FEEDING AND CARING FOR HORSES 323 



gradually decreased as the colts matured. If the foal is to reach full 

 development, it must not be stunted during the first year of its life. 



519. Feeding the foal. By placing the feed box low, when 3 or 4 weeks 

 old the foal will begin nibbling from the mother's supply and will soon 

 acquire a taste for grain. The earlier the foals so learn to eat, the more 

 independent they become, and the mare will then be able to do more 

 work. Crushed oats or oatmeal, with bran, are excellent feeds, as is a 

 mixture of 4 parts of crushed corn, 3 of bran, and 1 of linseed meal. 

 Colts should be given good clover, alfalfa, or other legume hay as soon 

 as they will eat it, and all the clean, pure water they want. Watchful- 

 ness should always detect the first appearance of ailment. Diarrhea 

 brought on by over-feeding or exposure must be checked by giving 

 parched flour, rice-meal gruel, or boiled milk ; and constipation, the other 

 common evil, may be relieved by castor oil and injections of warm 

 water, flaxseed tea, sweet oil, etc., administered preferably with a foun- 

 tain syringe having a small hard rubber nozzle. Harm may be done by 

 injecting a large quantity of strong soapy warm water with an ordinary 

 "horse" syringe. In all cases of derangement the food for both dam 

 and foal should at once be lessened, since nothing aids nature more at 

 such times than reducing the work of the digestive tract. 



When the mare is worked, the colt should be left in a cool, dark stall 

 during the day, where he will be safe and not be bothered by flies, rather 

 than allowed to follow the dam about the field. The mare must be 

 brought to the barn to suckle the colt in the middle of the forenoon and 

 afternoon. The colt should not be allowed to drain the udder while the 

 mare is very warm, as indigestion and scours are apt to follow. Allow 

 the mare to cool off, and perhaps draw some of the milk by hand before 

 turning her into the stall with the foal. Brood mares at work and nurs- 

 ing strong foals should be heavily fed to sustain a good milk flow. If 

 the mare is worked during the day, it is well to turn both dam and foal 

 onto grass pasture at night, and in addition feed a liberal allowance of 

 grain. (147) 



When dams and foals are running at pasture, a creep should be con- 

 structed whereby the foals can have access to a separate supply of grain. 

 Build a pen in the pasture near where the horses are inclined to loiter, 

 making it so high that the mares will not try to jump it, and with suf- 

 ficient space from the ground to the bottom rail to allow the foals to pass 

 under. Put in a handy gate or bars, then an ample feed trough. After 

 the mares and foals have eaten together within the pen a few times, the 

 foals will visit the place regularly after their dams are shut out. To in- 

 duce the dams to loiter about, it is well to keep a large lump of rock salt 

 near by and occasionally give a feed of oats at the pen. If flies torture 

 the foal, it is better to keep the mare and foal in a darkened stall during 

 the day and turn to pasture only at night. 



520. Mare's milk. Mare 's milk is white or bluish in color with an aro- 

 matic, sweetish, slightly bitter taste. As is shown in Appendix Table I, 



