50 
PURE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
her milk, thus: mixed hay—15 pounds; wheat bran (or its equivalent) — 
5 pounds; oats—5 pounds; carrots—8 pounds. It is pointed out that 
the more the percentage of clover in the liay the better. And too, it 
is suggested that cracked corn may be substituted for a portion of the 
oat constitiuents. The carrots included in the ration are to stimulate milk 
secretion and to help tone up the healthfulness of both dam and foal. 
Dimon 40 advocates the following practice in treating doubtful mares: 
The mares are turned into grass for a few weeks without grain, after 
which they are fed grain and worked lightly until the season comes 
when they are bred. It is claimed that mares turned to grass after 
breeding or those always having the run of grass would not so likely 
conceive as those treated by the method just discussed. 
Evidently the practice in the British Isles, as Murray 77 asserts, is to 
turn the mare and foal out in the pasture till weaning time, or at the 
end of September or early in October. This is done soon after foaling. 
Axe 38 says that mares would subsist well and produce well-developed 
foals when pastured on sufficient good grass. This, however, would not 
be enough during unfavorable weather, or when pastures are otherwise 
poor. In such cases, hay and oats are to be furnished, especially in the 
morning. It is claimed that for pregnant mares oats and hay are con¬ 
sidered best feeds, while for farm in-foal mares that are worked mashed 
or bruised oats or barley mixed with pulped roots and chopped hay or 
straw dampened with linseed-cake water are indicated. Maize is dis¬ 
favored. But the mare is never to be allowed fat, instead she must be 
maintained in a moderate condition, whether she is working or not. 
For feeding the suckling mare Axe 38 writes: “In the loose box, good 
hay and a small allowance of crushed oats two or three times a day 
should be given; and if grass is not available, and especially if the mare 
does not furnish a sufficient supply of milk, mashes of boiled barley or 
oats, to which coarse sugar or treacle has been added, may be allowed 
frequently, and with great advantage. Crushed oats is especially to be 
recommended for the mare when the foal is a few weeks old, as the foal 
begins to nibble at and soon to eat them, and thus to prepare itself in 
the best way for being weaned, while this addition to its food will greatly 
tend to its robustness and development.” 
In the Palo Alto Farm 89 the suckling mares are run to grass and fed 
hay for roughage, while for their grain feed they get, night and morning, 
steamed or cooked food, either oats or barley. Carrots are also given. 
Hughes 90 gives a few combinations of grain for brood mares, as follows: 
1. Corn, 4 parts; oats, 4 parts; bran, 2 parts. 
2. Corn, 7 parts; bran, 2 parts; linseed oil meal, 1 part. 
3. Corn, 8 parts; linseed oil meal, 1 part. 
For roughage, good quality of clover or alfalfa, or timothy and clover 
mixed are recommended. 
For feeding suckling mares, Ogilvie 91 recommends oats and bran in 
equal bulk together with corn to the amount of about one-fourth the 
bulk. This should be dampened before feeding. While in regard to 
feeding mares that are not worked during the winter Ogilvie writes: 
“Ensilage is too much of a laxative to be adopted as a daily ration for 
mares with foal. Dry corn stalks will have the opposite effect on them. 
Both conditions are equally injurious to the prospective mother. One 
feed of corn stalks, and one of hay with access to a rack kept well filled 
with fresh straw, with a few ears of corn daily, will prove an economical 
as well as a safe way of feeding mares that are not in the harness during 
the winter season.” On the other hand, if the mares are being worked 
oats and corn together with wheat bran for grain and hay for roughage 
are considered a satisfactory and safe ration. 
Jordan 92 states that a good pasture would be an efficient source of feed 
for the nursing mare; however, should the grass be insufficient or other- 
