160 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



gorge of the overheated milk may produce seri- 

 ous disturbances in the digestive organs of the 

 foal. Many farmers, however, find little incon- 

 venience from permitting the foals, especially 

 when quite young, to accompany the dams to 

 the field and follow them while at their work. 

 This gives them an opportunity to empty the 

 udder of the mare as often as it may be deemed 

 desirable and obviates all danger from over- 

 gorging that arises when the mare and foal are 

 separated. 



FEEDING THE YOUNG FOAL. 



It sometimes happens that the milk of the 

 dam is quite insufficient to promote healthy, 

 vigorous growth in the young foal, and occa- 

 sionally it becomes necessary to raise a foal 

 entirely independent of the dam. In such 

 cases the best possible adjunct or substitute for 

 the milk of the dam is cow's milk. It should 

 be sweetened at first, as the milk of the mare 

 is sweeter than that of the cow. A little pa- 

 tient effort will soon result in teaching the 

 colt to drink milk readily, but be careful not to 

 give him too much at a time. A half-pint is 

 quite sufficient for a colt two or three days old; 

 but the ration should be repeated often not 

 less than six times a day the idea being to 

 give the colt really all it will drink, but to feed 

 so often that it will not require very much at 

 a time. As the colt grows older the amount 



