Caring For Your Horse Throughout Its Life
爱护你的马，照顾它一生
Like humans, horses do not have a predetermined life span. One thing is for sure,
however, a domestic animal has a far greater chance of living well into his twenties than his wild counterpart. Ponies tend to live longer than horses. However, a great deal is dictated by the care, nutrition, and workload experienced by the individual animal. Interestingly, while some breeds –like the Tarpan, which is similar in appearance to the Exmoor pony; the American Buckskin; or horses bred from wild Spanish mustang ancester -remain virtually unaltered from their “wild” profile, modern breeding has fundamentally changed the equine –lightening bone and increasing athleticism while dispensing with some of the hardy traits, such as resistance to bad weather and the ability to survive on poor –quality food. The rapid growth development of some breeds, for example the Thoroughbred, is quite unlike the natural model. For the most part, there is a fairly consistent pattern in the development of an equine from foalhood to old age.
和人类一样，马没有可预见的生命期。然而，可以确定一件事，家养的动物和它的野生伙伴相比能更好地活到二十多岁。矮马寿命相对较长。然而，寿命在很大程度上受个体动物经历的照料，营养，以及工作量所支配。有趣的是，一些品种－像与艾克斯木尔矮马外表相似的欧洲野马，美洲黄灰马；或西班牙野马祖先培育而来的马－事实上依然没有改变他们的“野生”外形，现代饲养已经从基础上改变了马－骨骼变轻了以及运动练习的增加同时分配了一些强壮的特性，诸如抵抗坏天气以及在食物质量不高的情况下生存的能力。一些品种的快速发展，像纯种马，跟自然的典型很不一样。在极大程度上，马从小马驹到老马的发展有一个相当一致的模范。
From Birth To Six Months Old
从出生到六个月
From the moment a foal is born, it faces demands simply to survive. In contrast to babies or puppies and kittens, which can be lifted to their mother’s teats, horses and ponies generally need to stand within a couple of hours to take their first colostrum milk. Unlike other young offspring which can be carried away from danger by their mother, it is amazing to see how foals with their overly long legs can keep pace with their mares from day one. They are born with legs two-thirds of the adult length. This natural phenomenon has been one of the major factors that has allowed wild horses to do so well against their natural predators.
从小马驹出生那一刻起，它面临的需要仅仅是生存。婴儿，小狗以及小猫可以受到帮助来喝他们母亲的奶，与他们相比，马和矮马通常需要在两三个小时之内站起来喝它们的第一口初乳。与其他的年幼后代不同，它们会由母亲带它们脱离危险，令人惊奇的是看着小马驹如何在一天之后用它们过长的腿跟上它们的母亲。它们出生的时候腿长就已经达到了成年马腿长的２／３。这个自然现象已经成为允许野马能很好地做到躲避它们的自然天敌的重要原因之一。
Before the age of six months (and perhaps for a while after in some cases) a foal will spend its time suckling, sleeping, and growing under the guidance of the mare. Apart from daily handling, we should not expect too much from such a young animal. Its growth rate is so rapid that it will have reached almost half its adult weight by the time it is seven months old. The protein requirements of a foal from two weeks to ten months are as much as 20 percent of its diet compared with about 12 percent for an adult horse. However, their fiber requirements are low- about six percent of the diet as opposed to 25 percent or more in mature animal.
在六个月之前（以及在一些情况下可能在此之后一段时间），小马驹会用这些时间来喝奶，睡觉，以及在母马的指导下成长。除了日常管理，我们不应该对如此年幼的动物有过多的期望。它的成长速度是如此之快，在七个月的时候，它的体重几乎到达成年马体重的一半。从两周到十个月小马驹的蛋白质需求量为饮食的２０％，相比之下成年马的需求量大概为１２％。然而，它们的纤维食物需求量较低－大概为饮食的６％与成年马的２５％或者更多相对比。
For the first few days after birth,the mare and the foal should be allowed peace and quiet away from other animals to form a close bond and to allow the foal to gain in strength. The foal only has the antibodies that it has derived naturally from the mare. It takes several months to build up its own resistance to disease. Wild foals are susceptible to illness, and many are lost in this way. We are fortunate that we can vaccinate domastic foals against many diseases, like tetanus and equine influenza. It is also important to begin a worming regimen from the age of one month as foals are susceptible to worms picked up via their mother’s milk and from grazing.
从出生后几天开始，母马和小马驹应当给于安静，与其他动物隔离开，形成一种亲密关系，让小马驹得到力量。小马驹体内只有从母马身上自然获得而来的抗体。建立起它自己的抵抗疾病的防御系统需要几个月时间。野生的小马驹容易生病，并且很多就是这样丧生的。幸运的是我们可以给驯养的小马驹接种疫苗来抵抗很多疾病，像破伤风和马的流感。因为小马驹容易通过他们母亲的乳汁以及放牧感染寄生虫，所以从一个月大的时候开始一项除虫制度是非常重要的。
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