130 Management and Feeding of Heavy Horses 



plan to mix some green rye grass or clover with it Good wheat 

 straw and green Italian rye grass in equal parts and run through 

 the chaff cutter will make an excellent mixture for giving with the 

 corn. Of course it must be cut frequently, as if allowed to lie in 

 a heap for any length of time it will heat and get musty. If the 

 custom is to make one long hooking daily, the horses should have 

 their nosebags filled with some of the chop and corn and taken with 

 them to the field, so that they may have a feed whilst the men have 

 their lunch. The custom of making one long hooking a day is 

 prevalent in many parts of England, and no doubt was intended to 

 save time coming home to stable in the middle of the day when the 

 land lay a long way off, and save also a big slice in the best part of 

 a short winter day. It is, however, a much better plan for both 

 men and horse to stable for an hour and a half or two hours in the 

 middle of the day if the field is within reasonable distance of the 

 stable. The men can have their dinner comfortably and time to 

 attend to the horses. The horses will have time to eat a good feed, 

 rest a little, and be ready for a good afternoon's work. By adopt- 

 ing the latter system the horses will do more work, and do it with 

 greater comfort during the long days of spring and summer; during 

 the short days the other system has its advantages. 



During hay time and harvest hours have to be forgotten some- 

 times, and the horses fed as convenient, care being taken that they 

 are not kept too long without food or water. There are also some- 

 times certain operations going on when the time of the horses must 

 be made co-temporary with that of the labourers, as for instance 

 potato planting and potato digging, when the withdrawal of the 

 horses from the field would stop a number of the men from getting 

 on with the work. 



After harvest, it is not good policy to let the horses remain out 

 too late in the autumn if working hard; the grass is deficient in 

 nutriment, the nights get long and cold, with frequent stormy 

 weather. They will sink in condition and grow heavy coats and 

 lose stamina if kept out too long. Some aftermath clover comes in 

 very useful, and horses will do well on that as a supply of bulky 

 food at the end of harvest. It should be mowed fresh every day and 

 given to them in the stable, their allowance of corn being continued. 

 This season of the year is generally as trying to farm horses as any 

 time. The work of autumn cultivation, wheat sowing, root carting, 

 and the many incidental jobs which fall to the share of the farm 

 horses at this season, make it an arduous time. Much of the work 

 has to be done on soft land in close muggy weather; the horses 

 probably having heavy coats, and being in what is technically called 



