214 THE HORSE 



All this plan may appear to the young reader easy 

 of execution, but it is not, it is difficult. Difficult 

 undertakings, if successful, produce liberal rewards; 

 easy ones, meager compensation. Failures will be met 

 with, you may get cheated in trading horses; if so, 

 that will stimulate your intelligence and after a time 

 the increased knowledge, the valuable business expe- 

 rience and training, and the profits will be ample 

 reward. Good horses are scarce and high priced. 

 Milk is cheap. Then why not reduce the cow dairy 

 and add a winter horse dairy and let the colts do the 

 milking? 



FEEDING THE BROOD -MARE AND FOAL 



When the mare is at severe work during the sum- 

 mer months, the ration should be wide, one to seven 

 or one to eight. 1 As the work lightens and time of 

 parturition approaches, the ration may be narrowed; 

 about one to six is appropriate. The bowels should 

 not be allowed to become constipated, neither should 

 they be lax. The system should be kept free from 

 fever and the muscles fully supplied with water by 

 feeding some succulent foods and those which tend to 

 cool the system and soften the striated muscles. For 

 one or two months previous to parturition, the mare 



1 A ration is said to be wide when the heat and energy constitu- 

 ents of the food exceed the muscle-sustaining constituents more than 

 seven times; when less than five times, it may be termed a narrow 

 ration. These figures are not arbitrary. Nutritive ratio means the 

 proportion which the proteids, muscle-sustainers, bear to the heat- 

 and energy-producers. (See Appendix III.) 



