200 THE PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 



will carry no superfluous flesli, but is herself sufficiently well 

 nourished to insure ample nutriment for the perfect development 

 of the foal. 



The ideal conditions for the brood mare, namely those in 

 which the balance between feed and exercise is most easily main- 

 tained and the feed of the best sort secured, are those surround- 

 ing mares at pasture. Fresh air and sunshine, without exposure, 



Fig. 121. — A brood mare of i)ro\'(n worth, (Iccp-rihhcd and roomy, with every indicatif 



of capacity and vigor. 



freedom to move about at will, with little danger of slips or 

 fatigue, and an abundance of nutritious, succulent forage, fur- 

 nishing the elements essential to the growth of the foal and the 

 production of milk by the dam, are the things nature has pro- 

 vided at the season of the year when most females naturally bring 

 forth their young. These can hardly be improved upon, and if 

 they must be modified or substituted on account of economy, they 

 should still be the standard by which other systems are measured. 



