174 The Book of the Horse. 



The following are the dimensions of the stallion ass of our illustration, as given by Mr. 

 Sutherland, who calls him a good fair specimen of the Poitou ass, suitable for breeding heavy 

 draught mules from cart-mares : — 



Height, 14 hands i inch. 

 Fore-arm, igi inches. 

 Knee, 15 inches. 

 Below knee, 8^ inches. 

 Hock, 17^ inches. 

 Below hock, 12 inches. 



Greatest giith, 77 inches. 



Girth behind shoulder, 66 inches. 



Length of head, 25 inches. 



Length of ear, 15 inches. 



Ears, tip to tip across, 32 inches. 



A coat of long, thick hair, especially about the legs and feet, is much esteemed ; and 

 hoofs much larger than those of the common ass are an important point. 



Their value greatly depends on their height, ranging from \2\ to 14! hands. 



The Poitou breeders always select black or brown donkey sires with wliite bellies, and 

 will have nothing to say to greys. On the contrary, in Egypt, where the breed of asses is 

 generally small, a good white ass for riding fetches as much money as a good park hack in 

 London. 



In consequence of a stupid prejudice on the part of the Poitou peasant breeders, the ass 

 stallions are never brushed or dressed ; so the winter coat adheres to the summer coat, like 

 the fleece of an unshorn sheep, year after year, until not unfrequently a disgusting cutaneous 

 disease is produced. The ass with the roughest, longest coat is the most admired. 



The period of gestation with the she-ass is twelve months. The Poitou breeders, amongst 

 other ignorant practices, half starve their she-asses, under the impression that it promotes 

 the health of the offspring. About a month before the time of foaling, the farmer or his 

 son sleeps regularly in the dam's stable, to be ready in case of accident ; no stranger would 

 be trusted with so important an office. 



The starvation system inflicts many maladies on both dam and foal. The she-ass, under 

 this treatment, rarely has enough milk for her foal, and the consequence is great and needless 

 mortality. But the ignorance of the French peasant, living entirely amongst his own class, 

 into which books, newspapers, or oral instruction rarely if ever penetrate, is something appalling. 

 The only peasant-farmers of any intelligence are those who have served in the army. 



For the first month the male foal, called a fedon, is overwhelmed with attention, and 

 crammed with a gruel of milk and flour and other food, to make up for the shortcomings of 

 his half-starved mother ; he is also clothed and watched day and night. After that period 

 the owners content themselves with giving the dam more food. He is weaned at nine months 

 old on farinaceous gruel {panades), or soaked bread, in the interval between passing from milk 

 to grass and hay. 



At thirty months old he commences his duties as a sire, and up to two years old he is 

 fondled and caressed ; from that age he is doomed to solitary imprisonment in a dark loose 

 box, which is seldom cleaned out, only let out when his services are required. In consequence 

 of this treatment, at an early age he becomes fiercely savage, and coated with dirt and the 

 matted accumulation of cast coats of successive years. Nothing can be more savage and 

 repulsive looking than a five-year-old baudet. The stallion season commences in the middle 

 of February, and finishes in August. 



The baiidet lives to a great age, and is of use as a stallion until he is thirty years old. Those 

 who wish to purchase one of these male baiidets must go to their owner's farm for the purpose, 

 as they are never taken to fairs. Wiien sold, the baudet is conveyed to the purchaser in a 



