GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF THE BROOD MARE 187 



opportunity 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 he has acquired strength to bear it. These remarks apply to 

 maiden mares only ; those which have dropped a foal are generally put to 

 the horse nine or ten days afterwards, when almost every mare is in season. 

 For this reason, valuable thoroughbred mares are often sent to foal at the 

 place where the sire stands who is intended to be used next time. The 

 travelling to him so soon after foaling would be injurious to both the dam 

 and her foal, and hence the precaution I 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 impunity. 

 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 

 fifteen 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. 



MANY OWNERS prefer sending them by rail, whether the distance be long 

 or comparatively short. Race-horses are so accustomed to travel by rail 

 that there is less risk in boxing under the superintendence of trained men, 

 than is to be encountered on ordinary roads frequented by cyclists, traction- 

 engines, and other horse-frightening contrivances. 



The general custom among breeders of cart and nag-horses is not to send 

 the mare and foal away, but to receive a visit from the horse on the ninth 

 day. I have had mares successfully stinted on the seventh, eighth, ninth, 

 and tenth days respectively after foaling. Some of the stud companies do 

 not let their stallions travel a district, but receive mares as above, while the 

 competition of the present day makes it unnecessary for the owner of a lame 

 mare to send her to the horse. 



TREATMENT WHEN IN FOAL 



WHEN THE MARE is IN FOAL, if not intended to be kept at work, she 

 should be turned out in good pasture ; but it should not be so rich and 

 succulent as to disagree with her stomach, or make her unwieldy from fat. 

 The former mistake is a constant cause of miscarriage, the bowels 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 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 liberally given them, still allowing them to 

 pick up what grass they can find in their paddocks. Excessive fat is a 

 state of disease, and interferes with the due nutrition of the foetus, while it 

 is very dangerous at foaling-time, when it not only interferes 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 purpose, the latter being too heating, 

 especially to the organs contained within the pelvis. Any of the grasses or 



