264 BREEDING 



But about the sixth or seventh month an attentive observer can gener- 



o 



ally detect an enlargement of the abdomen, more particularly on the right 

 side, and movements of the young creature can also be seen in the region 

 of the right flank, and most probably after the mare has been drinking cold 

 water. The expert may also be able to hear the beating of the fcetal heart. 



From this time onwards the size of the abdomen gradually increases, 

 and it becomes more pendulous and prominent, though the volume varies 

 in different mares, the variation depending not only upon a difference in 

 the size of the foal, but also upon the amount of the fluid which surrounds 

 it in the uterus, this being much greater in some mares than others. 



When the term of pregnancy is nearly completed, not only is the 

 abdomen increasingly larger and more pendulous, but its upper part on 

 both sides towards the spine begins to fall in, this hollowness being very 

 marked immediately before parturition. A waxy matter also forms on the 

 teats, and the udder becomes enlarged, this enlargement being generally 

 coincident with the appearance of a thin discharge from the teats. The mare 

 becomes sluggish, is readily tired, and seeks for rest and tranquillity, though 

 the appetite, which has been greater during the later months of pregnancy 

 than before, is usually unimpaired. A few days before foaling the croup 

 sinks on each side of the root of the tail, and sometimes the hind-limbs 

 swell slightly. 



CARE OF THE MARE DURING PREGNANCY 



During the early months of pregnancy the mare demands no special 

 care beyond that included in the term "good stable management", and 

 usual labour can be exacted with impunity. But towards the sixth month 

 she should be more carefully treated than she would be if not in foal. If 

 she is worked, and especially if the work should chance to be of a fast kind, 

 then it ought to be, if possible, not so rapid, and be gentler and more 

 uniform violent paces or irregular and severe efforts are attended with 

 danger, all the more imminent as pregnancy is advanced, and particularly so 

 towards its finish. Within a week or two of foaling all work should cease, 

 but exercise ought to be allowed if the mare is not in a paddock, though 

 with care farm-mares may be permitted to do light, steady labour until 

 w r ithin a few days of foaling. It must be remembered that exercise is 

 beneficial, and indeed necessary, for all breeds of mares during pregnancy; 

 but if they are allowed to run out-of-doors this should be on as level ground 

 as possible, w r ith a soil in which the feet will not sink, and without ditches 

 or holes. 



Mares when in foal, and especially when near foaling time, have a 



