Vol. LVIII. No. 2581. 
NEW YORK, JULY 15, 1899. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
THE BROOD MARE AND FOAL. 
HOW TO HANDLE A COLT. 
What the Market Demands. 
THE COLT’S PARENTS.—In a previous article, 
I have described and compared brood mares of the 
poor and the good sorts, and given pictures of each, 
to show the class of mare best adapted for the pro¬ 
duction of colts likely to grow into useful and sal¬ 
able harness horses. In mating ani¬ 
mals to produce colts of a certain type, 
it is absolutely necessary that the poor 
features of one should be compen¬ 
sated for by extraordinarily good points 
in the other. That is to say, if the 
mare shows a drooping or sloping hind 
quarter, the stallion with which she is 
to be mated, should be well set up and 
rounded in that particular. If the 
mare is a little too long in body, the 
stallion should be somewhat short and 
bulky. If the mare’s shoulders are not 
sufficiently sloping, those of the stallion 
should be set at a pronounced angle. 
On the other hand, if the stallion’s 
neck be somewhat heavy and short, 
the neck of the mare should be long 
and fine like that seen in a Thorough¬ 
bred running horse. On no account, 
breed to a mare that has a pronounced 
ewe neck, for invariably her foals will 
have the same trait, and a ewe neck 
always operates against the sale of a 
stylish heavy harness horse. The deal¬ 
ers speak of such a horse as having the 
crest on the wrong side of the neck, and 
the defect cannot be covered up by har¬ 
ness. Further, horses with ewe necks 
do not “bridle well,” which means that 
it is difficult to give them a “nice 
mouth,” and make them answer to the 
fashionable curb bit quickly; such 
horses are always more or less what 
is called “heavy in hand.” If the mare 
has big ears, and carries them badly, 
see that the horse you breed her to has 
small, alert ears that are continually 
being pricked and pointed forward. If 
the mare is a bit narrow across the 
chest, see that the stallion has a very 
broad chest and lots of heart room. It 
is, of course, or should be, unnecessary 
to warn farmers against breeding un¬ 
sound animals, such as have bad or 
curby hocks, spavin, ringbone, navi¬ 
cular disease, roaring or whistling in 
the throat, or cataract in the eye. 
CARE OF THE MOTHER—After 
choosing a mare for breeuing purposes, 
get her in a cool, natural condition, 
by feeding grass and a little bran, 
chopped hay and a few roots at night 
for a couple of weeks, before sending 
her to the horse. Let her stall or box 
be roomy, clean and dry; let her have 
access to pure water, and keep her ex¬ 
ercised. After service, increase her 
feed with a few crushed oats, and keep her at light 
work so that she will remain healthy, but never let 
her strain herself. Stop working her about a month 
before she is due to foal. If it is fine weather, let her 
foal in the paddock as she would in a state of nature; 
but it is wiser and easier to let her foal in a roomy 
box-stall, allowing her to remain in it a week or so 
before foaling, so that she gets used to the apart¬ 
ment and the sounds that she is likely to hear about 
her. When you turn her out for exercise, don’t let 
her run with other mares who might kick or injure 
her. At foaling time, the least she is interfered with 
the better, but a man who takes an interest in his 
mare will always be on the spot to render assistance 
if it should be necessary, not perhaps to the mare, but 
to the foal, as the latter may smother if not cleaned 
promptly as soon as it has a separate existence. 
When the foal is a week old, if the weather is warm 
enough, let the youngster and its dam out for a while 
in the middle of the day, in a paddock where there is 
some shade. Gradually the two may be allowed out 
day and night on grass, with access to their stall, and 
will need little or no attention except to be driven 
under cover when storms are coming on. 
THE LITTLE COLT.—Gentle and fondle the foal 
from birth, and get it to follow you without fear, away 
from its dam, and if you start working the mare 
lightly in a cart, the foal will trot alongside, but be 
careful what roads you use the mare on. Better keep 
her at work in the fields, so that the foal trots about 
in the inclosure. Don't stint the mare of oats, bran, 
roots and chopped hay, while you are asking her to 
do a little work as well as suckle her colt. By the 
time the colt is ready to wean at six months old, 
you should have taught it to lead on a halter, to 
come at your call, etc. Now will come need of the 
greatest care. The first Winter is the 
critical period, and the colt must be 
well taken care of and fed liberally, or 
it will become poor and stunted in 
growth, and you can never make a 
salable horse out of it. Now is the 
time that the colt should be building 
up good bone and a strong frame. If 
you neglect it now, it can never regain 
ground. If you have any other colts 
or fillies, let them all run together until 
the following Spring. Go among them 
frequently, bridle any one at will, fas¬ 
ten him up for a little while; then do 
the same with another, then fasten 
them all up together for a time. Be 
particular to have them all come at 
your call. Nothing speaks so strongly 
for their tractability and manners as 
this, and it is what a dealer likes to 
see, as it is a sure indication that he 
will have little trouble with any colt 
he may purchase of you. Don’t dock 
the tails of the colts. Leave the tails 
on full length. They will fight flies the 
better, and the colts will take on flesh 
more surely. Show the dealer a per¬ 
fect colt, and let him take the risk of 
cutting off the tail if he wants to. Be¬ 
sides, if you chop off a colt’s tail, you 
narrow your market down to the few 
who want a “docked” horse. Your 
next-door neighbor who drives a long¬ 
tailed horse, may offer you a better 
price for a colt with a perfect tail, than 
the dealer would for a colt docked. 
TRAINING THE COLT.—In the 
Spring, pick out your colts, and geld 
them. Help them along, especially 
the poorish ones, with a little cut hay, 
bran, crushed oats some carrots or 
roots, and an occasional feed of 
chopped corn instead of the oats. 
After they are 15 months old, in 
your spare time, begin to take the colts 
up to the halter, and give them “a 
mouth” by using a thick snaffle bit with 
keys in the middle, and lead them 
around on one line, or start driving 
them about with a pair of long lines, 
you walking behind them. If you own a 
regular breaking harness, consisting of 
a surcingle, crupper and dumb-jockey, 
you can use it on the colts after they 
are 18 months old, and save yourself a 
lot of time, and the colts will get to 
bend their necks and carry their heads 
in good style after about four weeks’ 
schooling; then they can be turned out on grass again 
till the following Spring. The feed mentioned will, 
of course, be given only when the colts are not at 
grass^but all young stock should have access to pas¬ 
ture during open Winter weather when it is not wet 
or stormy. Never overfeed colts, or you will have 
trouble with them through sickness, and don’t try to 
force them as some people do for the show-ring. 
A MAKESHIFT RIG.—A makeshift for a regular 
