630 FEEDING OF HORSES. 



and considerable saving ef provender. This system is not however 

 adapted for race-horses; their food must be in smaller bulk in order 

 that the action of the lungs may not be impeded by distention of 

 the stomach. 



Amount of Daily Food for Horses at Work For the 

 agricultural horse eight pounds of oats and two of peas or corn 

 should be added to every twenty pounds of chaff, and thirty-six 

 pounds of the mixture per day will be sufficient for any moderate 

 sized horse with fair or even hard work. The draft or wagon horse 

 may require forty pounds. Hay in the rack is supposed to be 

 omitted altogether, out the rack should be retained as it is useful 

 occasionally to give green feed for the health of the horse. 



Advantage of the System When the horse comes in 

 wearied at the close of the day, Mr. Youatt says, it occupies 

 after he has eaten his grain two or three hours to clear his rack. In 

 the system of manger feeding, the chaff being already cut into 

 small pieces and the oats or corn bruised, he is able to fully satisfy 

 his appetite in an hour and a half. Two additional hours are there- 

 fore gained for rest. This is a circumstance deserving of much con- 

 sideration, even in the farmer's stable, and of still greater impor- 

 tance to the livery proprietor, or to the owner of every hard worked 

 horse. 



Most Profitable Kinds of Feed Horses fed on hay and 

 grass alone will maintain themselves in good condition, and even do 

 ordinary work, but whatever the quantity or however good the 

 quality, this is not sufficient to keep a horse without deterioration 

 under hard work, and therefore other substances with a larger pro- 

 portion of nutriment in smaller space are added. The oat is the 

 most advantageous because it is best adapted to the constitution 

 of the horse, and contains .74.3 per cent, of nutritive matter. It 

 should be old, sweet and dry. New oats are heavier, but the extra 

 weight is principally water, and they are harder to masticate, and 

 forming a more glutinous mass, more difficult to digest. When 

 fed in considerable quantities they are apt to cause colic, and even 

 staggers. The old oats, when chewed, form a smooth and uniform 

 mass, which more readily dissolves in the stomach, and is more 

 rapidly and effectively assimilated. Oats should be plump, bright 

 and free from smell or taste. The musty smell of damp or wetted 

 oats is caused by a fungus growing upon the seed, which has an 

 injurious effect upon the urinary organs and often on the intestines, 

 producing colic or inflammation of the kidneys or bowels. 



Feed Adapted to Fast Horses The manner of feeding 

 foals and colts has already been treated. It may not be out of place r 

 to reiterate that a closely -drawn or too economical policy will not 

 answer in connection with the feeding of fast driving animals, or 

 those designed for that purpose. The breeder who attempts to 

 proceed in this way will defeat his own ends. Plenty of food must 

 be given from the outset, as the future character, condition and 



