3° 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



difficult when the foals come very quickly ; 

 and then several mares of quiet tempera- 

 ment are put together, still keeping sepa- 

 rate those which are shy or vicious. 

 Until the mare can get plenty of grass 

 she should have carrots, bran mashes, 

 and a feed or two of oats, which at first 

 are better given in the shape of gruel — 

 the water with which this is made having 

 the chill taken off. Rye grass is culti- 

 vated and cut for the mares daily by 

 those who have early foals ; but, though 

 it is better than hay, it is not equal to 

 good upland clover grass. Lucerne is 

 excellent, but it cannot be grown so ear- 

 ly as rye. We have already described 

 (see Mare, the time of sending to horse,) 

 the proper time for again putting the 

 mare to the horse, so that we need not 

 enter into that subject here. During the 

 remainder of the time of suckling no 

 special treatment is required, except to 

 see that the mare is well fed and pro- 

 tected from the weather. At weaning- 

 time she sometimes requires a dose or 

 two of cooling medicine, but generally 

 she is so nearly dry, that no interference 

 is required. 



MARE, FOAL, Early Treatment of 

 the. — If the young animal is well 

 formed and healthy, it will require no at- 

 tention beyond that which we have spec- 

 ified as necessary for the dam. There 

 are, however, several accidents to which 

 it is liable ; such as rupture either at the 

 navel or flank, inversion of the feet, etc., 

 all of which will be treated of in their 

 proper places. About the time of the 

 mare being " in use " the foal is generally 

 purged a good deal, and a warm drench 

 will often be required. At the end of a 

 month, or sometimes earlier, the foal 

 will eat bruised oats; and highly 

 bred young stock are generally allowed, 

 from this time, first a single quartern, and 

 then by degrees two quarterns of oats. 

 Half-breds, and even cart-horses, would 

 be the better for this stimulus to devel- 

 opment; but if it is begun it should be 

 continued; and, unless the foal shows 

 such promise that it is expected to turn 

 out extraordinarily well, the extra ex- 

 pense will not be reimbursed. The half 

 peck of oats cannot be put down as cost- 

 ing less than twenty dollars a year; and 

 thus, at five years of age, the colt will have 

 cost one hundred dollars more than if he 



had been fed on hay or grass alone. 

 Now, between a race-horse reared on 

 corn and another confined to hay and 

 grass, the difference in value would be a 

 thousand per cent., and in first-class 

 hunters, though not so great as this, it 

 would be very considerable. But among 

 inferior horses, on the average, would 

 scarcely reach the sum we have named as 

 the prime cost of the oats; and, there- 

 fore, in the depth of winter a quartern or 

 half a peck is generally given with a lit- 

 tle bran ; yet, when there is good grass, 

 this is neither necessary nor is it econom- 

 ical. Shelter from the weather should, 

 however, be afforded to colts of all classes 

 during the winter season; and unless 

 they have this they soon grow out ot 

 form and lose flesh, however well they may 

 be fed. It is now fully recognized that 

 warmth and protection from the rain en- 

 courage the growth of all our domestic 

 animals, but in none are they more influ- 

 ential than in the one which we are now 

 discussing. A colt neglected in its first 

 winter never recovers its proper shape, 

 nor does it grow into the size or strength 

 of body and limbs which naturally ap- 

 pertain to its breed. Independently, 

 therefore, of the cruelty in exposing the 

 young animal to a climate for which it is 

 not fitted, the plan does not pay ; and on 

 the latter account, if not on the former, 

 even the most heartless, who consider 

 their own interests, will make suitable 

 provision for protecting their young horse 

 stock from the inclemency of our winter 

 climate. 



The foal should be handled from the 

 very first week of its existence ; but there 

 is no occasion to use it roughly in ac- 

 customing it to the pressure of the hand 

 on all parts of its body and limbs. If 

 this process is very gradually com- 

 menced, no resistance will at any time be 

 offered, and the foal will allow its feet to 

 be picked up, and its head and ears to be 

 rubbed, without taking offense. Grooms 

 are sometimes in the habit of showing off 

 their powers in this way, by taking the 

 foal up in their arms ; but this can do no 

 good, and may possibly lead to injury of 

 the walls of the abdomen. About the 

 fourth or fifth month, and before wean- 

 ing is commenced, a light head collar 

 should be put on; and after the foal is 

 accustomed to its pressure, by repeatedly 



