38 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



It is advisable to inquire of the seller 

 how he has been accustomed to diet and 

 clothe the animal ; whether his feet were 

 stopped ; and the same treatment should 

 be pursued till his soundness is ascer- 

 tained. 



Note the temperature of the stable ; if 

 his new habitation should be hotter, it is 

 probable you may induce an inflammatory 

 attack of the lungs. 



Beware of putting a saddle on a new 

 horse that does not fit him; while the 

 ■question of soundness is still doubtful, it 

 is far better to use the saddle he has been 

 .accustomed to. 



If his back becomes galled while try r 

 ing him, which is not an unusual occur- 

 rence, the dealer will object to take him 

 back, unless full compensation is made; 

 and reasonably so, for he is unfitted for 

 sale or for work till it is healed, which is 

 not to be effected in a day ; and it is also 

 a point for calculation, whether he may 

 not chance to fall sick, while standing in 

 high condition in stable; in which case 

 the dealer would be subjected to heavy 

 loss. 



It is therefore not prudent to remove 

 his shoes, or in fact to do anything with 

 the animal which may cause doubt or 

 cavil, until you have finally decided upon 

 .keeping him. 



HARE, BROOD, General Management 

 of the. — When it has been decided to 

 breed from a mare, if she is not already 

 thrown out of work, it will often be 

 necessary to cool her down, by turning 

 her out to grass and taking away her 

 corn, before she will become stinted. 

 Thorough-bred mares are not, as a rule, 

 allowed to take the horse while in work ; 

 but sometimes they are so constantly " in 

 use " that no other means will enable the 

 trainer to go on with his work of prepa- 

 ration. There is a wonderful difference 

 in this respect : some animals are rarely 

 M in use," once or twice a year being the 

 outside; while others are so every nine 

 days throughout the spring — the average 

 perhaps being in that state at about inter- 

 vals of two or three months, from the 

 time of shedding their coats till the be- 

 ginning of autumn. Again, some are not 

 upset in their work by this natural pro- 

 cess; while others refuse to feed, lose 

 condition, and cannot be depended on 

 for half their usual exertions. Either ex- 



treme requires a change of feeding; for, 

 on the one hand, the cool temperament is 

 excited by the freedom of a run at grass, 

 and on the other, the warmer one, is bene- 

 fited by losing the heating qualities of 

 her corn. At all events, it is found, in 

 practice, that though the majority ot 

 maiden mares will become stinted while 

 at work, yet that a large number require 

 a run at grass before they will become in 

 foal. As we before remarked, thorough- 

 bred mares are generally entirely devoted 

 to the stud from the time they are put to 

 the horse ; but there are many others of 

 lower breeding which their owners desire 

 to work on for some months afterwards. 

 It is often apparent that the legs of a 

 hack or harness-mare are wearing out, 

 and her owner decides upon having a foal 

 from -her, but wishes to avoid the expense 

 of keep from the spring, when he puts 

 her to the horse, till the next January or 

 February, varying, of course, with the 

 time of foaling. All mares are the better 

 for slow work up to within two months of 

 foaling; but they should not be ridden or 

 driven so fast as to occasion exhaustion. 

 Cart-mares are generally used to within a 

 few days of their time, taking care to 

 keep them at light work and to avoid 

 straining them. With these precautions, 

 if the legs keep tolerably sound, a mare 

 may be made to earn her keep for nine 

 months out of the eleven, which are the 

 duration of her pregnancy. 



The time of sending the mare to the 

 horse will vary with the purposes for 

 which her produce is intended. If for 

 racing, it is desired that she shall foal as 

 soon as possible after the first of January; 

 and as she carries her foal about eleven 

 months, the first time of her being " in 

 use " after the first of February is the pe- 

 riod chosen for her. All other horses 

 take their age from the first of May ; and 

 as this is the time when the young grass 

 begins to be forward enough for the use 

 of the mare, the breeder is not anxious 

 to get his half-bred foals dropped much 

 before that time. As, however, mares 

 are very uncertain animals, he will do 

 well to take advantage of the first oppor- 

 tunity after March, as by putting off the 

 visit to the horse, he may be disappointed 

 altogether, or the foal may be dropped so 

 late that winter sets in before it has ac- 

 quired strength to bear it. These re- 



