DISEASES OF THE STOMACH 



Diseases of the stomach depend as much perhaps on 

 a lack of mastication and salivary mixture as on the qual- 

 ity or quantity of food. " The food of the horse contains 

 an abundant quantity of starchy materials, and the pro- 

 cess by which these are rendered soluble begins in the 

 mouth, not only by their admixture with the salivary 

 secretions, but by a chemical change, through which the 

 non-soluble starch is converted into dextrine and grape 

 sugar, and made fit for the action of the intestinal, bili- 

 ary, and gastric secretions, and for absorption by the 

 vessels of the intestinal walls. For the purpose of per- 

 forming this process the horse is provided with 24 mill- 

 stones in the form of molar teeth. Horses are best kept 

 in health when fed on an admixture of food requiring 

 thorough mastication, and cattle when, in addition to the 

 more nutritious aliments, they are freely supplied with 

 food requiring remastication, such as hay, grass, or straw. 

 An error in the diet or a sudden change from one kind 

 of food to another, not only deranges the stomach, but 

 the intestinal canal as well." (Williams.) 



In the horse the process of digestion is only begun in 

 the stomach ; it is completed in the intestines. The 

 stomach is small in proportion to the size of the horse ; 

 the intestines, in the aggregate, are not. The stomach 

 being small, requires to be often filled. A horse ought 

 not to be worked over five or six hours without food. If 

 it works ten hours, and is given enough food, it is liable 

 to gorge itself. It is also liable, in its haste, to bolt its 

 food. 



