Covering Time. 107 



when running loose with the stallion. They would have 

 learnt that under natural conditions, though the mare 

 usually moves forward a step or so, she never by any chance 

 moves backwards. It is obvious that a stallion having a 

 good grip of a mare with his forelegs would experience little 

 difficulty in following up any forward movement on her 

 part, whereas any backing of the mare on to the stallion 

 would tend to make him over-balance backwards. 



Regarding the question of allowing the stallion to 

 tease and "try" his own mares, one should be entirely 

 governed by circumstances. If the horse's " list " is a light 

 one, and he is not cursed with a vicious disposition, there is 

 no valid reason why he should not "try" his own mares; 

 but with a full list of say forty mares, a teaser is almost a 

 necessity, as the drain on the stallion's vitality from actual 

 services will be quite heavy enough without his being called 

 on to fill in his spare time, as it were, "trying" mares, 

 with its accompanying sexual excitement. A bout at the 

 teasing bar is generally a necessity in the case of the young 

 stallion with his first mare. Without this preliminary it is 

 often difficult to make him " catch on " to what is required 

 of him. A few minutes in actual contact, over the teasing 

 bar, with a mare " dead " in season, will usually be all 

 sufficient to rouse his latent sexual instinct, and all that will 

 be required to ensure a satisfactory debut will be a little 

 patience, a little firmness on the groom's part, and a quiet 

 old mare who will not resent the clumsiness natural to a 

 novice. 



Maiden mares, as a rule, give far more trouble than 

 the young stallion at their first service. Their efforts to free 

 themselves from the hobbles are often more violent than 

 their efforts to escape from the novelty of the stallion's 

 embrace. The chances of nasty accidents to both man and 



