104 THE HORSE : ITS KEEP AND MANAGEMENT. 



purchase such an animal from him. In such a case as 

 this I maintain it is foolishness on the part of the owner 

 not to breed from such an animal. Even if he is living 

 in a town the mare can be used up to the last six weeks 

 or two months before she foals ; then if there is no 

 accommodation at home, arrangements can easily be made 

 with some farmer to foal the mare down and rear the colt. 

 Most farmers are glad to rear a young colt for from 

 ^7 to ^10 a year, according to the part of the country 

 they may be living in. Some will do it for less than 

 that. I have known colts to be reared in this way 

 which have cost the owner from ^35 to ^45 up to 

 when they have been from four and a half to five 

 years of age, and the colts were worth from ^70 to 

 .100. Of course, I do not say they always turn out as 

 well as this, there is always a certain amount of speculation 

 in rearing young colts especially nag colts. No one 

 knows how they are going to turn out, they may show 

 splints, side bones, or meet with an accident. A person 

 must look on the bright side of things. If everyone 

 were to say they did not like to breed, in case the colt 

 should turn out badly, horses would soon become very 

 scarce. 



The question may arise here in the minds of some 

 people " At what age can a mare be bred from ? " 

 Plenty of mares are put to the horse for the first time 

 when they are from thirteen to fifteen years old, but at any 

 age from three to fifteen will do. When I was a boy I 

 remember a thorough-bred mare being put to a sire when 



