118 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



has been nearly exhausted by the first crop ; but 

 there is a look, independent of smell, in good hay, 

 that it is easy to learn to distinguish : and, as I 

 advise by the purchasing the horses, if neither 

 master nor man are judges of hay, let some one 

 buy who is. 



Another very great mistake that some people 

 make in hay is, as to its age. Some will fancy hay 

 cannot be too old : this is quite erroneous, for 

 however good hay may be, age will take away its 

 nutritious qualities. I remember saying this once 

 before a groom (but no stableman), when, to my 

 astonishment, he said, with an intended knowing 

 look, he did not want hay to nourish his horses. 



" Then what the d 1 do you give it them for ?" 

 burst from me involuntarily. " Perhaps you don't 

 want nourishment yourself. What do you say to 

 making half your dinner on sawdust ? " I hope 

 I need not say he was not, or ever had been, in 

 my stables. 



That new hay is by no means proper for horses 

 in work, is quite certain ; but a little even of this, 

 as an alterative, is by no means a bad thing. 

 Hay two years old I consider old enough for any 

 horse ; and supposing horses to be eating hay in 

 September 1848, that was cut in July 1847, it 

 will hurt no horse in common work, in fact, I 

 would prefer it to the older; but that cut in 1846, 

 I hold to be old enough for any race-horse ; every 



