30 THE ECONOMICS OF FEEDING HORSES 



experience that heavy, slowly worked horses can be 

 worked longer hours than the lighter, faster breeds. At 

 the same time, a horse is no more able to burn the 

 candle at both ends with impunity than a man. 



Water plays a very important part in connection with 

 all the vital processes, and not least in connection with 

 digestion. In digestion the food constituents are made 

 soluble, and it is from the solution of foodstuffs in the 

 intestine that the blood draws its supplies. The blood 

 itself soon becomes thicker and too concentrated unless 

 an ample supply of water is taken in. The digestive 

 juices, secreted in large amount in the twenty-four hours, 

 have to be provided for by fresh supplies of water ; and 

 the waste products, such as urea, which are eliminated 

 by the kidneys, require an adequate amount of water for 

 their solution and excretion. Thus the digestive tract is 

 constantly being drawn upon for water for the use of the 

 body in all its activities, and yet at the same time the 

 bowels themselves must contain a sufficient amount to 

 keep the ingesta in that fluid condition necessary for 

 easy propulsion along the canal. Too little water means 

 a delay in the passage of the ingesta through the intes- 

 tine ; an increased tendency to impaction or obstruction 

 with dry, bulky material, and consequent colic ; and if 

 even the latter is avoided, the whole of the activities 

 of the body are less efficiently carried out. Thus an 

 ample supply of water is of first-rate importance, and 

 there can be no doubt that the best plan, where possible, 

 is to allow the horse access to a constant supply in the 

 stable. 



Although somewhat beyond the scope of this book, it 

 is perhaps desirable to point out that in an individual 

 animal supplied with good food, easy of digestion by a 

 normal horse, the whole process may be upset by some 



