MANAGEMENT OF BROOD MARES 



keeper will often take the mare out to work, severing her from 

 the foal for four or five hours at a stretch, and then let her 

 return to the foal in a sweating and exhausted condition. 

 Nothing could possibly be more pernicious. It is a frequent 

 cause of acute diarrhoea, and many foals die from this cause. 



If the mare is worked she should be allowed to cool down 

 before returning to foal. 



Unless necessary it is preferable not to work mares until 

 the foal is three or four months old, its constitution by this time 

 being altogether of a more vigorous nature, consequently better 

 fitted to resist disorders. About three weeks before foaling 

 time is up, the mare should have a nice, warm, well ventilated 

 loose box allotted to her, if possible, quite apart from the other 

 horses. 



The writer has known several valuable mares lost through 

 having been tied up in an ordinary stall and foaling commenced 

 in this manner unexpectedly. However anyone — even those 

 with the mcst elementary knowledge of horses — could possibly 

 be so foolish and so stupid as to allow this to happen is beyond 

 the author's comprehension. 



vSuch an act as this is most certainly cruelty. The exten- 

 sive lacerations in the generative passages, owing to this, have 

 been truly appalling, and almost incredible. 



Therefore, experience teaches that it is advisable to be in 

 time, and put the mare in a loose box, say, three weeks before 

 her time is up, so that she is, as it were, prepared in the event 

 of foaling taking place. 



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