336 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



the mare and her foal as regards fresh herbage. The 

 foal from its weaning should be treated in as natural 

 a manner as possible; turned out and fed on pastures 

 where the herbage is succulent, and allowed a free run 

 at his pleasure. Not more than three yearlings should 

 be turned out in any one pasture, and the field should 

 not be of less extent than 15 acres." 



I have seen many instances to prove the soundness of 

 this position. On a ranch where I once lived in Utah 

 the mares ranged very wide, having no restrictions. 

 Though not always well fed they were remarkably 

 healthy and prolific, and lacked little of dropping 100 

 per cent of foals and all of them were strong and healthy 

 at birth. I have seen men make strenuous effort to 

 produce draft colts when they had very small but good 

 pastures; they kept the mares well and got them in foal 

 fairly successfully, but raised very few colts, while neigh- 

 boring farmers who had wider pastures and fewer horses 

 had "luck" and raised many colts. There seems some- 

 thing in the restricted range and the grazing of mares 

 after one another that lowers vitality in the offspring, 

 even if it does not noticeably lower it in the mares them- 

 selves. If one must use small and overstocked pastures 

 for mares one should at least endeavor to lessen the over- 

 stocking by keeping the geldings off some of them and 

 putting the mares when possible in meadows or outlying 

 grass. I have seen in the West large bands of draft 

 mares turned in alfalfa meadows with grass pastures 

 adjacent and they foaled well and the colts throve. Wide 

 pastures for pregnant mares seems the safe rule. Pas- 

 ture of some kind seems most essential. Mares confined 



