428 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK in. 



five or six months. Mares should be partly placed on hard meat a few 

 days before the weaning of the foal, and entirely so immediately after 

 their separation, for it assists in drying off the milk, and, if mares are 

 again in foal, it is of service in strengthening them, and in preventing 

 abortion an accident which is not uncommon at that time. Care, 

 however, should be taken to keep their bowels open during this period, 

 for which purpose either bran mashes should be given nightly, or they 

 should be turned into a paddock. The latter is the better practice, for 

 the less mares in foal are kept in the stable the better, and open sheds 

 are at all times preferable. It is desirable that the mare should at 

 this period be more severely worked. 



As ""we have already observed, moderate work, so far from being 

 prejudicial to mares while they are in foal, is of service ; it promotes 

 health and vigour, and enables them to produce their young with 

 greater ease, and it may be continued with safety until the near 

 approach of their foaling is announced, first, loy the springing of 

 the udder, and soon afterwards by the teats becoming filled with 

 rnilk. 



Mr. Archibald Macneilage, in his instructive essay l on the systems 

 of management in breeding studs of draught-horses, notes the fact 

 that the amount of rainfall in a district is a matter of considerable 

 importance to horse-breeders. He describes the management of 

 brood-mares according as they (1) are kept solely -for breeding pur- 

 poses; (2), do an ordinary share of farm labour; and (3), are kept for 

 breeding and exhibition. At the most extensive breeding stud in 

 Scotland, that at Keir, Perthshire, the feeding is of the lightest 

 description, the allowance per head being 1 bushel of oats per week, 

 mixed with chopped oat-straw, a few Swedish turnips in the forenoon, 

 a pailful of boiled meat turnips, cut hay, and bran in the afternoon, 

 and oat- straw ad libitum. 



At Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, about half a dozen mares are kept 

 solely for breeding. During winter they run at grass all day, but are 

 housed at night. They are fed thrice daily at 5 A.M. and 4 P.M. with 

 boiled mash, and at 8 P.M. with hard feeding, consisting of about 1 Ib. 

 of oats to each, mixed with one turnip, and enough cut hay to fill a 

 2-gallon pail, with abundance of fresh oat-straw for fodder. 



At Montrave, Fifeshire, the brood mares number fifteen, of which 

 seven are kept solely for breeding purposes. As a rule, even in the 

 worst weather they prefer to lie out rather than in the sheds which are 

 provided. During winter the mai'es are fed twice daily with bruised 

 oats and chopped hay, and a few raw Swedish turnips. The daily 

 allowance is about 14 Ib. of the mixed food per head, one half being 

 given in the morning, and the other in the evening, during the period 

 from the end of September until the grass conies in spring. 



Mares kept solely for breeding are apt to be somewhat neglected as 

 to care of their feet and legs, because, not being required either for 

 work or show, they are taken little notice of, except when in season 



1 Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, 1890. 



