Artist’s description from Deviantart:

I finally managed to get this computer to accept my scanner, so I’ll be uploading regularly again! 8D It still may be slow because of school, but still. So first up, this!

Another foal sketchdump because I don’t draw foals that often, and they’re really freakin’ fun to draw. That, and I really wanted to practice how I actually see and depict the foals as per my headcanon. I’ve also been asked about how a teenaged pony looked so, I included headshot sketches for that as well (with a sort of age progression of the foal being held in his father’s mouth from infant, colt, then teenager). By the way, if you wanna see the first one you can see it HERE.

So long story short in my headcanon, newborn equine foals in the world of MLP cannot walk or stand mere minutes after birth, and they are pretty tiny, like that of a human newborn. They are very fluffy and very dependant of their mother and father, and a common method of carrying infant foals around is by the scruff of their necks like a dog or cat would their young (as seen with the unnamed stallion and his unnamed son). The aging process of the foal is similar to the human baby, however they do develop much faster; they are considered toddlers by 6 months and begin to learn how to walk, run, speak, and all that good stuff.

After reaching around the 3-4 year age mark they will go through a stage of awkwardness that can be seen in real-life horses, where their limbs are slightly longer in proportion to their bodies. They’ll grow out of it, of course, but I think that awkardness is super cute. xD

The magic of foals of any breed doesn’t typically manifest itself until the age of 4-5, but even then it’ll be in small spurts until the ages of 10-14.

As teenagers they still will be in the slightly awkward stage because… well, puberty, but they will be mostly grown out of said stage in general. The way they look as teens tend to be the way they look for the rest of their life, however that “teenaged youth” look will obviously disappear at some point for most.I’d go more into detail but I need to go to bed ‘cause I gotta get up early, so that’s all for now.

If you’re wondering though, the canon characters featured in this sketchdump are Dinky Doo (prancing unicorn foal with feathered shoulders), teenaged Shining Armor, and Rumble, the little brother of Thunderlane. Just a little tidbit, pegasus foals of the ages of 5-6 will have the muscles and feathers needed for flight developed, however they won’t actually be able to fly. They will be able to hover around this age for short periods of time, but when they’re able to do sustained flight is around the 12-14 mark, sometimes later.