Fekdixc. Till': HoRSK. 683 



hay should, of course, be suppHed the animal to be consumed at leisure. 

 As hay is always more or less dusty, it should be fed in such a manner 

 as to cause the horse the least annoyance. Moistening or sprinkling 

 the hay with water is the simplest way of reducing this trouble. Of 

 course, dusty hay should be avoided whenever possible. It is often 

 asserted that soaking feed, especially hard grain, renders it more easily 

 masticated and improves the digestibility. The same advantages 

 are often held for cooked foods. It is very doubtful whether it ever 

 pays either to soak or to cook feed for the horse, provided he is healthy 

 and has sound teeth. This applies to the mature animal. 



Making up a ration 



There are several factors to be considered in determining the desir- 

 ability of a ration. We shall consider seven. Any ration that satisfies 

 these conditions to a reasonable degree may be considered satisfactory 

 or well balanced. 



Dry matter. — We have already seen that one cannot rely on the total 

 weight of the food alone, for often it may contain much more water 

 than at other times, as in the case of green grass and dry 'hay already 

 noted. One might choose foods that would satisfy the conditions in 

 every other respect, and still the animal might be unable to consume 

 enough of it in a day to get the necessary amount of dry matter. Then 

 we would say the ration was too bulky because of the excess of water 

 it contained. In compounding a ration for the horse, therefore, we 

 must consider the amount of dry matter in the food after the water 

 has been driven out. 



Digestible nutrients. — Not all dry matter is digestible. Since the 

 horse can make use of only the digestible part, the digestible nutrients 

 become very important. There is a great variation in the digestibility 

 of the various horse foods. The digestibility depends on the relative 

 amounts of the various constituents of the food. Four of these constit- 

 uents are considered in determining the digestible nutrients: protein, 

 fibre, nitrogen-free extract and fat. Protein is characterized by 

 containing nitrogen. It is therefore frequently called " nitrogenous 

 matter." The function of protein in the food is to build up and repair 

 the working machinery of the body, and to supply nitrogen for the 

 production of lean meat, milk, hair, hoof, and the like. No other food 

 constituent can fulfil this function. Fibre or crude fibre constitutes 

 the tough, woody part of plants. The stems of all plants contain more 

 crude fibre than does the leafy part. Variation in the digestibility of 



