In French, we use the term poulain in the masculine and pouliche in the feminine to designate a young horse between its birth and the age of three years, around which its breaking in begins. The word poulain is derived from the Latin pullus, which means little animal, then from pullamen in the more specific sense of little horse in Low Latin. The mare giving birth is called a poulinière and the birth itself is called poulinage. Foals born in the year and foals over a year old are commonly referred to by the respective anglicisms foal and yearling.