Fei£Ding the Hukse. 68i 



have shown that the stomach of the horse must fill and empty itself 

 two or three times for each meal given. It appears that during 

 the fore part of the meal the material is pushed into the intestines 

 almost as soon as it enters the stomach by the food which follows, 

 while toward the end of the meal passage is slow and the digestion in 

 the stomach m.ore perfect. This being true, it would seem that the more 

 nutritious foods should be fed toward the end of the meal, especially since 

 some of the very important nutrients are largely digested in the stomach 

 Watering the horse. — One cannot intelligently discuss the order of 

 giving the feed without considering the time of watering. Many feeders 

 believe that the horse should be watered before feeding, while others 

 are equally certain that feeding should precede watering. Each of 

 these methods is probably equally good for the horse, and the one 

 employed will be determined by circumstances. Certain conditions 

 may make it necessary to adopt one, other conditions the other. For 

 example, after severe loss of water, such as occurs in consequence of 

 long-continued, severe exertion, the animal may perhaps be allowed 

 to drink before he is fed, otherwise he will not feed well. On the other 

 hand, it is said that this method of watering affects the appetite, and 

 the horse will not consume so much food as he otherwise would. Again 

 it has been very clearly demonstrated that if a horse is fed his grain 

 first and then watered, much of the food is carried by the water into the 

 intestines. Since the grain of the ration is rich in digestible nutrients, 

 it should stay in the stomach as long as possible, for the digestion of 

 one of the most important of the nutrients is more complete there. 

 From this it would seem that the horse should be given water first of 

 all, and that should be followed by hay, the grain being withheld until 

 at least a part of the hay has been consumed. There are, however, 

 very serious objections to this practice, as the horse is unsatisfied, is 

 anxious and very nervous till fed his grain, and should not be compelled 

 to wait for the grain. A middle ground should be taken by water- 

 ing first, feeding the grain sprinkled with a small allowance of moistened, 

 chopped hay, if possible, and watering again after the ration has been con- 

 sumed. If this practice is followed it will satisfy the desires of the 

 horse by supplying the most palatable part of his food early, and yet 

 insure the retention of the grain in the stomach for a considerable 

 period of time. 



Changing foods 



Sudden changes in the food are to be avoided, for the reason that 

 the digestive system, in many cases, is unable to accommodate itself 



