mana.gp:ment of mares. 



bred mare is required to foal as early as possible in the year, 

 because the produce takes age from the 1st of January, and 

 with two-year-olds a month or two is of great importance. In 

 few situations is there much grass fit for the mare before the 1st 

 of May, and therefore cut stuff of some J^ind, with carrots or 

 turnips, must be given. These can only be produced economi- 

 cally on the stud-farm itself, and provision should always be 

 made for an early supply. Italian rye-grass is generally the 

 earliest crop, and if the soil suits it should always be planted, 

 turnips do pretty well, but not so well as the Italian rye. Car- 

 rots also are useful ; but in all cases both the carrots and turnips 

 should be cut very small, for fear of choking the foal, or even 

 the mare, an accident which has happened to both on many oc- 

 casions. Lucerne comes in soon after the rye-grass, and is an 

 admirable food for suckling mares. Vetches are both too late 

 and too heating, and are not nearly so good as Lucerne. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE MAEE. 



In this place, in the usual order of things, it might be ex- 

 pected that I should allude to the selection of the brood-mare, 

 and the best cross for her ; but, for the sake of simplicity, it will 

 be better to describe the general management of the breeding- 

 stud, and the breaking and training of young stock ; and finally, 

 to consider the most desirable strains for breeding race-horses 

 after all the various elements of success on the turf have been 

 thoroughly investigated, as well as the steeplechase, hurdle- 

 race, &c. This is, to some extent, putting the cart before the 

 horse, but as it will make this mysterious subject more intelli- 

 gible, I prefer adopting the plan, to the apparently more simple 

 one which I have rejected. 



• The duration of pregnancy in the mare is eleven months, 

 and, consequently, she should never be put to the horse earlier 

 than the end of the first week in February ; indeed there is 

 great hazard in sending her before the middle or end of the 

 month, as so many mares drop their foals a fortniglit earlier 

 than the full time. Should this occur with a mare stinted on 

 the 8th or 9th of February, the foal is dropped in the last week 

 of December, by which its age is increased one year, and it is 



