Fascinating Difference Between Foal And Pony – Foal vs Pony
Question
Foal and pony are sometimes regarded as baby horses, but that not just the case as a foal is still a baby horse, while a pony may be an adult horse.
A foal is the term for a baby horse. These are horses that are less than one year old.
Ponies belong to the equine family and are naturally short in stature. They have shorter legs and a thicker body than horses.
What Are Foals?
A foal is a baby horse less than one year old.
Horses go through foals, this occurs when they are not yet one year old. The next stage is weaning, or a horse that is a year old and ready to be weaned. They then become yearlings, or horses that are over a year old but are not yet adults.
Foals stay in the womb for 11 months and grow amazingly fast.
After birth, the foal is able to eat solid food within 10 days. A foal is the human equivalent of the term ‘baby’.
This means that these horses can be either male or female. When they are born, their legs are already 90% longer than those of adult horses.
A female foal is called a “mare” and a male foal is called a “colt”.
When foals reach the age of more than a year, they are officially called ‘yearlings’ and are no longer foals, so to speak.
They have been used by humans for transportation for thousands of years. Nowadays, they help on farms or are bred for racing.
What Are Ponies?
A pony is a small horse that is typically no taller than 14.2 hands when measured at the withers, the high point on the pony’s back where it meets the shoulder.
In addition to size, ponies differ from horses in several ways.
Ponies tend to have thicker manes and tails, are more closely coupled (have shorter backs), have a more stocky build and have shorter strides than horses. Although this is not always the case, some ponies are stubborn.
Ponies are a part of the equine family,
It is generally a cuddly and intelligent equine species. Modern ponies have been domesticated in the Northern Hemisphere for survival purposes.
Ponies can be of many different breeds. In most adventure parks, ponies are usually used to entice and ride children.
Key Differences
| Foal | Pony |
| Foal is the youngest age (less than one year) of any breed of large horse. | Pony is a small type of horse that does not grow large like horses. |
| Foals are smaller compared to ponies | Ponies are larger compared to foals in body size. |
| Foal has a loose hairy smooth fur coat. | Pony has a thick rough short coat of fur |
| Foals do not have fully developed mane and tail | Ponies have rough haired mane and tail |
| Legs of a foal are very long and thin. | The legs of a pony are dense |
| Their heads and legs are tender and slender and quite proportional. | Head and legs of a pony are larger and seem to look lopsided |
| Foals suckle milk from their mothers | Ponies are adult grazers. |
| A foal usually stays with the mother | A pony is an independent adult animal. |
| A foal’s ear is small with a lighter hoove than the pony | A pony’s ear is small though but with heavy hooves |
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