FEEDING OF HUNTERS 69 



and clean, and not brittle. Oat straw horses are 

 apt to eat, and barley straw is quite inadmissible 

 as it irritates their skin. 



You will see in my Stable Eules I have given 

 instructions on the making of mashes. This 

 is not so unnecessary as it may seem. It is 

 surprising how many men, who consider them- 

 selves stablemen, are ignorant on this very simple 

 equine cookery ; and badly cooked food is as 

 indigestible to the horse as it is to his master. In 

 a battery which I joined once, I found the weekly 

 Saturday mash was made by putting the bran 

 rations in the dung-barrow, pouring on it luke- 

 w^arm water, and ladling this savoury compound 

 into the manger with a stable shovel. Needless to 

 say, half of it was left by the indignant troop 

 horse, and went out to the manure-pit on Sunday 

 morning. 



Nothing is more unappetising than stale, sour 

 bran, and buckets and mangers in which it has 

 been should be well scrubbed out with salt. 



Never give spices or condiments to your 

 hunters. They may be useful for getting horses 

 up for show or sale. I have no experience ; but, on 

 this point, I am sure all highly-spiced foods are 

 injurious to a horse's digestion, and he may get 

 into such a condition that he cannot do without 

 them. If you and your groom cannot get a horse 



