Fekding the Horse. 



693 



a colt must have — an abundance of out-door exercise. There is no 

 more sure or permanent way of ruining a colt than liberal feeding and 

 close conlinement. 



Occasionally something happens to the dam and the foal must be 

 reared by hand. Cow's milk modified with one-fourth its volume 

 of water, together with some sugar, makes a fair substitute for the 

 mare's milk, but should be given sparingly and at about the same tem- 

 perature as the dam's milk. Gruels made by boiling beans or peas 

 and removing the skins by pressing the pulp through a sieve, or oil meal 

 and shorts made into a jelly by boiling, are excellent for the mother- 

 less colt. 



Henry says that a I i '. '' ' ■. J'J 



fair grain allowance 

 for the colt, measured 

 in oats, is as follows 



Up to one year ot 

 age, two to three 

 pounds. 



One to two years 

 of age, four to five 

 pounds. 



Two to three years 

 of age, seven to eight 

 pounds. 



Feeding the stallion 



The object to be 

 obtained in the man- 

 agement of a stallion 

 is so to feed, groom 



and exercise him as to keep the horse up to the very highest 

 pitch of strength and vigor. Very many owners, among them some 

 who should know better, endeavor to have the stallion in fine show 

 condition by the time the season opens. The horse is not given 

 sufficient exercise, kept closely blanketed and fed various drugs, nostrums 

 and condimental stock foods; he is loaded with fat; his muscles become 

 soft and flabby, and although he may seem in the very pink of con- 

 dition he is in reality not nearly so well fitted for service in the stud 

 as he would have been if he had been fed on plain food and given an 

 abundance of exercise each day. 



Fig. 27. — .4 teatn of Percheron stallions 



