Foals are spunky, gangly, occasionally mischievous, and downright adorable. They run around on their too-long legs reminding us all to never take ourselves too seriously and that life is always worth enjoying. It seems that no matter how a foal comes into this world – whether their birth was expected and surrounded by love or a surprise that required some kind of rescue – they have a carefree nature that is impossible to miss.
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of being around a foal or have so far only admired them in pictures and videos, it’s important to know that there’s more to these big babies than their incredible cuteness.
A horse is only considered a foal for the first 12 months of its life. So you have plenty of time to enjoy the little joy that it can bring to you. If it’s male, it can be called a colt until it’s 2-3 years old. And if it’s female, the young horse is a filly until it’s 4 years old. After that, a horse is considered a mature adult, and those clumsy days as a foal are a distant memory.
We can see in this video that the foal has very long legs. There’s an important biological reason why foals are born with long, gangly legs. Long legs give them an advantage during the first few months of life when they need to keep up with their herd or risk being left behind. They need to run away from predators and travel for food and water. And as we can see, this little foal runs pretty fast.
Their long legs help them survive, even if they also make them somewhat clumsy. As they grow, the rest of their body catches up to their long legs, and their legs stay generally the same length.