100 The Practical Stud Groom. 



undoubtedly will ; it may mean all the difference between a 

 selling plater and a Derby horse. Instances are not few of 

 stallions which have languished in comparative obscurity, 

 getting only a few mares each season, coming with a bound, 

 as it were, to fashion and popularity, owing to some 

 phenomenal colt or filly they have sired. With a full list of 

 from 40 to 50 mares as opposed to previous lists of 10 or 12, 

 his chances of begetting good race-horses should, in theory, 

 be proportionately increased ; but, in practice, the reverse 

 is the case. His foal crop is larger, but they are of mediocre 

 calibre, and the prodigies, though eagerly anticipated, fail 

 to materialise. I recall a case where a stallion had 38 living 

 foals to his credit one season, and the fact was made the sub- t 

 ject of much laudatory comment. I would suggest, that had 

 the vital force expended in begetting those 38 foals been con- 

 centrated in begetting just half that number, viz., 19, that 

 stallion's chance of filling a niche in the equine Temple of 

 Fame would have been considerably enhanced. 



Having " tried " the mare at the teasing bar, and found 

 her quiet, and showing unmistakable signs of reciprocating 

 the teaser's desires, the mare should be taken into a box, a 

 fore foot held up as a precaution against an unexpected 

 kick, and an examination of the generative organs made 

 through the speculum. If the lining membranes are 

 inflamed looking, streaked here and there with dark dis- 

 coloured patches, accompanied with a discharge of a sticky 

 gleety nature, decide at once to miss the "pride." Have 

 the vagina washed out twice daily with a solution of 

 chinasol (one tabloid to a quart of water) till these symptoms 

 are eradicated. If the examination reveals a badly-bruised 

 or torn os uteri, the usual result of a difficult foaling, post- 

 pone the service no matter how " ripe" in season the mare 

 may be, for a service when the organs are in this condition 



