Foal

“ On the slopes beyond a ravine a laborer is at his plough, and a piebald foal, with its miserable little tail, dishevelled mane, and long, frail legs, runs after its mother, and we may just hear its plaintive neigh. ”

“ My unhappy hero about this time was very much like the foal, or rather he felt much what the foal would have felt if its mother and all the other grown-up horses in the field had vowed that what it was eating was the most excellent and nutritious food to be found anywhere. He was so anxious to do what was right, and so ready to believe that every one knew better than himself, that he never ventured to admit to himself that he might be all the while on a hopelessly wrong tack. ”

“ We must confess that an old cart-horse and foal, which were sold after the blood-horses, possessed the greatest attractions to our artistic eyes. Treated with the most perfect indifference by the majority of farmers (even the younger ones, who had playfully touched up the nags as they passed, considering this group beneath their notice) , it was interesting to see the mare’s solicitude for the little one, and how utterly, like all mothers, she lost her own anxiety at the crowd and noise in care for the foal. ”

“ The man that first enters the stable should be able to administer to the wants of the mare and the foal. There is no time to be lost—no time now to obtain information, or to proceed four or five miles for a surgeon. If all is right, in five minutes all will be well, but if a false position is presented, the first person that approaches the animal should be able to administer to the wants of the mare and foal. If not, there is much danger for the life of the foal, and in a few hours much danger is to be feared for the safety of the mare. ”

“ Then the fox answered, “Here she is with us; she has turned into a fox, and the foal into a cub; but strike once with the bridle on the earth and cry out, ‘Heigh! you old woman’s mare!’ ” So the king’s son struck with the bridle on the earth and cried “Heigh! you old woman’s mare!” and the mare came and stood, with her foal, near him. He put on the bridle, and mounted and rode off home, and the foal followed the mare. When he arrived the old woman gave him his breakfast, but took the mare into the stable and beat her with the poker, crying, “To the foxes, cursed one! ”

“ But he said to her: "You will be my wife so long as you don't give advice to anybody; but if you do, you must part with me."
Well, she didn't give advice to anybody until one day there was a market in the town, and a farmer's mare had a foal at the market. The foal ran away to another farmer, who was there with a gelding, and the farmer said: "This foal belongs to me."
They went to law about it, and at last the matter came before the king. And the king, considering that every animal ought to run to its mother, decided that a gelding had had a foal. ”

“ Now it happened that one day at the end of all the other cases there came two peasants, each of whom claimed a foal that had been born in a stable where they had both left their carts, one with a horse and the other with a mare. ”

“ The first thing he met was a brown foal running about the fields at large. He caught it by the mane, and wanted to spring on it and ride into the town. The foal, however, begged to be set free. “I am still too young,” it said, “even a light tailor such as thou art would break my back in two let me go till I have grown strong. A time may perhaps come when I may reward thee for it.” “Run off,” said the tailor, “I see thou art still a giddy thing.” ”

“ Sometimes one shoulder will present itself, and the other will incline a little to the rear. Under such circumstances, too much force should not be employed; the foal should be turned sometimes from right to left, [21] and then again from left to right, frequently introducing the hand, and moving it around the foal. In all cases the membrane or skin should be kept in its proper position around the foal, as this will greatly assist the work, and make it one of comparative ease. ”

“ It is said that a foal is able to keep with the travelling herd from the day of birth. It is said that the foal will outlast a hard day's journey—and dies afterwards. To what extent this may be true I have no means of knowing, but I believe that the leggy foal does keep up with a moving herd. It is one more bit of evidence as to the desperate emergencies of drought or storm survived by the ancient herds.
IV. SELF-DEFENCE.
Self-defence
There is a general belief among horse that man is vicious. ”

“ Open air and liberal feeding are its sovereign remedies. In the case of foals a special difficulty arises from their inability to use the muscles of the swollen throat to suck, and this difficulty—dangerous if ignored—can best be met by milking the mare at frequent intervals and teaching the foal to drink from a pail, which it remains able to do. ”

“ She will be the better for light working till near the time of foaling, if well, but not too abundantly fed. In a few days after this, she may resume moderate labor; and if not in the way or troublesome, the foal may run with her; but if she is exposed to heating, it should be confined till she cools, as suckling then is decidedly injurious to it.
The mare is in danger of slinking her foal from blows and over-exertion, the use of smutty grain, foul hay, or offensive objects or smell ”

“ At the same time a membrane or skin will spread around the entrance inside of the womb, from which a number of small cords branch out, uniting together as they run along, until they form one cord, extending to the navel of the foal, through which the blood of the mare circulates in the foal, in order to give it nourishment. ”

“ The mare is said to suckle a mule-foal for six months, but not to allow its approach for any longer on account of the pain it is put to by the hard tugging of the young; an ordinary foal it allows to suck for a longer period. ”

“ Daw. I was one Morning riding to Welton and met a Man leading a Mare and Foal; I ask'd him, if that was his Mare and Foal? He told me, No; but they belonged to one Palmer. I asked him, if he would dispose of the Foal? He said, Palmer was coming up the Street —— I turned about, and saw Palmer; who told me it was his Mare and Foal, and they were bred in Lincolnshire, I asked, if he would dispofe of the Foal? He said, he would rather sell the Mare with her. I reply’d, I had no Occasion for the Mare, only the Foal, and asked the Price of the Foal. He said, Three Guineas. ”

“ There can be no doubt that the foal proceeds from the stallion and the mare. But the experience of ages demonstrates that the essential parts of the body, such as the bones, tendons, nerves, and veins follow after the sire. ”

“ The former usually require nothing but the shortening of the toes, and perhaps some paring of the hoof wall, with the removal of any inequalities of wear [93] that present themselves. The foal’s feet, however, often require a good deal of attention, specially in order to deal with cavities which are apt to be formed between the sole and wall of the hoof. ”

“ The foaling mares are the part of the herd to which most regular attention should be given. They must be kept in vigorous condition; and it must be remembered that they are under constant strain, giving large quantities of milk, and at the same time maintaining and developing the unborn foal. ”

“ When a new-born foal speedily develops abscesses involving the navel and the joints of the extremities, the cause is an invasion of the navel by filth germs and this may easily be prevented. A mare foaling in cold weather should be provided with a clean, fresh bedded, disinfected, light, airy, whitewashed box stall in which to have her foal. In the summer season she may be allowed to foal on grass where filth germs are less liable to be found than in old, dark, dirty stables. ”

“ Foals are weaned when five or six months old, often in October, and require to be housed to save the foal-flesh, and liberally but not overfed; but from the time they are a month old they require to be “gentled” by handling and kindly treatment, and the elementary training of leading from time to time by a halter adjusted permanently to the head. When they are hand-reared on cow’s milk foals require firm treatment and must have no fooling to teach them tricks. Young horses that are too highly fed are apt to become weak-limbed and top-heavy. ”

“ Fifteen or twenty mare’s, wearing the usual iron shackles, are grazing about a mile off, some with foals by their sides, all standing in water above their fetlocks. We walked round to examine them, and saw one good-looking white mare that may be thoroughbred, and also a bay somewhat better than the rest, but they are inferior animals. A foal was born last night, and was being removed with its mother, a wretched little creature, to the dry ground at the camp. There were no camels to be seen. They and the sheep are at pasture at a considerable distance. ”

“ To fix the feet on the young foal shorten the toes as much as the foot will stand without making the foot tender, and then rasp the quarters down to a level with the frog, or a little lower than the top of the frog will be better, then round the sharp edges of foot off so as the foal will not cut his legs with the sharp edges and the job is completed. ”

“ No sooner has the foal seen the light than one of the bystanders takes it in his arms, and walks up and down with it for some time in the midst of almost inconceivable noise and uproar. It is supposed that a useful lesson is thus taught for the future—the animal, accustomed from its birth to horrible sounds, will never afterwards be frightened at anything. ”

“ In the domestic animal the stripes on the shoulder are occasionally double, or forked at the extremity, as in certain zebrine species. There is reason to believe that the foal is more frequently striped on the legs than the adult animal. As with the horse, I have not acquired any distinct evidence that the crossing of differently-coloured varieties of the ass brings out the stripes. ”

“ If an effort was made to extract the foal as it is presented, the back would come in below, and the operation would be impossible; but if it is properly turned, it may be extracted in the same manner, as those which present only the hind [34] feet, as already described. These cases require more aid than any others that I have ever treated. Two or three men should take hold of the mare’s head and neck, to keep her down, otherwise she will plunge about fearfully. One or two men should assist the Surgeon, as the effort required for this operation is so great that one man is soon exhausted. ”

“ It sometimes happens or is claimed to have happened that a pure-bred foal, registered when young in the stud book, is set down as having a star in its forehead but which on attaining maturity shows no such mark. Sometimes in matching horses a difficulty is experienced when a perfect mate is found with the exception that a star is lacking. ”

“ Often one sees them hung by the bridle upon a gate-post for hours together, or standing harnessed at some door for an indefinite amount of time, without even a boy at their head. Mares with young foals are ridden or driven as the convenience of their owners may dictate, but then, to make amends, the foal has the privilege of joining the party. ”

“ I have frequently been urged by farmers and breeders, to give them full instructions on this subject, and especially, at such times, when a difficult case presented itself, but I always found it impracticable, as verbal instruction would soon be forgotten, and as no work, illustrating this subject was in existence. I was induced, therefore, in order to benefit the farmer and breeder, to publish a complete treatise on the mare and foal, at the time of delivery, illustrated by engravings. ”

“ The youth thought that it was very easy work to watch the foals, and that he could do it well enough. Next morning, when day was beginning to dawn, the King's Master of the Horse let out the seven foals; and they ran away, and the youth after them just as it chanced, over hill and dale, through woods and bogs. When the youth had run thus for a long time he began to be tired, and when he had held on a little longer he was heartily weary of watching at all, and at the same moment he came to a cleft in a rock where an old woman was sitting spinning with her distaff in her hand. ”

“ Both mares are in foal, and you truck them, and, perhaps, accompany them yourself, to the desired haven and harem some two hundred miles away. They are in rare condition. You hear by letter that they are safely over their foaling, and before the new year they are returned home. They arrive in miserable condition. The season has not been a very good one. They have not been fed. They have fallen away to shadows. Being good mothers, they have given of their substance to their foals until they have nothing more to give. Their ribs are sticking through their skin. ”

“ Even in like wise must the breed of horses too be chosen: only do thou, on such as thou purposest to nurture for the hope of the race, lavish from infancy onward thy foremost pains. From the first a well-bred foal in the fields lifts a higher pace and plants a lighter limb ”

“ To avoid colic an animal has to be gradually prepared by giving small quantities of green food for a few days before going to grass. Shelter against severe storms is needed. Succulent food encourages the flow of milk, and the success of the foal greatly depends on its milk supply. Mares most readily conceive when served at the “foal heat” eleven days after foaling. A mature stallion can serve from eighty to one hundred mares per annum. ”

“ This time the dappled horse was not unwilling to go away with the youth, so he mounted it, and when he came riding home to his brothers they all smote their hands together and crossed themselves, for never in their lives had they either seen or heard tell of such a horse as that.
‘If you will procure me the best shoes for my horse, and the most magnificent saddle and bridle that can be found,’ said the youth, ‘you may have all my twelve mares just as they are standing out on the hill, and their twelve foals into the bargain.’ For this year also each mare had her foal. ”