234 BREEDING 



When the horse has left the mare, the warm syringe should be intro- 

 duced into the passage and carried forward by the left hand to the part 

 indicated in the illustration (fig. 535), while the india-rubber ball is being 

 compressed by the right one. 



The point of the instrument should then be directed into the seminal 

 fluid (G, fig. 535), and the pressure removed from the india-rubber ball, 

 and as a result the fluid will stream into the syringe. The syringe having 

 become charged, the nozzle is introduced into the uterus (fig. 536), the 

 ball is squeezed, and the operation is completed. 



Where it is intended to inseminate a second or a third mare, a fresh 

 charge of semen should be obtained from the same service in the manner 

 described, and the operation repeated. 



A supply of seminal fluid may sometimes be caught in a cup directly 

 from the male as he leaves the mare, or some of the service discharged 

 by the mare may be secured in the same way. 



SIRES 



Nothing is more important to the success of the breeding-stud than 

 a good sire, and to prolong and maintain his fertility can only be effected 

 by scrupulous care and rational treatment, in which the aim should be to 

 keep up the balance of health and render his sexual work fruitful. 



It must, however, be remembered that the fertility or power to beget 

 stock will differ in different animals, and in the same animal at different 

 periods of life. The recognition of this fact suggests the desirability of 

 regulating the work of a sire to his powers of service and reproduction, 

 so that abuse may be avoided, his use at the stud prolonged, and the 

 number and value of his produce enhanced. 



Rightly or wrongly it is the common practice to allow a horse to 

 commence his stud career at two years old, and, although no apparent 

 ill consequences may follow when sexual work is judiciously apportioned, 

 we cannot help thinking that at this critical period of growth some benefit 

 would be derived by allowing another year to pass over, before calling 

 upon him to exercise his reproductive function. 



This precaution is especially needed where condition and growth are 

 backward, or where the latter is in excess of what it should be at that 

 age, when in consequence the system is wanting in strength and vigour. 

 Big colts should be allowed ample time to develop before being put to 

 the stud, and little ones to grow. 



When it is decided to use a two-year-old colt, the natural question 

 arises as to how many mares he should be allowed to have. " The number 



