244 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



truly said to be the organ of digestion, because 

 within it the aliment transmitted by the oesophagus 

 in a crude state, undergoes its primary and principal 

 change in a process, the object of which is to convert 

 it into material for the support of the body, and the 

 distribution and transmission of those fluids which 

 sustain life and motion in its different parts. 



It must be obvious, from the situation of the 

 stomach, that it is not only attended with great 

 inconvenience and pain, but also danger, to work 

 a horse hard after a full meal. Indeed, many have 

 sustained irreparable injury from this cause. By the 

 action of the diaphragm, the stomach must be 

 displaced and forced back in the belly by every 

 contraction of the diaphragm or act of inspiration ; 

 then in proportion to the fullness of the stomach 

 will be the weight to be overcome in breathing, and 

 hence the increased labour of the diaphragm, and 

 consequently the exhaustion of the animal. Besides, 

 if the stomach is very full, and consequently dis- 

 tended, its weight may prevent it from being forced 

 sufficiently far back to allow ample room for the 

 necessary volume of air which the animal requires 

 during a state of exertion. Hence the short, frequent, 

 and oppressed breathing during rapid action, and 

 which too often destroys the animal. On a journey, 

 a horse should therefore be fed moderately, and more 

 frequently than in a state of rest, and care should 

 be taken not to allow him too much water, which 

 ought also to be given in small and frequent 

 quantities. 



It would seem that Nature had wisely foreseen, 

 that as the horse was destined to be the servant of 

 man, and to render him more valuable and fitted 

 for the labour that would be required of him, it 



