64 BREEDING. 



A loss of this description, after a year or 

 more of tedious hope and expectation, con- 

 sequently produces temporary gloom and se- 

 rious disappointment ; in some instances the 

 dam becomes the victim, in others the foal; 

 to the latter there is no palliative, to the for- 

 mer but one alternative : it is a custom almost 

 universal, upon the death of the mare (soon 

 after relief from her burthen), to despair of 

 success in raising the foal by art, and it is 

 frequently disposed of without delay, that a 

 circumstance so unlucky may be the sooner 

 erased from memory and buried in oblivion. 



This hasty decision is by no means to be 

 commended, although it is most generally 

 known the power of instinct is so very pre- 

 dominant in this species, that it must be a 

 fact exceedingly rare, to find a mare that will, 

 by whatev^er stratagem you can put in force, 

 cherish any other foal than her own : this 

 most undoubtedly arises from their seldom or 

 never producing a plurality of young at one 

 time ; a circumstance by no means uncomanon 

 with almost every other ajiimal in the crea- 

 tion, who are the more easily imposed upon 

 to nourish and protect a spurious oftspring. 



