ii82 ■ Rural School Leaflet 



feel neither hunj^er nor thirst at any time. He should therefore be fed at 

 least three times, and watered not less than four times — if convenient, 

 six times — each day. He should be watered in the morning before feed- 

 ing, and for the morning meal should receive approximately one-fourth of 

 the daily allowance at least one hour before going to work. This food 

 should be in a condition to be easily and rapidly consumed, so that it 

 will be well digested when the animal goes to work. As he goes to work 

 he should be watered, and after five hours of exhausting labor he should be 

 given his midday meal, a second quarter of the daily allowance. Before 

 being fed he should again have a drink of fresh, cool water, but care should 

 be taken that he does not drink too rapidly nor gorge himself if he is 

 very warm. If convenient the harness should be removed, so that the 

 horse can eat in comfort and have a few minutes of much-needed rest. 

 One hour should be allowed the horse in which to consume the midday 

 meal. After watering and feeding he is ready for the second half of his 

 day's work. When he has worked for five hours he should be given the 

 evening meal. As he comes to the stable in the evening he should first 

 of all be given a drink ; care must be exercised as before to see that he does 

 not drink too rapidly. He is now ready for the remainder of his daily 

 allowance. Thus hea^?y feeding comes at night, when the horse has ample 

 time to masticate and digest his food and is not obliged to go to work 

 immediately. 



Feeds jor the work horse. — The feed for horses usually lacks variety. 

 If the rations of horses in a given locality are studied, they are found 

 to be composed of one kind, or at most tw^o kinds, of grain and one of 

 forage. The owner insists that this is the most practical and economical 

 ration that he can feed with safety to his horses. In a second locality, 

 at no great distance from the first, the list of food materials is found to 

 be changing, and in some cases entirely changed, yet wath the same claim 

 of superiority or necessity as before. Such study shows that the range 

 of suitable foods is very wide. 



Most of the grains fed to the horse belong to the cereal group — oats, 

 com, barley, rye, and wheat. These grains are similar in composition. 

 They contain a fairly low water and protein content and a considerable 

 amount of nitrogen-free extract, fiber, and fat. They are palatable 

 and digestible. The choice of cereal grains for feeding the horse is largely 

 to be determined by relative cost. 



No other grain is so safe for horse feed as old oats, and the animal 

 is rarely harmed if by accident an oversupply is given. This is due to 

 the oat hull, which causes a given weight of grain to possess considerable 

 vokune. It is said that horses fed on oats show a spirit that cannot 

 be produced by the use of any other feedstuff. 



