46 THE HORSE 



Horses at pasture should be salted at least once a 

 week. 



SUGAR 



A perfectly healthy horse in good condition probably 

 does not need sugar, except as an occasional treat, and 

 perhaps sugar regularly fed to him in any considerable 

 quantity might cause indigestion; but for thin horses 

 and especially for old horses whose teeth are begin- 

 ning to give out, sugar in some form is extremely 

 wholesome; and as a means of recovery from fatigue 

 it is good for any horse. ^ It is difficult to feed a horse 

 molasses without getting the animal and his manger 

 sticky, and for this reason sugar is best given in the 

 form of brown sugar or molassine, although molasses 

 can be fed by sprinkling it on the hay. Molassine, an 

 English product, is widely sold in this country. It 

 does not contain anything of value except molasses, 

 according to the analysis of the Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural College, and it therefore may be regarded as 

 simply a clean and convenient form of feeding molasses. 

 It is, of course, a rather expensive form, for the molas- 

 sine costs more than pure molasses. 



For a horse weighing, say, a thousand or twelve 

 hundred pounds, the proper ration of sugar, molasses, 

 or molassine would be about an ordinary cupful fed 

 twice a day. In the case of an old or run-down horse 

 this quantity might gradually be increased — even until 



^ In many excellent work-horse stables it is now the custom to feed a 

 certain amount of sugar in some form every day, and the effect appears 

 to be good. This is a new practice, however, and it is too early yet to 

 pronounce upon it with certainty. 



