15G PASTURING. 



PASTUKI'NG. 



So far as mere health is concerned, grass is the most salubri- 

 ous food which the horse can receive. When it is eaten where 

 it grows, the horse is said to be turned out, to be getting a run 

 at grass, or to be at grass. When it is cut, and consumed in 

 the stable, the horse is said to be soiled. 



It is probable that grass eaten in the field produces quite the 

 same effects as that eaten in the stable. But at pasture, there 

 are several agents in operation to which the stabled horse is not 

 necessarily exposed. The exercise which he must take ; the 

 position w^hich his head must assume, in order that he may ob- 

 tain food ; the annoyance he suffers from flies ; his exposure to 

 the weather ; the influence of tlie soil upon the feet and legs ; 

 and the quantity of food placed at his disposal ; are the prin- 

 cipal points wherein pasturing differs from soiling. 



The Exercise which he must take as he gathers his food, 

 varies according to the herbage. When tlie ground is bare, 

 the exercise may amount even to work, but to a sound horse 

 it is never injurious ; in cold w^eather it keeps him w^arm, or, 

 at least, prevents him from becoming very cold. Witli a lame 

 horse, the case is different. In some species of lameness, as 

 in chronic diseases of the joints, the slow but constant exercise 

 thus rendered necessary is highly beneficial ; but the exertion 

 demanded by a bare pasture is unfavorable to any sprain or 

 lameness arising from disease in the ligaments and tendons. 

 Lameness, when very great, no mattoi' vrhere seated, forbids 

 pasturing, even though the grass be knee-high. The pain of 

 standing, and moving on two or three legs, may be so great 

 ihat the horse will be obliged to lie down before he ha^ob- 



