managing a stud is not to allow it to become sick, like an over-stocked fowl-run too frequently does.

There is no reason whatsoever why farmers should not devote more attention than they usually do to breeding a few well-bred horses, or even thoroughbreds. A good type of successful gentleman farmer is Mr. Russell Swanwick, who is tenant of the Royal Agricultural College Farm at Cirencester, and who permits the students to walk over his land and go into the accounts for a consideration of a small premium per head. Other instances may be mentioned, such as Mr. Sapwell and Mr. Ernest Higginson, both residing near Reepham, in Norfolk, who have made blood-stock profitable, by dint of careful supervision, on ordinary farms, which they have gradually improved according as the demand for paddock and stable accommodation became necessary as extra brood mares were bought or bred by them.

In the case of cart mares, by all means work them up to within a few days of foaling; of course be reasonable, and therefore humane, as the births of the foals draw very near.

Mares that have been given about as much corn as they will eat-such as racehorses-require extra feeding when they are sent to the stud. Two feeds of corn a day after they have

been six months gone.

According to the soundest authorities, every precaution should be taken against excitement, as they are apt to slip their foals towards the end

of pregnancy.

Even when a few months gone, the shocks they receive will be bad for the foal. Therefore fence your brood mares in so that they are as free from harm as is reasonable.

Never try to foal your own mares if you have a practical and steady veterinary surgeon within easy distance. But a mare more often than not does not require professional help, which it is merely being on the safe side to send for if the case seems difficult. I allude to the presentation being at all complicated, ¿e. one of the foal's legs being twisted in an unusual position, and so preventing the mother from bringing it into the world after a series of labour-pains, which are too often most painful to witness.

In Stonehenge's "The Horse in the Stable and the Field," published by Routledge & Sons, there is a carefully written article on the treatment after foaling which it would be difficult to improve on. "In a healthy state the mare very soon recovers the efforts which she has made in bringing forth the foal, and in fine weather she may be allowed to enter the paddock on the second day afterwards, which is generally soon enough to suit the strength of the foal, though occasionally the young animal is very active within six hours after it comes into the world. For a couple of months, or perhaps less in some cases, the mare and foal are better kept in a paddock by themselves; but in a large stud this is difficult, where the foals come very quickly, and then several mares of quiet temperament are put together, still keeping separate those which

are shy or vicious." The above is very concise, and not a word could be omitted.

In many studs the habit of handling youngsters with firmness, by picking up their feet and pulling them gently backwards or forwards by their leather head-collars, all helps to make them partially broken before they ever go up as two-year olds to their trainer.

But do not make foals or young horses soft by over-petting them. Their object is to win races eventually, and for that they must be alert, yet obedient.

Many owners who are not afraid of valuable youngsters getting fairly rough weather-such as sharp showers of rain, &c.-often derive the benefit of better constitutions than they would do if they over-coddled their high-priced charges and allowed them to be in their loose-boxes instead of defying the elements in a healthy, airy paddock.

CHAPTER XXI

BREAKING AND RIDING

MORE works have been published on breaking than the average reader would believe, and Xenophon's, though written so long ago, is about the best. But times have changed since he wrote. Stirrups have been invented, and the ephippium discarded for the up-to-date saddle. Therefore Xenophon's treatise on "The Art of Horsemanship" is chiefly useful to us, as showing that the ancients knew how to ride, and could also write about horses and give valuable hints on stable-management which are of great practical value to us to-day.

To

You cannot learn to ride from a book. attempt to would be waste of time. Nor can you become a good horseman or horsewoman even by practice, unless you have been well taught; and you must begin young in order to excel, unless you are a phenomenon in equine matters, for it is useless to lay down any laws to keep genius within bounds.

People generally ride in harmony with the manner in which they are built. If lithe and elegant, with plenty of practice and good tuition, their litheness and elegance will be noticeable in their horsemanship. Ungraceful people cannot