FEEDING YOUNG HORSES 135 



close boxes, standing on heating manure and liberally 

 fed, there is great danger that this ideal will not be 

 realised. Without doubt the best way is to leave the 

 young horses out in the fields altogether, provided they 

 can run into a shed at will when the weather is bad, 

 as well as to receive their daily supply of hay, cake, 

 and corn. There is no finer concentrated food for 

 young stock than a mixture of 3 parts crushed oats, 

 2 parts bran, and I part linseed cake, given at the 

 rate of i to 2 Ibs. per 100 Ibs. live weight. With this 

 open-air life the young horses get plenty of exercise. 

 Every effort should be made to expand the heels of the 

 young horse's feet and develop the frog. To do this, it is 

 necessary to bring the frog in contact with the ground, 

 so that the pressure on the frog will tend to expand 

 the heels. Careful shoeing is most important when 

 the young horse is old enough to have shoes on. 

 If the shoe is hinged at the toe, so as to move laterally 

 at the heels, it will encourage the heels to expand. 

 The concentrated part of the ration should be rich in 

 albuminoids, so as to develop as much as possible 

 the muscular part of the young horse. The horse 

 would be ready for work at about two to three years 

 of age. 



Work-Horses. Generally speaking, the ration of 

 horses doing fast work should be richer in albuminoids 

 and less bulky than that which would be required for 

 those doing slow work. When the horses are not at 

 work the quantity of concentrated food given may be 

 considerably diminished. Inferior foods should only 

 be fed in small quantities at a time, along with com- 

 paratively large quantities of wholesome foods, and 

 changes of diet should always be made gradually. 



It will now be helpful, in compounding rations 



