70 THE PRACTICAL HORSE KEEPER. 



digestibility, the albuminoids and cellulose not being digested to 

 the proper amounts. An excess of starch is more to be feared 

 than an undue proportion of sugar in the digestion of hay. 



More or less preparation of food will increase facility of 

 digestion, so long as it does not alter the character of its 

 constituents or impair the digestive process. Crushing grain 

 which is covered by an insoluble husk, or is so dense that the 

 gastric juice acts slowly on it, is to ensure its easier digestion 

 in the stomach, should it escape crushing by the teeth in the 

 act of mastication. Therefore it is that oats and barley are 

 more nutritious crushed than Avhole ; as if a portion misses the 

 crushing action of the molars, it is almost certain to be voided 

 unaltered from the animal. So it is, also, that the seeds of 

 maize and beans are better for feeding when broken into 

 pieces than when given whole. Even hay and straw may be 

 rendered more digestible when cut up or '^chopped" than 

 when allowed whole, as it is then more easily mixed with the 

 saliva and the gastric juice, and the animal is spared much of 

 the fatigue of mastication. Some legumes even require to be 

 boiled to render them digestible ; and potatoes are better boiled 

 or steamed than given raw, as in the latter state tliey are 

 likely to give rise to intestinal irritation. 



The condition of the horse has also a good deal to do with 

 the digestion of food. A healthy, vigorous animal can digest 

 much more food, and quicker, than a weakly one ; and a sick 

 horse may have its digestive powers seriously enfeebled, while 

 hardship or fatigue may have a similar effect. 



CONDITION OF FOOD WITH REGARD TO QUALITY. 



The condition of the food may likewise alter its facility of 

 digestion and nutritive properties, this depending upon its 

 mode of growth, care in collecting and preserving, cleanliness, 

 and freedom from animal and vegetable parasites. If the land 



