FOOD, 



1,S0 



least at tlie begmning and the termination. The rapid trot, or even the 

 .allop, may be^•esorted to in the middle of the exercise but the horse 

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

 to boys, and would insist on the exercise being taken ^vithm sight or in 

 the neio-hbourhood of his residence, many an accident and u'reparable in- 

 iury 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 

 p!art of his concerns, and he may depend on it that he suflers when he 

 neo-lects, or is in a manner excluded from, his stables. 



FOOD. 



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

 There are few horses that do not habitually waste a portion of their hay ; 

 and by some the gTeater part is pulled down and trampled under loot, m 

 order first to cull the sweetest and best locks, and which could not be done 

 while the hay was inclosed 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 disgnisting, and, in many cases, one-third of this divi- 

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

 chewed by all horses, and scarcely at all by hungTy and greedy ones, i he 

 appearance of the dung will sufficiently evince this 



The observation of this induced the adoption of manger-feedmg, or ol 

 mixino- a portion of chaff with the corn. By this means the animal is com- 

 pelled^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 con- 

 siderable mastication, and, while he is forced to grind that doAvn, the oats 

 and beans are groimd with it, and yield more nourishment ; the stomach 

 is more slowly filled, and therefore acts better on its contents, and is not 

 so likely to be overloaded ; and the increased quantity of saliva thrown 

 out in the lengthened mastication of the food, softens it, and makes it 

 more fit for digestion. 



As Professor Stewart very properly remarks, 'Many horses swallow 

 their corn in great haste, and when much is eaten, that habit is exceedmgly 

 dano-erous The stomach is- filled— it is overloaded before it has timeto 

 make preparation for acting on its contents-the food ferments and pam- 

 fal or dangerous colic ensues. By adding chaff to his corn, the horse miist 

 take more time to eat it, and time is given for the commencement oi di- 

 gestion, before fermentation can occur. In tbis way chaff is very uselul, 



especially after long fasts.' , , -, • j. • /i i •„ 



If when considerable provender was wasted, the horse maintained hia 

 condition, and was able to do his work, it was evident that much might be 

 saved to the farmer, when he adopted a system by which the horse ate all 

 that was set before him ; and by degrees it w-^s found out, that even W 

 somewhat less nutritious, but a great deal cheaper, and which the horse 

 either would not eat, or would not properly grmd do^vn m its natural state 

 might be added, while the animal would be in quite as good plight, and 

 always ready for work. , 



Chaff may be composed of equal quantities of clover or meadow hay, 

 and wheaten, oaten, or barley straw, cut into pieces of a quarter or half an 

 h^ch in lengtii, and mingled well together ; the allowance of oats or beans 

 S afterwards added, and mixed with the chaff Many farmers very pro- 

 perly bruise the oats or beans. The whole oat is apt o shp out ol^ the cbaff 

 Lid be lost; but when it is bruised, and especially if the chaff is a little 

 wetted, it will not readily separate ; or, should_ a portion of it escape the 

 grinders, it will be partly prepared for digestion by the act of bruising. 

 The pre udice against bruising the oats is, so far as the farmer s horse, 



