274 



BREEDING 



In cases of difficult parturition in tlie mare, much skill, adroitness, 

 patience, and resource, as well as physical strength and agility, are re- 

 quired in dealing with the very numerous and diverse obstacles that have 

 to be encountered and overcome if the lives of the foal and mother, or 

 either, are to be saved. More especially are judgment and manual tact 

 required in making an examination. This demands not only a thorough 

 knowledge of the internal anatomy of the mare's generative organs, 

 healthy and pathological, but also an acquaintance by touch with all the 

 surface and different regions of the foal's body and limbs. AVithout this 

 knowledge and tactile facility it may be impossible to understand the 

 hindrance to birth, and to render assistance by adopting pi'oper measures 

 or resorting to effective manoeuvres. So that the amateur or unskilled 

 operator is likely to do more harm than good, and may even unawares 

 convert what to an expert would prove a comparatively simple case, into 

 a most difficult if not altogether hopeless one. 



MALPRESENTATIONS 



Head Presented, Knees Doubled Back. — To eff'ect delivery while 



the foal is in this abnormal condition (fig. 548) is practically impossible. 



Fig. 548. — Head presented, Knees doubled hack 



What is required is to bring the legs into the position of a natural 

 presentation, i.e. into the passage, with the head resting upon them. To 

 effect this the canon bone must be straightened on the knee and the leg 



