The Management of Light Horses 157 



arm to his toe will divide the hoof equally, that is, there will be 

 as much foot on one side of the imaginary line as on the other, 

 and when the horse stands, his foot will be pointing straight in 

 front of him. But suppose, as frequently happens, the inner side 

 of the wall of the foot should be more worn than the outer side, 

 he must turn his toe out, or in other words become splay-footed. 

 Similarly, if the outer side of the wall of the foot is the most worn 

 the horse will turn his toes in, or will be pigeon-toed. An ex- 

 cessive weight of the body will naturally accentuate these defects. 

 It is the farrier's business to keep these outer walls of the hoof 

 level, and if there is any great difference he will have no very easy 

 time in the early period of his visits, for it is obvious that he must 

 never pare down the wall of the foot to such an extent that the 

 foal becomes footsore. When there gets sufficient wall to allow 

 him to put on a small light plate his task will be easier. 



When a foal has been weaned a few weeks is the most criticaJ 

 period of his life, for it is then to a considerable extent that it is 

 decided what his future is to be. I know a well-known breeder 

 and exhibitor who was asked one day how it was he never showed 

 or had a bad young horse. His reply was to the effect that a few 

 weeks after his foals were weaned he judged them as if they be- 

 longed to someone else, and he were going to buy them. Those 

 that did not come up to a certain standard were ruthlessly drafted; 

 they were sold at some price, or if they could not find a customer, 

 were given away. If they could not be given away, they were 

 destroyed. As their owner put it tersely, it did not answer his 

 purpose to keep horses on to sell at ;^45 when they came to be 

 five years old. 



Such drastic measures are scarcely likely to be adopted on a 

 farm where but two or three foals at most are bred, but it is very 

 desirable that a breeder should try to copy the example of the 

 gentleman I have quoted, and if his foals do not approach a certain 

 standard of excellence, to sell them even at a moderate price, and 

 try again. And if it should so happen that you have bred moderate 

 ones, sell them at the earliest opportunity; the first loss is always 

 the best. I may give a personal experience by way of example. 

 A friend once paid me a visit, and we were walking round the 

 farm, when he chanced to see a foal. He asked what the foal 

 was, and went to look at it, which I did not want him to do, as 

 it was a very bad one, and in my inmost mind I knew it was. 

 My friend said it would have been better foaled in a ditch, but 

 I insisted that it would make a horse. How I hated that filly 

 before I got rid of it! I finally put it into a sale when it was 



