CHAPTER X 



SALT AND SUGAR 



"D Y far the best method of giving salt to horses is to 

 "*^ have it always before them. A horse knows better 

 than anybody else just how much salt he needs, and one 

 horse may need very much more or very much less than 

 another. For this reason, the common practice of giv- 

 ing a stable-full of horses their salt by putting an equal 

 amount into the mash for each horse once a week is not 

 a good practice. A small quantity of salt, however, 

 often makes the mash more appetizing, and therefore, 

 for a horse off his feed or tired or chilled, a mash with 

 the addition of some salt or sugar is good. 



The best way of giving salt is to have it either in the 

 form of a block or in a small, separate manger in which 

 a lump of rock salt can be put, or the lump can be put in 

 the hay manger. If a piece of salt is put in the grain 

 manger it is apt, before the horse has finished it, to 

 become broken up into small fragments, and to make 

 a kind of dirty mixture in the bottom of the manger. 



For sick horses a little fine table salt should be pro- 

 vided, for the sick horse will often use salt In that form, 

 and It Is good for him — whereas he would not take the 

 trouble to stretch up his head and apply his tongue to 

 a block or lump of salt. These are fine points, but 

 they count for a good deal In the case of an animal so 

 highly organized and so sensitive as the horse. 



[45] 



