346 STABLES 



Corn should be clean, hard, dry, and sound, and old corn as a rule should 

 be preferred to new, as it is less likely to give rise to any gastro-intestinal 

 deranoement. 



Preparation of Food— Cooked Food. — It is generally conceded 



that horses fed on cooked food are in no respect superior, and it is even 

 questioned whether they maintain a condition equal to that of horses 

 fed on similar food but uncooked; and as the cost of cooking cannot be 

 disregarded, the system of cooking horse food to any wide extent has 

 become a thing of the past. 



Feeding with Oats and Long Hay. — This plan has been in use 

 for a long time, and on the whole has been very successful. Like other 

 plans it has its advantages and disadvantages. Its chief disadvantage 

 is its greater cost compared with the other methods. This arises from 

 the higher relative price of oats and from the waste of hay which invari- 

 ably occurs where hay is racked. Its chief advantage, where ordinary care 

 is used in regulating the amount of corn given, is its comparative immunity 

 from the production of gastro-intestinal derangements. This naturally 

 follows from the length of time required for eating racked hay, and as 

 a consequence the diminished liability to gastric impaction. But, as cost 

 is an important factor in most horse establishments, this plan has very 

 largely been replaced by the system of feeding on mixed food. 



Mixed Food. — Under this regime the hay is cut into chaff, all dust 

 being removed during the process by appropriate machinery, and the 

 grain, after all extraneous matters are removed, is cracked but not crushed. 

 The chaff and cracked grain are then thoroughly mixed together, and the 

 mixture is then ready for use. The chaff is better to be fairly long than 

 too .short. Long chaff retards the process of mastication and secures 

 additional time for gastric digestion. 



When grain is crushed too fine, a certain quantity of meal is made. 

 This gives a dusty character to the mixed food, and many horses leave 

 the finer portions in the mangers. By thoroughly cracking all grain its 

 thorough mastication is facilitated, and by not grinding it too fine, waste 

 is prevented. 



One great advantage attendant upon the use of mixed food is the 

 security it gives that the grain will be thoroughly masticated. A horse 

 cannot swallow chaff without first masticating it, and during the mastica- 

 tion of the chaff he of necessity masticates the grain. 



System of Feeding. — All horses should be fed at least four times a 

 day. Both on physiological and anatomical considerations, small, frequent, 

 and regular feeding is desirable, and is certainly a more beneficial plan 

 than giving larger quantities at longer intervals. 



