534 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



tendant especially careful of his charge during any prolonged spell of ex- 

 tremely hot, muggy, fatiguing weather. But most often indigestion is 

 the trouble leading up to heat exhaustion and its presence is proved if 

 the horse shows in addition to general signs of ill health, or apart from 

 the chronic symptoms, a sudden or continued lack of normal consistency, 

 color, and odor in the manure he passes. Instead of the feces coming 

 away in balls of golden yellow color and devoid of other than the com- 

 paratively slight and not offensive odor, it is voided in slushy masses of 

 abnormally pale color and highly offensive smell; or it may come away 

 in slime-covered, clay-colored or almost white balls, or in the liquid state 

 characteristic of diarrhoea. Whether these signs of derangement of the 

 digestive organs are seen for some time or suddenly they make it cer- 

 tain that the affected animal is unfit for work in the fields if the weather 

 is extraordinarily hot or if he is put to work at such times it will be at the 

 risk of an attack of heat exhaustion, if indeed, a preliminary attack has 

 not caused the derangement in cases where nothing was apparently 

 wrong when the horse started the day's work. 



Indigestion, such as we have outlined, is induced by keeping work 

 horses in badly ventilated, dirty stables; paying no attention to groom- 

 ing; overworking the horses in times of stress; allowing too little time 

 for the proper mastication of food at the noon hour; giving cool water too 

 seldom and then in too large quantities, or too soon after a meal; feeding 

 corn during hot weather or giving bran mashes to horses not ac- 

 customed to such food or allowing them to eat cut grass that has heated, 

 or feeding new oats or new hay before they have become fit by aging or in 

 too large quantities without accustoming the horse to the change. In 

 other words, almost anything that disturbs the general health of the 

 horse will affect his digestive organs in hot weather and such disturbance, 

 therefore, makes him subject to heat exhaustion. This being the case the 

 greatest possible attention should be paid by every farmer and horse- 

 man to the general health of his horses during the heated term of the 

 summer, and especially if much hard work has to be done in the fields. 



Thorough grooming at least once a day by keeping the pores of the 

 skin unclogged and giving the sweat glands a proper chance to work 

 perfectly; allowing the horse sufficient time to chew his food well and 

 therefore prepare it for perfect digestion; giving him cool, pure water 

 often, but not immediately after feeding, to provide for the extra de- 

 mands made upon the liquids of the body during hot weather; sur- 

 rounding him with all possible comforts in his stable, such as fresh air, 

 freedom from irritating gases and flies, providing clean and sufficient 

 bedding, shading the windows to prevent direct sunlight from injuring 

 the eyes, keeping the feed boxes and mangers clean and sweet and 

 removing all food that is not eaten up clean at each meal — all of these 

 things help to keep a horse healthy and prevent trouble in hot weather 

 and who can deny that they are the richly deserved right of every 

 hard worked horse? 



At the first sign of derangement of the digestive organs cut down the 

 grain ration and see that all food used is sound and free from mould or 

 other taint. Allow free access to rock salt and mix powdered wood 

 charcoal, or a mixture of that and bicarbonate of soda, freely in the food 



