51 
MANAGEMENT OF THE BROOD MARE 
wise inferior supplementary feeds are indicated. These include among 
the grains such feedstuffs as barley, oats, wheat, wheat bran, wheat 
middlings, peas, and also a little of linseed meal. Soiling-crops especial¬ 
ly alfalfa, if available, are also recommended, and if the roughages fed 
consist of legumes, green or dried, corn could be used to form the larger 
percentage of the ration. Under average conditions, Jordan recommends 
a grain mixture consisting of cracked corn 2 parts, wheat bran 7 parts, 
and linseed meal 1 part. Another formula advocated includes ground 
oats 4 parts, wheat middlings 5 parts, and linseed meal 1 part. 
McCampbell 6 ’ gives five feed mixtures for the working brood mares as 
follows: 
1. Corn, 8 parts; bran, 1 part; alfalfa hay. 
2. Oats; alfalfa hay. 
3. Oats, 4 parts; corn, 6 parts; bran, 4 parts; prairie or timothy hay. 
4. Corn, 6 parts; bran, 3 parts; alfalfa hay, one j third; prairie hay, 
two-thirds. 
5. Corn, 6 parts; bran, 3 parts; linseed meal, 1 part; prairie hay or 
timothy hay. 
9. Housing and Care 
Carlson'’ recalls the practices of early settlers of this country by which 
mares and horses were sheltered in cheaply constructed stables, where the 
question of ventilation was not thought of on account of sufficient openings 
being provided. Mares of those days are said to be more fecund, and such 
consequential ailments as colds, coughs, and influenza were then unknown. 
Williams 48 claims even that pregnant animals are healthiest if grazed in 
pastures under the most natural environment. In fact, he says, “rain, 
snow, cold, or heat is not more prejudicial to the well-being of a pregnant 
animal than to that of a non-pregnant one.” That this is possible is 
substantiated by Smith. 49 Smith 49 discusses the behavior and adaptabil¬ 
ity of horses to external envioronment in the following mnaner: “The 
young of the horse comes into the world prepared by its heat-regulating 
mechanism to deal with the question of external temperature, and as 
time goes on this is supplemented by an extra growth of hair for winter 
use and a lighter covering for the summer. If no interference with the 
coat be practiced it is undoubted that no extra covering of any kind is 
required during the coldest weather, and even where the natural cover¬ 
ing is of the lightest . . . it is sufficient for the purpose. The thor¬ 
oughbred mares of this country once they go to the stud, live in the open 
for the remainder of their lives, and never wear a blanket. And practic¬ 
al experience tells us that this may be gradually imposed on all horses 
with impunity, even those which have been kept in hot stables.” This 
method of handling has the added advantage in that “coughs, cold, and 
inflammatory chest affections, usually attributed to cold, are practically 
unknown among horses living in the open, even during the coldest 
weather, and it is easy to show that these diseases are largely the result 
of the artificial conditions under which working horses have to live.” 
But Carlson 6 advises that an open shed be constructed wherein the 
mares may take refuge during stormy days. On the same ground, John¬ 
stone 5 recommends the construction of a similar shed, which should not 
only be airy but dark. Besides the protection it will give the horses 
during stormy weather, it will also serve as a refuge to resort to in 
summer time when flies are bothersome. Or else, if sheds are not to be 
had on the pasture when flies are abundant it is advised to take the 
mares during the daytime into the barn and turn them out to pasture 
in the night. Carlson 6 says that mares to be worked during winter 
should be housed at night. 
Roberts 59 desires that the mare and foal be turned out in the field 
