70 The Practical Stud Groom. 



calls for prompt treatment if it is to be successfully com- 

 bated. A drachm of chlorodyne in a wine glass full of the 

 best port wine will be beneficial pending the arrival of a 

 veterinary surgeon. 



HANDLING OF FOALS. 



At five days old the foal should have a pliable, well- 

 fitting head collar put on. Some authorities are against 

 such early " handling " of foals on the ground that bones, 

 ligaments, and muscles are not sufficiently " set " to endure 

 the ordeal. Intelligently carried out, there is not the 

 slightest risk of ill-results ; teaching a five days' old foal to 

 be led is more of an amusement than a task, and is accom- 

 plished with a minimum of trouble to teacher and pupil. 

 But leave that same foal till it is four or five months' old and 

 there is quite a different story to be told. The pupil is then 

 as strong as, probably stronger than, its would-be school- 

 master, and it is soon a case of " bellows to mend " with the 

 latter, added to tired muscles and bruised limbs against the 

 walls of the box ; and the usual result, unless the teacher is 

 possessed of an angelic temper, is that the foal's first lesson 

 is of a very drastic nature. The faculty of teaching is a 

 very valuable gift. Plenty of clever men fail badly when 

 trying to impart their knowledge to others. So it will be 

 found that some stablemen have a special aptitude for teach- 

 ing horses. It is difficult to define in what it consists ; they 

 just " have a way wid 'em/' that's all. Such men will teach 

 a foal to be led without friction, and in a quarter the time 

 taken by less gifted colleagues. The latter depend on 

 coercion, the former on " passive resistance " for victory. 



AN EFFECTIVE METHOD. 



The following is the system the author pursues. Let an 

 assistant put a bridle on the mare ; the foal has already 



