FOOD. 19 



them, " syces," who are creatures of habit, get into 

 the way of cleaning them before they bring them 

 forward. The box, or naund, in which the grain 

 is damped being stationary, can be looked at any 

 time. It is necessary to be very careful about 

 this, as the particles of food left very quickly fer- 

 ment in a hot climate, and get sour, and quickly 

 taint all the rest. As a rule, about ten minutes 

 is long enough to damp grain; and this should 

 be done as soon before feeding as possible, other- 

 wise, if left long standing, it will get sour. If a 

 horse refuses his feed, it should be at once thrown 

 away, and on no account be kept till the next meal, 

 by which time it is pretty certain to have fermented. 



Horses refusing Food. 



Some horses are delicate feeders naturally, and 

 take a long time in eating, or refuse their food 

 altogether. In the case of a delicate or slow feeder, 

 the food should be given in small quantities and 

 often, rather than in the usual somewhat rather 

 large feeds three times a day ; and the horse should 

 be fed by himself. This is easily done in India, as 

 nearly all stables are loose boxes ; but if the animal 

 is picketed out with others that are likely to teaze 

 him, he should be taken away and fed out of a 



