100 THE ORANGE COUNTY 



but merely to bruise them. Many persons fancy that by 

 giving oats in small quantities, and spreading them thinly 

 over the manger, the horses will be induced to masticate 

 them. Those who have watched their operations will find 

 that a greedy-feeding horse will drive his corn up into a heap, 

 and collect with his lips as much as he thinks proper for a 

 mouthful. 



Little, if any, advantage arises from cutting hay into chaff, 

 especially for the most valuable kind of horses. It is done in 

 cart stables to prevent waste, which is often enormous in those 

 departments where horses are permitted to pull the hay out 

 of their racks, and tread it under foot. 



The state of perfection to which the higher classes of the 

 horse have been brought, is attributable to the great atten- 

 tion devoted during a long period of time to the selection of 

 the best descriptions for the purpose of perpetuating the 

 species; the treatment they have received, under the influence 

 of a propitious climate; and the nature of the food with 

 which they have been supplied: greater improvements are 

 capable of being realized by judicious management. 



With reference to treatment, and climate, practical ex- 

 perience assures us that the atmosphere is suitable to the 

 constitution of the equine tribe; but the vicissitudes of the ele- 

 ments are so great, that protection is necessary to guard against 

 their effects. This is found to apply, not only to the horse, 

 but to ah 1 others of our domesticated animals. Warmth, in 

 connection with a pure and uncontaminated air, is of the ut- 

 most importance; but it is not necessary to enter into the 

 details by which that desideratum is to be accomplished. The 

 subject of food requires more minute observations, especially 

 as it is too frequently disregarded, except by breeders of race- 

 horses. 



The great perfection of the physical powers of the horse 

 is obtained by the due proportion and constituent elements 

 of muscular fibre, bone, and sinew; and the more these sub- 

 stances are respectively condensed, so to speak, the greater 

 the amount of power will there exist in a given bulk. Every 

 description of food which is said to contain nutritive proper- 

 ties, abounds more or less, and in various proportions, with 

 elements calculated for the construction of the different sub- 

 stances of which the animal frame is composed. It is there- 

 fore important to select those kinds of food which contain 

 the most of these particles convertible into substances which 

 render the animal of the highest value. The growth of ani- 

 mals, the development of their muscles, the texture of their 



