8(3 THE PERFECT HOESB. 



make a soft, warm bottom. Over this the straw-bedding 

 should be strewn a foot deep at least. If the mare is 

 inclined to eat her bedding, put a muzzle on her (an 

 ordinary wire or splint ox-basket will answer) ; for 

 it is not wise to have the mare fill her stomach with 

 coarse feed at this time. The floor should be level, 

 and ''banked up" a little round the sides and in the 

 corners, lest in rolling, or perhaps in the act of foaling 

 itself, the mare should get over upon her back, or 

 doubled up in a corner in such a way as to embarrass 

 her. Too much care cannot be exercised by the 

 breeder at this juncture ; for it is the time when every 

 thing may be lost by inattention and neglect. And I 

 put it down among the necessities of a breeder's outfit, 

 that he construct a good foaling-hox for the mare, and 

 attend to the matter essentially as I have suggested. 

 Such a box is not necessarily expensive. I have seen 

 those that cost five hundred dollars, and others that did 

 not exceed fifteen ; and, for all practical purposes, the 

 one was as good as the other. The conditions I suggest 

 are not those essential for ornament, but for safety. 



Another matter of prime importance to a breeder is 

 this : How far is he from a good stock-horse ? Trans- 

 portation costs: it is also perilous. When the writer 

 began to breed, he was compelled to transport his brood- 

 mares two hundred miles to be covered. He has seen 

 half his stable of choice animals go rushing along through 

 the darkness and fog in a miserable old freight-car, at 

 the rate of thirty miles an hour ; and the sensation he 



