BREEDING 193 



close at hand, to which they can resort when they please, 

 but otherwise clay is apt to be too cold in wet weather to 

 suit well-bred animals with thin skins. As a general rule 

 land which grows fine beech-trees is good also for horses, 

 beech-trees disliking damp, while though oaks thrive in 

 many soils they also do so in damp situations, and therefore 

 are not such valuable indicators as fine beech-trees. 



Foaling. 



Some mares show unmistakably when they are in season, 

 but others never give any sign unless tried by a stallion, 

 and if there is not one on the premises and the mare has 

 to be sent some distance to meet one, it is often a difficult 

 matter to know when she is in use. A telling sign is when 

 she is seen smelling the droppings of other mares, and in 

 the case of a shy mare such a sign should not be neglected. 

 If the halter of the mare is taken hold of and the other 

 hand placed on her flank it can generally be seen if she 

 is in use, for if not she will lay back her ears and kick. 

 Mares remain a few days in season, but individuals vary 

 in the length of time ; a colt foal usually results from the 

 mare conceiving at the beginning of the period, and a filly 

 at the end of it. The mare having been covered need not 

 be brought to the stallion for fourteen days, but every suc- 

 ceeding seventh day she must again be tried. After seven 

 weeks from the date of the last service, during which time 

 she has refused the horse, it may be safely concluded she 

 is in foal. If, however, the mare does not conceive to the 

 service, she will come again into season probably in three or 

 four weeks' time. 



After foaling the mare usually comes again into use seven 

 days after, and should be covered on the ninth day, begin- 

 ning the count on the day she foaled, when she is more 

 likely to conceive than at any other time. When she 

 is in season the foal is sure to give signs of a harmless 

 diarrhoea, which being the natural course need cause no 

 alarm ; but it may be relieved by giving the dam a handful 

 of dry barley twice during the first day the foal's condition 



14 



