What is a female horse called? | Reference.com What is a female horse called? A: Quick Answer Prior to the age of four, female horses are called fillies, and from age four and up, they are called mares. Female horses can also be called yearlings when they are between one and two years old, or foals before they are a year old. Full Answer Male horses can also be called foals and yearlings. Young male horses that have not been castrated are called colts until they turn four, when they earn the name of stallion. Male horses that have been castrated are called geldings at any age. The term "rig" is often used to refer to a male horse that was not properly castrated or has other testicular problems. What is a young horse called? | Reference.com What is a young horse called? A: Quick Answer A young horse is called a foal, suckling, weanling, colt, filly or yearling, depending on its age and, in some cases, its sex. Foals, sucklings and weanlings are male and female horses younger than one year old.

Full Answer Yearlings are horses of either sex between the ages of 1 and 2 years. A colt is a male horse younger than 4 years of age, and a filly is the female equivalent. However, in some regions, both male and female young horses are called colts. A young horse is different from a pony, which is a breed of equine that has a short stature and a stocky body. Definition of Filly By Katherine Blocksdorf Updated September 19, 2016. What is a filly? This is just one of several words used to describe a horse's age and gender. The word is used to differentiate between a young male and female horse. All baby horses are called foal, but a filly, or filly foal means that the foal is female. Definition of Filly A female horse under four years of age is called a filly. A female horse over the age of four years is called a mare . The plural of filly is fillies. Pronunciation The broodmare had a newborn filly by her side. The colt and filly played in the pasture.

Characteristics of Fillies Many people feel that fillies are born with a bit more intelligence than colts. Some believe they’re quicker to gain their feet and start to nurse. Whether this is true or not is debatable. There is a belief too that fillies tend to be shyer than colts, but a 2010 study found the opposite . Colts, however, may mature faster than fillies physically, especially if gelded at a young age. Some also believe that fillies are easier to sell than colts, largely because when buying a young horse that is un-gelded, the new owner must commit to the extra expense of castration. Fillies and mares can be spayed, but it is very unusual and a far more complicated procedure than gelding . Incorrect Usages of Foal, Colt and Filly: It is common for non-horse people to call all baby horses colts, but this is incorrect. A female baby is a filly and a male is a colt . Using the word Foal is the correct way to refer to a young horse, of unknown gender, still with its mother. A young horse can be referred to as a filly foal or colt foal.

Once a filly is weaned it may be called a weanling filly, and when it reaches the age of one, it may be called a yearling filly. After that age of two, it may be a two or three-year-old filly, but it wouldn’t be uncommon to hear a young female horse referred to as a young mare, even though this isn’t strictly correct. Horse Racing and Riding Horses In the horse racing world, the word filly has a slightly different meaning. In a race, a filly may be any female horse running under the age of five years old. The riding horse world rarely makes this distinction, partially because horses aren’t really ridden except in training before they are four years old. If a horse show class is specifically for fillies, the young horses will likely be shown ‘in hand’, that is not being ridden. Young donkey, pony , mule, zebra, onagers and other equine relatives may be referred to as fillies as well. Roots of the Word Filly According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word filly has been used in English since the 15th century.

It’s roots are in the Old Norse word fylja for female foal, that evolved to the Middle English word filli and is also similar to the Old English word for foal. The French word fille has similar roots. In English, a slang way of saying girl may be to refer to her as a filly. In Australia, Champion Fillies day is celebrated with entertainment, food, fashion and racing. What is a Baby Horse Called? FILLY When a mare (an adult female horse) has a baby, she is said to have "foaled", when the foal stands and nurses, it can be called suckling, but is usually just refered to as a foal. In some parts of the western United States, local dialect makes it okay for any foal to be called a "colt" regardless of their gender. What are older baby horses called? At 4 to 6 months, a baby horse is seperated from it's mother. After this seperation process, called weaning, the baby horse is called a weanling. "Weanling" is the proper term to call the foal until the baby horse turns 1 year old.

After one year old the baby horse is called a "yearling" and yearlings over 18 months old are sometimes refered to as "long yearlings". When the horse turns two years old they are usually refered to by their adult names, mares or stallions. Horse Gender Terms | Animals - mom.me Horse Gender Terms A horse is a horse, even when he's called a colt or stallion. Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images Unless you were active in 4H or FFA, you might be under the impression that a horse is a horse. Those who have worked closely with horses, though, know the difference between a colt and a foal or a mare and a filly. The terms that describe the gender of a horse tells much more than just whether the horse is male or female. Age and Gender There are three or more terms that apply to each gender in horses. It may sound confusing at first, but knowing the gender terminology for horses also tells you how old a horse is. Female Horses There are three words that describe female horses. The one you use to describe your horse will tell people whether she's just a youngster or if she's mature, and even if she's a mother.

A filly is a female less than 4 years old, while a mare is one who is 4 years or older. A mama horse of any age is known as a dam, although typically fillies aren't dams, as breeding usually starts at age 5 or 6. Male Horses There are many more terms used to describe male horses than females because they not only indicate the gender and age of the horse but can also reveal whether they are fathers, if they've been castrated or not and if they have developed and matured properly. Colts are those male horses who are less than 4 years old. When they turn 4, male horses become stallions -- unless they are castrated. Male horses who are altered are referred to as geldings. If a horse has fathered a baby, he's called a sire. Another term used to describe male horses is "rig," which refers to a male horse who either hasn't been castrated properly or has one or two undescended testicles. Either Or In addition to the multiple terms used to describe male and female horses, there are a handful of names for young horses of either gender.

All horses are considered foals from the time they're born until they're a year old. Foals can also be known as sucklings if they are still nursing or weanlings if they've been weaned. After their first birthday, horses are known as yearlings until they turn 2, at which point they're referred to by the gender-appropriate term for a horse under 4 years old. The Horse The Horse Contributed By: Stephen Budiansky Microsoft ï¿½ Encarta ï¿½ Encyclopedia 2004. ï¿½ 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Introduction The HORSE is a large land mammal notable for its speed, strength, and endurance. Horses are members of the Equidae family, which also includes zebras and asses. Like all equids, the horse is extremely well adapted to traveling long distances with great efficiency and to surviving on a diet of nutrient-poor, high-fiber grasses. The horse is an intensely social animal, forming strong associations with members of its herd and possessing a keen ability to recognize subtle social cues.

These instinctive behaviors form the basis of the horseï¿½s ability to bond with and obey a human trainer. The horseï¿½s influence on human history and civilization make it one of the most important domestic animals. Horses were domesticated in Eurasia around 6,000 years ago. Throughout much of human history, they have provided humans with mobility and have served in agriculture, warfare, and sport. Today domestic horses are found throughout the world, with a total population estimated at 60 million. So-called wild horses, such as those found in the American West, are actually feral animals, free-living descendants of domestic horses that escaped or were turned loose. The wild ancestors of the modern horse evolved for millions of years in North America. They spread to other parts of the world by traveling southward to South America and by crossing land bridges that connected North America to Europe and Asia during the ice age. Horses vanished from both North and South America in a wave of extinctions that occurred near the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, about 15,000 years ago.

They were not seen in the Americas again until 1494, when Italian explorer Christopher Columbus transported them on ships from Spain on his second voyage to the New World. Przewalski's horse, which is believed to be the only truly wild horse to survive to modern times, probably became extinct in the wild in Mongolia in the 1960s. About 1,100 Przewalski's horses survive today in captivity in zoos and wildlife parks. Physical Characteristics As a result of deliberate breeding by humans, horses display a remarkable variation in size, body shape, and coat color. Traditionally, a horseï¿½s size is measured at the withersï¿½an elevated part of the spine between the neck and the back. The measurement is made in hands; one hand equals about 10 cm (4 in). Typical riding horses stand 14 to 16 hands high and weigh 400 to 500 kg (900 to 1,100 lb). The smallest horse on record, a Falabella miniature pony, stood 48 cm (19 in), or just under 5 hands, and weighed 14 kg (30 lb).

The largest horse on record was a Belgian that stood 1.8 m (6 ft) tall, or 18 hands, and weighed 1,450 kg (3,200 lb). The horse has a hairy coat and a long mane and tail. A heavy winter coat grows in the fall and sheds in the spring. Typical coat colors include black, brown, gray, cream, gold, and white. The mane and tail can be the same or different from the body color, and many variations in color can result from inherited traits that cause spotting, dilution of the basic coat colors, or a sprinkling of white hairs in the coat. Many color patterns have specific names, such as bay (brown with black mane and tail), chestnut (reddish brown with mane and tail of the same or lighter color), and palomino (gold with a creamy white mane and tail). A horseï¿½s head is composed of the cranium, which encloses the animalï¿½s large, complex brain, and the face, distinguished by a long muzzle consisting of the nose and lips.

The muzzle provides enough distance between the horseï¿½s mouth and its eyes so that it can graze and watch for danger at the same time. Horses have the largest eyes of any land mammal. The large eyes protrude from the sides of the head, enabling horses to see almost directly behind themselves, even while facing forward. Their night vision is excellent. Horses have limited color vision, which appears to be similar to one of the less common forms of color blindness in humansï¿½they perceive red and blue, but they cannot distinguish between green and shades of gray. Horses have powerful teeth and jaws to grind and break down plant fibers. Their teeth grow continuously as their surfaces wear down. Male horses usually have 40 teeth and females have 36. Between the front incisors and the rear molars is a gap called the diastema, where the bit is placed. Horses can close their wide nostrils against dusty winds, and they can move their large ears to detect sounds from various directions.

A horseï¿½s head is held up by its long, flexible neck, which lets the horse reach down to the ground to feed, rise to a high vantage point to sight danger, and bite itches on the front part of its body. The horseï¿½s body has a wide chest, which holds its enormous lungs and heart; and a muscular back, beneath which lie the horseï¿½s internal organs for digesting food and reproducing. A horseï¿½s long, flowing tail helps keep its hindquarters warm and is used to swish away insects. The specialized structures of the horseï¿½s legs make the animal a very efficient runner. What we think of as the horseï¿½s knee is actually the equivalent of a humanï¿½s ankle, so from the knee down the leg is really a highly elongated foot. The lowest part of the foot is the tip of a single toe, which corresponds to the tip of a personï¿½s middle toe. This large, strong toe tip is well protected by a tough, curved hoof.

By ï¿½standing on its toes,ï¿½ the horse has a very long leg for an animal of its size, but also a very light leg, since toes are lightweight structures, carrying a minimum of bone and tendon and no muscle at all. Like a personï¿½s foot, a horseï¿½s foot has a sole. In the horse, the sole includes a rubbery, V-shaped structure called the frog, which helps absorb the impact of the foot against the ground. Many of the joints in horsesï¿½ legs are comparable to hinges that permit forward and backward motion only. This type of joint requires fewer muscles than are needed for the kind of ball-and-socket joint that occurs in the human hip, which can rotate in any direction. This yields a further savings in weight. Long, light legs allow a horse to move very efficiently. A long leg produces a long stride, and a light leg allows the horse to swing its limbs back and forth quickly with a minimal expenditure of energy. The top speed of the horse is about 70 km/h (45 mph). Internal Organs The horse has very efficient respiratory and circulatory systems that enable it to race at high speeds without running short of air.

While walking, a horse consumes only 1 liter (about 0.25 gallon) of oxygen a minute, but at a racing gallop, its oxygen consumption can approach 60 liters (nearly 15 gallons) per minute. At the gallop, the horseï¿½s head and neck move up and down in rhythm with each stride. This motion tends to squeeze and expand the lungs, so that a galloping horse automatically takes exactly one breath per stride. This mechanism ensures that the faster the horse gallops, the more air it takes in. The horse has a single stomach and a large digestive organ called the cecum, which forms a dead-end alley at the junction of the large and small intestines. Microorganisms that live in the cecum break down cellulose, a tough substance within the walls of plant cells, making it possible for the horse to digest grasses. The cecum has a comparable role to the rumen, a specialized stomach chamber present in ruminants, or cud-chewing animals, such as cows and sheep. Horses cannot extract as much energy out of food as ruminants do, but they are able to digest food more quickly.

As a result, a horse can eat more food each day than a cow of the same size. Due to this difference, horses can survive on stemmy, high-fiber roughage that would not sustain a cow. Reproduction Horses reach sexual maturity at about one and a half years. The estrous cycle in the mareï¿½a mature female horseï¿½typically lasts 21 days. During the first five days of the cycle, the mare is usually receptive to mating. The estrous cycle stops during winter and resumes in the spring, which is the start of the breeding season. A stallionï¿½a mature male horseï¿½approaching a mare in estrus engages in various courtship rituals. These include uttering nickering sounds and sniffing and licking the mareï¿½s genital area. The gestational period in the horse averages 11 months. Mares generally give birth to a single offspring, or on rare occasions, twins. Young horses that have not yet been weaned are called foals. Young female horses are called fillies, and young males are called colts.

Among feral horses, stallions guard a harem of mares and compete with other stallions for ï¿½ownershipï¿½ of mares. A harem commonly consists of a single stallion, one to three mares, and their immature offspring. Stallions challenge one another by competing in lengthy squealing contests; often a horse that squeals the longest is able to claim the superior position without physical combat. Stallions that take over a harem from another male will often cause abortions in pregnant mares by chasing and aggressively attacking them. This allows the new stallion to immediately rebreed the mares and produce his own offspring. To control aggressive behavior in stallions, which is closely linked to the hormone testosterone produced in the testes, horse owners usually castrate males that will not be used for breeding. A castrated male horse is called a gelding. Behavior As herd animals, horses have highly developed social behaviors that help hold the group together and maintain the ranking of each individual within the group. Horses have a basic instinct to form fixed friendship bonds with other members of their group. Mares in feral herds or farm groups invariably pair off with particular other mares.

These pairs often engage in mutual grooming, which involves standing side by side and head to tail while each one scratches the otherï¿½s neck and back with her teeth. As with all group animals, horses establish and defend a strict pecking order, which helps them avoid constant fighting over access to food, water, and mates. They respond to subtle social signals, such as pinned-back ears, which signal aggressiveness. Once its place in the social hierarchy is established, a lower-ranking horse almost always gives way to a higher-ranking horse without a fight. Most communication between horses takes the form of physical gestures rather than sounds. This behavior reflects horsesï¿½ evolution in open, unforested habitats where they relied heavily on vision for survival. The horseï¿½s repertoire of vocal signals is quite limited compared to many other mammals. Humans, in establishing their relationship with domestic horses, exploit both the horseï¿½s bonding instinct and its instinctive recognition of the pecking order. Trainers often initiate a horseï¿½s training in the spring, when horses are shedding heavily and appreciate being groomed. Grooming helps cement the friendship bond and makes the horse willing to allow the human to invade its personal space.

By establishing a position as a higher-ranking member in the group hierarchy, the human trainer can generally get a horse to cooperate with a minimal use of physical force or punishment. Breeds of Horses Selective breeding by humans has produced more than 100 breeds of horses, many of which are characterized by distinctive traits such as size, appearance, or temperament. Some breeds are the product of deliberate efforts over many centuries to develop horses suited for specialized tasks, such as racing, herding livestock, or pulling plows, wagons, or carriages. Other breeds simply reflect regional differences that have accumulated over years as relatively isolated populations of animals were bred together. Horse breeds are often divided into three broad classes: light horses, heavy horses, and ponies. These are not strict categories, however, and do not, as is sometimes claimed, mean that these types of horses descended from different populations of wild horses. Light horses include saddle horses, such as thoroughbreds, quarter horses, and Arabians; and light harness horses, such as standardbreds and Morgans. The thoroughbred is the preeminent racehorse breed; thoroughbreds are also used as hunters and jumpers.

All thoroughbreds are descendants of three Arabian stallions that were brought to England in the late 1600s and early 1700s and bred with native European mares. Quarter horses were developed in America from crosses between thoroughbreds and descendents of Spanish horses. Their name reflects their use in quarter-mile races. Quarter horses are widely used for work on cattle ranches, most notably as cutting horses, which are trained to separate out a single head of stock by moving deftly to cut it off as it tries to return to the herd. Another distinctive American breed is the Morgan, developed in Vermont from matings between various female horses and a single, famous maleï¿½a dark bay called Justin Morgan who was born in the late 18th century. Used originally to pull light carriages, the Morgan is now considered a multipurpose breed and is popular as a saddle horse. The standardbred, developed from crossing thoroughbreds with Morgans and other light horses, is used in harness racing. Heavy horses include draft horses and coach horses. Draft horses were developed in the Middle Ages as the heavy chargers ridden into battle by armor-clad knights.

They were later used to pull plows and heavy wagons and perform other farm work; they have largely been displaced in the 20th century by tractors. Draft horse breeds include the Clydesdale, Belgian, Percheron, and Shire. Coach horses were bred for pulling large carriages and for light farm work. The Cleveland Bay is an example of a typical coach horse breed. Ponies are usually defined as any horse that stands less than 14.5 hands high. The most familiar pony breeds are the Welsh mountain pony and the smaller Shetland pony, which is usually less than 11 hands high. Ponies have a reputation for being smart and wily. The modern equid family consists of horses, zebras, and asses. All of these animals diverged from a common ancestor about 4 million years ago. Relatives in the equid family, such as an ass and a horse, can interbreed, but the resulting offspring are nearly always infertile. Evolution The evolution of equids did not proceed in a straight line to culminate in todayï¿½s horses and their relatives. Instead, the modern equids are a small remnant of a once vast and diverse family.

This family came into being about 55 million years ago with the emergence of Hyraco therium , which is commonly known as the dawn horse, or eohippus. Hyracotherium weighed about 35 kg (80 lb) and lived in forests in North America. It had four toes on its front feet, three toes on its rear feet, and small teeth suitable for a diet of fruit and leaves. A turning point in the evolution of equids occurred about 20 million years ago, when the dense forests of North America gave way to more open grasslands. At this time, the equids underwent an evolutionary explosion that produced a wealth of species displaying a wide variety of physical types, all of which were well adapted to their particular environments. Some of these horses, such as Merychippus, which weighed some 200 kg (450 lb), showed a trend toward the large, modern onetoed horse with broad-surfaced teeth well adapted to chewing grass. Others, such as Nannippus, a tiny browser that ate leaves and fruits, filled a very different ecological niche.

Most horses from this period had three toes on each foot, but in one branch, the Hipparion species, the two side toes did not touch the ground. In the line that would lead to the modern horse, the side toes became increasingly reduced until they finally disappeared. As equids increased in diversity, they also increased their range by spreading across North America and, via land bridges, to Europe and Asia. Evolutionary History of the Modern Horse The horse is a well-documented case study in evolution. The fossil record shows clear steps in the progression from a four-toed, small browsing animalï¿½one of a line that gave rise to tapirs, rhinoceroses, and other mammals in addition to horsesï¿½to the modern horse, a large grazing animal with a single leg bone and enlarged middle toe. The doglike eohippus of 60 million years ago had molars with small grinding surfaces to chew the succulent leaves of its forest habitat. With the spread of Miocene grasslands 25 million years ago, only the descendants whose teeth had adapted to grinding survived.

A drying climate produced harder ground, and the middle digit of Merychippus, expanded to bear the strain of its increased weight, became a single digit in Pliohippus. The horseï¿½s sturdy legs evolved to pound the ground at speeds fast enough to outrun predators. Horses were widespread across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa during the ice ages. But as the climate warmed and open tundra gave way to forest around 15,000 years ago, the habitat for the horse began to vanish. In North America, where horses also suffered from being hunted by Paleo-Indians, they became extinct. Horses nearly became extinct in the rest of the world as well; by about 7,000 years ago the worldï¿½s only horses were confined to a small area in the still-open grassland steppes of Ukraine and Central Asia. Horses and Humans Horses were widely hunted as a source of food by early humans in North America and Europe. About 6,000 years ago, the peoples living north of the Black Sea in a region between the forest and the steppe began to face dwindling supplies of forest game, such as boar and deer.

They began to exploit the steppe-dwelling horses for meat. Archaeological evidence cannot clearly establish whether the horse was domesticated at this time as a source of food, or whether the horses remained wild and were hunted. But not long after the peoples of this region began consuming large amounts of horsemeat, they also began riding horses. Horses from this period were buried in ritual graves along with perforated antler tines that appear to be the cheek pieces for a rope bridle. Microscopic analysis of the teeth of these ritually buried horses show wear patterns that are unique to horses that have carried a bit in their mouths. Over the next thousand years, the horse staged a dramatic comeback, repopulating Europe and Asia, but now as a domestic animal under the control of humans. Archaeological remains show that tribes that possessed horses suddenly became larger, possessing greater material wealth and prospering with larger households. Horses enabled them to exploit the resources of the steppes, trade with distant lands, and bring sudden, ferocious warfare upon their less mobile neighbors. The association of the horse with warfare dates from earliest times and persisted into the 20th century.

By 2000 BC, the chariot, pulled by a pair of matched and well-trained horses, was well established as the supreme weapon of war in Egypt and western Asia. Charioteers in ancient Egypt were exclusively noblemen of high status. This reflected the huge cost of maintaining horses in the ancient world; the feed for a pair of chariot horses is estimated to have taken the entire crop from 4 hectares (10 acres) of barley each year. Modern equestrian recreations such as horse racing, hunting, and polo also date back to ancient times. The Iliad contains an account of chariot racing at the time of the Trojan War, which was fought in the late 13th or early 12th century BC. Throughout the Middle Ages (around the 5th century to the 15th century AD) and even until modern times, the horse played a pivotal role in expanding trade, in exploring new lands, and in providing the motive power for farm work. Today most horses are pleasure and sport animals. There are more than 7 million horses in the United States today, more than there were in the 1940s when the U.S. Cavalry was disbanded.

Popular activities on horseback include trail riding and competition in horse shows and rodeo events. Training Training a horse is a complex art. Trainers typically begin a young horseï¿½s training by introducing the horse to human contact and teaching it to follow on a lead rope. One method of training involves working the horse on a lunge line, a long rope attached to a halter placed over the horseï¿½s head. In this method, the trainer keeps the horse moving in a large circle. Horses can be taught to respond to voice commands, such as ï¿½walk,ï¿½ ï¿½trot,ï¿½ and ï¿½whoa,ï¿½ while being worked on a lunge line. Horses need to be gradually accustomed to a saddle and bridle and to bearing weight on their back. More advanced training involves teaching the horse to respond to signals from a riderï¿½s legs and hands. A well-trained horse will learn to change gaits or move from side to side with a very subtle pressure from the riderï¿½s legs or a small pull on the reins. The reins are used in several ways to communicate with the horse.

In neck reining, a rein is laid against one side of the neck; this signals the horse to turn in the opposite direction. Neck reining is used mostly in Western riding and by polo players who keep only one hand on the reins. Horses are similarly taught to move in a direction away from the pressure of the riderï¿½s leg. Reins can also be used to apply direct pressure via the bit to one side of the mouth or both to signal the horse to turn or slow down. Training for harness horses begins with a person holding long reins and walking behind the horse. Once the horse learns to respond to basic commands, it can graduate to pulling a cart or carriage. The basic method used in all training is to reward a correct response, thus helping the horse to make an association between the trainerï¿½s signal and its own response. Horses have excellent memories. Their ability to form associations is often strongly influenced by individual temperament; nervous or high-strung horses and excessively shy horses are poor learners. Most training of horses uses what animal behaviorists call negative reinforcement, which means that the reward is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus.

For example, to get the horse to move forward, the rider squeezes with his or her legs; once the horse moves forward the rider stops squeezing, thereby rewarding the horse by removing the stimulus. This is different from punishment, which is applied after an incorrect response. Punishment is generally much less effective than negative reinforcement, although it is occasionally necessary to maintain the trainerï¿½s position as the dominant member of the social hierarchy. Caring for a Horse The amount of food and care a horse needs varies according to how much the animal is worked. Many horses that are lightly worked or not worked at all thrive without any difficulty on grasses found in pastures, and without any special food. All horses, however, need continual access to fresh water and mineral salt blocks that provide needed trace minerals in their diet. In areas with mild winters it is often possible to stockpile grass in one portion of a pasture by leaving it to grow in late summer and fall and then allowing horses to graze during the winter. In such cases, horses do not even need to be fed hay.

When winter pasture is not available, a 500 kg (1,100 lb) horse typically requires about 7 kg (15 lb) of average quality hay a day to maintain its weight and health. Horses that are worked several hours a day or more generally need some supplementary grain in their diet. Individual horses vary considerably in their needs, which are also affected by weather. A horse kept in a warm stall or turned outside with a blanket on will need less feed, and a horse that is let outside in cold weather or that has had its coat clipped will need more feed. Working horses typically need several quarts of grain a day in addition to hay. Horsesï¿½ needs for shelter also vary widely. Except in severe climates, horses can generally be left outside without harm. Show horses and racehorses are usually kept in stalls almost all the time they are not working. Keeping them in stalls protects them from injury, keeps them clean, and ensures that they receive constant care and attention. Stalls need to be supplied with a heavy layer of bedding, such as sawdust or straw, and must be cleaned daily. Horses that are stabled need regular exercise.

Most pleasure horses need only be brought into a stall on cold winter nights. Open shelters that horses can enter and leave as they please are a good means of protecting horses from wind and rain, and from strong sun and flies in the summer. In addition to food and shelter, horses need other care to keep them healthy. All horses need annual vaccinations to protect against a number of highly contagious, and often fatal, diseases. These diseases include tetanus, rabies, influenza, and Potomac fever. Horses also need oral medication at least every two months to kill intestinal parasites (see Diseases of Animals). Horses that are ridden regularly on surfaces other than grass or soft ground need to be fitted with shoes, and this can represent a considerable part of the expense of keeping a horse. Working horses generally need new shoes every six to eight weeks, or even more often. A horseï¿½s teeth need to be checked periodically, and they may require filing to remove sharp edges and align the biting surfaces. Daily grooming is important in maintaining the bond between a horse and its owner. It also helps to keep a horse looking neat and provides a regular chance to check for injury or other health problems.

Thorough brushing of the region under the saddle and girthï¿½the strap below a horseï¿½s belly that holds the saddle in placeï¿½is especially important in preventing the skin from becoming irritated by dirt and grime. A horseï¿½s feet need to be picked out frequently to remove stones that can cause bruises. Picking out the hooves also helps to prevent an infectious condition known as thrush, which is caused by microorganisms that grow in the absence of air. Scientific Classification Scientific classification: Horses belong to the family Equidae of the order Perissodactyla. The domestic horse is classified as Equus caballus, and Przewalskiï¿½s horse is classified as Equus caballus przewalskii. Contributed By: Stephen Budiansky The Livestock Conservancy Cattle domesticated mammals of the genus Bos. Bull is an in-tact male bovine. Bull calf is a male calf. Calf is a young bovine. This term is used from the time of birth up until about 6 to 10 months of age when the animal is weaned. Cow is a female bovine that has had a calf.

(This term may also be used for other species) Heifer is a female bovine that has not had a calf. Heifer calf is a female calf. Steer is a castrated male bovine or can be a future ox that is less than 4 years old. Ox is castrated bull that has been trained to work and is at least 4 years of age. Oxen is the plural of ox. Goat the domesticated form of capra hircus. Buck is a male goat over 1 year of age. Buckling is a young male goat less than a year old. Doe is a female goat over 1 year of age. Doeling is a young female goat less than a year old. Flock is a group of goats. (The term may be used in reference to other livestock.) Kid is a baby goat of either sex. Wether is a castrated male goat (or sheep). Horse is a domesticated large single hoofed mammal (Equus caballus) with a short-haired coat, a long mane, and a long tail used for riding, pulling, or carrying loads. Colt is a male horse under 3 years of age.

Filly is a female horse under 3 years of age. Foal is a young equine under 1 year of age. Gelding is a castrated male horse. Mare is a female horse after her 4th birthday. Stallion is an intact male horse. Rabbit is a mammal of the family Leporidae or the domesticated Old World species Oryctolagus cuniculus. Buck is a male rabbit. Doe is a female rabbit. Fryer or “young rabbit” is a rabbit that is 2 months old and weighs 3 ¾ lbs to 4 ½ lbs. Kit is a baby rabbit. Rabbitry is where owners keep their herd of rabbits in separate cages. Stewer or “mature rabbit” is a rabbit 3 months of age or older averaging 6 pounds or more. Warren is where owners keep their herd of rabbits as a group in a large cage or enclosure. Sheep the domesticated species ovis aries. Ewe is a female sheep at least 1 year of age. Ewe lamb is a female sheep under 1 year of age. Flock is a group of sheep.

(The term may be used in reference to other livestock.) Lamb is a young sheep. When referring to meat, lamb is meat from a sheep that is 12-14 months old or less. Lambkin or lambling is a newly born lamb. Ram is an in-tact male sheep that is at least one year of age. Ram lamb is a male sheep that is under 1 year of age. Sheep is a mature ovine at least one year of age and may also refer to the ovine species. Wether is a castrated male sheep (or goat). Swine are even-toed ungulates of the family Suidae, including pigs, hogs, and boars. Barrow is a castrated (before sexual maturity) male swine. Boar is an adult male swine. Gilt is a female swine that has not given birth. Drove is a group of swine. Feeder pig is a young pig, most often between 40-70lbs that is produced by one farmer and sold to another for growing out to market weight. Hog is a mature swine with an adult weight above 150 pounds.

Lard types of pig were developed to have large deposits of fat that could be more easily butchered from the animal in large chunks. This makes rendering easier and results in less loss of good meat. Market hog is a hog that weighs from 220-260 pounds and is 5-7 months of age when it is sent to market. Meat types of pig (also known as Bacon types) were developed to have more lean meat with moderate marbling of fat. Pig is a young swine that is not sexually mature or a mature swine with an adult weight under 150 pounds. Piglet or baby pig refers to a young pig in its first 14-21 days of life and is still nursing. Shoat is a young hog (not sexually mature) that has been weaned and is ready for market weighing 150-260 pounds Sow is an adult female swine. Stag is a castrated (after sexual maturity) male swine. Poultry are domesticated birds that are kept for meat or eggs including birds of the order Galliformes: chicken, turkey, natatorial (swimming) birds: duck and goose.

Flock is a group comprised of one species of poultry. Trio is typically a group of poultry with one male and two females Chicken is a common domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus). Broiler is a meat chicken processed at the age of 7-12 weeks when it reaches 2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds live weight. Fryer is a meat chicken usually marketed at 12-20 weeks. Capon are male chickens that have been castrated and they are harvested at 4-8 months old. They weigh 5-9 pounds and produce more white meat and have higher fat content than other chickens. Chick is a newly hatched or a very young chicken. Cock is a male chicken at least one year of age or older. Cockerel is a male chicken less than one year old. Cornish game hens are a cross between a Cornish and Plymouth Rock chicken (although originally they were pure Cornish), 4-5 weeks old, weighing about 2 pounds. They may be of either sex. Hen is a female chicken at least one year of age.

Poussin or “spring chicken” is a young chicken, 3-4 weeks old, weighing about 1 pound that is prepared as a single serving. Pullet is a female chicken less than one year of age. A pullet is, in industry, a young female that has yet to start laying eggs Roasters are chickens that are 6-12 months of age weighing 4-7 pounds. Rooster is a male chicken over one year of age. Stewing fowl is a mature male or female chicken over one year of age. Ducks are any wild or domesticated swimming birds of the family Anatidae, typically having a broad, flat bill, short legs, and webbed feet. Drake is an adult male duck. Duck can refer to a female of the duck family. Ducklings are baby ducks. Old drake is a male duck over 1 year of age. Old duck is a female duck over 1 year of age. Young drake is a male duck under 1 year of age. Young duck is a female duck under 1 year of age.

Geese are wild or domesticated water birds of the family Anatidae and of the genera Anser and Branta that typically have a shorter neck than a swan and a shorter, more pointed bill than a duck. Gander is a male goose over 1 year of age. (Also referred to as old gander.) Goose is the singular of geese or a female goose. Gosling is a young goose up until feathers have replaced all of their down. Old goose is a female goose over 1 year of age. Young gander is a male goose under 1 year of age. Young goose is a female goose under 1 year of age. Turkey is a large North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) that is widely domesticated for food and comes in many varieties. Hen is a female turkey over one year of age. Old hen is a female turkey over one year of age. Old tom is a male turkey over 1 year of age. Poult is a young domestic (not wild) turkey. Tom is a male turkey. Young hen is a female turkey under 1 year of age. Young tom is a male turkey under 1 year of age.

Illustrated Facts About Horses Note: Links with green underlines are shopping links and will open in a new window What Are Some Horse Facts We have some fun and interesting facts about horses! Below are facts and information about horse vision, teeth, height, records, horse terms, and more. Horse Vision The horse has the largest eye of any land mammal. A horse can see better at night than a human. However, it takes a horse's eyes longer to adjust from light to dark and from dark to light than a human's. Horses are not color blind. They have what researchers call "dichromatic" vision, or "two-color" vision. Research indicates horses can perceive blue and green tones, and color variations based on them. However, they have difficulty with other colors, including reds. Most of the time, a horse has "monocular" vision. This means a different image is seen by each eye so that a horse is seeing two different pictures at the same time. A horse can also have "binocular" vision. Binocular vision is when both eyes work together to see one picture (humans have binocular vision). A horse only has binocular vision when it is looking down its nose.

A horse has a wide range of vision. A horse can see completely around its entire body except for small blind spots directly in front of its face, underneath its head, and directly behind itself. This is why it's very important not to walk up right behind a horse - you are in its blind spot and if you startle it you may get kicked. Below: The areas with a #1 shows where a horse has monocular vision. The area with a #2 shows where a horse has binocular vision. Most of the time, wherever a horse's ear is pointing is where the horse is looking with the eye on the same side. If the ears are pointing in different directions, the horse is looking at two different things at the same time. There are exceptions to this. For example, if a horse has its ears pinned back against its neck in anger, this does not mean it is looking backwards with both eyes. Below: This horse is looking forward with his right eye, and back with his left eye. A Horse Is A Horse When... A horse is usually not considered to be a "horse" until it is 5 years old. Before that, males are known as colts and females are known as fillies.

However, it is still acceptable to call a colt or filly a horse. A foal is a very young horse and can be either male or female. A Horse Has A Frog......Four, Actually On the underside of a horse's hoof is a triangular shaped area called the "frog." When pushed on the frog has a firm, rubbery feel that yields to pressure. Each time the frog comes into contact with the ground it acts as a shock absorber for a horse's leg, and also helps to pump blood back up the leg. A healthy, functioning frog that makes good contact with the ground is vital to the hoof and leg health of a horse. Below: The yellow highlights outline the frog. Horses Are Ungulates A horse is an ungulate, which means it is a mammal with hooves. Horses have one hoof at the end of each leg, which makes them odd-toed ungulates. Cattle have two hooves at the end of each leg, which makes them even-toed ungulates. Below: A horse hoof. Horse Facts: Height Horses height is measured in units known as "hands." One hand is equal to four inches.

A horse is usually considered to be 14.2 (14 hands, 2 inches) or taller when mature. Anything under 14.2 when mature is usually considered to be a pony. We have a more detailed article on horse height here . Flehmen Posture The flehmen posture (also called the flehmen position, the flehmen response, and other similar names) is a posture sometimes exhibited by mammals, including horses, when they encounter an interesting or stimulating scent. The flehmen posture is characterized by a raised, extended neck and head, along with a raising and curling of the upper lip, usually exposing some upper teeth. While scientists aren't sure why mammals perform the flehmen posture, it seems to be a way for the animal to trap and analyze interesting odors. Below: A horse exhibiting the flehmen posture. Coronary Band The coronary band (sometimes also called the cornary band or coronet band) is a band of tissue circling a horse's leg just above the hoof. The coronary band is the source from which the hoof wall grows. An injury to the coronary band can sometimes result in irregular hoof growth and/or an unsound hoof wall.

In the photo below you can see that this mare's leg has a scar resulting from a deep cut that extended into the coronary band. In this case, even though the growth of the hoof wall was affected, she was sound for light use. Below: The blue arrows point to the coronary band circling the hoof. BLM Brand A BLM brand is a brand placed on an animal by the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is probably best known as the brand used on BLM horses (aka "mustangs). The brand uses a system known as the "angle system" to create the numbers 0-9 with only two characters. We have a lot more information on BLM brands, including how to read them, here: What Is The Angle System For Branding . Below: A BLM brand on a horse. Horse Facts: Teeth Adult female horses (mares) usually have 36 teeth. A mare may have up to 40 teeth if she happens to have any canine teeth, which is possible but less common. Adult males have between 40 and 44 teeth. (These figures do not include wolf teeth.) "Wolf teeth" in horses are teeth that are vestigial premolars.

"Vestigial" means something that has lost most or all of its original function through evolution. Wolf teeth are usually just on the upper jaw but are sometimes found on the lower jaw, too. They are not present on all horses, but are nonetheless not uncommon. Wolf teeth can be a serious nuisance and most horsemen have them removed. Since wolf teeth typically have poorly developed roots, they are usually quickly and easily removed. Below: There are no wolf teeth on this horse skull. However, the blue arrow is pointing to the approximate location where a wolf tooth would be found. Wolf teeth cannot always be seen. They can remain below the surface of the gum where they are called "unerupted" or "blind" wolf teeth. However, they can usually be felt as little bumps in the gum. Blind wolf teeth often cause a horse a great deal of soreness in the mouth so they should be removed the same as wolf teeth that have erupted above the gum line. Be careful if you decide to feel for blind wolf teeth in a horse's mouth - a horse may react suddenly and violently if you touch a sore spot on its gum.

For more information on wolf teeth, including photos of extracted wolf teeth, please see this page in our CowboyWay.com dictionary: Wolf Teeth . Adult horses have teeth that are several inches long. Most of the tooth cannot be seen because it is below the gum line. Little by little the teeth erupt through the gum to replace the surface of the teeth as they are worn down. This is one of the reasons why a horse's teeth should be checked to see if they need floated at least once a year: As the teeth erupt their formerly smooth and even surface can become uneven and sharp. A horse's upper jaw is wider than its lower jaw. During normal chewing sharp edges or points frequently form along the outside edge of the upper teeth and the inside edge of the lower teeth due to the uneven grinding surface created by the different width of the jaws. A horse's age can usually be accurately determined by its teeth until the horse is about 9 years old. After that, a horse is known as "smooth mouthed" or "aged" and it becomes far more difficult or impossible to tell its age by its teeth. The "interdental space" is an area in a horse's mouth, both on the upper and lower jaws, where there is not any teeth.

This area is between the front teeth (the incisors) and the back teeth (the molars). When a horse is bridled, the interdental space is where the bit rests. On the bottom jaw, most horsemen refer to this area of bare gums as the "bars." In the photo below, the yellow arrows are pointing to the interdental space. Below: The interdental space. "Floating" a horse's teeth means to file or rasp their teeth. This is done to make the chewing surfaces relatively flat or smooth, and to prevent sharp edges from forming and cutting the inside of the horse's mouth. The type of file used for this is called a "float," which is where the procedure gets its name. We have more information on floating a horse's teeth here . In the photo below you can see a horse getting its teeth floated. This particular horse is handled very seldom and is therefore is stocks, blindfolded, and lightly sedated. This is for the protection of both the horse and the veterinarian performing the procedure. An equine dental speculum is keeping the horse's mouth open. The veterinarian will file, or float, the teeth on both the upper and lower jaws. Below: A horse getting its teeth floated.

Horse Terms Colt - A young male horse, 4 years old or younger. The word "colt" is also sometimes used more casually to refer to a young horse that is male or female. Filly - A young female horse, 4 years old or younger. Foal - A newborn or very young horse, male or female. Gelding - A male horse that has been castrated, or gelded. Horse Colt - Another way of saying "colt," which is a young male horse, 4 years old or younger. In casual conversation some people refer to any young horse, or a young horse of unknown gender, as a "colt," so the term "horse colt" is sometimes used to make sure there is no misunderstanding that the young horse is a male. Mare - A mature female horse. Stallion - A male horse that has not been castrated. Dam - The term give to a female horse when she becomes a mother. Sire - The term given to a stallion when he becomes a father. Chestnuts Horse chestnuts are normal, healthy growths found on most horse's legs.

Chestnuts appear on the front legs of a horse above the knee, or on the back legs of a horse below the hock. They can be large or very small. Some people call horse chestnuts "night eyes." For more information about horse chestnuts, please see our article What Are Horse Chestnuts and Ergots? Below: A horse chestnut above the knee. Inside A Horse The horse has one stomach. In contrast, cattle, sheep, goats, bison, deer, elk, caribou, moose, and camels are "ruminants" which means (among other things) they have four digestive chambers instead of just one stomach. The horse is an herbivore, which means it feeds mostly on plants. The normal horse’s small intestine is about 70 feet long. The normal horse's large intestine is about 12 feet long. The average horse's heart weighs approximately 9 or 10 pounds. The great New Zealand / Australian racehorse, Phar Lap, had a heart that weighed 14 pounds. The great American racehorse Secretariat had a heart estimated during his autopsy to weigh 21 pounds, though the heart was not weighed.

Horses produce approximately 10 gallons of saliva a day. Ermine Marks Ermine marks are black or dark spots that appear in white markings just above the hoof. Below: A horse with ermine marks. Horse Records The tallest horse on record was a Shire named Samson. He was 21.2 hands (7 feet, 2 inches) tall. He was born in 1846 in Toddington Mills, England. The oldest horse on record is "Old Billy," an English barge horse. He was 62 years old when he died, living from 1760 to 1822. The record for the highest jump made by a horse is held by a horse named Huaso who jumped 8 feet, 1 and 1/4 inches on February 5th, 1949 in Vina del Mar, Chile. He was ridden by Captain Alberto Larraguibel. The record for the longest jump over water is held by a horse named Something who jumped 27 feet, 6 and 3/4 inches on April 25, 1975 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was ridden by Andre Ferreira.

Mares Have Halves A mare is a female horse. Externally, her udder is made up of two halves, or sides, each with its own teat. In comparison, cow udders are made up of four quarters (each with its own teat), not two halves. Below: A mare's udder showing two teats. What is a Male Horse Called Â What is a Male Horse Called So you are wondering what a male horse is called? Male horses are called different words, depending on their age and other factors. A male horse, when it is born, is called a colt. Most colts are gelded (the horse term for neutering) between the ages of 6 months and 18 months. A male colt that is ungelded is called a "stud colt". After the age of two years male horses are correctly referred to as geldings ("neutered") or stallions (un"neutered"). A stallion can also be referred to as a "stud". \

Question: If young female horses are called fillies, what are young male horses called?
Answer: Colts