372 THE GENERAL MANAGEMErri' OF THE HORSE. 



depended upon. It is inefficient or it is extieuic. It is in many cases both irregular 

 and injurious. It is dependent upon the caprice of him wlio is performing a task, 

 and who will render that task subservient to his own pleasure or purpose. 



In training the hunter and the race-horse, regular exercise is the most important of 

 all considerations, however it may be forgotten in tlie usual management of the stable. 

 The exercised horse will discharge his task, ;md sometimes a severe one, with ease 

 and pleasure; while the idle and neglected one will be fatigued ere half his labour is 

 accomplished, and, if he is pushed a little loo far, dangerous inflammation will ensue. 

 How often, nevertheless, does it happen, that the horse which has stood inactive in 

 the stable three or four days, is ridden or driven thirty or forty miles in the course of 

 a single day! This rest is often purposely given to prepare for extra-exertion ; — to 

 lay in a stock of strength for tlie perlbrmance cf the task required of him : and then 

 the owner is surprised and dissatisfied if the animal is fairly knocked up, or possibly 

 becomes seriously ill. Nothing is so common and so preposterous, as for a person to 

 buy a horse from a dealer's stable, where he has been idly fattening for sale for many 

 a day, and immediately to give him a long run after the hounds, and then to complain 

 bitterly, and think that he has been imposed up( n, if the animal is exhausted before 

 the end of the chase, or is compelled to be led home suflering from violent inflannn;^- 

 tion. Re<Tular and gradually increasing exercise would have made the same horse 

 appear a treasure to his owner. 



Exercise should be somewhat proportioned to the age of the horse. A young horso 

 requires more than an old one. Nature has given to young animals of every kind a 

 disposition to activity ; but the exercise must not be violent. A great deal depend.s 

 upon the manner in which it is given. To preserve the temper, and to prcracte 

 health, it should be moderate, at least at the beginning and the termination. The 

 rapid trot, or even the gallop, may be resorted to in the middle of the exercise, but 

 the horse should be brought in cool. If the owner would seldom intrust his horse to 

 boys, and would insist on the exercise being taken within sight, or in the neighbour- 

 hood of his residence, many an accident and irreparable injury would be avoided. It 

 should be the owner's pleasure, and it is his interest, personally to attend to all these 

 things. He manages every other part of his concerns, and he may depend on it that 

 he suft'ers when he neglects, or is in a manner excluded from, his stables. 



FOOD. 



The system of manger-feeding is becoming general among farmers. Tliere are few 

 horses that do not habitually waste a portion of their hay ; and by some the greater 

 part is pulled down and trampled under foot, in order first to cull the sweetest and 

 best locks, and which could not be done while the hay was enclosed in the rack. A 

 good feeder will afterwards pick up much of that which was thrown down ; but some 

 of it must be soiled and rendered disgusting, and, in many cases, one-third of this 

 division of their food is wasted. Some of the oats and beans are imperfectly chewed 

 by all horses, and scarcely at all by hungry and greedy ones. The appearance of the 

 dung will sufficiently evince this. 



The observation of this induced the adoption of manger-feeding, or of mixing a 

 portion of chaff with the corn and beans. By this means the animal is compelled to 

 chew his food ; he cannot, to any great degree, waste the straw or hay ; the chaflT is 

 too hard and too sharp to be swallowed without considerable mastication, and, while 

 he is forced to grind that down, the oats and beans are ground with it, and yield more 

 nourishment; the stomach is more slowly filled, and therefore acts better on its con- 

 tents, and is not so likely to be overloaded ; and the increased quantity of saliva 

 thrown out in the lengthened maceration of the food, softens it, and makes it more fit 

 for digestion. 



Professor Stewart very properly remarks that "many horses swallow their corn in 

 great haste, and when much is eaten, that habit is exceedingly dangerous. The sto- 

 mach is filled — it is overloaded before it has time to make preparation for acting on 

 its contents — the food ferments, and painful or dangerous colic ensues. By adding 

 chaff to his corn, the horse must take more time to eat it, and time is given for the 

 commencement of digestion, before fermentation can occur. In this way chaff is very 

 useful, especially after long fasts."* 



' Stewart's Stable CGcononiy, p. 225. 



