A SUITABLE RATION 63 



mistake to give much bulky food before work, and for 

 this reason long hay is best given at night, and only a 

 little chaff with the corn in the morning. For light 

 horses receiving much maize, some hard hay, such as 

 timothy or cocksfoot hay, is the best, for reasons already 

 given. For the heavier draught-horses, bulk is important 

 and necessary ; if maize is fed, fibre must be provided in 

 the hay, so that the coarser hays such as clover, or 

 clover and rye grass, or sainfoin, are the best. Usually, 

 no long hay is given, or, at any rate, the bulk of the hay 

 is cut into chaff; and if meadow hay is used, it may be 

 advisable to mix with it some oat- straw to give the 

 desired bulk. 



Straw as food for horses has only a very limited use — 

 in fact, only oat-straw is admissible, and that only to com- 

 bine with meadow hay as already described. As Zuntz's 

 experiments have so clearly proved, the work necessary 

 to digest and propel along the intestine such a material 

 as wheat-straw exceeds the energy value of the straw 

 given, so that the animal loses, rather than gains, energy 

 when wheat-straw is given. 



And now, turning to the consideration of actual 

 rations, it is well to examine some faulty examples to 

 see wherein the errors lie. 



These can be divided into two groups — namely, 

 (1) errors of balance of the ration, and (2) errors relating 

 to the cost of the ration. The balance is often faulty in 

 that too high a percentage of protein is supplied; less 

 commonly the proportion of protein is too low. The cost 

 is often excessive because substitutional dieting is not 

 understood, and because of the exaggerated value set 

 upon certain articles of food. 



As an example of the former, the following ration may 



