What Is a Foal

Nursing Foals

Foals live on their mother’s milk for the first weeks of its life. The first milk it receives shortly after birth contains important immune-building qualities. By the time a foal is about two months old, it will need to eat grass and is often fed special concentrates made for foals, because its mother’s milk will no longer supply enough nutrition to support its rapid growth.

Domestic horses are usually weaned early, at about three to six months, while feral horses may wean much later. Mares are often bred shortly after they give birth, so in early pregnancy, are nursing a rapidly growing foal. Occasionally, a mature horse will still try to nurse, and be very attached to its mother, but this is largely due to poor management by its owners, rather than any need on the horse’s part.

Weaning

Foals may be weaned at any time between three months and a year. Once weaned, the foal may be referred to has a weanling. During this time, they continue to grow rapidly. While it’s best to start handling a foal from birth, training in hand can begin and it’s necessary to teach a weanling ground manners. They will not be ready to ride until they are more mature. Some people start as early as two years, while most prefer to wait until the horse is about four years of age.

Usually, the term foal is used to refer to a very young horse, but you'll sometimes hear an adult horse referred to as another horse's, either it's sire or dam's foal. The word colt is sometimes used to refer a baby horse, but this is incorrect as a colt is always a male foal.