208 BREEDING 



Physical Conformation. — The physical conformation of a countiy 

 may operate for good or for evil. Hill land is proverbially dry; it affords 

 good " lair", and is so far conducive to health, but, generally speaking, 

 it lacks fertility, and is not so sustaining as that in less elevated positions. 



It offers, however, advantages which are of considerable importance 

 to the growing animal. The pasterns acquire slope, elasticity is imparted 

 to the paces, and action is developed. The feet, too, acquire strength, with 

 ample size and good formation. 



Hills, however, when too steep, affect brood-mares prejudicially in 

 the latter stages of pregnancy, especially when they are fat and caused 

 to gallop down them. 



In these circumstances the foetus is forced violently forward, and the 

 shock imparted to it may either occasion an unnatural presentation and 

 render foaling difficult, or provoke abortion. 



FOOD 



From the moment when the mare accepts service to the time when 

 she foals, her food should be ample without being excessive, and care- 

 fully apportioned to her work. Good feeding is indispensable to the 

 due nourishment and growth of the foetus, while feeding in excess of 

 what is required to meet the demand of parent and offspring may jeopardize 

 the health or even the life of both. In addition to good coi'n and hay, 

 the pregnant mare should be liberally supplied with pulped roots, or, fail- 

 ing them, a daily small ration of bran or linseed, or both. 



It should not be overlooked that roots when frosted or decomposed 

 are a standing menace to gestation and a fruitful cause of abortion. 



Some mares when pregnant develop a morbid appetite, which prompts 

 them to eat many hurtful things in dangerous c[uantities. One will take 

 every opportunity of devouring earth, another will consume its own 

 excrement, and others lose no opportunity of ingesting large quantities 

 of litter, both clean and dirty, or drinking filthy water to which they 

 may have access. Where this unnatural desire exists, measures should 

 be adopted to prevent its being indulged. 



Many mares are allowed to remain idle during the whole breeding 

 season, and although it is not a commendable practice it is one which 

 cannot always be avoided. In such circumstances many run out in the 

 open pasture during the whole year, and if they are allowed ample range, 

 an open shed, and plenty of good food, it is much to be preferred to 

 cooping them up in stables or confining them together in the narrow 

 limits of a yard. 



