Management and Feeding of Heavy Horses 1 1 5 



delay matters. Sometimes, however, the foal may be stupid, or it 

 may be weakly, and unable to find the teat. A foal of that sort is 

 rather trying and troublesome, and requires any amount of patience, 

 tact, and perseverance. It does not do to force it to the teat, as 

 that is apt to make it more unwilling to try to find it; neither does 

 it do to assist it very much, or it will not acquire self-reliance, 

 and will lose the instinct of self-help. By patiently guiding it, and 

 letting it feel its own way, it may be quietly started on the work of 

 getting its living. Sometimes a slight smearing of treacle or syrup 

 on the mare's teats will facilitate matters and induce him to suck. 

 The task is rendered more dififiicult if the mare is not willing to be 

 a partner in the scheme. Some mares are so irritable and nervous 

 that they cannot bear the touch of the foal's mouth on the udder or 

 teats, and are apt to kick or bite it, and either injure it or frighten 

 it from trying to suck. The udder being very full, and being 

 painful, may be the cause of irritability and unwillingness to let the 

 foal touch it. If that is the cause, it may be advisable to relieve 

 the tension of the udder by drawing a little of the milk off by 

 hand ; a little hand rubbing will also tend to deaden the nervous, 

 sensitive feeling, and accustom the mare to be touched about the 

 udder. Much tact and patience is required, and in extremely 

 nervous cases it may be necessary to have one man at her head 

 holding her firmly, another holding up a fore leg, so that she cannot 

 kick, while a third manipulates the udder and gets the foal to it. 

 It may even be necessary to continue doing this for some time 

 until the nervousness abates and the foal has acquired courage and 

 agility to manage the business himself Occasionally mares are so 

 vicious, and of such a vile temper, that it is both dangerous and 

 difficult to manage them at these times, the foal frequently being 

 the immediate cause and the victim of the bad temper. 



It is doubtful whether it is wise to breed from an animal of this 

 sort; as a quiet docile temper in a heavy horse is one of his finest 

 attributes. An irritable, hasty temper is one of the gravest faults, 

 which it is not prudent to propagate, and it requires a multitude of 

 good attributes to cover the sins of a vile-tempered mare. 



The foal during the first few days of its life must have a good 

 deal of attention. Although there is an old saying that if a foal 

 gets over the third day it will be all right after; yet the state of 

 its bowels must be observed, and if troubled with costiveness, steps 

 must be taken to relieve it. About a tablespoonful of castor oil 

 may be administered with good results sometimes, and even an 

 injection of lukewarm water in the rectum will help to relieve it. 

 Costiveness may, however, be prevented best by the proper feeding 



