CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF BROOD MARES. 167 



breeder is that he can have full use of such mares as fail to get 

 in foal, and there are few breeders so fortunate as to have none 

 of this class. 



Pregnant mares should be stabled with due regard to 

 security against annoyance, compression, or injury by other 

 horses, and especially guarded against the accident of getting 

 cast in their stalls. 



Don't keep breeding animals fat, but simply in good order ; 

 a good healthy condition at all times is necessary for the 

 greatest success in breeding. It is a good plan to feed the, 

 brood mares a few quarts daily of wheat middlings — the whole 

 grain coarse ground or cracked would do as well — for three 

 months before foaling. There is something about the gluten 

 in wheat that gives the foal bone and strength, and it is less 

 liable to come weak or crooked. Under the old process of 

 grinding wheat, bran and middlings had plenty of the glutten 

 but now it goes mostly into the flour, and the bran and 

 middlings are of less account. 



The mare does not require to be fat or grained highly be- 

 fore foaling or immediately after. It is always best to allow 

 the mare to run to grass if it is large enough for a bite, before 

 foaling, as it will help to make milk and will put the system in 

 a healthy condition to meet the demands of nature. Every 

 breeder should recognize the importance of exercise for the 

 brood mare, either in the paddock, on the road, or in the field ; 

 thus keeping them strong and healthy and insuring a much 

 more hardy foal than when they are allowed to stand quietly 

 in the stall without needful exercise. 



It often happens that there is considerable enlargement of 

 the lower surface of the abdomen and chest during the latter 

 part of the period of pregnancy. The swelling will sometimes 

 extend from the udder to the fore-legs and become an inch or 

 more in thickness. This need not, however, alarm the young 

 breeder, as an hour's walk every day will generally cause most 

 of the swelling to disappear. 



"Whenthe time of foaling approaches, the mare should be 



