162 : THE HORSE.’ 
better given in the shape of gruel—the water with which this is made 
having the chill taken off. Rye-grass is cultivated and cut for the mares 
daily by those who have early foals; but, though it is better than hay, 
it is not equal to good upland clover-grass. Lucerne is excellent, but it 
cannot be grown so early as rye. I have already described, at page 160, 
the proper time for again putting the mare to the horse, so that I need 
not enter into that subject here. During the remainder of the time of 
suckling, no special treatment is required, except to see that the mare is 
well fed and protected from the weather. At weaning-time, she some- 
times requires a dose or two of cooling medicine ; but generally she is so 
nearly dry, that no interference is required. 
EARLY TREATMENT OF THE FOAL. 
IF THE YOUNG ANIMAL is well formed and healthy, it will require no 
attention beyond that which I have specified as necessary for the dam. 
There are, however, several accidents to which it is liable; such as rup- 
ture either at the navel or flank, inversion of the feet, &c.; all of: which 
will be treated of in their proper places. About the time of the mare 
being ‘in use,” the foal is generally purged a good deal, and a warm 
drench will often be required. At the end of a month, or sometimes 
earlier, the foal will eat bruised oats; and highly-bred young stock are 
generally allowed, from this time, first a single quartern, and then by 
degrees two quarterns of oats. Half-breds, and even cart-horses, would 
be the better for this stimulus to development; but if it is begun, it 
should be continued ; and, unless the foal shows such promise that it is 
expected to turn out extraordinarily well, the extra expense will not be 
reimbursed. ‘The half-peck of oats cannot be put down as costing less 
than six pounds a year; and thus, at five years of age, the colt will have 
cost thirty pounds more than if he had been fed on hay and grass alone. 
Now, between a racehorse reared on corn, and another confined to hay and 
grass, the difference in value would be a thousand per cent.; and in first- 
class hunters, though not so great as this, it would be very considerable. 
But among inferior horses, on the average, it would scarcely reach the 
sum I have named as the prime cost of the oats; and, therefore, though 
in the depth of winter a quartern or half a peck is generally given with a 
little bran, yet, when there is good grass, this is neither necessary nor is 
it economical. Shelter from the weather should, however, be afforded to 
colts of all classes during the winter season; and unless they have this, 
they soon grow out of form and lose flesh, however well they may be fed. 
It is now fully recognised that warmth and protection from the rain 
encourage the growth of all our domestic animals ; but in none are they 
more influential than in the one which I am now discussing. A colt neg- 
lected in its first winter never recovers its proper shape, nor does it grow 
into the size and strength of body and limbs which naturally appertain to 
its breed. Independently, therefore, of the cruelty in exposing the young 
animal to a climate for which it is not fitted, the plan does not pay; and 
on the latter account, if not on the former, even the most heartless, who 
consider their own interests, will make suitable provision for protecting 
their young horse-stock from the inclemency of our winter climate. 
THE FOAL SHOULD BE HANDLED from the very first week of its existence ; 
but there is no occasion to use it roughly in accustoming it to the pressure 
of the hand on all parts of its body and limbs. If this process is very 
gradually commenced, no resistance will at any time be offered, and the 
