CARE OF THE MARE DURING PREGNANCY 265 



greater tendency to indulge in rolling than at other times when lying 

 down, and if there are hollows, open drains, or ditches, they may become 

 fixed in one of these, and in their struggles to get ujj so strain themselves 

 as to make parturition difficult, or lead to abortion or death of the foal. 

 All the walls or fences enclosing the fields or paddocks in which pregnant 

 mares are kept should have no gaps or stakes projecting inwards, and all 

 doors and gates through which such animals may have to pass ought to be 

 sufficiently wide to permit them to pass through quite easily. Pregnant 

 mares should not be pastured with young horses or cattle, nor exjDosed to 

 anything likely to cause excitement. 



The same care ought to be observed if the mare is stabled. She must 

 be protected from annoyance or injury by other horses, and if kept in a 

 stall this ought to be of ample width, to allow her to turn round easily in it. 

 The floor should also be as level and horizontal as possible, so that the 

 mare may stand and lie easily, and the weight of the abdominal contents 

 not be thrown too much backwards. The mare should also be fastened by 

 the head in such a manner that there may be no danger of her getting cast. 



But it is always judicious to have a mare about to foal kept in a con- 

 venient loose-box or temporary shed, where there is plenty of room for her 

 to move about, with protection from inclement weather, freedom from 

 draughts of cold air, and good ventilation. 



For litter, straw is suitable, though when parturition is near this should 

 not be new, as some mares have a kind of morbid appetite at this time and 

 would consume it greedily, thereby producing abdominal distention and 

 consequently dangerous pressure on the uterus and its contents. Long 

 new straw also becomes twisted and rolled round the feet, and so impedes 

 movement. It is therefore advisable to use slightly soiled but dry litter 

 that has been under other horses — this is soft and broken, so that the 

 mare's feet will not become entangled in it, and being soiled she will not 

 eat it. 



With regard to food, the kind and quantity allowed will depend upon 

 the stage of pregnancy which the mare has reached. If she is working, the 

 quantity and equality should be sufficient to maintain her in good health 

 and efficient condition — if anything it ought to be better in quality and a 

 little more in quantity than that given to similar-sized horses not in foal, 

 and it should, if possible, be presented more frequently. Whether the 

 mare is or is not working, it is advisable not to allow her to become fat 

 ■ — indeed it is preferal)le to keep her in what might be termed moderate 

 condition. There is nothing better than good hay and oats for pregnant 

 mares; but for farm in -foal mares at work, mashes, or bruised oats or 

 barley mixed with puljjed roots, and chojjj^ed hay or straw damped with 



