44 



maternal instincts are keen and solicitous ; her atten- 

 tions are rapidly reciprocated by the foal, which 

 naturally inherits all the acute characteristics of its 

 dam, and in an incredibly short time the pair under- 

 stand each other, the latter, resuming her accustomed 

 roving life in company with the former, which soon 

 becomes initiated in the ups and downs of its wild 

 prairie existence. 



When we compare the condition of the Clydes- 

 dale or Shire mare at parturition, the contrast of 

 instinctive self-reliance is marvellous indeed. Here, 

 nature must be assisted or probably fifty per cent, 

 of Clydesdale and Shire foals would never live to 

 suck their dams. The limp, ungainly youngster is 

 a sprawling mass of legs and stupidity, whilst its 

 dull mother often regards it with comparative in- 

 difference, or, if she be unusually solicitous, the 

 chances are that she may trample and injure it in 

 some way or another. Very often milk requires to 

 be drawn artificially from the mare, and the foal 

 guided to the teat to induce it to suck, otherwise 

 it would probably die from hunger. Thus, instinct, 

 under domestication, degenerates into a dull stupidity 

 which must be assisted to ensure success ; but the 

 assistance should always be as close an imitation of 

 nature as circumstances permit, and a scientific know- 

 ledge of natural history, combined with practical 

 experience, will prove invaluable. 



About ten days previous to a mare's period of 

 foaling, she should be placed in a comfortable, roomy, 



