184 THE HORSE 



requires some extra addition to its ordinary food, to make 

 up for the loss of its mother's milk ; and also the anxiety 

 of mind it necessarily experiences when it first loses her 

 society. To meet the latter case it is an excellent method, 

 1 have long followed, to do the weaning gradually, extending 

 the process over two or three days, or more if the foal takes 

 its dam's absence much to heart. Thus the mare at first 

 is only kept absent a couple of hours, and is then brought 

 back and left with her foal. The next day she is not brought 

 back till after double the period of time has elapsed, and 

 usually the foal does not take very much notice this time 

 of her absence, expecting she will return as she did before. 

 If the foal seems to settle down while the mare is away, 

 on the third day she is not brought back at all ; but this can 

 be left to the discretion of the attendant in charge. It is most 

 advisable that the foal should have a companion to whom 

 it is accustomed to run along with it, though this need not 

 be one of the same age. Almost any sort of animal will 

 prove a comfort to it, more especially a donkey or a goat, 

 with whom a firm comradeship is frequently cemented. 

 The future companion should be put in the same paddock 

 with the mare and foal before weaning takes place, if pos- 

 sible, and it is a further assistance if they occupy adjoining 

 boxes at night, so that the sense of loneliness is not so 

 pronounced when the fateful day arrives for the mare to 

 be parted from her offspring. A little care in this respect 

 is never time thrown away, for if the foal should fret much 

 it will lose flesh considerably, and perhaps refuse to feed for 

 a day or two, when the ground lost will take some time 

 before it can be made good. It should have acquired the 

 taste for crushed oats while still running with the dam, and 

 to these can be added a little linseed, and some patent food, 

 than which nothing seems to answer better than the well- 

 known " Valenta." If there is any tendency to constipation 

 when the foal is deprived of its mother's milk, some linseed 

 gruel added to a small bran mash will act as an efficient 

 corrective. A foal can be accustomed to eat corn whilst in 

 the paddock by following the capital plan of Mr. Kobert 

 Thornton, the experienced stud-groom at Lord Middleton's 



