34 The Practical Stud Groom. 



hits off the evil of high feeding. Another case in point is 

 the rural labourer's "better half," who, with all her never- 

 ending domestic drudgery, on the plainest and often scanty 

 food, is continually presenting her " guid man " with an 

 addition to his already overflowing " quiver." 



At the risk of laying himself open to the charge of being 

 biassed in favour of his own profession, the author gives it 

 as his conviction that the stud owner is usually more to blame 

 than the stud groom for the prevailing state of affairs. How 

 many owners are there who grumble at their stud grooms 

 because their mares are looking too well, i.e., fat and sleek; 

 and, on the other hand, quickly express dissatisfaction at 

 seeing ribs showing prominently and quarters devoid of fat? 

 Who is not familiar with the spectacle of the poor farmer's 

 mare, with her woe-begone, half-starved appearance, who 

 produces a foal each season with clocklike regularity? 



Bearing the foregoing facts in mind, the treatment of 

 the in-foal mare may now be considered. As mares differ 

 considerably in constitution and temperament, no cast-iron 

 inflexible rules and regulations can be laid down. Each 

 animal must be treated according to its particular require- 

 ments, as the stud groom's observation and common-sense 

 may direct. His aim should be to keep each mare in the very 

 pink of breeding condition. He must first, last, and all the 

 time realise that the sole function of each brood mare is to 

 be a machine for the production and rearing of young, and 

 that the mare which everyone acclaims as " looking 

 splendid " may for that very reason be in the very worst 

 condition for performing the maternal function; while the 

 mare whose condition may draw uncomplimentary 

 remarks from unthinking critics may yet be in an ideal state 



