Although ponies exhibit some neoteny with the wide foreheads and small size, their body proportions are similar to that of an adult horse. Pony foals are proportionally smaller than adults, but like horse foals, they are slimmer and have proportionally longer legs than their adult parents.