SELECTION, CARE AND MANAGEMENT 519 



secured. When this is not possible it is best that 

 the mare remain idle, but in this case she should 

 be out every day unless the weather is very bad 

 and she should be allowed the run of large pastures 

 and not be confined to paddocks. A fair number of 

 mares can be allowed to run together, but I regard 

 it desirable not to have more than eight in one 

 pasture. 



"About one week before foaling the mare's feed 

 should be oats and bran, largely bran, so that her 

 bowels may be in good condition. If one is sure 

 that the foal will receive proper attention, especially 

 the navel, the mare may be put to work within 

 two weeks after foaling; otherwise I prefer to have 

 her remain idle until the navel has healed. On my 

 farm the mares carrying foals are not worked, but 

 this is because of my inability to secure reliable 

 labor. When they are suckling I feed my mares 

 oats and bran and mixed hay, half timothy and half 

 clover or alfalfa. When flies are bad the mare and 

 foal have a bosstall during the day and are turned 

 out at night. 



"The stallions and fillies should be separated 

 when not more than seven months old. This is 

 before there is a possibility of any of the fillies com- 

 ing in heat and causing the stallions to fret and 

 worry. If a stallion is never allowed to get near 

 enough to a mare in heat to smell her, he will run 

 in a pasture with a number of others nearly as con- 

 tented as the same number of geldings. These 

 stallions should have abundance of range. I prefer 

 a field about twice as large as would be necessary 

 to furnish them sufficient pasture, and I put in the 

 pasture a like number of cattle. When running in 

 large pastures the colts are able to take abundant 

 exercise and will consume large amounts of oats 



