94 THE HOESE BOOK. 



humane sport compared to this. The effect of 

 fly-fighting in scanty pasture is always distin- 

 guishable in the lean, stunted appearance of the 

 poor animals so abused. It does not make much 

 difference what mares are fed on grass so long 

 as their feed is not suddenly changed. 



If foals are thus cared for during the summer 

 the weaning process is an easy one. When a 

 foal is five months old he should be weaned. It 

 is best to take him away from his dam for good 

 and all when the break is made, cut down her 

 grain ration and milk some of the milk from her 

 udder three or four times the first day and so 

 on gradually decreasing until the flow ceases en- 

 tirely. Work the mare right along. If she is 

 not worked, cut out the grain ration altogether 

 and feed hay only. Then when the mare is dry 

 begin the grain feeding lightly once more. 



Finishing up the foal business there is no rea- 

 son why mares should not produce fall colts if 

 they happen to miss in the spring. If a mare is 

 to be bred in the fall let it be not earlier than 

 November, so that the foal may come in Octo- 

 ber after the frosts have put the flies out of com- 

 mission. A fall colt must be permitted to exer- 

 cise. He may be allowed to potter about the 

 farm buildings in a sort of go-as-you-please 

 manner, picking his grain where he finds it, and 

 he will, if he gets enough of it, grow finely. If 

 he is shut up in a close stall he will surely go 

 wrong. On the whole, however, it is much bet- 



