MODERN FARRIER. 14? 



and the whole contents of the stomach, which were 

 very considerable, spread through the abdomen. 



* The other case was that of a horse that had been 

 fed with too great a quantity of oats and barley, and 

 had been allowed to drink water freely afterwards. 

 He was seized with griping pains, so that he fre- 

 quently lay down, and, apparently, in the greatest 

 torture. He died on the next day. Upon opening 

 his body, the stomach was found distended to a 

 most enormous size, but was not burst. Its coats 

 were stretched so very thin, from the great disten- 

 tion it had undergone, that its cohesion was almost 

 destroyed, and it had more the appearance of a coat 

 of mucus and of slime than the stomach. The oats 

 and barley were, for the most part, entire as they 

 were swallowed, only greatly swelled from the mois- 

 ture they had imbibed.' 



These, and many other instances that might be 

 enumerated, shew the necessity of preventing a 

 horse from eating too much at a time. His food 

 should be given in small quantities, and often re- 

 peated. 



It is, however, equally necessary to avoid the op- 

 posite extreme, for a deficiency of food soon brings 

 horses into a state of debility and disease. A starved 

 horse becomes weak and languid, and the circulation 

 of his blood faint and feeble. Dropsical swellings 

 appear in different parts of the body, and especially 

 in the legs, and the horse sinks under a complication 

 of diseases, which are the result of an impoverished 

 state of the blood and juices. 



There is a great difference in the quality of the 

 food given to this animal, and which ought to be 

 attended to in order to preserve his health. 



Grass is the most natural food for horses ; but it 

 must be admitted that they are not so capable of 

 enduring great labour and fatigue whilst fed with 

 it, as they are when kept in the stable upon hay 

 and oats. This arises from the great moisture and 



