2 DR. LEGEAR'S STOCK BOOK. 



before going on a drive their stomach 'and bowels are very dis- 

 tended, which makes it difficult and injurious to perform severe 

 labor. Rapid and severe labor should not be performed on a full 

 stomach. For such horses, food must be given in small quanti- 

 ties, and fed to them one or two hours before going to their work. 

 One of the common errors of feeding, anfl one that produces 

 more digestive disorders, is to feed too soon after a hard day's 

 work. First give a few swallows of water, then some hay, and 

 in about one hour give what water he will drink, and then his 

 grain. By all means, feed sound, wholesome food, for damaged, 

 inferior food is dear at any price. 



The disproportion between the size of the stomach and the 

 amount of water drank tells us plainly that the horse should 

 always be watered before feeding, as the stomach holds but three 

 and a half to four gallons. A series of experiments has proven 

 this. A horse was given all the water he would drink and fed 

 four quarts of oats, and immediately after eating them he- was 

 killed. On opening the stomach, it was found that nearly all 

 the oats were in the stomach and undergoing the process of di- 

 gestion. Another horse was watered and fed in the same way, 

 and was killed one hour after eating the oats. In this case, it 

 was found that nearly all the oats had left the stomach and were 

 found in the bowels, thoroughly digested and undergoing ab- 

 sorption. A third one was given four quarts of oats, then given 

 a bucket of water, and immediately killed. What a sad state of 

 affairs was found. Nearly all the oats had been slushed out of 

 the stomach by the water, and were found floating in the water 

 in the bowels in an undigested state. 



It is the same with all kinds of grain fed in this way. The 

 grain which is washed out of the stomach by watering right after 

 feeding not only passes out of the system only partially digeste-d, 

 but it gives extra work to the bowels, and weakens and overtaxes 

 them. It can be plainly seen by the above- that horses and mules 

 should be watered before feeding, and not directly afterward. 



