BREEDING 209 



monly called the shank bone. Let him begin to breed 

 from his mare before she is much injured by work ; 

 as in that case, if she does not breed to please him with 

 her first and second foal, he can dispose of her and 

 purchase another. 



A very celebrated fox-hunter has observed that 

 " the goodness of horses generally goes in at the 

 mouth." Let the breeder, then, bear this in mind, 

 and take care that the foal be dropped early, and 

 the dam well fed for the first two months with bran 

 mashes, carrots, etc., till the spring grass arrives. 

 If the mare should prove a good nurse, the colt will 

 not require corn till he is weaned, which on no ac- 

 count should be delayed beyond the first or second 

 week in September. Here the grand mistake has 

 arisen, to which we are indebted for such numbers 

 of misshapen horses as this country abounds in. 

 Farmers, in general, never think of weaning their 

 colts till after Michaelmas, long before which period 

 there is little or no virtue in grass, but, on the contrary, 

 it is sour and unwholesome. 



From weaning time to the following May, the colt 

 should be well kept on a full allowance of sweet hay, 

 with at least two good feeds of oat per day, and he 

 should be kept warm. He should have a head collar 

 on, with a small strap hanging down to his knees, 

 which will admit of his being handled every day ; 

 and every two months his toes should be rasped, and 

 his heels opened a little with the drawing-knife. In 

 March or April he should have two mild doses of physic, 

 which will cause him to grow ; and when the weather 

 o 



