ALFALFA FOR HORSES AND MULES 1 67 



In western Kansas farm horses have been wintered on 

 a daily feed of lo pounds of alfalfa hay and some corn 

 stover, and thin horses fattened on alfalfa hay and a little 

 corn. 



CRESCEUS EATS AliFALFA 



Again, the prevalent notion that it is not good for driv- 

 ing horses has been contradicted by hundreds of farmers 

 who use it for such horses, and by hundreds in western 

 towns who use it for delivery horses, dray horses, and 

 light drivers, as well. In parts of California it is the only 

 hay fed to horses. "Cresceus, the great race horse, is 

 said to have been raised on it and it is said that he is fed 

 no other hay, even while on the racing circuit." The 

 same was said of Sysonby, the fleetest Thoroughbred in 

 the races of 1905. Many of the city transfer companies in 

 Denver, Kansas City and Omaha use alfalfa hay, claim- 

 ing that it enables them to reduce their grain ration, 

 while their horses seem stronger and look better than they 

 did with the former feed of corn and timothy. 



TOO MUCH HAY FED 



It is no doubt true that Americans feed their horses 

 too much hay. It is common among horse owners to let 

 horses stand to full mangers when not at work. In 

 London the cab horses, for example, are given hay for 

 but two hours a day, in the evening. At the end of two 

 hours the mangers are cleared. Careful testing in 

 decreasing the timothy hay ration one-half has not shown 

 that the horses required any more grain than before to 

 keep them in equally good condition. 



