Book VII. REARING OF HORSES. 999 



are therefore seldom now resorted to among intelligent breeders. Still more improper is it to attempt an 

 early horsing, by injecting stimulating fluids up the vagina as is sometimes done ; for when it succeeds, 

 tlie future progeny seldom answers the expectation. 



C640. The treatment of a piegnant mare is in general little different from that of any other ho^ se. 

 Mares of draught are worked in summer as usual, and more moderately in the ensuing winter, till near 

 the time of foaling ; when, if the season be somewhat advanced, even though the pasture be not fully 

 sufficient for their maintenance, they should be turned out to some grass field near the homestead, and 

 receive what additional supply of food may be necessary under sheds adjoining. It is both incon- 

 venient and dangerous to confine a mare about to foal in a common stable, and still more so to leave 

 lier loose in a close stable among other horses ; and confinement is not much less objectionable afler 

 dropping her foal. 



6641. Breeding mares are usually worked through the greatest part of the year, laying them aside only 

 for a week or two before foaling, and during the summer season, when giving suck to the young foal. In 

 this way. Brown observes, the strength and vigour of the mother is not only weakened, but the size and 

 power of the foal stand a great chance of being diminished, by the exertions of the mother when kept at 

 work. Under these impressions we are led to consider the working of breeding mares as an unprofitable 

 practice. Were they suffered to remain at ease, to roam upon coarse pastures, where sheds were erected 

 in which they might find shelter during inclement weather, we are almost certain that their progeny 

 woidd enter upon action with increased abilities. The expense of a breeding mare kept in this way would 

 not be great, whilst the advantages would be innumerable. In Yorkshire, and in those midland counties 

 wliere the breeding and rearing of horses is better understood than in any other part of the island, they 

 are often worked till the very time of foaling. Great care, however, is necessary in working and manag- 

 ing a mare heavy with foal : an over-heat, too severe exercise, a fright, or a sudden and violent jerk, 

 are very apt to cause an untimely birth, whereby the foal is lost, and the life of the mare very much 

 endangered. 



6642. In the mountains of Wales, and in the Highlands of Scotland, the breeding mares are never 

 worked during the summer. They are driven to the hills and mountains at the close of the barley-seed 

 season, where they remain till the inclemency of the weather forces them to return for shelter. But their 

 scanty subsistence, the labour they are subjected to in procuring their food, and the moistness and cold- 

 ness of the climate in the latter part of the season, render both themselves and their progeny of but little 

 value and importance. 



6643. Far7>is, consisting chiefly of pasture land unfit for feeding, are the situations where breeding is 

 generally carried on. Arable farmers may breed occasionally ; but the inconvenience of wanting any 



Eart of their working stock at the time of foaling operates almost as a prohibition to the breeding of 

 orses. The greater number of horses are bred in situations where a small portion of arable land is 

 attached to farms chiefly occupied with cattle or sheep ; or where the farms are so small as not to afford 

 full and constant employment to the number of horses that must, nevertheless, be kept for the labour of 

 particular seasons. 



Sect. XL Reating of Horses* 



6614. Rearing includes the treatment qf the foal till it is fit to work, or to be put in training for use, and 

 also the treatment of the mother till she has weaned her foal. 



6645. In regard to the treatment of the mare till she has weaned her foal in England, and in the im- 

 proved parts of Scotland, a mare after having foaled is turned, together with the foal, into a pasture field, 

 and is allowed two or three weeks' rest, before she is again worked, either in plough or cart ; the foal 

 being allowed to suck at pleasure during the time. After having had a few weeks' rest, she is again 

 worked in the usual manner; the foal being commonly shut up in a house during the hours of working. 

 In Yorkshire, some farmers are particularly careful not to allow the mare to go near the foal, after her 

 return from labour, till her udder has been bathed with cold water, and not till most of the milk is drawn 

 from it. These precautions are used with a view of preventing any bad consequences from the foal's re- 

 ceiving over-heated milk. Another practice, and which is superior to the above, is also common in York- 

 shire, and in many parts of Scotland : After the foal is a few weeks old, and has acquired strength and 

 agility enough to follow its mother, it is allowed to attend her in the field during the hours of labour, and 

 to suck occasionally. By this means, not only does the foal receive sufficient exercise ; nor can any pre- 

 judicial effect happen from the over-heated state of the milk, as the foal is allowed to draw it off repeatedly, 

 and at short intervals ; but the little animal becomes hardy, and loses all timidity, and afterwards requires 

 less breaking : these may be considered as the general modes of management in those parts of the king- 

 dom mentioned above, during the period while the foal is allowed to suck its dam, which is usually about 

 six months ; that is, from the time of foaling till Michaelmas, which is the period at which foals are 

 generally weaned, or prevented from sucking. Breeding mares are evidently unable to endure the fatigue 

 of constant labour, for sonte months before and after parturition : this has led a few farmers to rear foals 

 upon cow-milk ; but the practice is neither common nor likely ever to become so; and as it is a philo- 

 sophical fact, well established, that all animals partake, in some measure, of the nature of their foster 

 parent, so there is great reason to fear this practice would prove injurious to foals so reared. 



6646. In weaning the foal at the end of six or seven months, great care should be taken to keep the 

 mare and foal from the hearing of each other, that neither may fret or pine after the other. The best 

 method will be to confine the foal in a small stable by itself, which should be furnished with a rack and 

 manger, where it may be fed with clean shaken hay, and clean sifted oats, bruised a little in a mill, or 

 chopped carrots, or boiled potatoes. With this management, he will quickly forget his dam, and become 

 gentle and familiarised to his keeper, and in fair weather may be suffered to exercise himself in a pasture 

 adjoining to the stable; but this should be only for a little while in the middle part of a sunny day; the 

 tenderness of the young animal rendering it dangerous to keep him out in the night, 



6647. The treatment of weaned foals in England, is to put them immediately into a good fresh pasture, 

 where they remain as long as the winter continues moderate. On the apprach of winter, they are fed 

 with a sufficient quantity of hay, placed in a stable or hovel, erected in the field for the purpose, and into 

 which they have free access at all times. The next summer they are put into other pastures, commonly 

 the most indifferent on the farm, where they remain till the beginning of the following winter, when they 

 are either allowed to range in the pasture fields, or brought home to the straw-yard. The inclemency of 

 the winter in Scotland, and the great falls of snow which generally take place, render it necessary 

 always to house the foals there during that season. 



6648. During the first winter foals are fed on hay with a little corn, but should not be constantly con- 

 fined to the stable ; for even when there is nothing to be got on the fields, it is much in their favour to be 

 allowed exercise out of doors. A considerable proportion of succulent food, such as potatoes, carrots, 

 and Swedish turnips (oil-cake has been recommended), should be given them through the next winter, 

 and beans and peas meal has been advantageously substituted for oats ; but which, if allowed in a con- 

 siderable quantity, are injurious to the thriving of the young animal, from their heating and astringent 

 nature. 



6649. During the following summer their pasture depends upon the circumstances of the farms on which 

 they are reared. In the second winter they are fed in much the same manner as in the first, except that 

 straw may be given for some months instead of hay ; and in the third winter they have a greater allow- 

 ance of corn, as they are frequently worked at the' harrows in fhe ensuing spring. {General Repmt of 

 Scotland, vol. iii. p. 18o.) When about three years old, the author of the Neiv Farmer's Calendar advices 



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