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Reading-Course for Farmers. 



at once to such a change, and digestive disorders follow. Such changes 

 sometimes result in scouring, as when the horse is suddenly transferred 

 from a dry to a watery diet, when a horse has been kept on a dry 

 ration all winter and then turned out early in the spring when the grass 

 is very succulent, especially if the horse has been worked continuously. 

 Sometimes a sudden change induces constipation, such as change from 

 a pasture to a dry ration. Sometimes the digestive system is so over- 

 taxed that it is permanently weakened, as when horses unaccustomed 

 to grain are too quickly put on full feed. If the changes are made 

 gradually, the system can digest without much risk quantities of newly 

 induced food that would have produced serious digestive disorders or 

 derangements had they been given at first. 



Fig. 23. — A six-horse farm team, showing good feeding 



Preparation of food 



The preparation of the food for idle horses need receive little atten- 

 tion. Such animals have ample time to masticate food. Their systems 

 not being taxed by labor they can subsist on food containing much 

 fibrous matter, such as hay, straw or corn fodder fed in the whole state. 



When horses are taxed to the limit of their endurance, however, 

 the preparation of their food should receive much attention. In this 

 case, all grains should be ground and most of the hay cut or chopped. 

 Food thus prepared is more thoroughly and rapidly masticated and 

 perhaps more thoroughly digested, especially the ground grain. Long 



