Colt (horse)
{{Short description|Male horse usually below 4 years old}}
{{For|other things called "colt"|Colt (disambiguation){{!}}Colt}}
A colt is a young male horse, usually below the age of four years.This definition is preferred by [https://web.archive.org/web/20120712031841/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/colt OED], [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colt Merriam Webster], [http://www.answers.com/topic/colt Saunders Veterinary dictionary], [http://www.yourdictionary.com/colt Websters (with narrow exceptions)] and [http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/colt Collins]{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/colt |title=Colt | Define Colt at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=2012-10-21}}
Description
The term "colt" only describes young male horses and is not to be confused with foal, which is a horse of either sex less than one year of age. Similarly, a yearling is a horse of either sex between the ages of one and two. A young female horse is called a filly, and a mare once she is an adult animal. In horse racing, particularly for Thoroughbreds in the United Kingdom, a colt is defined as an uncastrated male from the age of two up to and including the age of four.{{cite book |title=The Punter's Friend |last1=Waterman |first1=Jack |year= 1999 |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=Harpenden, Herts, UK |isbn=1852916001 }}
The term is derived from Proto-Germanic *kultaz ("lump, bundle, offspring") and is etymologically related to "child."{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOYOAQAAMAAJ&q=kultaz+colt|title=Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse|first1=Marsha Ann|last1=Levine|first2=Colin|last2=Renfrew|first3=Katherine V.|last3=Boyle|first4=McDonald Institute for Archaeological|last4=Research|date=August 26, 2003|publisher=McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research|isbn=9781902937090|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/colt|title=colt | Origin and meaning of colt by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}
An adult male horse, if left intact, is called either a "stallion" if used for breeding, or a horse (sometimes full horse); if castrated, it is called a gelding. In some cases, particularly informal nomenclature, a gelding under four years is still called a colt. A rig or ridgling is a male equine with a retained testicle or one which has been incompletely castrated.Summerhayes, RS, Encyclopaedia for Horsemen, Warne & Co, London & New York, 1966
In the wild, colts are driven from their herds by the herd stallion somewhere between the age of one and two. This may be, in part, an instinct to prevent inbreeding. When driven out, they usually join with other young stallions in a bachelor herd. They stay with this band until they are mature enough to form their own herd of mares. The terms "rag" or "rake" have been historically used to refer to a group of colts, but they have fallen out of modern usage.Barrows, Edward M. Animal Behavior Desk Reference. CRC Press, 2001. p. 296.Oxford English Dictionary 1933: Rag
{{multiple image
|align=center
| header = Colts of different ages
|caption_align=center
|total_width=800
| width1=549
| height1= 599
| image1 = Kyllachy - Baralinka colt foal (6205621238).jpg
| alt1 = A weanling colt
| caption1 = A weanling colt
| width2= 800
| height2= 577
| image2 = Royal Applause-Kalinova yearling colt (6113155815).jpg
| alt2 = A yearling colt
| caption2 = A yearling colt
| width3=798
| height3= 599
| image3 = AA Couture (Mishaal HP x Bint Bint Aminaa) in the World Class colts Class at the 2009 Egyptian Event (3636510363).jpg
| alt3 = A two-year-old colt
| caption3 = A two-year-old colt
| width4=398
| height4= 479
| image4=Big Brown Belmont.jpg
| alt4 = A three-year-old colt at a racetrack
|caption4=A three-year-old colt (Big Brown)
}}
References
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