MANAGEMENT OF BROOD MARES. 79 



Feeding succulence in the shape of the roots al- 

 ready mentioned is far to be preferred to the 

 feeding of soft food. Carrots are especially ben- 

 eficial. Any skillful veterinarian will tell you 

 that sudden changes of food tend to cause indi- 

 gestion with its train of troubles— colic, inflam- 

 mation and the like. Sticking to a regular diet 

 is best. Oats and bran with clover and wild or 

 timothy hay and a few roots as described form 

 the ideal ration for broodmares working or idle, 

 for the reason that the grain and hay supply 

 the necessary nutriment for the mare and the 

 foal she is carrying and the roots keep the diges- 

 tive apparatus in good working order. 



In the chapter dealing with the physiological 

 processes of conception it was made clear that 

 there is no hocus-pocus to be invoked when 

 mares are to be got with foal. If they are nor- 

 mally healthy they should conceive. If they are 

 not normally healthy they either will not con- 

 ceive at all or ocasionally at best. It is plain then 

 that to turn a mare suddenly from a diet of dry 

 grain and hay to pasture and from work to idle- 

 ness will so upset the system as to render con- 

 ception unlikely. Similarly to take a mare up 

 out of pasture and put her on a diet of grain and 

 hay will have no better results. Wlien the mare 

 is to be bred, let her be kept exactly as she has 

 been kept, making no changes. The quieter a 

 mare can be kept about the time she is embraced 

 by the horse the better it will be for her. Long, 



