17 j ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



spoonful to each horse, should be fed twice a week, either mixed 

 with bran or oats, or placed where they can lick it at their leisure. 



The water furnished horses should be pure and fresh, 

 without taste or smell. In the summer, water should stand 

 in the trough long enough for the chill to be taken off. Water 

 in large quantities should never be given horses when they are 

 heated, unless their exercise is to be continued.* 



Conditioning Thin Horses.f — "When a horse which is 

 living under apparently favorable conditions becomes emaci- 

 ated, — neither from overwork nor from extreme age, — an effort 

 should be made to discover the cause of the thinness. Begin 

 by sending for the person responsible for the condition of the 

 horse and for the farrier, and with their assistance solve the 

 following points: 



1. Has the horse lampas? 



2. Is the tongue sore? 



3. Has he wolf's teeth? 



4. Are the molars sharp and irregular? 



5. Does he quidj his food? 



6. Are the teeth unsound or out of order, or (in the 



case of a young horse) are the milk teeth re- 

 maining in too long, and thereby interfering 

 with the coming of the permanent teeth? 



*Charles B. Michener, V.S. (on p. 35, "Diseases of the Horse," 

 Bureau of Animal Industry, 1903), says: " There is a popular fallacy 

 that if a horse is warm, he should not be allowed to drink; many claim- 

 ing that the first swallow of water 'founders' the animal or produces 

 colic. This is erroneous. No matter how warm a horse may be, it is 

 always entirely safe to allow him from six to ten swallows of water. 

 The danger is not in the first swallow of water, but is due to the ex- 

 cessive quantity that the animal will take, when warm, if not re- 

 strained." This opinion from such authority is valuable for horsemen 

 to have, but it is unsafe to permit the average stableman to act on it. 

 Unless you are sure that your man is careful enough and faithful enough 

 to stop the horse at six to ten swallows, it is wiser to adhere to the 

 rule that the hot horse should have no water until cooled. 



fFrom Captain M. F. Rimington's (British Army) little hand- 

 book, "Hints on Stable Management," pp. 30, 31. 



JA horse quids his food when he has difficulty in swallowing it. 



