Horse Terminology

3. A female horse over the age of three, that is kept for breeding purposes.
6. If a mare produces offspring, the female horse will be referred to as a dam in this context (A horse’s mother).
7. This is a stallion that has been castrated so they can no longer breed or inseminate. When a horse is gelded they also have their hormone levels buffered, meaning they will behave in a much calmer and controlled fashion.
10. Sometimes known as a ‘weaner’, is a horse that is often between half a year and a year old. They are classed as a weanling once they no longer rely on their mother’s feed and are being introduced to a proper diet.
11. An offspring from a Stallion

1. A juvenile horse can cross over into colt/filly classification, but is traditionally a horse at the age of two years old.
2. These are un-castrated stallions of the highest quality that are sought after for breeding.
4. A stallion or colt that has not been castrated
5. This a horse older than a foal but too young to be a colt or filly. As it is said in the name, a yearling is a horse that is a year old. They are still a yearling all the way up to their second birthday.
8. A male horse that is under the age of four. More specifically, in thoroughbred racing terms this is a male horse older than two but up to the age of four, that has not been castrated.
9. This is the term for either a male or female horse that is under the age of one year (can be either gelded or not gelded). This is the generalized term for a newborn horse, before being categorized into gendered phrases like below.