142 THE HORSE 



fore liable to serious injury. After, say, three hours in 

 harness, they should be taken out and put in some 

 stable for a few minutes. In the country, you can 

 unhitch the horse and lead him into a field. I have 

 often done this. Francis M. Ware, a high authority, 

 declares that suppression of urine is the cause of more 

 illness among city horses than any other one thing; and 

 he advises that drivers should teach their horses to stale 

 in harness at a given signal, by whistling or otherwise, 

 the meaning of which can be learned in the stable. 

 Undoubtedly an intelligent horse could be taught this 

 with a little patience. 



Hard-working horses need only a mouthful of hay, 

 besides their grain, at the noon feed, and, if possible, 

 they should rest awhile before feeding. For a horse 

 on a journey, this rest before eating grain is absolutely 

 necessary. 



Occasionally the noon feed of a work-horse is inter- 

 rupted, and he is sent off on some job before he has 

 finished his grain. In such a case it is best not to give 

 him the remainder of his feed later. Oats take about 

 two hours to digest; and if to oats partly digested in 

 the horse's stomach more oats are added, the result is 

 apt to be a serious case of indigestion. "Afternoon 

 colic," as truckmen call it, often arises from this cause. 



When the weather is very hot, the noon feed of the 

 work-horse should be half oats and half bran. 



WATERING 



The theory that water given to the horse immediately 

 after eating his grain has a tendency to wash the un- 



