Management and Feeding of Heavy Horses i 1 3 



carbolic acid, by which all germs of navel ill may be destroyed. 

 The box must be kept clean and well ventilated, the temperature 

 not being allowed to get too high, say from 40° to 45° F. during the 

 night, all draughts being prevented. If the mare is kept too warm, 

 the foal is apt to be tender and susceptible to colds ; and if the box 

 is too cold, a mare that has been accustomed to a warm stable, and 

 has been at work all day, will feel the cold, and may contract a 

 chill. Straw is preferable to moss for littering the foaling box, and 

 short straw is preferable to long straw, the latter being more likely 

 to hamper the foal in his first efforts to get on his feet. A rack 

 and manger in one corner, similarly fixed to that in a colt's shed, 

 with no supports under it that the mare or foal could knock against, 

 is a good arrangement for feeding purposes. 



As the expected time of foaling approaches, which is roughly 

 calculated at eleven months, but with exceptional cases of ten 

 months, twelve months, and any period between these extremes, 

 the mare should be watched carefully, especially so after the 

 appearance of a spot of wax on the teats. The symptoms of 

 approaching parturition vary so much in different animals that it 

 is difficult to prognosticate the foal's arrival with any certainty 

 as to time. Some mares foal quite suddenly, without showing any 

 symptoms whatever, whilst others may have milk dropping from 

 their teats for a week or more. Some also get the business over 

 easily in a few minutes, while others have a protracted time of it 

 and require help. As it is not possible to tell beforehand, so much 

 greater is the necessity for keeping a careful watch, and be ready 

 to render assistance. If no assistance is required, so much the 

 better; but even in cases of easy parturition, the foal is sometimes 

 lost for want of someone being present to remove the cowl or 

 covering from the foal's head. In those cases of easy delivery, 

 when the foal has not struggled and the membrane does not break, 

 the foal cannot breathe, and in a minute or two it is smothered. 

 Then in difficult cases a little help sometimes saves the foal's life, 

 and helps the mare in her labour. There is also the possibility of 

 wrong presentations; these are always difficult cases to manage, 

 and may possibly require the assistance of a skilled practitioner. 

 Fortunately these difficult cases do not occur so frequently amongst 

 mares as they do amongst ewes and cows. 



A reliable man should be appointed to the task of watching the 

 mare, and if the watching has to be continued for any length of 

 time, it may be necessary to relieve him. If it is observed that the 

 mare is likely to accomph'sh the task without help, it is much better 

 to let her do so. Meddling and fussing about unnecessarily may 

 Vol. III. 41 



