LIVE STOCK. 145 



have been dried \dth a soft cloth or rag or sponge, anoint the parts with a 

 mixture of pure glycerine in which a little carbolic acid has been mixed. Do 

 this at night after work. In the mom cleanse well again, as above, and put 

 on some pulverized alum if you work the horse regularly. Continue this 

 course until the sores are perfectly healed up. 



AVorkixtg Glares in Foal. — -It is quite common to see or hear inquiries 

 as to how near the time of foaling, a mare may be worked without injury to 

 her or the colt, on the supposition that it is necessary for her to go idle for a 

 month or two before. 



This is not the case; and in the hands of a careful man she may be kept 

 at such work as plowing, harrowing, or cultivating without the leaat danger, 

 until she is ready to foal. Of course, fast driving or working to a heavy 

 wagon tongue, on rough or muddy roads, or where heavy backing is to be 

 done, should not be allowed. The writer has always worked mares modei'- 

 ately on the farm, when necessary, until it was evident they were likely to 

 foal within a few hours, and has known of their foaling in harness, en route 

 from the plow to the bam, but never with any bad results. 'VN'hile we think 

 it more humane to let a mare have a few days' htK;rty before tlus trying 

 event, there seems to be little necessity for losing the work of a strong mare 

 for any great length of time before foaling, and we would prefer to allow the 

 extra hoUdays afterward. Ordinarily, she will do first-rate work with a ten 

 days' vacation, provided that she is not put immediately to work that is too 

 aevere, and fed partly with something else than com. 



Kicking In the StaU._The habit of kicking m the stable aiiees from 

 idleness. Regular day work La the best remedy, but when Aat is not suffi- 

 cient, a branch or two of some prickly shrub, nailed to the posts, will often 

 stop the habit, care being taken to arrange it so as not to prevent the animal 

 from lymg down and obtaining needed rest. Mares are supposed to be 

 much more subject to this vice than geldings or stallions; but so far as our 

 personal experience goes, there is httle difference. A broad leather strap, 

 to which is tied a small wooden log, are commonly applied to one or both 

 legs, but they are not always sufficient. A heavier weight than two pound* 

 should not be used, for if a horse is frightened by it, he may kick worse and 

 do himself injtiry. When, however, he is well tised to a woodem h>g, and 

 has got over his first alarm, a hea\-ier one may be put on if required. The 

 strap, which should be broad, is buckled around the leg above the fetlock, 

 ■A the weight suspended from it, which should not reach farther down than 



inch and a half above the coronet, as the coronet would inflame to a mis- 

 .iiiovous extent if bruised. Sometimes a weight is required for each leg, ii 

 the animal kicks at both stall posts. Occasionally, when all other remedies 

 fail, the practice will cease when the animal be tamed loose in a roomv box 

 BtaU. 



Reining Horses — The habit of reining in horses very tightly finds less 

 favor with many persons than it did. It is not easy to see in wliat way the 

 habit originated. If a man has a load of anything "to pull, he wishes to get 

 his head as far forward as possible to pull with ease. But the horse is de- 

 nied this. His head is reined back tightly, thereby making it much harder 

 for him to puU the load. To our view, ahorse looks better, and we know 

 he feels better, when pursuing a natural, leisurely, swinging gait. It is as 

 necessary for his head to oscUlate in response to the motions of his bodv, as 

 it is for a man's bands to do the same thing. A horeo allowed his 



