APPENDIX 



EXPLANATION OF TERMS 



At the request of my publisher, I append an explanation of some 

 terms which are not generally understood. 



Teazer. — In speaking one day of early foals to a horseman, I said, 

 ' But how can you prevent foals being born in March or April, if their 

 birth be due then ? ' With all delicacy possible, he explained to me the 

 functions of a ' Teazer. ' When a mare gives evidence that she needs to 

 be taken to the stallion, and if conception at that time would cause her 

 to drop her foal too early in the season, then a mule, whose seed does 

 not fructify, is employed for her gratification until the proper time 

 arrives. A mare carries her foal eleven months. By certain fixed rules 

 the age of a horse begins on the first of a certain month— say May — 

 so that if he be born in March, or earlier, he is said to be a one-year- 

 old by the first of May. It is therefore important to bring the birth of 

 a foal as near before or after the first of May as possible, in order that 

 it may really have been born twelve months when it is called a yearling, 

 or a one-year-old. 



Entire horse. — A stallion. 



Gelding. — A castrated stallion, or the usual horse for riding and 

 driving. 



Nicking. — A term used in the stud, and means success in mating. 



Selling plater. — A horse that one is anxious to get rid of at once. 

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