538 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



fat. The former mistake is a constant cause of miscarriage, 

 the bowels becoming relaxed from the improper nature of the 

 food : on the other hand, if it is not sufficiently good, the 

 mare will become thin, and will starve her foal in its growth. 

 Mares that have been corned highly all their lives should have 

 a feed or two daily after they are six months gone, and 

 especially if the autumnal grasses are not rich and plentiful. 

 Most half-bred animals, however, do very well till about 

 Christmas, after which hay and corn, with a few carrots, 

 should be liberally given them, still allowing them to pick up 

 what grass they can find in their paddocks. Excessive fat is 

 a state of disease, and interferes with the due nutrition of the 

 foetus, while it is very dangerous at foaling time, when it not 

 only interferes with the process, but also tends to produce 

 fever. Supposing the mare to be at work, she should have 

 some kind of green food, lucerne being the best, and vetches 

 being perhaps the worst for the purpose, the latter being too 

 heating, especially to the organs contained within the pelvis. 

 Any of the grasses or clovers answer well ; and after they are 

 done, carrots form an excellent fuccedaneum, given sliced in a 

 bran-mash every night. By adopting these articles of food, 

 the mare is kept free from inflammation, and yet the foal is 

 well nourished, which are the two essential points to be con- 

 sidered."* 



With respect to the adjustment of the kind of food of the 

 breeding-mare to the exigencies of the state of pregnancy, it 

 seems obvious that it is not the mere quality of being nourish- 

 ing in general which should be attended to, but that what is 

 called its mineral composition that is, the composition of its 

 ash should be in particular strictly inquired into. The food 

 must possess that general nourishing quality which consists in 

 supplying freely what are known as the plastic or albuminoid 



* Stonehenge, 'The Horse in the Stable and the Field,' pp. 160, 161. 



