A foal is an equine, particularly a horse, that is one year old or younger. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, but these terms are used until the horse is age three or four. When the foal is nursing from its dam (mother), it may also be called a ''suckling''. After the young horse has been weaned from its dam, it may be called a ''weanling''.

After a horse is one year old, it is no longer a foal, and is called a ''yearling''. There are no special age-related terms for young horses older than yearlings. When young horses reach breeding maturity, the terms change: a filly over the age of three (four in horse racing) is called a mare and a colt over the age of three is called a stallion. A castrated male horse is called a gelding, regardless of age, though colloquially the term "gelding colt" is sometimes used until a young gelding is three or four years old. (There is no specific term for a spayed female horse, they are simply "spayed mares".)

Horses that mature at a small size are called ponies and are occasionally confused with foals. However, body proportions are very different. An adult pony can be ridden and put to work, while a foal, regardless of size, is too young to be ridden or used as a working animal. Foals, whether they grow up to be horse or pony-sized, can be distinguished from adult horses by their extremely long legs and small, slim bodies. Their heads and eyes also exhibit juvenile characteristics. Although ponies exhibit some neoteny with the wide foreheads and small size, their body proportions are similar to that of an adult horse. Pony foals are proportionally smaller than adults, but like horse foals, are slimmer and proportionally longer-legged than their adult parents.

Early development

Foals are born after a gestation period of approximately 11 months. Birth takes place quickly, consistent with the status of a horse as a prey animal, and more often at night than during the day. Foals are born with an ability to quickly escape from predators; normally a foal will stand up and nurse within the first hour after it is born, can trot and canter within hours, and most can gallop by the next day. A newborn foal's legs are almost as long (90%) as those of an adult horse.

Healthy foals grow quickly and can put on up to three pounds or over a kilo a day. A sound diet improves growth and leads to a healthier adult animal, although genetics also plays a part. In the first weeks of life the foal gets everything it needs from the mare's milk. Like a human infant, it receives nourishment and antibodies from the colostrum in milk that is produced within the first few hours or days following parturition. The mare needs additional water to help her produce milk for the foal and may benefit from supplementary nutrition.

A foal may start to eat solids from ten days of age, after eight to ten weeks it will need more nutrition than the mare's milk can supply; supplementary feeding is required by then. It is important when adding solid food to the foal's diet to not overfeed the foal or feed an improperly balanced diet. This can trigger one of several possible growth disorders that can cause lifelong soundness problems. On the other hand, insufficient nutrition to mare or foal can cause stunted growth and other health problems for the foal as it gets older.

Weaning and maturity

It is typical for foals under human management to be weaned between four and six months of age, though under natural conditions, they may nurse for longer, occasionally until the following year when the mare foals again. A foal that has been weaned but is less than one year old is called a weanling.

Mare's milk is not a significant source of nutrients for the foal after about four months, though it does no harm to a healthy mare for a foal to nurse a month or two longer and may be of some psychological benefit to the foal. A mare that is both nursing and pregnant will have increased nutritional demands made upon her in the last months of pregnancy, and therefore most domesticated foals are weaned some time in the autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Weanlings are not capable of reproduction. Puberty occurs in most horses during their yearling year. Therefore, some young horses are capable of reproduction prior to full physical maturity, though it is not common. Two year olds sometimes are deliberately bred, though doing so, particularly with fillies, may put undesirable stress on their still-growing bodies. As a general rule, breeding young horses prior to the age of three is considered undesirable.

Early training

In spite of rapid growth, a foal is too young to be ridden or driven. However, foals usually receive very basic horse training in the form of being taught to accept being led by humans, called halter-breaking. They may also learn to accept horse grooming, hoof trimming by a farrier, having hair trimmed with electric clippers, and to become familiar with things it will have to do throughout life, such as loading into a horse trailer or wearing a horse blanket. One of the most important aspects of working with foals is to remember that horses in general have excellent memories, so a foal must not be taught anything as a young horse that would be undesirable for it to do as a full-grown animal.

There is tremendous debate over the proper age to begin training a foal. Some advocate beginning to accustom a foal to human handling from the moment of birth, using a process termed imprinting or "imprint training". Others feel that imprint training of a foal interferes with the mare and foal bond and prefer to wait until the foal is a few days old, but do begin training within the first week to month of life. Yet other horse breeding operations wait until weaning, theorizing that a foal is more willing to bond to a human as a companion at the time it is separated from its mother. Regardless of theory, most modern horse breeding operations consider it wise to give a foal basic training while it is still young, and consider it far safer than trying to tame a semi-feral adult-sized horse.

Horses are not fully mature until the age of four or five, but most are started as working animals much younger, though care must be taken not to over-stress the "soft" bones of younger animals. Yearlings are generally too young to be ridden at all, though many race horses are put under saddle as "long" yearlings, in autumn. Physiologically young horses are still not truly mature as two-year olds, though some breeders and most race horse trainers do start young horses in a cart or under saddle at that age. The most common age for young horses to begin training under saddle is the age of three. A few breeds and disciplines wait until the animal is four.

See also

Horse breeding

References

Lyons, John and Jennifer J. Denison. ''Bringing Up Baby.'' Primedia Enthusiast Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-929164-12-2. Describes methods of training a young horse from birth up until it is old enough to ride.

Miller, Robert M. ''Imprint Training of the Newborn Foal.'' Western Horseman Books, 2003. ISBN 1-58574-666-5 Explains imprint training of young foals in the first days of life.

Category:Types of horse Category:Horse breeding and studs

br:Ebeul da:Føl de:Fohlen myv:Вашо es:Potro fr:Poulain is:Folald it:Puledro ku:Canî nl:Veulen (dier) nds-nl:Vul no:Føll nds:Fahl pl:Źrebię scn:Pudditru fi:Varsa sv:Föl tr:Tay

Name	Michael Fassbender
Birth date	April 02, 1977
Birth place	Heidelberg, Germany
Occupation	Actor }}

Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish-German actor. He is known for playing Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009) and Magneto in the superhero blockbuster ''X-Men: First Class'' (2011). His other credits include the 2007 film ''300'', the 2009 film ''Fish Tank'', the 2011 ''Jane Eyre'' adaptation, the 2011 David Cronenberg film ''A Dangerous Method'', in which he plays psychologist Carl Jung, as well as the acclaimed Steve McQueen-directed movies ''Hunger'' (2008) and ''Shame'' (2011), the most recent of which won him the Best Actor award at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. He will star in the upcoming Ridley Scott film, ''Prometheus'' (2012).

Background

Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, West Germany (now Germany). His mother, Adele, is Irish and a native of Larne, County Antrim, and his father, Josef Fassbender, is German. According to Fassbender's "family lore", his mother is the great-great-niece of Michael Collins, an Irish leader during the War of Independence. When he was two years old, his parents moved to Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, where they ran West End House, a restaurant, and where his father worked as a chef. Fassbender was brought up as a Catholic and served as an altar boy. He attended St. Brendan's, Killarney (The Sem) and the Drama Centre in North London. Shifting between British films and American films, Fassbender currently resides in London, UK, while making career-related visits to Los Angeles, California. Fassbender speaks conversational German, though he has stated that he needed to brush up a bit on his spoken German before filming ''Inglourious Basterds'', as it was a bit rusty. He has also expressed interest in performing in a German language film or theater production one day.

Career

Early work

Fassbender first played the part of Burton "Pat" Christenson in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's award-winning ''Band of Brothers''. He played the character of Azazeal in both series of ''Hex'' on Sky One and he also starred as the main character in the music video for the song "Blind Pilots", by the British band The Cooper Temple Clause. In the video, he plays the part of a man on a stag night with his friends, only to slowly transform into a goat due to wearing a cowbell necklace.

Fassbender played the part of Jonathan Harker in a 10-part radio serialization of ''Dracula'' produced by BBC Northern Ireland and broadcast in the Book at Bedtime series between 24 November and 5 December 2003. He was also seen in early 2004 in a Guinness television commercial, ''The Quarrel'', playing a man who swims across the ocean from Ireland to apologize personally to his brother in New York.

During the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fassbender played Michael Collins in ''Allegiance'', a play by Mary Kenny based on the meeting between Winston Churchill and Collins, of whom Fassbender's mother is a great-niece. In addition, he produced, directed and starred in the stage version of Quentin Tarantino's ''Reservoir Dogs'', along with his production company.

He appeared in ''Angel'' (UK title: ''The Real Life of Angel Deverell''), about the rise and fall of an eccentric young British writer (played by Romola Garai) in the early 20th century. Fassbender plays her love interest and average painter Esmé. The drama – the first English-language effort by French director François Ozon and based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor – was premiered on 17 February 2007 at the Berlin International Film Festival and on 14 March 2007 in Paris. He then made a brief appearance in ''Wedding Belles'' as Barney, speaking with a Scottish accent.

Mainstream success

Fassbender first broke into American mainstream consciousness with a memorable role as Stelios in the 2006 film ''300'' directed by Zack Snyder.

In preparation for his role as Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's 2008 film ''Hunger'', Fassbender underwent a crash diet that restricted him to 600 calories a day. He received the British Independent Film Award for his performance.

One year after his success at the Cannes Film Festival with ''Hunger'', he appeared in two films. First was Quentin Tarantino's ''Inglourious Basterds'', in which he played the British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox. The other film was ''Fish Tank'' directed by Andrea Arnold. Both were critically acclaimed and Fassbender's work in them also well received.

Starting a period when his "star status has risen exponentially" according to one observer, in 2010, Fassbender appeared in ''Jonah Hex'' and filmed ''Haywire'', (previously titled ''Knockout''.). He also portrayed Quintus Dias in Neil Marshall's War-Thriller-Drama film ''Centurion''. and was cast as 'Richard Wirth' in the Joel Schumacher film ''Blood Creek'' alongside Dominic Purcell. Joel Schumacher signed to direct ''Blood Creek'', the horror movie for Gold Circle and Lionsgate. The story centers on a West Virginia man who comes to terms with his moral qualms and helps his brother wipe out a family that had been protecting a Nazi occultist and who had kept his brother captive for him to feed off for years.

Fassbender played Edward Rochester in the 2011 film ''Jane Eyre'', featuring Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Cary Fukunaga directing.

Fassbender portrayed Magneto in the superhero blockbuster ''X-Men: First Class'', the prequel to ''X-Men''. Set in 1962, it focused on the friendship between Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The film was released on 3 June 2011 to general acclaim and financial success and promoted Fassbender to being more of a popular movie star.

In 2011, Fassbender starred in ''A Dangerous Method'' by director David Cronenberg, playing Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung, and in ''Shame'', as a man in his '30s struggling with his sex addiction. ''Shame'' reunited him with director Steve McQueen, and premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, where Fassbender won a Volpi Cup best actor award for his portrayal of Brandon. ''A Dangerous Method'' was also shown at Venice. Fassbender was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2012 for his portrayal of Brandon in Shame, but eventually lost out to George Clooney.

Future projects

In 2012, Fassbender will star in ''Prometheus'', directed by Ridley Scott, and co-starring Noomi Rapace. He will play an android named David in the film, scheduled for release on June 8, 2012.

Due to a schedule conflict, Fassbender had to pull out of negotiations to work with Oscar-winning director, Danny Boyle, in his new film, ''Trance''.

In early 2012, he will be seen in movie theatres playing Paul in Haywire by Steven Soderbergh, an international action/thriller film.

Adding to what appears to be another busy year in 2012, Fassbender has just signed on to star in actor Brendan Gleeson's directorial debut of ''At Swim-Two-Birds'', a film adaptation of Irish author Flann O'Brien's novel. Another project has been announced to add to Michael's developing filming schedule for 2012, he will team up for a third time with Hunger and Shame director Steve McQueen, to co-star in a yet to be determined role, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, portraying Solomon Northup, in ''Twelve Years A Slave''.

In 2013, Fassbender is set to take on the role of Harry Flashman in a film adaptation of the books by George MacDonald Fraser.

Filmography

''Band of Brothers (TV miniseries) ''Hearts and Bones (TV series) ''NCS: Manhunt ''Holby City'' ''Carla'' ''Gunpowder, Treason & Plot'' ''Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder ''Winnipeg the Bear#Film adaptation ''Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking'' ''Murphy's Law (TV series) ''Our Hidden Lives'' ''Hex (TV series) ''William and Mary (TV series) ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'' episode ''After the Funeral'' ''Trial & Retribution: Sins of the Father'' ''300 (film) ''Angel (2007 film) ''Wedding Belles'' ''Hunger (2008 film) ''[[Eden Lake'' ''The Devil's Whore'' ''Blood Creek'' ''Fish Tank (film) ''[[Inglourious Basterds'' ''Centurion (film) ''Jonah Hex (film) ''Jane Eyre (2011 film) ''X-Men: First Class'' IGN ''A Dangerous Method'' ''Shame (2011 film)Alliance of Women Film Journalists ''Pitch Black Heist'' ''Haywire (film) ''Prometheus (film)

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes/Awards
2000	''In His Life''	Stu Sutcliffe
2001	Band of Brothers'' ||	Burton 'Pat' Christenson	TV mini series
2001	Hearts and Bones'' ||	Hermann	TV series, 3 episodes
2002	NCS Manhunt'' ||	Jack Silver	TV series
2002	|	Christian Connolly	TV series, 1 episode
2003	|	Rob	TV
2004	|	Guy Fawkes	TV
2004	|	Charles Bravo	TV
2004	A Bear Named Winnie'' ||	Harry Colebourn>Lt. Harry Colebourn	TV
2004	|	Charles Allen	TV
2005	Murphy's Law'' ||	Caz Miller	TV series, 5 episodes
2005	|	German POW	TV
2005	Hex'' ||	Azazeal	TV series, 12 episodes (2 seasons, 2004–2005)
2005	William and Mary'' ||	Lukasz	TV series, 1 episode
2006	|	George Abernethie	TV series, 1 episode
2006	|	Douglas Nesbitt	TV, premiered on 19 October 2007
2007	300'' ||	Stelios
2007	Angel'' ||	Esmé Howe-Nevinson	premiered 17 February, directed by Francois Ozon
2007	|	Barney	TV, premiered on 29 March
2008	Hunger'' ||	Bobby Sands	British Independent Film Award for Best ActorChicago International Film Festival: Chicago International Film Festival#Best Actor>Silver Hugo for Best ActorThe 6th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards 2009
2008	|	Steve
2008	|	Thomas Rainsborough	Nominated – The 6th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards 2009>IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Television
2009	|	Richard Wirth
2009	Fish Tank'' ||	Connor	Chicago International Film Festival - Gold Plaque for Best Supporting ActorLondon Film Critics Circle Awards 2009#British Supporting Actor of the Year>London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actor of the YearNominated – BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor
2009	|	Lt. Archie Hicox	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastPhoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastSan Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2010	Centurion'' ||	Quintus Dias
2010	Jonah Hex'' ||	Burke
2011	Jane Eyre'' ||	Edward Rochester	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNBR Award: Spotlight Award
2011	|	Magneto (comics)>Erik Lensherr / Magneto	IGN Award for Best VillainIGN Award for Best Ensemble CastLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNBR Award: Spotlight AwardNominated – Scream Award for Best Fantasy ActorNominated – Scream Award for Breakout Performance – MaleNominated – Scream Award for Best EnsembleNominated – People's Choice Award for Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast
2011	|	Carl Jung	London Film Critics' Circle>London Critics' Circle Film Award for British Actor of the YearLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNBR Award: Spotlight Award
2011	Shame'' ||	Brandon Sullivan	Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best ActorBritish Independent Film Award for Best ActorDetroit Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorFlorida Film Critics Award for Best ActorHouston Film Critics Award for Best ActorIndie Wire Critics Survey for Best Lead Performance (tied with Michael Shannon)London Critics' Circle Film Award for British Actor of the YearLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNBR Award: Spotlight AwardOnline Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorVancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorVenice Film Festival - Volpi Cup for Best ActorNominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated – Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated – London Critics' Circle Film Award for Actor of the YearNominated – Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated – Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (runner-up)Nominated – St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated – Village Voice Film Poll - Best ActorNominated – Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorPending – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RolePending—AACTA International Award for Best ActorPending – IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role Film
2011	|	Michael	short, also executive producer
2012	Haywire'' ||	Paul
2012	Prometheus'' ||	David	''post-production''