CHARACTER IN BROOD MARES

Otago Witness, Issue 3385, 29 January 1919, Page 11

CHARACTER IN BROOD MARES

The good brood mare is a treasure Io ber owrer. She asks for little but good food, liberty, and kindness Differing from the male of her species, whose function is to lominate and procreate by an ever-ready aggressive and at times spasmodic energy, she produces continuously, and is shy and timid, because continually vulnerable through her maternity.. Therefore, a watchfulnesi for herself and her progeny aro ever part of the quiet and constant activities of her life. Such feminine exercises (says a Canadian breeder) aro instinc tive, and that they may by mismanagement prevent it from somewhat upon the way we treat her. It is impossible for us to kill in tb3 mare this instinctive predisposition of cex, but Ave may by mismanagement prevent it from becoming habitual and characteristic. The acknowledgment of those in stinctive qualities of the female will help us to recognise the good brood mare Avhen we see .her, and the femmine character which 3hcws itself in the disposition and build of a brood mar© is accepted by breeder? as denoting her value as a matron. We will f-nd feminine character outstanding in iho head, neck, loins, and body, and to a_ less extent in the female s general condition. In the appearance of the heaaWwe will especially find the mare's predisposition towards feminine function, in her body the ability towards its performance. The eye will be fairly large and set out prominently, giving a wide range of vision, which encompasses the following foal without effort. Its expression ;n repose will be quietly coniemplative,_ kindly and unselfish in its depths, differing from the eyo,x>f the stallion which is focussed by self interest and glowing with the fires of aggression. Tins expression of the mare's eye will be verified by her passive appreciation of kindness and fondling, differing from the stallion, in whom a restless reciprocation denotes the vigour of his kind. There will bo no sulkiness or dulness in the expression of her eye or the carriage of her head, nor the opposite ready excitability or over-activity. The ears will appear from the front to be set on

high on her head because the soft submissive line of her neck is straight from the* head to the shoulder differing from, tho cars of tho stallion, the hard aggressive line of whose crest rises abovo them. The mare's loins will be strong to carry the body's load, the ribs will bo wide and long to hold the organs of digestion, the coupling roomy and the flanks well let down. The management of tlir brood mare should bo directed by considerations of her feminity. Her instincts of liberty and reliance should be gratified by an approach to natural conditions. Her diet should not be too stimulative, her exercise should be normally constant and not spasmodic, nor intermitting with periods of unnatural straint. In her years of matronly maturity her feminine character becomes evident to every observer. In the field uhe moves more quietly, coming towards us In an attitude of meekness, yet confidence and self-respect. Never like the stallion, who conies shaking his high crest in invitation to playful battle. But it is not bo in her youth, because sex has not then so se x its mark upon her. As a foal she gambols in equal terms -with the colts, fidl of suddenly over-flowing activity, ad pei-haps evident sex character as developed later should not be considered desirable af an . early age. because the passiveness and meekness which become characteristic of the regular exercise of the maternal function may mean in the filly a lack of constitutional vigour, which will cause her to fail later as a brood mare. The robust filly as she 1 grows older will, more than the colt, show a disposii tion towards quietness of mind and fleshiness of body, which, •while admirable and prophetic of future usefulness, should not be encouraged to the point of sluggishness; Her environmnt should present an enticement to fairly constant activity in the search for and choice of food, and when such is the case this proof of a super abundant power of sustaining herself wil' rruu'k her as the coming _ mother of wellnourished foals when, with this quietly active disposition, and normally fleshy condition, the filly shows a kindly eye,'alerb understanding ears, a long, straight, and fine forced neck, a wide loin, deeD ribs and roomy coupling, a soft skin and silky hair, she bids fair to become the mother of generations that, 'ike' herself, will be the most useful and beautiful creatures ojS our farms, beautifving our lives _by theik presence and enrichin<r us by their toil.