82 Management and Treatment of the Horse. 



should be assisted to rise and suck. Some foals 

 at once manage to catch the teat and suck, others 

 take hours, and at odd times, a day, to be able to do 

 so. Two or three hours after birth give an ounce 

 or two of fresh butter to the foal by putting 

 small pieces in its mouth. If fresh butter is not 

 to be had, a little unboiled linseed oil may be 

 used. The butter or oil should be repeated every 

 twelve hours for the first two days ; this clears 

 out the bowels and makes them ready for the 

 mother's milk. After foaling the mare should 

 only have bran mashes for a few days, after 

 which she may be gradually accustomed to a bite 

 of grass on warm days, if such is to be had. For 

 at least a fortnight underfeed rather than over- 

 feed, as in the latter all the danger lies. The 

 mare will most likely take the horse again either 

 the eleventh or twenty-first day after foaling. 



It is but seldom that mares require assistance ; 

 but when they do, their cases are found too 

 often to be very difficult ones ; so that what is 

 to be done must be done quickly ; for when once 

 the pains fairly set in, our patient generally makes 

 short work of it, and either forces the foetus 

 out or ruptures the uterus, and in some cases 

 the intestines are actually forced out through the 

 rupture into the vagina. Some veterinary writer, 

 I cannot recollect who, has said the assistance 

 required to deliver a cow is mere child's play to 

 what is required to deliver a mare, and in this I 

 perfectly agree with him. The natural presen- 

 tation of the mare is, both fore-feet and head 

 together ; but there are times when cross presen- 



