SELECTION, CAEE AND MANAGEMENT 531 



the kind, quality and quantity of feed given tlie 

 colts. Fortunately, it is among these under excessive 

 weights that we find the greater number of mares 

 of acceptable brood type — sweetly feminine sorts 

 which usujdly have necks long enough so that one 

 may put his arm around and love them. 



' ' Avoid flat, shelly feet, straight pasterns, crooked 

 hind legs, excessively sloping rumps, low backs and 

 straight shoulders, both in the mares and in the 

 stallion to which they are bred. The si::e of the 

 bone may well be considered, though too much stress 

 frequently has been placed upon mere size. It is 

 the quality, however, which counts. We want a 

 clean, flat, hard, flinty bone, and enough of it to 

 hold up the mare and carry her on any work she 

 may be called upon to do. It is desirable also that 

 the front legs should not cut under too much just 

 below and back of the knee. 



"Having found a mare that is sound and accept- 

 able in size, type and conformation, let us hope and 

 pray that she has snap and courage to carry on the 

 work that comes with the heat of the day and to 

 pass them on as an heritage to her offspring. Such 

 a mare not only moves more gaily, but is likely to 

 move more correctly than the dull-headed, wabl)ly- 

 legged mare. 



"It is idle to expect a soft, flabby, or poorly con- 

 ditioned mare to stand up under the heart- and 

 body-breaking stress of spring work, much less to 

 conceive. It is to this weakened condition of the 

 mare far more than to the condition of the stallion 

 that the failure of most of the early spring mating 

 is due. Stallion owners commonly recognize that 

 mares begin to settle when the let-up comes in the 

 spring work, about the time that most mares have 

 a little chance to begin to gain. Mares that are 



