Breeding. i o 1 



mare, therefore, should be put to the horse in February, 

 so as to foal as soon after ist January as possible. As, 

 however, many mares foal a little before the end of the 

 eleventh month, it is not safe to send her to the horse 

 before the middle of the second month in the year. For 

 ordinary horses, colts foaled in March are generally 

 hardier and stronger than those foaled afterwards. 



Treatment of the Mare. 



The mare should be allowed to be at large in the fields 

 during the day-time, as exercise is of the greatest conse- 

 quence to her health ; and she should be carefully kept 

 from the sight of any object which can terrify or distress 

 her, such as pig-killing. When the mare is near her time, 

 she shows her state by the filling of the udder, and by the 

 falling in of the muscles on each side of the croup, which 

 the farriers call the " sinking of the bones." When these 

 signs appear the mare should be constantly watched, 

 in order that assistance may be given her if there is any 

 difficulty in the presentation. 



As soon as the foal is born the mare should be allowed 

 to clean it, and the secundines are removed by the 

 attendant ; after which the mare should have a little warm 

 gruel, and, if very much exhausted, one to three ounces of 

 nitrous ether may be added, and repeated in six or eight 

 hours, if needful. It often happens with the first foal that 

 the mare will not take to it, and not only refuses to clean 

 it, but actually denies it the proper nourishment from her 

 teats. When this is the case, the man should milk the 

 mare and soothe her, and after her udder is somewhat 

 empty, and she is relieved, she will generally allow the 

 foal to suck. They should never be left alone till this 

 has taken place, as it is dangerous to do so, for fear of the 

 mare doing a fatal injury to her offspring. Before the 

 coat of the foal is dry, the mane should be combed all on 

 one side ; by which precaution that ragged unsightly look 

 is avoided which it has if part hangs one side and part on 

 the other. For the first twenty-four hours, nothing besides 

 warm gruel and a very little hay should be given to the 

 mare : but when the secretion of milk is fully established 



