126 THE BREEDING AND REARING OF HORSES 



able expense spared in doing so, keeping ever present the golden 

 rule in breeding, that " like produces like," and never forgetting 

 that a good animal is quite as easily and cheaply reared as a 

 bad one, the former giving a handsome return for care and 

 expenditure, the other bringing nothing but vexation, trouble, 

 and loss. Having thus found the mare and put her to a sire 

 worthy of her, she will be quite competent to undertake the 

 ordinary work of the farm for seven months after being stinted. 

 It will then be prudent to keep her as much as possible out of 

 the shafts, still using her in the chains, up to within a month of 

 foaling (which we find on consulting a long record carefully 

 kept, of the time the different mares have carried their foals, 

 averages ten calendar months and twenty nine days, or as near 

 as possible, eleven calendar months) ; the mare should then be 

 eased in her work, but still daily sharing it up to the very day 

 of her giving birth, of which due notice will be given by the 

 adhesive matter that will form about the teats. She is thus 

 kept in a healthy thriving state, and under these conditions we 

 have through a very lengthy experience scarcely ever had a 

 mishap in any shape or form. 



ISTow having obtpaned a foal promising to inherit all the good 

 properties of sire and dam, it is important that the breeder 

 should " act well his part " in rearing the youngster. It is 

 pleasing and instructive to watch its growth and development 

 under his fostering care, which, while yet deriving its sustenance 

 from the dam, will not be very onerous : in thus speaking we 

 do not allude to the rearing of animals, pampered from the day 

 of their birth for show purposes, a large percentage of which 

 are utterly ruined by tliis unnatural forcing, — how many of such 

 come to maturity sound in wind and limb, let the "exhibitions at 

 any of our national shows disclose, not to speak of those 

 irretrievably ruined while undergoing the necessary preparation 

 for such a purpose. We advisedly say necessary, for no one 

 can successfully compete against young animals thus prematurely 

 developed, with those naturally and more profitably reared. Let 

 the young growing colt or filly, be well, be generously fed, kept 

 growing, not stinted in any way, until attaining the age of 

 three ; the constitution will then stand any amount of judicious 

 feeding, fitting it to compete, and successfully against the mush- 

 room production of modern times ; if the foal is to be reared, 

 brought to maturity, in a healthy growing state (the dam giving 

 birth if possible in good season, say beginning of May), the 

 mother should be kept comfortably in her loose box, for about 

 nine days, getting plenty of bran mashes, and boiled oats, with 

 good sweet hay, which will induce the flow of milk ; after this 

 period the mare with her foal should be turned out daily for 

 an hour or two, when the weather is favourable into a well 



