A calf is a young domestic cow or bull. Calves are reared to become adult cattle or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal, and their hide.
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses. Furthermore, modern breeding management and technologies can increase the rate of conception, a healthy pregnancy, and successful foaling.
Pinnipeds, commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae, Otariidae, and Phocidae, with 34 extant species and more than 50 extinct species described from fossils. While seals were historically thought to have descended from two ancestral lines, molecular evidence supports them as a monophyletic group. Pinnipeds belong to the suborder Caniformia of the order Carnivora; their closest living relatives are musteloids, having diverged about 50 million years ago.
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the fetus at a developmental stage when it is ready to feed and breathe.
Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. In the UK, weaning primarily refers to the introduction of solid foods at 6 months; in the US, it primarily refers to stopping breastfeeding.
The northern elephant seal is one of two species of elephant seal. It is a member of the family Phocidae. Elephant seals derive their name from their great size and from the male's large proboscis, which is used in making extraordinarily loud roaring noises, especially during the mating competition. Sexual dimorphism in size is great. Correspondingly, the mating system is highly polygynous; a successful male is able to impregnate up to 50 females in one season.
A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use:
A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is nursing from its dam (mother), it may also be called a "suckling". After it has been weaned from its dam, it may be called a "weanling". When a mare is pregnant, she is said to be "in foal". When the mare gives birth, she is "foaling", and the impending birth is usually stated as "to foal". A newborn horse is "foaled".
Horse training refers to a variety of practices that teach horses to perform certain behaviors when commanded to do so by humans. Horses are trained to be manageable by humans for everyday care as well as for equestrian activities, ranging anywhere from equine sports such as horse racing, dressage, or jumping, to therapeutic horseback riding for people with disabilities.
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old. The word can also be used for other female equine animals, particularly mules and zebras, but a female donkey is usually called a "jenny". A broodmare is a mare used for breeding.
Equid alphaherpesvirus 4, formerly Equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4) is a virus of the family Herpesviridae that cause rhinopneumonitis in horses. It is the most important viral cause of respiratory infection in foals. Like other herpes viruses, EHV-4 causes a lifelong latent infection in affected animals. These horses are usually the source for new infection for foals over two months old, weanlings, and yearlings. Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, and discharge from the nose. Most infected animals recover in one to three weeks, but death can occur in environments with overcrowding and other stress factors. There are several vaccines available.
A nose ring is inserted into the nose of an animal. Nose rings are used to control bulls and occasionally cows, and to help wean young cattle by preventing suckling. Nose rings are used on pigs to discourage rooting. Some nose rings are installed through a pierced hole in the nasal septum or rim of the nose and remain there, while others are temporary tools.
A pen is an enclosure for holding livestock. It may also perhaps be used as a term for an enclosure for other animals such as pets that are unwanted inside the house. The term describes types of enclosures that may confine one or many animals. Construction and terminology vary depending on the region of the world, purpose, animal species to be confined, local materials used and tradition. Pen or penning as a verb refers to the act of confining animals in an enclosure.
A yearling is a young horse either male or female that is between one and two years old. Yearlings are comparable in development to a very early adolescent and are not fully mature physically. While they may be in the earliest stages of sexual maturity, they are considered too young to be breeding stock.
This is a basic glossary of equestrian terms that includes both technical terminology and jargon developed over the centuries for horses and other equidae, as well as various horse-related concepts. Where noted, some terms are used only in American English (US), only in British English (UK), or are regional to a particular part of the world, such as Australia (AU).
Creep feeding is a method of supplementing the diet of young livestock, primarily in beef calves, by offering feed to animals who are still nursing. Creep feed is sometimes offered to swine, and it is possible with companion grazing animals such as sheep and goats. Creep feeding is used almost exclusively in situations where animal prices are high, feed costs are low, offspring are born in the spring, and the animals are purebred.
Littleprincessemma is a Thoroughbred mare who raced twice but is notable as the dam of the American Triple Crown-winning racehorse American Pharoah. Bred by Brereton C. Jones, she sold in 2006 as a weanling filly for $135,000 and then the following year, as a yearling, she was purchased by Zayat Stables for $250,000. She was named after Ahmed Zayat's daughter, Emma. She is a chestnut with a blaze on her face, a stocking on her left hind leg and a sock on her right hind leg.
Bunting is a form of animal behavior, often found in felids, in which the animal butts or rubs its head against other things, including people. Bunting as a behaviour can be viewed as a variation of scent rubbing. This is when an animal, typically a carnivore, will rub its back on a scent, such as that of prey, or on the urine of an animal of the same species. Evolutionarily speaking, scent rubbing is the oldest form of scent communication and bunting is a derivative of this behaviour. Rolling in the scent of another animal was an adaptation to camouflage the scent of a predator or outside male, in order to get closer to mates.
A super weaner is an exceptionally large elephant seal at weaning age. Super weaners may reach their large sizes by stealing milk from nursing female elephant seals or by being adopted by an additional mother elephant seal.
