7 years old. Gotta stop calling him a baby at some point.
Although horses with unknown birthdays have 1/1 on their passports, I confirmed that Mag was actually born on January 1st.
Do you know why he and most of his barn mates are born this time of year? I may have mentioned it before, but I wonder if you can figure it out based on where he comes from.
Aarene, Merri, and Dom will know, if they're reading this.
Well Snorty McSnorterson, you somehow made it to 7 without killing yourself, let's see if you can make it to 10.
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8 comments:
Racing horses are all given a universal "January 1st" birthday to make paperwork easier on racing officials, no matter what the actual foaling date may be. Thus, a horse who is born as close to January 1st as possible has the advantage of actually being as old as the paperwork says. And maturity (at age 2 or 3) can be a winning advantage.
Fiddle's actual foaling date is April 2, 2002. If she lived in the Southern Hemisphere, we would celebrate her universal birthday on August 1st. Many Standardbred breeders in Canada and the northern US find that raising a foal on *grass* rather than sn*w is beneficial, so I see a lot of them with March or April foaling dates. Also, STBs can race until their actual 15th birthday, so it's not quite so critical that they make all the money at age 3!
And of course, endurance horses are identified by the actual foaling date (if known), and restricted from competition at young age. I really like that rule.
Aarene, of course, *actual* birthdays are better than "convenient for paperwork" birthdays! I don't really understand it. Why make it a disadvantage for some horses, just for paperwork? Really? Why August 1 in Australia?
Imagine all the horses born Dec 31, they are racing at 2, not 3! (Or 1, not 2? Yeesh)
I heard from a shepherd that the Winter lambs are stronger, I wonder if this is a factor.
Happy Birthday Mags! I hope you got lots and lots of love and carrots.
Same as quarters and paints, they all turn a year older on Jan 1st. Makes show records easier. Although I'm amazed at how many people don't know that. But unless you are in the far south or show a halter or western pleasure horse most are born April/may. I'm gonna be a little late with my 2 born in June but oh well that will have to work.
Oh and Happy Birthday Mags!!
Have you read Malcolm Gladwell's book *Outliers* ? He has a chapter about how the best Canadian hockey players are born in January...for almost exactly the same reason as race horses: they are sorted for junior leagues by birth YEAR, so kids born early in the year are bigger/more mature. This makes a huge difference when a player is 6 or 7 or 8 years old. Those kids get the superior coaching, the better opportunities when they are still in elementary school--and by the time they get picked up by adult league, the January birthdays completely dominate. Crazy.
August 1st in Australia is the middle of winter--like January 1st here? That's my guess. I've stopped expecting humans to make sense.
Happy birthday Mag! With an Arabian, it's often ok to say, "A little bit of maturity and a lot of baby" until they are 10. :) Still 7 is better than 6 and 8 is even better.
Happy Birthday Mag! May you never act your age (this is from Major, a 14 going on 5 year old!)
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