326 NAVIN ON THE HOESE. 



triment may be extracted from it during the process of diges- 

 tion. In the ordinary ways of feeding, a large part of the 

 food passes through the bowels without losing its nutritive 

 principles at all. In this way a great waste is sustained, and 

 the horse's digestive organs impaired. 



I shall now consider the principal articles of the horse's 

 feed, and the best methods of preparing and using them. 



Oats. — Oats stand at the head of the list of the articles of 

 the horse's feed. Shelled oats contain about seven hundred 

 and forty parts of nutritive matter to the one thousand. They 

 are easy of digestion, healthy in their effect on* the system, 

 improving the condition generally, and enabling the horse to 

 perform his work without injury to his health or spirit. The 

 ordinary method of feeding oats is to give them in the grain, 

 moistened with water. They are sufficiently digestible in this 

 way. The cjuantity required per day for a horse of ordinary 

 work, with proper allowance of hay, is about sixteen pounds a 

 day. The allowance, or ration, of the United States cavalry 

 horse is twelve pounds of oats and twelve pounds of hay. 

 Cut oats is very good for a horse not working. The straw of 

 oats contains but very little, if any, nutriment. 



Corn. — The common Indian corn is very extensively used in 

 the West as an article of diet for the horse. It contains, in 

 one thousand parts, six hundred and fifty parts of nutritive 

 matter. It is a very nutritious food, but alone is too stimulat- 

 ing. It may be safely used in winter, and especially with 

 horses that are worked hard. The meal, used with chopped 

 feed or oats, is good under any circumstances. Indeed, it 

 would be the best and most economical at all times to have 

 ^ e corn ground. None of its nutriment is then lost. Corn- 



.eal gruel is very good for horses recovering from severe 

 sickness. 



Beana. — Beans may be fed to the horse alone, or ground up 

 with other food. In the one thousand parts they contain five 

 hundred and seventy parts of nutritive matter. They are a 



