52 Veterinary Obstetrics 



side instead of from the rear. If both are kept well in hand, any 

 attempt to kick on the part of the mare should be at once coun- 

 teracted by vigorously drawing her head toward the stallion, thus 

 turning her heels from him. After coition has been completed 

 and the stallion is dismounting the same rule should constantly 

 be applied and the mare brought at once to face the stallion in 

 order to avoid kicks. 



Owners of valuable stallions generally prefer to obtain yet 

 greater security by the application of hobbles. Two forms are 

 used, of which there are numerous varieties. By one plan, a 

 hobble is buckled about each hind pastern, a rope of suflScient 

 length attached to each, and the two free ends are carried forward 

 between the forelegs and securely tied to a strong collar or the 

 ends may be carried upwards on either side of the neck and tied 

 on the top sufSciently tight to prevent the mare from kicking 

 backward for any important distance. By the second plan, the 

 hobbles are attached to the hocks instead of the pasterns. In 

 this case, each hobble is double and one portion of each is attached 

 above, the other below the hock of each hind leg and by ropes or 

 straps are fixed forward the same as in the preceding. The latter 

 possesses some points of superiority. The mare is not so liable 

 to become entangled in the ropes and injure herself and the stal- 

 lion is probably also exposed to less danger of getting his foot 

 caught in the securing apparatus. Whatever the form of breed- 

 ing hobbles or other confining apparatus, they need be secure and 

 strong. Nothing can well be more dangerous for the breeding 

 stallion than insecure hobbles which lead to a false feeling of 

 security and throw the otherwise careful stallion groom off his 

 guard. In a recent instance the author was called to attend a 

 valuable stallion suffering from a compound tibial fracture, the 

 result of a kick during attempted copulation. Because the mare 

 was not properly in estrum or for other reason she was unex- 

 pectedly cross and at a critical moment when the stallion was 

 attempting to mount she commenced to kick and the old hobbles, 

 in which the owner of the stallion had trusted, gave way, and 

 the fatal accident at once followed. The breeder should never 

 trust partly to hobbles and partly to the gentleness of the mare 

 or good luck. If hobbles are to be trusted at all, the breeder 

 should know that they are so strong that no mare can break 

 them and always allow a safe margin of strength beyond that 



