August 1 horses birthday. What of horse born in July?

Question

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080731004640AAhxBE6

This question, ( and answers) got me thinking. What would happen to a horse born July 30. Would it become 1 year old, the day after it was born? Or would it need to wait till the following Augest 1?

I am not into horses at all, and dont really understand how this works.

Answer 1

G'day again (hey a new interface in which to put the answer)

CARNA TIGES; go Richo you good thing, you.

This question was on Red Symons' show today (1/08) and an expert he had on said that if the mother was serviced on or after 01 September, then any born prematurely (before 1 Aug) has be deemed to born on 1 Aug for official purposes.

He said that the gestation period for a horse was eleven months; so a horse could still be born in late July; but fitting the 1 Septemeber service rule.

Answer 2

horses aren't really born on the 1st of august, its just something that someone has said or something like that.

Answer 3

The 1st of August birthdate is only a Thoroughbred racehorse thing because it's hard to celebrate every race horses birthday in an industry (and because it's around the time/start of the season the foals are born oh and because birthdates aren't exactly kept track of). If a horse is born July 30 it doesn't turn 1 the next day. It's more counted on the year they were born than the exact date. It would have to wait til the next July 30 (or... well... 1 August).

I have friends who have thoroughbred ex-race horses and haven't known their birthdates so they used to just celebrate 1 August (they know the age because of brands), most of them though have been able to look up their brands and find out all their info (one of my friends even has race footage of her horse and he's 19yo now).

Answer 4

According to this site http://www.ncagr.com/cyber/kidswrld/gene...

"Horses all have their birthday on the same day. This makes it easier for keeping racing, breeding and showing records. In the northern Hemisphere, (which includes the USA, Canada and Europe), horses have their birthday on January the 1st. But, in the southern hemisphere, (which includes Australia, New Zealand and Japan), horses have their birthday on August the 1st. "

The exception is endurance horses which celebrate their birthday on the actual date of their birth.

Apparently a horse is considered a foal until it is one year old and then it is termed a yearling - there seems to be a bit of a debate as to whether a horse born on July 31st could be considered 1 year old the day after its birth. However it is unlikely that most trainers would consider their horse as a year old if this was the case.

... Now I know why I have dogs (grin) - their birthdays are easy!!!

Answer 5

the horse would be 1 day old unless it was throughbred racehorse with a whetherbys passport. all wetherbys racehorses have the same official "birthday" to make it easier to race the horses in age catergories, but this does not apply to normal horses.

Answer 6

Unless you are racing your horse, its birthday is the day it is born. Happy Birthday to your horse today, August 1st!

Answer 7

in england the date is first of january.  a foal born on 31st december is deemed to be a year old.  this used to be just for racehorses but is used by all breed societies now.  very strict now because of the age classes at horse shows.

Answer 8

It would be 1 the next day?  Don't know, just know all horses birthdays are August 1st when they are racehorses.