16 



CARE ANO TRAINING OF TROTTERS. 



Chapter Z — The Weanling Colt. . 



HEN fall comes, the suckling colt 

 should be weaned. Some brood 

 mare handlers take the colt 

 away from the dam and milk 

 the mare dry each day. This 

 is done on the Savage Farm 

 and McKennan farm. Others 

 allow the colt to suck twice a day for sev- 

 eral days, then once a day for a while, till 

 the mare dries up of her own- accord. One 

 prominent colt handler says: "The first method 

 is the right on^ and best when you have experi- 

 enced help or can look after mare and colt your- 

 self, otherwise the second method should be used." 

 Another says: "Don't tantalize the colt by keep- 

 ing its mother around while weaning — it is like 

 cutting ofif a dog's tail a little at a time." 



,A horseman writes: "I wean my colts by tak- 

 ing them off the mares at once and taking the 

 mares far enough away so that they will not hear 

 each other. Of late years I have been weaning 

 by the signs of the Zodiac. This may sound a lit- 

 tle ancient, at least to~ some people, but it does not 

 cost anything, and I ' have found that mv mares 

 and colts both do a great deal better. Before I 

 tried this I had more or less trouble with mares' 

 bags caking and colts worrying a good deal for 



