96 The Practical Stud Groom. 



allowed to run loose with his allotted band of mares on the 

 prairie. His harem comprises in-foal mares, barren, and 

 maiden mares. During the Winter months he pays no atten- 

 tion to them other than to prevent them leaving his harem. 

 Spring arrives with its warm sunshine, and one day some 

 subtle change in one of his proteges arouses his interest. 

 For the next day or two his investigations are met with ears 

 laid back and threatening heels, but gradually these well- 

 understood warnings to "keep his distance" diminish in 

 vigour, vanishing at last in complete surrender. This latter 

 state of affairs continues for two or three days during which 

 the mare solicits and welcomes the stallion's attentions. 

 Then follows a peevish resentment, and finally the stallion 

 transfers his patronage to another quarter of his harem 

 where there are indications that his advances will be better 

 appreciated. The outstanding moral to this Nature lesson is 

 that coercion and violence are quite out of place. Mutual 

 desire is the keynote. For many good and sufficient reasons, 

 letting the stallion run at large with the mares is a practice 

 which finds no place in the management of a thoroughbred 

 stud farm, but the lessons learned from observing the mare 

 and stallion when in a natural environment can with the 

 greatest advantage be applied to them under quite different 

 circumstances. The methods of application may have to be 

 changed, but the broad principles underlying them will 

 remain unchanged. 



So much for theory; now for the practice. In the case 

 of barren and " maiden " mares it is a good plan to start 

 "trying" them with the "teaser," or the stallion, as the case 

 may be, on February 1st. This practice with maiden mares 

 serves to overcome their natural nervousness at the novel 



