MANAGEMENT OF THE FOAL. 173 



FEEDING THE FOAL. 



More can be done for the foal in the first six months of its 

 life than in any year thereafter, consequently the mare should 

 be extra well fed during the time of nursing the colt, and then, 

 if she proves to be a poor milker, as is many times the case, the 

 foal should be fed in addition to what it can get from its dam. 

 It should be taught to drink sweet skim-milk, which is very 

 good for young foals. Do not feed whole, or new milk, as 

 cream is unnatural to the foal ; there is none in mare's milk. 

 The foals will learn to eat grain with their mothers at an early 

 age. 



A brood mare suckling a foal, especially if said foal is ex- 

 pected to become valuable, should be fed liberally for milk, 

 both as regards quantity and quality. 



When the colt gets to be three months old he will eat con- 

 siderable food in addition to what he can get from the mare, 

 and he should be liberally supplied with oats in a separate feed 

 trough where he can help himself and where the mare cannot 

 get to them to drive him away. 



SUCKLING COLTS. 



"When the mare is used on the farm or road in hot weather 

 so as to heat her blood, the foal should not be allowed to suck 

 until she has cooled off. Let him fill himself before the mare 

 is put in the harness. Colts injured by heated milk seldom re- 

 cover from it for a year or two, and sometimes never. 



EAISING BY HAND. 



It sometimes becomes necessary to raise a foal wholly by 

 hand, as it is called when required to be raised without the aid 

 of its dam. Such was the case of Andrew Jackson, the founder 

 of the Clay family ; of George Wilkes, 2.22, the founder of the 

 Wilkes family ; of Lilian Wilkes, 2.17| (at three years old) ; 

 of Belle Hamlin, 2.12| ; and many other good ones have been 

 raised on cow's milk. 



This is a plan worthy of more extended experiment, and is 



