120 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



Horses not intended for galloping or any fast 

 work, or, indeed, hard work of any sort, not re- 

 quiring any thing like the same corn as those I 

 have first mentioned, of course require a very 

 considerable addition to such allowances of hay as 

 I have mentioned, unless they are ponies or gal- 

 loways. 



It is true, that in hunting or racing stables hay 

 is regarded as quite a secondary consideration. 

 As a means of nutriment it is, in fact, like the 

 small dinner-roll we use when sitting down to a 

 plentiful board, it is a portion of food proper to 

 be taken to prevent a too abundant use of more 

 substantial fare : still that, like hay, should be, 

 and in such cases is, of the best and most nourish- 

 ing quality. Hay, if of the right sort, will keep 

 an idle horse as fat as corn. 



I will instance a case, by supposing two horses 

 totally out of work. We will allow the one three 

 feeds of corn a day, weighing (which good corn 

 will) two pounds and a half per quartern measure, 

 making corn seven pounds and a half; we will 

 then allow fourteen pounds of hay, making a 

 ration of twenty-one pounds and a half of food in 

 the twenty-four hours; we will allow the other 

 half a truss of hay during the same period, and no 

 corn : if both horses are of the same size, appetite, 

 and constitution, the hay-fed horse (provided the 

 hay is only twelve months old, and of a sweet 



