256 THE HORSE 



few from Ireland ; the latter are not good, as they are soft, and often 

 sour. 



Oats are either given whole, or converted into meal, when they are used 

 in the shape of gruel, or they are bruised (sometimes called " kibbled "). 

 The entire oat is not always crushed by the grinders of the horse, and it 

 then often passes through the digestive canal without losing the nutritive 

 materials contained in the kernel. Hence there is a great loss, for unless 

 the oats swallowed are digested, they are quite useless in imparting nourish- 

 ment, and to avoid this defect it is now very usual to bruise all the oats 

 before they are put in the manger. I have already alluded to the oat- 

 bruising machine as a necessary appendage in every stable, and I may only 

 here remark, that the saving is supposed to be nearly one-fourth of the 

 consumption. This estimate is in my opinion too high for young and 

 vigorous horses, but for old ones it is accurate enough. There is a vast 

 difference in horses, in respect to their power of digesting oats, and if the 

 droppings of a number of these animals are carefully examined, this will 

 be very apparent. Sometimes a whole oat can scarcely be found in a large 

 mass, while in other cases nearly fifty per cent, will be evidently undissolved. 

 Many people, and especially trainers of race-horses, have an idea that 

 bruising oats interferes with the wind of the horses to which they are 

 given, but this is purely imaginary, and cannot for a moment be supported 

 either on theoretical or experimental grounds. The bruising is always 

 advantageous, but not to the same extent ; still it cannot be denied that 

 the labour of working the oat-bruisers is well bestowed. The grains should 

 not be more than cracked, so as to readily admit the gastric juice to the 

 floury kernel, all beyond this being more or less injurious. The quantity 

 of this kind of food which is required depends upon the nature and 

 amount of the work to be done, and upon the constitution and breed 

 of each horse. Race-horses are now often induced to eat eight and even 

 nine quarterns of oats daily, and hunters almost as much, but hacks 

 and harness-horses seldom get more than from three to four quarterns 

 daily, a bushel and a half per week being about the average, costing 

 about 4s. 6d. For ponies and horses doing very little work a pro- 

 portionate reduction is made. After bruising, oats must not be kept 

 long. 



Gruel is made from oatmeal, either with hot or cold water, in the latter 

 case hardly deserving the name, but being the form in which it is too often 

 given by ignorant and careless stablemen. To make it properly, one pound 

 of good oatmeal should be carefully stirred up with sufficient cold water to 

 form a thin mixture of the consistence of cream, which will take nearly 

 a quart. This is then stirred into three quarts of boiling water, and the 

 whole kept stirred over the fire till it thickens, when it is to be set on one 

 side to cool, being given when about lukewarm, or, if the horse is very 

 much exhausted, a little warmer It is an excellent restorative for a tired 

 and exhausted hunter, and careful grooms provide it ready-made against 

 their master's return from hunting. Raw gruel should only be given when 

 time is an object, as, for instance, on a journey, when half-an-hour cannot 

 be devoted to a regular feed. A pint of oatmeal may then be stirred up in 

 some cold water, and given from a pail, affording as much nourishment as a 

 feed of corn. 



