How Much Does a Baby Horse Weigh?

Mastering and understanding the weight of horses is quite important since it helps us maintain their health status. When a horse is born, it grows in size and increases its overall weight. The overall weight of a horse ranges between 800 to 2000 pounds. The weight of a horse varies from one to another considering the type of breed they belong to and their body size as well. Particularly, foals tend to increase their weight from day to day as they grow. Therefore, many really want to know ‘How much does a baby horse weigh?’ 

When a horse approaches 2 1/2 years, it will start attaining a certain body weight and size. As soon as they’re born, foals manage to stand upright an hour after they’re born. Moreover, foals manage to walk and run within a few hours after birth. The baby horses are adapted to be able to walk and run a few hours after birth since they’re usually at risk of becoming prey. Therefore, foals have long legs which help them flee danger and move around with their mother. 

Read: How Long Does It Take to Break a Horse?

The Weight of Baby Horses- Foals 

Regardless of the horse of the breed, newly born horses typically weigh a tenth/10% of what their mothers weigh. Therefore, if the parent horse weighs a thousand pounds, then the born foal should weigh a hundred pounds. If the mother horse is either 2000 and 1500 pounds, then their baby horses are expected to weigh between 200 pounds and 150 pounds respectively. A smaller horse e.g. a certain pony weighing around 900 to 1000 pounds will give birth to a foal weighing 90-100 pounds. 

Did you know?

Baby horses are quick growers since they tend to achieve their full-size adult body by the time they approach their fourth year. As your foal crosses the two-year-old mark, you’ll start noticing its adult body coming up. By the time it’s four years,  the foal will have attained its full body growth. 

When growing and taking care of horses, we’re recommended to keep an eye on their diet and nutrition levels. You can use a diet and nutrition program adapted for a certain breed. Slow and inadequate feeding practices might cause your horse to experience stunted growth. On the other hand, quick feeding and overfeeding practices might risk your horse and make it host for DOD (Developmental Orthopedic diseases. 

Therefore, we believe you’re good to go now that you understand, much does a horse baby weighs? Understanding a foal’s weight helps the owner observe their health status, growth, and nutrition constantly. Knowing the age of your foal will play a big role in determining their diet and medication approaches as well. 

How to Weigh Horses

If you want to know how much does a baby horse weigh, there are four methods you can undertake or follow when weighing your horse i.e. weight tapes, using a livestock scale, etc. 

  1. Using a livestock scale

You can go for a livestock scale which is well known to produce the least arbitrary estimation 

  1. Online calculators

There are various horse weight online calculators you can choose from. All you have to do is understand that the result you’ll acquire after using a certain formula will not be the actual weight (pound for pound), but just an estimated value from the calculation. 

  1. Using weight tapes

The weight tapes used to measure a horse’s weight look just the same as the ones used by tailors. They are wrapped around the horse’s barrel to approximate their overall weight. 

Reasons We Should Know Our Foal’s Weight

  1. Knowing the age of your baby horse helps the stableman determine the amount of food they should feed the foal.

For instance, if you own an adult horse, you should feed it between 15 to 20 pounds of feed. Remember to hydrate your horse constantly.

  1. Mastering your foal’s weight helps one observe and understand the seasonal changes.
  2. Understanding your horse’s weight will help you identify any health complications and come up with a medication response immediately. 
  3. If you know your horse’s weight, you’ll definitely understand the amount of labor it can offer in terms of carrying and pulling

Evaluating a Horse’s Overall Health

When estimating the weight of a horse, there’s a number of things you’ll have to check out:

  • Neck

If your horse neck’s born structure is visible, then your horse might be too thin

  • Spine

Seeing a spine ridging down a horse’s back is a sign that your horse is thin and you’ve got to do something about it. 

  • Tailhead

A visible tailhead in a horse means that your horse is probably thin

  • Ribs

The horse ribs are only supposed to be felt when touching them but not be seen. 

To increase the weight of your horse, there’s a number of steps you’ll have to take to achieve this. First of all, it all starts with diet and nutrition. The types of feeds you give to your horse will highly define the overall weight of the horse. Therefore, if you are looking forward to boosting your horse’s weight, you’ll have to alter its regular diet and introduce weight-increasing food material. However, keep an eye on the fat source and your horse’s training to make sure you take care of the horse’s weight. 

Quick Growing Foals

When baby horses approach their second year, their rate of growing shoots drastically. They begin gaining at least three pounds a day in terms of weight, muscle, and height. By the time a horse is two years old, it’s already 90% fully grown. 

This is usually enhanced by their amazing appetite that comes from their genetics. Foals start showing signs for solid food in early weeks but you’re recommended to wait until the 8th or 10th week to start giving them forage and grain. 

Final Word: How Much Does a Baby Horse Weigh?

This article is committed to helping you understand ‘How much does a baby horse weigh?’ You can now define the weight of your foal as soon as it is born. It also states the various important reasons why you should know and observe your foal’s weight and how you can even evaluate its general health

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