Tlie Treatment of Foals. 77 



foal's health. Starting with one pound of extra-well bruised 

 oats, with a little damp bran mixed through them, the ration 

 may gradually be increased as the foal grows older and its 

 appetite develops. The oats should be of the finest quality 

 to ensure the greatest possible amount of nutriment in the 

 smallest possible compass. If the pasturage is high class 

 and luxuriant, the mare's corn ration may be discontinued, 

 but if the foal's calls on her prove too heavy a strain on her 

 vitality, and cause her to fall off too much in condition, she 

 must be put back on her corn ration, or the milk will 

 deteriorate in quality to the detriment of her offspring. 



IRRITATION FROM FLIES. 



From the month of June to the end of August, flies are 

 a source of great irritation and worry to mares and foals in 

 the open. To a lover of horses there is no more distressing 

 sight than that of a batch of mares and foals, on a sweltering 

 Summer's day, vainly attempting to escape the attentions of 

 the swarming flies. All endeavours to graze are frustrated 

 by their remorseless tormentors. With tossing heads and 

 switching tails, the poor beasts huddle together in some 

 corner of the paddock, where perchance some tree throws an 

 altogether inadequate shade. In their endeavours to rid 

 themselves of the pests by transferring them to their com- 

 panions in distress, the mares and foals get inextricably 

 mixed up, till the wonder is that a single foal escapes un- 

 scathed from the melee. But for one serious disadvantage, 

 the ideal plan to follow under such conditions would be to 

 keep the mares and foals in their boxes, with top doors, win- 

 dows, and ventilators thrown wide open, during the heat of 

 the day ; then, in the cool of the evening, to turn them out 

 to graze in comfort on the dew-refreshed herbage throughout 

 the night, getting them in the next morning as soon as the 



