When is a foal - a foal?

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Penniless

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What with all the comments about due dates, when to do caslicks, etc. etc. etc, can I have a moan now? Why do some people insist on talking about their "foal" when it was born last year - e.g. their 10 month old foal. If it was born in 2007 - then according to my thoughts and readings, it's a yearling! Right, that's got that off my chest! As for due dates (sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry), but we had two mares covered on the same day last year, one foaled 317 days later, and the other is now still carrying at 354 days tonight. In fact, the mare who only carried for 317 days was actually covered again a few days ago. So quite agree, there is no such thing as a "due date".
 
One of my foals from last year was born in August; she is now only 6 months old and most definitely is not a yearling, she is a foal. Actually none of my foals who were born last year are yearlings yets, they are still foals.
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And as for "due date", I refer to it as "average due date".
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LOL I am currently trying to change how I refer to the 'foals'! Last years babies still get called the foals, purely because to me they don't look like yearlings yet - I suspect they will continue to remain the foals until this years start arriving, and remind me just how big last years actually are now!!
 
Mine tend to be called foals for a short time past 1st Jan purely from habit, then I find myself correcting myself as January proceeds.

I like to think of them as yearlings, makes them seem grown up.
 
Yes; a horse is a foal until its twelve months old.

The administrative demands of racing or breed societies or whatever may distort the animals apparent age by ignoring its actual birthdate, but I don't see any reason why I should be so daft myself.

What if you had a November foal? Would you view it as a yearling in January?

I'd also say that if someone tried to sell me a yearling and I found it was only six months old I wouldn't be best pleased.
 
I always used to go by the 1st Jan for my horses' ages but I am finding more & more that people are no longer doing that so now I put the word "rising" in front of it. I have a six month "yearling" & I call her a weanling for the time being. If I advertised her for sale now I would describe her as a yearling whilst including her DOB.

I use 1st Jan because all show classes, excepted ages for PC or RC or young horse clasess etc etc go by it. I really thought I was being clearer/more helpful for a buyer as most want to show the youngsters LOL - maybe not then
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Didn't a five year old eventer win a four year event class due to that confusion?
 
I noticed this at the regionals, there are very different opinions on the ages of the horses. For example, horses where being called 6 years old on their commentary, when they where in fact born in 2001, so some people would say they should be called 7 years old, but they obviously hadn't reached 84 months yet.

I personally put on our commentary that the horse I was riding was 5, although at home we say he is 4 still as he has a fair few months until his 5th birthday.
 
LOL Confusion all round then. I do find the 1st Jan easy to work with and do get a bit baffled when someone says to me their horse is 4 years 9 mths - too much drink not enough brain cells
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Excuse the spelling mistake in the previous post - accepted not excepted. I think I made that word up
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Foal till weaning
weanling until actually a year old
yearling until 'rising two'

the 1st January date is one hell of a distraction unless you're actually planning to race - in which case, yes, your November foal counts as a yearling two months later -and races against horses that could be 10 months older when it hits 2/3/4/

so easiest always to give DoB if you live out here in the real world.

E
 
I really think its a backward step, especially for breeders; it forces earlier and earlier foalings and makes it harder for the north of Britain, where spring comes later, to compete on level terms with the south.

I think it encourages the "forcing" of young horses for the show ring, too, just when we are trying to discourage people from overfeeding youngsters and show animals. That few months' difference persists beyond foalhood and can make a well built 2 year old look like a weedy 3 year old.

Alright, I know it would happen anyway to some extent; there are always going to be different age animals at a foal show or in a youngstock class- but to make it "official" seems wrong to me.

Its a bit like kids starting school; but at least with your child, if it just gets into the primary school intake and you feel it isn't ready for it, you can choose to enter it the following year.

Now what do I do? I want to breed my mares this year; do I send them off in a couple of weeks, knowing that they will then foal before I have grass and whilst we could still be under snow for weeks; or do I aim for May foals - about the right time for my grass- and accept that my youngsters will look immature for their first 36 months or so beside their rivals whose breeders have chosen the other route?
 
Agreed DoB makes sense...

Just thought: GIVEN that mares have an ETA rather than a DD
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, life must really be hell for those TB breeders aiming for an advantageous January foaling... Cut it too fine and you get a yearling that is a few days old.....
 
Not an actual post- sorry-, but the idea of imposing artificial "birthdays" on imature animals when we show and even work them according to age. Although it has been around for ages in racing, I didn't realise how much it was now creeping into ordinary horse breeding.
 
Hmm see I have the problem that Cally was a late June foal - so she is only 7 months and to me she is a foal and definately not a yearling.

Gen was a July baby and so to me he should be called 6 but is often referred to as 7 yet in reality he is 5 months off 7!!

I was also under the impression that it was TB's for 1st Jan and all others was 1st June??
 
Yes that must be a nightmare! I guess that most TB studs have a really good breeding programme, and would leave a mare empty if it doesnt take after a certain date..

Although I have experienced people putting off registering a birth untill January when the foal was born late...
 
I think that part of the reason it has crept into other disciplines is due to the "seasonal" young horse classes. Most start in April/May and so there is as you say extra pressure to get immature animals ready for competitions that they really are not ready for...

Not sure what sort of new ruling could be introduced to stop it happening... Maybe a minimum age in months? Eg. For a 4 year old class, horses have to be a minimum of 42 months old? (3 1/2)
 
Hmmm i think the breeding forum has severe PMT lately!!!!
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Have everyone nothing better to think about or do
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Warmblood foals go by the foals birthdate and British Dressage take all dates from April so i go with along with that, my July foal is still a foal and my vet calls her the same LOL but yes i like to call them weanlings if they are born earlier than she was once weaned. January b'days for T/B's are a manmade idea, mother nature never planned for foals to be born that early. Maybe thats the difference between racing terms and sporthorse terms??!!
 
My 'foal' was born in April. She is not yet a yearling (as I define, a horse 12 - 24 months old) so I don't refer to her as such and she doesn't look anything like a yearling yet!
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I just call her 'wean' or weanling. When she gets to a year I will call her a yearling. I agree with the point someone (HG?) made - if I advertised her as a yearling then buyers woudl be quite disappointed!
 
I am getting very confused now LOL

I thought in all showing classes - small local shows etc & all age classes - BSJA BD etc & all WB or BEF or sporthorse gradings - that the cut off date is regarded 1st Jan for birthdays?

I had a conversation the other day with someone & they said they could show their 2 year old in 2yr old classes right up until it's 3rd birthday but I said that they couldn't as on the 1st Jan of the year of its 3rd birthday it had to go up into 3 yr old classes?

So when you say that with BD the date is April - does that mean a horse whose real four year old birthday is before the 1st April cannot compete in four year old classes
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Wow, didn't this thread start something! So, let me get this right for all you non-TB breeders - if County shows start in May, and your horse was born in June or later last year, does that mean that you would enter a foal class? Surely you would be entering the yearling class!
 
hmmm good question Firm, when we registered our oldenburg august born mare that was what we were told, April was the start of there year for Dressage so our mare was classed as a 4 yr old in April even though she wasnt 4 til August, April is a cut of month but the year they are 4 they compete as 4 years olds, so a march born would be same 4 yr old as the august one, but more advanced in it's ways...gosh this is really hard to explain so i have probably confused you even more now LOL maybe someelse can explain it better, dont forget BD dont do passports etc so i guess for them it is just a starting/ending point of the year, maybe i shouldnt have mentioned them as what they do dosnt actually affect the horses age in the same way as jan 1st for say a june/july foal would
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sorry if i am talking rubbish, been up all night whelping puppies and she still hasn't finished yet and i need some sleep now
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Wow, didn't this thread start something! So, let me get this right for all you non-TB breeders - if County shows start in May, and your horse was born in June or later last year, does that mean that you would enter a foal class? Surely you would be entering the yearling class!

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It would go in a yearling class, if a late foal was shown at all that is ...hence why most show breeders again like early foals to be able to show them and as we are still in feb not may who knows our foals may be called yearlings by then LMFAO
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