228 



Food the Horse. 



Vol. XII. 



hackneys, and with manifest advantage. 

 There has been no loss of conditioner power, 

 and considerable saving of provender. This 

 system is not, however, calculated for the 

 hunter or the race-horse. Their food must 

 lie in smaller bulk, in order that the action 

 of the lungs may not be impeded by the dis- 

 tension of the stomach ; yet manj' hunters 

 have gone well over the field who have been 

 manger-fed, the proportion of corn, however, 

 being materially increased. 



For the agricultural cart-horse, eight 

 pounds of oats and two of beans should be 

 added to every twenty pounds of chaff. 

 Thirty-four or thirty-six pounds of the mix- 

 ture will be sufficient for any moderate-sized 

 horse, with fair, or even hard work. The 

 dray and wagon horse may require forty 

 pounds. Hay in the rack at night is, in this 

 case, supposed to be omitted altogether. 

 The rack, however, may remain, as occa- 

 sionally useful for the sick horse, or to con- 

 tain tares or other green meat. 



Horses are very fond of this provender. 

 The majority of them, after having been ac- 

 customed to it, will leave the best oats given 

 to them alone, for the sake of the mingled 

 chaff and corn. We would, however, cau- 

 tion the farmer not to set apart too much 

 damaged hay for the manufacture of the 

 chaff. The horse may be thus induced to 

 eat that whicli he would otherwise refuse; 

 but if the nourishing property of the hay has 

 been impaired, or it has acquired an injuri- 

 ous principle, the animal will either lose 

 condition, or become diseased. Much more 

 injury is done by eating damaged hay or 

 musty oats, than is generally imagined. 

 There will be sufficient saving in the dimin- 

 ished cost of the provender by the introduc- 

 tion of the straw, and the improved condition 

 of the horse, without poisoning him with the 

 refuse of the farm. For old horses, and for 

 those with defective teeth, chaff is peculi- 

 arly useful, and for them the grain should be 

 broken down as well as the fodder. 



While the mixture of chaff with the corn 

 prevents it from being too rapidly devoured 

 and a portion of it swallowed whole, and there- 

 fore tlie stomach is not too loaded with that on 

 which, as containing the most nutriment, its 

 chief digestive power should be exerted, yet, 

 on the whole, a great deal of time is gained 

 by this mode of feeding, and more is left for 

 rest. When a horse comes in wearied at 

 the clofe of the day, it occupies, after he lias 

 eaten his corn, two or three hours to clear his 

 rack. On the system of manger-feeding, 

 the chaff being already cut into small pieces, 

 and the beans and oats bruised, he is able fully 

 to satisfy his appetite in an hour and a half. 

 Two additional hours are therefore devoted 



to rest. This is a circumstance deserving 

 of much consideration, even in the farmer's 

 stable, and of immense consequence to the 

 post-master, the stage-coach proprietor, and 

 the owner of every hard worked horse. 



]Manger food will be the usual support of 

 the farmer's horse during the winter, and 

 while at constant or occasional hard work; 

 but from the middle of April to the end of 

 July, he may be fed with this mixture in the 

 day and turned out at night, or he may re- 

 main out during every rest day, A team in 

 constant employ should not, however, be suf- 

 fered to be out at night after the end of July. 



The farmer should take care that the pas- 

 ture is thick and good ; and that the distance 

 from the yard is not too great, or the fields 

 too large, otherwise a very considerable por- 

 tion of time will be occupied in catching the 

 horses in the morning. He will likewise 

 have to take into consideration the sale he 

 would have for his hay, and the necessity for 

 sweet and untrodden pasture for his cattle. 

 On the whole, however, turning out in this 

 way, when circumstances will admit of it, 

 will be found to be more beneficial for the 

 horse, and cheaper than soiling in the yard. 



The horse of the inferior farmer is some- 

 times fed on hay or grass alone, and the ani- 

 mal, although he rarely gets a feed of corn, 

 maintains himself in tolerable condition, and 

 does the work that is required of him: but 

 hay and grass alone, however good in quality, 

 or in whatever quantity allowed, will not 

 support a horse under hard work. Other 

 substances containing a larger proportion of 

 nutriment in a smaller compass, have been 

 added. They shall be briefly enumerated, 

 and an estimate formed of their comparative 

 value. 



In almost every part of Great Britain, 

 Oats have been selected as that portion of 

 the food which is to afford the principal nour- 

 ishment. They contain seven hundred and 

 forty-three parts out of a thousand of nutri- 

 tive matter. They should be about or some- 

 what less than a year old, heavy, dry, and 

 sweet. New oats will weigh ten or fifteen 

 per cent, more than old ones; but the differ- 

 ence consists principally in watery matter, 

 which is gradually evaporated. New oats 

 are not so readily ground down by the teeth 

 as old ones. They form a more glutinous 

 mass, difficult to digest, and, when eaten in 

 considerable quantities, are apt to occasion 

 colic and even staggers. If they are to be 

 used before they are from three to five months 

 old, they would be materially improved by a 

 little kiln-drying. There is no fear for the 

 horses from simple drying, if the corn was 

 good when it was put into the kiln. The old 

 oat forms, when chewed, a smooth and uniform 



