foal

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Two day old Przewalski foal . Very young foals of these wild horses have a light-colored foal coat, which is replaced by a darker coat a few days after birth.
Zebra mare with foal

A foal or filling (. See . Mycenaean <po-ro> or . Give a wiki πῶλος / Polos / lat. Pullus over - the first sound shift - got. Fula u. OHG. Fulo ) is a young animal of the family Equidae (Equidae) and Camels (Camelidae). Colloquially , the term foal describes a domestic horse that is not yet a year old. As a verb, it describes the birth of a foal. When the foal reaches the age of two, one speaks of a yearling.

Domestic horses

Gestation time and birth

Newborn foal. The croup and hind quarters are still in the amniotic sac , the head and nostrils are free for breathing . The mare licks the amniotic fluid from the foal's fur.
Mare with suckling foal
Mare with galloping foal

The gestation period of the horse mare is usually 315 to 340 days. In horse breeding, the mare is set up in a foaling box for the birth , which she inhabits a few weeks before the due date. The foal is usually born at night and the birth takes about half an hour. The newborn weighs 30 to 60 kilograms and is between 75 and 145 cm tall , depending on the breed . Minishetty foals are sometimes only 40 cm tall.

After giving birth, the mare and foal lie on the ground for a while. During this time, blood is still being transferred to the foal via the placenta . At the latest when the mother gets up to lick the newborn, the umbilical cord breaks . The foal also stands on its own wobbly legs for the first time after about 15 minutes. By standing up and moving, the lungs expand. If the foal lies too long, it will lose strength. They have to get up quickly and drink breast milk to strengthen them. When the horses still lived mainly in the wilderness, they had to be able to stand and walk early in order to run with the herd and, if necessary, flee.

The most important nutrition in the first phase of life is the first milk, also called colostrum or colostrum , which contains essential substances for the immune system and the metabolism . In addition, the composition of the colostrum ensures the foal's first bowel movement, the intestinal pitch . As the foal can only absorb antibodies through the intestinal wall in the first 36 hours , the colostrum ensures survival during this period. If colostrum is not consumed, there is a high risk of infectious diseases such as foal paralysis . The foal starts suckling about every half an hour, consuming about 10% of its own body weight per day. In the wild it is sucked off between the sixth and twelfth month of life.

rearing

Kladruber foals in herd association
Foals often rest lying down

Ideally, the foal makes its first pasture after a few days and, as a steppe animal, already has good control over its motor skills . It will soon also nibble on grass, which ensures the beginning of normal digestion and a balanced vitamin balance.

Foals quickly learn to play with other animals and to adapt and fit into the herd. In doing so, they also develop their stamina and motor skills as well as strong muscles and tendons. In nature they are only driven away by their mother after a year, in horse breeding they are often separated after three months. Individual rearing and early separation from the mother can, according to prevailing opinion, have a negative effect on the young animal's social behavior. There are different opinions about the optimal way of weaning , separation from the mother mare. Some breeders prefer an abrupt separation, others a gradual one. In the second variant, the foals are initially allowed back to the mother after about 10 to 15 minutes. This time is continuously extended so that the mother mare and foal can slowly get used to the separation. The foal separated from the mother is called a heifer .

A colt is sexually mature at around twelve months; a mare does not become horsey for the first time until she is two years old . H. ready to mate. However, it is recommended to wait at least until the age of three before the first mating, when the animal is largely grown, so as not to damage the spine. In order to avoid unwanted pregnancy of the young mares, it is therefore important to rear the colts and fillies separately after weaning.

education

If the foal is intended as a future riding horse, carriage horse or workhorse, it is important to get it used to people from birth and to train it patiently and lovingly, but consistently. There are different schools of education. The best thing to do is to get the foal used to someone who is raising it.

Classical upbringing

This type of education usually begins one to two days after the foal is born. The young horse should slowly get used to humans. In the beginning, it's all about people approaching you and being touched. Once it has got used to the human, the next step is to put a halter on the foal and begin the lead exercises. If the foal reacts well to the halter and lead rope, exercises such as hoofing and grooming can be started. The above exercises are especially important if the foal needs a vet or farrier .

Imprinting

Imprinting is a very controversial method of foal training. Here, humans begin with the upbringing and shaping of the animal immediately after birth : the newborn is - contrary to his instincts - prevented from getting up. The human then touches the foal all over and reaches into all body orifices (mouth, nostrils, ears, anus) until the animal no longer defends itself against these touches, but lets them calm down. The first lesson usually lasts between half an hour and an hour. In order to achieve the desired success, these measures must of course be repeated regularly. They are intended to make it easier to deal with the horse later - both for possible future owners and for veterinarians, blacksmiths, etc. Horses that were trained according to this method are very well-behaved but often overly submissive.

Foal squad

A training method that is rarely used today is the foal command . The trainer takes on the role of the lead animal.

Local names

In Bavaria there are still the words hot or hot for a foal or small foal. See also English Horse or Icelandic Hestur.

Web links

Wiktionary: foals  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Foal  album with pictures, videos and audio files