HAY AND GRASS 37 



Most stable keepers prefer very coarse hay, but I 

 think that the horse himself prefers hay that is not 

 excessively coarse. Do not feed your horse the same 

 kind of hay all the time. A horse likes a change of 

 diet. He will even eat with appetite a little good 

 meadow hay or salt hay for a change. 



The hay grown on neglected farms in New England 

 and called "June Grass" is thought little of, but it is 

 very clean and is tender if cut early, and horses like it 

 and thrive on it, although possibly it has not the same 

 amount of nutriment as herd's grass or timothy. If 

 cut late, it is hard and wiry, and of little value. 



Hay should be cut early, when it is flowering, and 

 then, if well cured, it will have a green look and a 

 pleasant flavor. Hay made from grass cut too late, 

 or too much dried in a hot sun, lacks the green color 

 and the pleasant odor, and is hard and wiry. Hay 

 that is discolored from being wet while in process of 

 curing is fit only for bedding. 



Generally speaking, the health of a horse depends 

 upon the kind of hay that he gets; his strength and 

 endurance depend upon the kind and amount of grain 

 that he gets. 



GRASS 



It used to be thought that grass was about the worst 

 thing possible for a horse doing hard work; but it is 

 now known that a small feed of grass every day is 

 good for all horses; and the modern trainers of trot- 

 ting horses "grass them out," if they can, every day 

 while they are in training. Nothing is better or more 



