180 THE HORSE. 



muscular system to any extent, and therefore does not require much 

 or any oats or beans. 



SALT is the only kind of seasoning which has stood the test of 

 experience in this country, and even it is by no means generally 

 employed. Some grooms give an ounce of common salt in the 

 water daily, others give *it by sprinkling it on the hay, while a 

 third set leave a lump of rock salt constantly in the manger for 

 the horse to lick. The last is the only really safe and useful mode 

 of using this article, and I am persuaded that all horses will thrive 

 better if they are allowed a lump of rock salt constantly within 

 their reach. The quantity which is thus taken is by no means 

 large, for rock salt does not easily dissolve by the mere contact of 

 the moist tongue. A lump weighing two or three pounds is placed 

 in the manger, and it will generally be found that a pound will 

 last nearly a month, but there is a great variation in the quantity 

 consumed by different horses. 



THE WATER which is given to the horse will materially affect 

 his condition if it is not suitable to him in quality or quantity, or 

 if he is allowed to take it when heated by work. Thirst is most 

 distressing to this animal, and if he has not his water regularly 

 when his stomach demands it, he will not only refuse his solid 

 food, but he will drink inordinately when he has the opportunity, 

 causing colic or founder to supervene. For this reason it has 

 lately been the fashion to provide iron tanks on a level with the 

 manger, which are intended to be kept constantly full, and indeed 

 some are arranged with cisterns and ball-cocks for that purpose. 

 But those who contend for this constant supply have overlooked 

 the fact that every horse when he first comes into the stable is 

 unfit to be allowed to " take his fill" of water, and yet he will be 

 sure to do so if the water tank is open to him. Undoubtedly for 

 horses which are never heated by work the tank is perfectly safe, 

 because as they never become thirsty, since they prevent the full 

 development of the appetite by drinking small quantities as it 

 arises, so they are never induced to do themselves an injury by 

 imbibing large quantities of water at any time. On the other 

 hand, working horses are kept out of the stable without water for 

 five or six hours on the average , and when they come in they are 

 not only very thirsty, but they are generally in a state in which a 

 full draught of fluid will seriously injure them. For this reason 

 I think the tank unsuited to the ordinary private stable, though 

 of course it is easy to prevent mischief by taking care either to 

 have a cover over it, which is kept down till the horse is cool, or 

 to let off the water for a similar period. The question is one in- 

 volving a choice of evils incidental to carelessness, and it is doubt- 

 ful whether in the long run the horse is more likely to be injured 

 by being allowed to fill himself with water at the time I have 



