296 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



"Make your head early, my boy," was a piece of 

 advice solemnly given to me by an old toper, when I 

 was about twelve years of age ; and if I were to ad- 

 monish a colt in the same spirit, I should say to him, 

 " Make your stomach early." 



Much benefit is often obtained from a change of 

 food. Thus, if a horse does not do well on oats and 

 hay, he may be tried with provender in place of oats. 

 " Provender," as the term is used hereabout, means 

 oats and corn ground up together ; and sometimes 

 the mixture is subjected by the miller to a steaming 

 or cooking process, with good results. This is of 

 course a heavier food than oats, and more fatten- 

 ing ; but it may safely be given in cold weather. In 

 cold weather, also, a little whole corn (cracked corn 

 is always to be avoided) can be fed to advantage. A 

 pint of corn in two or three quarts of bran, made into 

 a mash with boiling water, constitutes an excellent 

 supper on a wintry night for horses that are doing 

 very little work. But for riding and driving horses, 

 the chief reliance in the way of grain, year in and 

 year out, must be oats. 



As to the quantity proper to be given, no rules 

 can be laid down, because horses differ so much in 

 this respect. Here, for example, if the reader will 

 accompany me to the end of the row, are two contig- 

 uous stalls occupied respectively by a big bay mare 

 and a small black one. The bay mare is a handsome 

 creature, with an aristocratic head, large mild eyes, 

 and hunter-like legs ; but her back is too long, the 

 coupling is loose, and her constitution is soft. The 

 black mare, on the contrary, is a short-backed, com- 

 pact, tough, wiry animal, and she will do twice the 



