HORSE—CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



marks apply to maiden mares only; those 

 which have dropped a foal are generally 

 put to the horse nine or ten days after- 

 wards, when almost every mare is in sea- 

 son. For this reason, valuable thorough- 

 bred mares are often sent to foal at the 

 place where the sire stands who is intend- 

 ed to be used next time. The traveling 

 to him so soon after foaling would be in- 

 jurious to both the dam and her foal, and 

 hence the precaution we have named is 

 adopted. The mare then remains to be 

 tried at intervals of nine days, and when 

 she is stinted the foal is strong enough to 

 bear any length of journey with impuni- 

 ty. Mares and their foals commonly 

 travel by road twenty miles, or even 

 more, for this purpose ; but they do not 

 often exceed that distance, and about fif- 

 teen miles a day is quite as much as a 

 nine days' old foal can compass without 

 injury, and that done very quietly, the 

 mare being led at a slow pace all the 

 way. 

 MARE, FOAL, Treatment When In.— 

 When the mare is in foal, if not in- 

 tended to be kept at work, she should be 

 turned out in good pasture ; but it should 

 not be so rich and succulent as to disa- 

 gree with her stomach, or make her un- 

 wieldy from fat. The former mistake is 

 a constant cause of miscarriage, the bow- 

 els becoming relaxed from the improper 

 nature of the food. On the other hand, 

 if it is not sufficiently good, the mare will 

 become thin, and will starve her foal in 

 its growth. Mares that have been corned 

 highly all their lives should have a feed 

 or two daily, after they are six months 

 gone, and especially if the autumnal 

 grasses are not rich and plentiful. Most 

 half-bred animals, however, do very well 

 till about Christmas ; after which hay and 

 corn, with a few carrots, should be liber- 

 ally given them, still allowing them to 

 pick up what grass they can find in their 

 paddocks. Excessive fat is a state of dis- 

 ease, and interferes with the due nutrition 

 of the fcztus, while it is very dangerous 

 at foaling-time, when it not only inter- 

 feres with the process, but also tends to 

 produce fever. Supposing the mare to be 

 at work, she should have some kind of 

 green food — lucerne being the best, and 

 vetches, perhaps, the worst for the pur- 

 pose, the latter being too heating, es- 

 pecially to the organs contained within 



the pelvis. Any of the grasses or clo- 

 vers answer well; and, after they are: 

 done, carrots form an excellent succeda- 

 neum, given sliced in a bran mash every 

 night. By adopting these articles of 

 food the mare is kept free from inflamma- 

 tion, and yet the foal is well nourished, 

 which are the two essential points to be 

 considered. 



Excitement of every kind is a fertile 

 source of " slipping " the foal, and every- 

 thing which is at all likely to have that 

 effect should be carefully avoided. The 

 smell of blood is said to have a very pre- 

 judicial influence in this way ; and there 

 is no doubt that one mare miscarrying 

 will in some mode affect others in prox- 

 imity to her. Possibly the same cause 

 may act on all, but it seems to be gener- 

 ally concluded that the act is really con- 

 tagious, either from what is called sym- 

 pathy, or in some other as inexplicable 

 way. If a mare has " slipped " a foal in 

 a previous pregnancy, double care should 

 be taken, as she will be far more likely to 

 do so again than another which has hith- 

 erto escaped the accident. It occurs 

 most frequently about the fourth or fifth 

 month, therefore extra care should be 

 taken at that time. The suspected indi- 

 vidual should be kept quiet by herself; 

 but it is better to allow her the run of a 

 small retired paddock than to confine her 

 to her hovel, where, for want of exer- 

 cise, she will become restless and anx- 

 ious. Purging physic should not be 

 given, unless it is absolutely necessary -> 

 and if the bowels are so confined as to 

 require some stimulus of this kind, and 

 bran mashes and other changes in the 

 food fail to produce any effect, choice 

 should be made of the mildest aperient 

 which is likely to answer the purpose. 



MARE, FOALING, Treatment After.— 

 In a healthy state the mare very soon re- 

 covers the efforts which she has made in 

 bringing forth the foal; and, in fine 

 weather, she may be allowed to enter 

 her paddock on the second day after- 

 wards, which is generally soon enough to- 

 suit the strength of the foal, though oc- 

 casionally the young animal is very ac- 

 tive within six hours after it comes into 

 the world. For a couple of months, or 

 perhaps less in some cases, the mare and 

 foal are better kept in a paddock by 

 themselves; but in a large stud this is 



