300 MANAGEMENT AND BREEDING OF HORSES 



avoiding the exposure of the limbs by grazing. When 

 the difficulty is due to a low dam, the youngster may be 

 placed in the stable and fed on modified cow's milk, much 

 as suggested for feeding modified cow's milk to horse 

 foals ; or the milk from the dam may be used, as some; 

 jennets give large quantities. 



Raising a mule-breeding jack. — The jack is peculiar in 

 his habits. He will not serve both mares and jennets. 

 In fact, he will seldom serve a mare if reared along 

 with a jennet. In raising mule-breeding jacks this is a 

 factor of much importance. To mate with mares, a jackf 

 must be raised with mare colts and not permitted 

 to smell a jennet until well trained to breed mares. If 

 permitted to serve a jennet, he will often refuse to serve 

 mares, and his usefulness as a mule breeder is at an en<i' 



MULE BREEDING 



As we have seen, the mule is a hybrid, and results 

 from crossing a jack on a mare, the reciprocal cross 

 being known as a hinny. The latter is seldom seen, 

 because the stallion has an aversion to the jennet and 

 will not often mate with her. It is asserted • that the 

 hinny takes more of the characters of the horse, the 

 head being neater and the ears shorter than the mule, the 

 hair in the mane and tail heavier and the foot larger. 

 The bray is like the horse. 



Selecting mule-breeding stock. — Formerly very little 

 attention was given to the choosing of either sire or dam 

 in mule breeding. Thus, the mule of a decade ago was a 

 small, ill-tempered and inferior animal, unsuited for most 

 kinds of work. These early specimens were at once the 

 contempt of all horsemen. Even though the modern 

 mule is one of the most efficient working animals we 

 have, he is held in more or less common prejudice be- 

 cause of the inferiority of his early brother. 



Since the same general principles of breeding apply to 

 the mule as to -the horse, the same care should be exer- 



