1 1 8 Management and Feeding of Heavy Horses 



When the mare foals indoors, it is necessary to be careful to 

 select fine weather for the first outing of the mother and foal. 

 When about a week old, if the day is fine and warm, they should 

 be turned out into a nice sheltered paddock for a few hours to 

 obtain a fresh bite of grass. If the ground is damp, the foal should 

 be watched to see that it does not lie down and get a chill. If rain 

 comes on they should be taken in at once, as it is not desirable that 

 the foal gets its back wet for a few days until it becomes inured a 

 little to outdoor life. The mare, if not required for work on the 

 farm, may now be turned out to grass all summer along with her 

 foal. If the land and pasture are of the best, the grass alone will 

 be sufficient to keep them improving; on inferior land some help 

 should be allowed in the form of a feed of oats daily. The foal 

 will soon learn to pick at the crib along with the mare, an edu- 

 cation which will prove advantageous to him when weaning time 

 arrives, and he has to depend on his own exertions, and he will not 

 be so likely to lose condition when deprived of his mother's milk. 



If the mare is required to help with the work of the farm as 

 well as rear the colt, she must be well fed, so that she may not only 

 do her foal well but also gain strength herself Besides good pas- 

 turage she should have a good allowance of oats. It is not desirable 

 to set the mare to work until the foal is at least a month old, and 

 it is not desirable that the mare should be kept too long at a 

 stretch away from the foal. When the mare is at work, the foal 

 should be shut in a roomy box where he cannot possibly hurt him- 

 self in his endeavour to get out. On the mare's return from work 

 she should be allowed to cool a little, and just a little of the hot 

 milk drawn off by hand before the foal is allowed to suck. If the 

 mare is too long away, the foal will get very hungry, will be apt to 

 suck too greedily, which may perhaps produce indigestion, and this 

 may result in more serious trouble. Of course, as the foal gets 

 older and gets to eating from rack or manger, the mare may be 

 kept longer away, the same precautions about the heated milk 

 being observed. 



Foals are so fond of company that, if practicable, two of them 

 should be kept together at these times, when it would be found 

 that they would not miss their mothers nearly so much. 



When the foal is in the box by himself it is a good opportunity 

 to have him haltered and taught to be led about. A few practice 

 lessons in the box will get him that he will lead anywhere. If 

 trained when young, they learn more easily, they are much handier 

 to manage, and more tractable when they get stronger. 



The usual time of weaning is when the foal is five or six months 



