298 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



III. HINTS ON FEEDING AND CARING FOR HORSES 



466. General hints on caring for horses. There is great truth in the 

 Arab saying, "Rest and fat are the greatest enemies of the horse. " 

 Regular exercise or work is necessary for health and a long period of 

 usefulness. A mature horse should travel not less than 5 to 6 miles 

 daily and the highly-fed colt should have abundant exercise. When- 

 ever a horse is not working, reduce the grain, even to one-half, to avoid 

 digestive troubles, as is pointed out in Chapter XX. (530) 



467. The stable. To keep them in good health, horses should be 

 housed in well-ventilated quarters and be protected from drafts. Cool 

 quarters with good ventilation are far preferable to warm, close stables. 

 Captain Hayes 27 states that in some large city stables of Russia the 

 temperature was often kept 80 F. above that of the outside air in 

 winter. Under these conditions trouble from influenza, inflammation of 

 the eyes, and diseases of the respiratory organs were common. On the 

 other hand, in the cavalry remount stables, roomy, clean, and well- 

 ventilated, the horses kept in excellent health. He further states that 

 previous to 1836, the mortality of horses in the French army was 

 enormous, the annual loss varying from 180 to 197 per 1,000 animals. 

 Enlargement of the stables and better ventilation reduced this mortality 

 to less than one-seventh the former figures. In all cases horses should be 

 protected from drafts, and judgment must be used in blanketing them in 

 extreme weather. 



468. Blanketing and clipping. Horses at work prove more efficient and 

 last longer when reasonably protected against sudden changes in tem- 

 perature and cold rains. It is important to blanket the horse in cold 

 weather whenever his work ceases and he is forced to stand in the cold 

 for even a short time. Stable blankets keep the coat in better condition, 

 but when they are used it is especially necessary to protect the horse 

 when standing idle out of doors. 



The heavy coat which the horse grows for winter protection has cer- 

 tain disadvantages with the work animal under his artificial conditions. 

 The horse with a long coat sweats unduly at work and his system is 

 thereby enervated and relaxed, rendering him especially subject to colds. 

 As it is difficult to completely dry such a horse after a day 's work, it may 

 often be advisable to clip him early enough in the fall to permit the 

 growth of a lighter coat for protection before severe weather begins. 

 However, he should not be fall clipped unless he is carefully protected 

 from cold at all times when not working. Horses are often clipped in 

 the spring after the shedding process has begun, but before the new coat 

 has started, thus, it is claimed, preventing as great a draft on the 

 animal's system and certainly obviating the annoyance of the shedding 

 coat, especially disagreeable in the case of gray horses. 

 2T Stable Management and Exercise, 1900, p. 198. 



