FEEDING THE HORSE 199 



work increases, concentrates should more or less replace 

 roughage. Food is prepared in several ways. Dry rough- 

 age is often chaffed, that is, cut or shredded. Chaffing re- 

 duces the work of the horse for the reason that the more 

 the roughage is torn to pieces by mechanical means, the less 

 labor will be required of the horse in breaking it up. Men 

 who care for horses often make hay or straw more palatable 

 by chaffing, then mixing with concentrates, and dampening 

 the mass with a light sprinkling of water. Thus prepared, 

 more roughage is consumed than would be the case other- 

 wise, and the sprinkling reduces the dust, which is in- 

 jurious to horses. 



The grinding of grain for horses is not necessary, unless 

 in the case of old animals with poor teeth. Whole grain is 

 appetizing to the horse, he grinds and breaks it up easily 

 with his teeth, and it digests efficiently as thus fed. Crush- 

 ing grain may be desirable, and the author has known of 

 city stables where oats were run through a mill and crushed, 

 and as thus fed gave better returns, in the opinion of the 

 management, than were secured from oats fed whole. Cook- 

 ing of feed has been resorted to by horsemen in the past, 

 more especially in Europe, but this process affects the digest- 

 ibility of the proteids, so the practice is undesirable. What 

 is known as a bran mash, that is, wetting bran with hot 

 water to make a thick, fairly moist feed, is practiced. If 

 fed at regular periods, as, for example, once a week, it has 

 a cooling, laxative effect. Bran mash is relished by horses, 

 and is popular as an occasional feed. The soaking of feed 

 may sometimes be desirable, especially in spring when feed- 

 ing very hard, dry corn or barley. 



As a rule, it is best that the horse should be watered 

 frequently. Drinking a little at a time, is better than 

 having too much water at greater intervals, especially if 

 an animal is overheated. The air temperature and kind 

 of food will affect the amount of water drunk, but about a 



