THE NEED OF BRAN 35 



very fact, that the horse's stomach is small, 

 gives the reason for the next hint I want to 

 give you, which is that your horse wants to 

 be fed often. Four feeds per day is the train- 

 ing-stable rule, and it is most important to 

 remember that a horse cannot go on long 

 journeys for hours without receiving frequent 

 feeds. In a state of Nature his head is 

 always down eating when he is not moving 

 about. In the artificial state in which we 

 keep them all horses need more or less bran. 

 If you give plenty of this with an occasional 

 addition of linseed oil or well-cooked linseed, 

 you will keep your horse in such a state of 

 health that he will never need any medicine. 

 I may tell you here that I thoroughly dis- 

 approve of all medicine, as being not only un- 

 necessary but harmful to the horse. Watch 

 the state of his droppings and give and keep 

 giving as much bran and linseed as you can 

 get the horse to take, while keeping his 

 droppings from getting too soft. Of the two 

 states it is far better to have them too soft 

 than too hard. A horse suffering from con- 



