556 A HISTOKY OP THE PERCHEEON HORSE 



of the younger members of our firm, for much, of 

 the success that has accrued to us in our Percheron 

 operations. His sound counsel in regard to_ the se- 

 lection of foundation animals and the feeding and 

 management of young ones has been of incalculable 

 value. While we have gained some things from long 

 experience, the fundamentals on which our success 

 has been based have come largely from Eli Hodg- 

 son. 



"For some years we had our foals come in Feb- 

 ruary and March, because early-bom colts have an 

 advantage in the showring and in selling. But after 

 many years of experience we have changed the time 

 of foaling, and now have our foals coming during 

 the latter part of April and in May. We would 

 much rather have them foaled in June than in 

 March. Our experience has shown us conclusively 

 that the mares foal more easily, the foals have more 

 vitality, and the percentage of loss is much lower 

 Avith the later foals. Under conditions prevailing 

 in our latitude it is possible for our mares to foal 

 out on pasture after Apil 15, and they do foal on 

 pasture in the great majority of cases. A good 

 bluegrass pasture, well exposed to the sun, is the 

 safest place we have found in which to have a mare 

 drop her offspring. We let the mare run out day 

 and night, unless a bad storm comes up, in which 

 case we put her in a boxstall if she is near foaling. 

 In such case we take particular pains to see that 

 the stall is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with 

 one of the coaltar dips. We then put in some clean 

 straw and sprinkle more disinfectant over this. Our 

 plan of having the mares foal on pasture when it is 

 possible, and to put them in thoroughly cleaned, well- 

 disinfected stalls in the few instances when it is 

 necessary to have them foal inside, has enabled us 



