FOOD, PHYSIC, AND EXERCISE 9 



feeder, but an animal with an average appetite will 

 seldom eat more than is good for him. The rack 

 should be kept filled with fresh hay, and any that 

 is left must be removed. Each grain of oats that 

 comes out of the same stack is practically of equal 

 quality, but with hay this is not the case. If you 

 watch horses grazing in a field you will notice they 

 will pick blades here and there, wandering over the 

 entire field in search of choice bits, though to you 

 all may appear the same. 



Now the hay we have stacked ready for use in 

 the stable has come from a similar field, and is 

 generally composed of different grasses, some of 

 which are agreeable to a horse's taste and some 

 not. Then also portions of the stack vary con- 

 siderably in quality, due either to the process of 

 making or to the weather at the time of stacking, 

 or perhaps to the manure that had been previously 

 applied to the field. A horse should therefore be 

 allowed to select those bits which he prefers in the 

 same manner as when he is at grass, and not be 

 forced to clean up the whole rack. This may appear 

 to you an extravagant method, but, if you want to 

 get the best results from a horse, you must not try 

 to economise with his food. Of course when he is 

 hungry he will eat anything, and the armful of 

 hay which he picked over at first he may eventually 

 consume when there is no prospect of getting any- 

 thing better, but the question is, will it do him 

 any good ? In racing stables it may be necessary 

 to limit the quantity of hay, but for hunting and 



