FEEDING. 339 



saddle kinds. During the time foals are sucking, the great- 

 est caution is necessary not to overheat the dams, as this 

 is sure to affect the milk, and proves most injurious to the 

 colt. 



To save the heavy expense of corn-feeding in young horses, 

 clover, lucerne, and tares, are substituted ; carrots have 

 also been successfully used. But no species of food is so 

 nourishing as pease, half a feed of which is about equal to 

 a feed of oats. Young horses should invariably be plenti- 

 fully fed ; and a want of attention to this has been the 

 cause of many of them acquiring the practice of biting 

 their racks, and thence called crib-biters. To prevent this 

 practice, a little hay or straw should be constantly kept in 

 the rack. 



SECTION IL— FEEDING. 



Hay and oats being the chief food of horses, it is highly 

 necessary that the owner should be, at least, a tolerable 

 judge of their quality. The best kind of hay for horses is 

 that which grows on upland meadows. It should be bright 

 in its appearance, of a greenish cast, possessing a fragrant 

 smell, and not too dry ; for when it is so, and crackles 

 when squeezed in the hand, it is a sure sign that its nutri- 

 tive qualities have been dissipated by too long exposure to 

 the sun and air after it has been cut. It would, however, 

 be proper occasionally to vary the quality of hay by giving 

 white clover and also rye-grass in limited quantities. Care 

 must be taken that it is not too new, as in that state it 

 is apt to produce acidity and flatulence. Eighteen pounds 

 of hay is sufficient for any ordinary-sized horse per day, 

 with six pounds of oats and two of beans. The cart or 

 agricultural horse will require about eight pounds of oats^ 

 with two of beans, added to twenty-four pounds of chaff or 



