28o MANAGEMENT AND BREEDING OF HORSES 



If the foal comes in the winter it will need extra warm 

 quarters and extra attention. The dam will need milk- 

 producing foods, such as clover or alfalfa hay, oats, bran 

 and a few carrots, if available. She should be exercised 

 regularly. If one has succulent food, such as carrots, 

 and provides sufficient exercise for mare and foal, it is 

 possible to raise a winter colt that will be a strong rival 

 to the average spring colt, but extra care must be given. 



Breeding the mare.- — Do not change the habit or work 

 of a mare at breeding time, but keep her as she was before 

 the service. Often work mares are bred and turned to 

 pasture. '1'his is poor practice, as the sudden changing 

 of a mare from dry grain and hay to pasture, and from 

 work to idleness will so upset her system as to render 

 conception difficult. In like manner, taking a mare from 

 pasture and giving her a diet of grain and hay will have a 

 similar result. The quieter a mare is kept at time of 

 service the better it will be for her. If possible long 

 drives to and from the stallion should be avoided. When 

 it is desired to breed to a stallion located at some dis- 

 tance, if possible, arrangements should be made to leave 

 her near him for a time. 



Breeding condition. — While mares differ widely in the 

 recurrence of their breeding condition, this difference is 

 not so great as to render a general rule inapplicable. A 

 mare bred on the ninth, day after foaling will usually 

 conceive, and if she is healthy and has received no 

 injuries in giving birth it is the practice to breed her 

 at this time. When she should be returned to see 

 whether she has conceived is a much-discussed question, 

 due to the fact that rriares differ in this respect. The 

 horse breeder should make a study of the individuality 

 of his mares so as to be able to return them at the proper 

 time. In common oractice the mare is returned on the 

 twenty-first day after first service, and every seven days 

 thereafter for at least one month, particularly when the 

 mare is a valuable one and the owner wishes to make 

 sure she is in foal. 



