InvestigaiioM Concerniiig the Horse. 291 



14-year-old blind stallion ridden for an hour and thirty minutes 

 by a rider weighing 166 pounds lost 33 pounds weight; dui-ing 

 24 hours 22 pounds were regained. A 23-year-old mare weighing 

 770 pounds, ridden for a distance of six miles in walk or trot, lost 

 22 pounds. 



454. Variation in weight. — Boussingault^ studied the varia- 

 tions in weight of horses while on the same feed and under simi- 

 lar conditions. The changes in the weights of two horses, found 

 in fifteen daily weighings between December 16 and 31, are shown 



below: ^ 



Weight of Weight of 



horse, Iba. mare, lbs. 



Average, December 16 to 31 994.4 1,081.9 



Maximum weight 1,010.9 1,092.7 



Minimum weight 985.6 1,064.8 



Greatest difference above average 16.5 10.8 



Greatest difference below average 8.8 17.1 



Difference between extreme weights.. 25.3 27.9 



Another horse 12 years old, taken fasting at four o'clock in the 

 morning, weighed 1,051 pounds. At the same hour of the next 

 day he weighed 1,060 pounds, and at the same hour on the third 

 day 1,038 pounds. Boussingault calls attention to the necessity 

 of carrying on feeding experiments for a considerable time and 

 with several animals, in order to escape, or at all events lessen, 

 the errors that would be introduced into the conclusions by these 

 accidental differences in weight. 



455. Effect of disturbed conditions on horses. — Lehmann, Hage- 

 mann and Ziintz" found that the disturbance of horses in the 

 stable has a decided influence on the consumption of feed. The 

 presence of many flies caused an excretion of carbonic acid of 10 

 per cent, above that in case of those not so annoyed. 



1 Ann. de la ScL Agron., 1884, II, p. 330; Rural Economy, p. 397. 

 *Landw. Jahrb., XXIII, 1894, p. 125. 



