only spend your time training your horses instead of going to cricket they would do you more credit and win more prizes.” This advice I have never forgotten, and I pass it on for the benefit of those who have yet to learn “the ropes.”

CHAPTER VI
Rearing and Feeding

During the past few years we have heard much about early maturity with all kinds of stock. Four-year-old bullocks are rarely seen in these days, while wether sheep are being superseded by tegs. With Shire Horses there has been a considerable amount of attention paid to size in yearlings, two- and three-year-olds, which, as before stated, is equivalent to early maturity in the case of cattle and sheep. For the purpose of getting size an animal must be well fed from birth, and this applies to foals. Of course, the date of birth counts for a good deal when foals are shown with their dams, as it does to a less extent with yearlings, but after that age it makes very little difference whether a foal is born in February or in May.

From a farmer’s point of view I do not believe in getting Shire foals too early. They have to be housed for a lengthened period, and the dams fed on food which may be expensive. At the present time good oats are worth 30s. per quarter, and hay, fit for horses, at least 90s. per ton, so that two or three months of winter feeding means a little sum added to the cost of raising a foal.

The middle of April is early enough for the average foal to arrive, and he can then make quite a good size by September if his dam is an ordinarily good suckler and he contracts no ailments, such as chills or scour, to check his progress. When colts are a month old they will begin to pick up crushed oats and bran while the dam is feeding, therefore it is no trouble to teach them to eat from a manger.

A word of caution is necessary to the inexperienced in the matter of feeding the dam until the foal is a few days old and strong enough to take all her milk. This is to feed the mare sparingly so as not to flush her milk while the youngster is unable to take it fast enough. Of course, the surplus can be milked away, as it should be if the bag is tight, but this may be neglected and then scour is often set up, which a very young foal often succumbs to. It is better that the mare should have too little than too much milk while the youngster gets fairly on his legs.

Cows always have most of their milk taken away, but young lambs as well as foals often suffer through taking too much of the dam’s milk during the first day or two of their existence.

If a foal is born during the grazing season the flow of milk can be regulated by keeping the mare in a bare pasture, or shutting her up for part of the day.

Supposing that the foal survives the ills incidental to its early life, and gains in strength with the lengthening days, its first dry food will be taken when the mare is fed, which she should be, especially if she is either a young or an old mare, while show candidates will naturally need something more than grass. The object is to promote steady growth and maintain good health, and it should not be forgotten that oats are the best of all corn for horses; therefore no other kind should be given to a foal, but on good grazing land a mare will usually maintain herself and her foal in good condition for a good part of the summer without manger food.

It is towards weaning time that a manger is needed, into which should be put crushed (not whole) oats, together with an equal quantity of bran and a bit of good chaff. At the outset the mare will eat most of it, but the foal will benefit by getting richer milk and more of it, which he can now take without any ill effects. In time he acquires the habit of standing up to the manger and taking his share. It is very necessary to see that all foals eat well before they are weaned.

The cost of feeding a foal during its first winter may be roughly reckoned at ten shillings per week, which is made up as follows—

The bulk of the hay and all the oat straw should be fed in the form of chaff with the oats, bran and carrots (well cleaned and pulped), then a very good everyday diet can be formed by mixing the whole together, and one which few horses will refuse. Of course the items are not reckoned at the extreme prices prevailing in the winter of 1914-1915, but they could often be bought for less, so that it is a fair average.

It will be seen that oats form the biggest part, for the reason aforesaid, that they are better than other kinds of corn.

A little long hay should be given at night—more when there is snow on the ground—the other mixture divided into two feeds per day, morning and evening, unless showing is contemplated in the early Spring, when, of course, an extra feed will be given at mid-day.

The fashion has changed during the past few years as regards hay for horses. Meadow hay is regarded, and rightly so, as too soft, so hard seeds are invariably chosen by grooms or owners who want value for money.

It is quite easy to ascertain which a horse likes best by putting some good hard mixture and equally well-gotten meadow hay side by side in front of him. He will certainly eat that first which he likes best, and it will be found to be the harder mixture. The quantities mentioned are for foals which lie out or run on pasture.

The best place for wintering them is in a paddock or field, with a roomy shed open to the south. A yard, walled or slabbed on three sides, the south again being open to the field, with doors wide enough to admit a cart, is a very useful addition to the shed, as it is then possible to shut the youngsters in when necessary.

Both yard and shed should be kept littered, if straw is plentiful, but if not the shed should contain a good bedding of peat-moss litter. No overhead racks should be used, but one on the same level as the manger, so that no seeds drop out of the rack into the colt’s eyes.

It will be found that foals reared in this way are healthy and ready for their feed, and they will often prefer to lie full length in the open than to rest in the shed. To see them lying quite flat and fast asleep, looking as if dead, is a pretty sure sign that they are thriving. They will often snore quite loudly, so that a novice may consider that they are ill.

Rock salt should be within reach for them to lick, together with good clean water. If a trough is used for the latter it should be cleaned out at intervals, and if a pond or ditch is the drinking place, there should be a stone mouth so as to avoid stalking in the mud. A healthy horse is a hungry horse, therefore the feed should be cleaned up before the next is put in. This must be noted in the case of foals just weaned. Any left over should be taken away and given to older horses, so that the little ones receive a sweet and palatable