How to Feed, Water and Groom. 



I. Laying the Foundation. 



The feeding of horses must be either simple or complex ac- 

 cording to the circumstances under which they are placed <aiid 

 the nature of the work required of them. It would, for in- 

 stance, be as foolish with the farm or ordinary work horse to 

 pamper with fire-warmed stables, highly stimulating food, and 

 exquisite grooming, together with all the paraphernalia of 

 blankets, hoods, bandages for the legs, and necessities of the 

 trotting or racing stable, as it would be to allow this latter class 

 to receive only the same care and attention usually bestowed up- 

 on the team kept solely for the plow and other drudgery of the 

 farm. At the same time the extremes to which horses are sub- 

 ject, either in the farm or racing stables, might well be modified 

 in very many cases to the health and well being either of the 

 farm horse or the pampered and high-bred racer. That is to say, 

 racers are often *' drawn down " to fine, and the ordinary work 

 horse too often suffers from neglect. Thus in the first class we 

 see a number of diseases seldom shown in the stables of horses 

 with sufficient care, while the stables of horses carefully kept 

 seldom suff'er with the class of diseases found when horses are 

 allowed to go dirty from day to day, and often from week to 

 week. 



To commence at the beginning, the breeder who would suc- 

 ceed with any class of horses, should see that the mare, while 

 carrying the foal, has sufficient food and shelter, and that the 

 foal itself is sufficient nourished during the period Oi growth. 

 Nothing is gained by insufficient sheltei and food, whatever the 

 use for which the animal is intended, and this brings us to the 

 question of the food itself, 



