344 STABLES 



horse's requirements in the same degree as a well-proportioned mixed food 

 will do. 



The term " mixed food" is generally used to signify a mixture of various 

 grains with chaff. 



In forming such a mixed food several points have to be considered, as 

 no mixture can be the best for all horses under every circumstance. A 

 food suitable for old horses may be inappropriate for young growing 

 animals, and, generally speaking, the class of horse, his condition, his 

 work, the season of the year, will all influence the amount and proportions 

 of the various food ingredients. 



In discussing food and feeding it is usual to give tables showing the 

 chemical constituents of the various food-stuffs, but it is not intended to 

 give in detail data of that kind in this section. (See, however, the chapter 

 on Foods, page 87 of this volume). Nevertheless it may be pointed out 

 that in employing such data, when deciding the most appropriate mixture 

 for horses under any given circumstances, certain points must always 

 be remembered. No comparisons can be fully relied upon between unlike 

 substances. To accept analytical composition as a true estimate of the 

 respective values of fodder and grain would be absurd. Their real value 

 depends upon the constituents that are digested, and not upon their 

 relative component constituents, and as the amount of digested con- 

 stituents in any food is materially influenced by the food materials with 

 which it is given, the necessity for knowledge in the amalgamation of food 

 is very evident. Under the plan of feeding with oats and hay, the custom 

 is to give a certain measure of oats and allow hay in the rack ad libitum; 

 but in the more economic plan of using mixed food, a definite weight of hay 

 is apportioned to a definite weight of mixed corn. In deciding the pro- 

 portion of grain to hay it may be observed that no large bulk will com- 

 pensate for defects in quality, and no concentrated mixture for deficiency 

 in quantity. Much of the saving effected by mixed feeding has been by 

 a partial substitution of grain for hay, and in this connection it may be 

 remembered that a bulky food is particularly unsuitable for horses on 

 account of the small size of the equine stomach. And when grain can 

 be obtained at a less price per ton than hay, as is nowadays frequently 

 the case, there is a natural inclination to increase the less expensive but 

 more nutritious grain and reduce the more expensive and less nutritious 

 hay; but this substitution can only be carried to a certain limit, and 

 any attempt to go beyond this will prove disastrous. 



It must not be forgotten that a too highly concentrated food is very 

 dangerous for any horse, and particularly so for greedy feeders. These, 

 being unsatisfied with a deficient bulk, are tempted to overgorge whenever 



