108 The Practical Stud Groom. 



beast are so many when maiden mares are taken in hand 

 that it is essential nothing should be taken on trust, nothing 

 left to chance. Take the mare into the covering yard, put 

 a strong twitch on her muzzle with a six-foot long handle 

 and a fifteen stone man at the end of it, whose resolution is 

 equal to his weight. Then hobble the mare securely. If she 

 plunges and fights the hobbles, let her have a good " go in." 

 When she is tired out and realises the futility of her efforts 

 to free herself, bring in the teaser ; let him mount and dis- 

 mount till she resigns herself quietly to his embrace. Then 

 bring in the stallion and make the service proper. Needless 

 to say, care must be taken that the teaser does not actually 

 serve the mare; that would be a calamity indeed. To pre- 

 vent this the groom grasps the teaser's penis and guides it to 

 one side. The advantage of letting the teaser take the hard 

 knocks and risks incidental to covering a maiden mare, 

 instead of a valuable stallion commanding a 200 guinea fee, 

 is obvious. Besides, an unruly young inare is apt to spoil 

 the stallion's temper and make him rough and spiteful with 

 other mares. 



As to the advisability of " cross," or second, services, 

 there is a divergence of opinion. It is certain that no 

 matter how many services are made, if a foal results, it is 

 the fruit of one only of these services ; the rest are so much 

 waste. If the stallion is very busy, and the use of the 

 speculum has demonstrated that the mare's organs are in 

 ideal condition to conceive, I am quite content with one 

 satisfactory service; but if the stallion is having a slack 

 time, and if, after the lapse of one day, I still find the mare 

 well " in season," and the os still nicely dilated, I never 

 hesitate to give a " cross " or second service. Indeed, at the 

 fag end of the covering season, in the case of mares that 

 have been continually " breaking," and are still, like Oliver 



