152 



dangerous. The rectum must be first emptied and then the hand car- 

 ried forward until it reaches the front edge of the pelvic bones below, 

 and pressed downward to ascertain the size and outline of the womb. 

 In the unimpregnated state the vagina and womb can be felt as a sin- 

 gle rounded tube, dividing in front to two smaller tubes (the horns of 

 the womb). In the pregnant mare not only the bodj^ of the womb is 

 enlarged, but still more so one of the horns (right or left), and on com- 

 pression the latter is found to contain a hard, nodular body, floating 

 in a licjuid, which in the latter half of gestation may be stimulated by 

 gentle pressure to manifest spontaneous movements. By this method 

 the presence of the foetus may be determined as early as the third 

 month. If the complete natural outline of the virgin womb can not 

 be made out, careful examination should always be made on the right 

 and left side for the enlarged horn and its living contents. Should 

 there still be difficulty the mare should be placed on an inclined 

 plane, with her hind j)arts lowest, and two assistants, standing on 

 opposite sides of the body, should raise the lower part of the abdomen 

 by a sheet j^assed beneath it. Finally the ear or stethoscope applied 

 on the wall of the abdomen in front of the stifle may detect the beat- 

 ing of the foetal heart (one hundred and twenty-five per minute) and 

 a blowing sound (the uterine sough), much less rapid and correspond- 

 ing to the number of the j)ulse of the dam. It is heard most satis- 

 factorily after the sixth or eighth month and in the absence of active 

 rumbling of the bow^els of the dam. 



DURATION OF PREGNANCY. 



Mares usually go about eleven months with young, though first preg- 

 nancies often last a year. Foals have lived when born at the three 

 hundredth day, so with others carried till the four hundredth day. 

 With the longer pregnancies there is a greater probability of male 

 offspring. 



HYGIENE OF THE PREGNANT MARE. 



The pregnant mare should not be exposed to teasing by a young and 

 ardent stallion, nor should she be overworked or fatigued, particu- 

 larly under the saddle or on uneven ground. Yet exercise is benefi- 

 cial to both mother and offsjiring, and in the absence of moderate 

 work the breeding mare should be kept in a lot where she can take 

 exercise at vnll. 



The food should be liberal, but not fattening, oats, bran, sound 

 hay, and other foods rich in the principles which form flesh and bone 

 being especially indicated. All ailments that tend to indigestion are 

 to be especially avoided. Thus rank, aqueous, rapidly groA\ai grass 

 and other green food, parti allj^ ripe rye grass, millet, Hungarian grass, 

 vetches, pease, beans, or maize are objectionable, as is over-ripe 

 fibrous, innutritions hay, or that which has been injured and ren- 

 dered musty by wet, or that ^diicli is infested with smut or ergot. 



