FOALS 279 



such liberties being taken with them, and behave accord- 

 ingly. Patience, however, conquers all things, even a 

 rebellious foal, and if a commencement is made by accus- 

 toming him to have his legs stroked he will in time, as 

 a rule — for some horses never like having their feet 

 picked up — consent to having his hoofs inspected. 



Above all things, it must be impressed upon those 

 who have foals in charge that it is absolutely necessary 

 for them to exercise the golden gift of patience when 

 dealing with the young stock. More horses have been 

 ruined by having the devil knocked into them by a 

 course of harsh, if not positively brutal, treatment when 

 foals than people imagine, but it is a fact, all the same. 

 A naturally high-spirited foal becomes an evil-tempered 

 one, and a timid one still more nervous, by unnecessary 

 severity, let alone by cruelty, and hence the almost inestim- 

 able value of a servant who is tender, though firm, when 

 dealing with the young stock entrusted to his care. 



Everybody who has witnessed this operation will 

 sympathise with all parties concerned in the shoeing of 

 a foal for the first time. The animal itself is scared 

 by the unfamiliarity of the surroundings, whilst the 

 farrier and the man in charge of the foal are frequently 

 driven almost to desperation by the resistance of the 

 animal. 



