156 HUNTING 



a bucket of warm linseed gruel and a bran mash offered 

 to her, the after-birth should be carried away, and the 

 mother left in quietness. Should the after-birth show 

 signs of receding, it must be removed with the utmost 

 gentleness, or the loss of the mare may be the 

 consequence. 



The novice now is in possession of his first foal, of 

 which he is probably prouder than its dam is, and 

 he must attend to his duties as a nurse without 

 usurping the duties of a doctor, which should be left 

 to the veterinary surgeon. He must see that his 

 charges enjoy the invigorating influences of fresh air 

 and sunshine, as soon as the foal can stand well on 

 its legs, and the dam is not an invalid from cold 

 or any other cause ; but he must use the utmost caution 

 in not allowing them to be exposed to wet, not even 

 to a slight shower, as the woolly texture of the coat 

 of a foal is such that when once it becomes wet 

 through it takes a long time to get dry again. It is 

 owing to want of care in this respect that many foals 

 contract catarrhal affections, which subsequently become 

 constitutional, and often develop into roaring. Signs of 

 constipation should be watched for both in dam and 

 foal, and laxatives administered, which should be 

 always at hand, though we prefer to leave the nature 

 of their composition to the veterinary surgeon. Now 

 we must say a few words about the paddock and 

 paddock buildings, which constitute the nursery of 

 the foal. 



As we are not dealing with the case when a breeding 

 stud of any magnitude is to be formed, we shall confine 



