78 HORSE-BREEDING FOR FARMERS CHAP. 
no fear of abortion and little risk in foaling. A 
mare that slips her foal should be treated with every 
care; she should be covered at night, and receive 
gruel and mashes, and water with the chill taken off; 
and when in foal again, for three or four months 
before foaling, she should only do such light work 
on the farm as will keep her in health and exercise. 
It is easy to tell when a mare is about to foal ; 
her ewer has filled for some time previously, and a 
few days before she foals wax is secreted at the 
paps. When this occurs, and her quarters begin to 
drop in (as a cow’s before calving), her time is just 
up. When the milk once appears, the mare should 
be watched, and should be attended to by the man 
she knows best. She should be placed in a roomy 
box, with a door opening outwards, in case she goes 
down against the door. For a week or two before 
foaling a mare should not be turned out into a dewy 
or wet pasture ; if she is out at grass she should be 
brought in at night, and not turned out till wind 
or sun has dried the standing dew off the herbage. 
If an owner is inexperienced in the management of 
a foaling mare, he should call in a neighbour who 
will give such advice as is necessary. The first 
thing that should present itself in foaling is the 
water bladder and then the forefeet. The bladder, 
when the feet are well presented, may be broken, 
and the assistant may then take the forefeet and 
gently pull straight and fairly every time the mare 
strains. After the foal is delivered the umbilical 
cord should be tied close to the foal’s belly and cut 
close to the knot, and the foal left near the mare’s 
head. But, as a rule, nature’s operations are simple 
