CHAPTER XXIX. 



FATTENING HORSES FOR MARKET. 



It has become quite common to stall-feed horses for the market, very 

 much as cattle are prepared, and it is said "fat covers up a multitude of 

 ■defects," to the buyer. 



Mr. H. W. Brattell, of Iowa, has given the subject of fattening horses 

 <lose attention, and furnishes the results of his observations as follows:. 



HORSES FED GRAIN FIVE TIMES PER DAY. 



"They are put in the barn and fed gradually, as great care must be 

 taken for a few days to avoid colic. It seems most profitable to feed 

 grain about five times per day, due to the fact that, the stomach of a 

 horse being proportionately smaller than the stomach of a cow, he needs 

 his feed in smaller quantities, or as the old quotation is, 'Little and often.' 

 The hay, of course, they have access to at any time, by filling the racks 

 twice a day. They also are given all the water they will drink, twice a 

 day. 



CORN A GREAT FACTOR IN FATTENING HORSES. 



"Corn is given at 5 a. m., then water at 7; at 9 fill all the hayracks 

 and give oats and bran, the proportion being two-thirds bran and one- 

 third oats. Then at 12 feed corn again; at 3 p. m. feed oats and bran, 

 and also refill the hayracks. At 4 p. m. give second watering, and at 6 

 the last feed of corn is given. The proportion for each horse when upon 

 full feed is as follows: Corn, from ten to fourteen ears at each feed, oats 

 and bran, about three quarts per feed. 



GLAUBER SALTS SUBSTITUTED FOR EXERCISE. 



Another point of great importance comes into consideration where 

 a large unmber of horses are fed: It is almost impossible to give them 

 all sufficient exercise, and so, as a rule, they are given no exercise f'-om 

 the time they are put in the barn until a few days before they are to be 

 shipped. So something must be given as a substitute for the exercise 

 in order to keep the blood in good order, or else "stocked" legs will be 

 one of the first troubles. Glauber salts will in most cases prevent this 

 trouble, and, mixed with the oats and bran, the horses will eat them 

 quite readily. These salts are fed about twice per week at equal inter- 

 vals, giving about one-half or three-fourths of a pint at each feed. These 

 salts can be bought very cheap by having your druggist order them for 

 you at wholesale prices. They are not nearly so strong as the epsom 

 salts, but they have a very desirable and cooling effect upon the blood. 



