CHAPTEE VI. 



A SUITABLE RATION. 



And, now, having considered the uses of food in the 

 body, the composition, and digestibihty of the various 

 foodstuffs, and their real value to the animal in relation 

 to its needs, we are in a position to make up a ration 

 suitable for any particular kind of work. It is, of course, 

 true that many of the most experienced and expert 

 horse-managers know little or nothing of the chemistry 

 or physiology of food, and yet their results are all that 

 could be wished for. These men have learned by long 

 experience, and by adopting, or departing from, the 

 customs of others as seemed good to them. By means 

 of constant observation and a natural genius, they have 

 arrived at a scientific result by rule-of-thumb methods. 

 On the other hand, a large number of horse-owners are 

 not themselves possessed of this faculty, and in most 

 cases they are at the mercy of horse-keepers and grooms, 

 so that a knowledge of the principles of feeding will, it 

 is hoped, enable them to protect themselves from loss, 

 either in the form of a too heavy forage bill, or in that 

 of unsatisfactory condition of their horses. 



All rations, however scientifically compounded, have 

 to stand or fall by the one test of practice : Do the 

 horses perform their work in a satisfactory fashion? 

 Do they keep up their condition without losing weight, 



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