THE TRUTTINU-IWlibE OF AMERICA. 49 



must be understood, from what I have said above, that he 

 is uever to be turned out to take his chance among a lot of 

 promiscuous stock, old horses, cows, calves, heifers, and 

 what-not. If he is, you may look for a wretched young 

 thing, standing shivering on the hillside, and hardly able to 

 put one leg before the other, instead of the gay and frisky 

 colt that you had wlieu he nibbled th^ growing grass by the 

 bide of his dam. All along, from the time of his weaning, 

 it will do good, and can do no harm, to give him a nice, 

 warm mash, with a few oats mixed through it, now and then. 

 It does the whole system of the alimentary canal good, im- 

 proves the digestion, and increases the nutrition. There 

 need be no fear of its scouring the colt ; and, in cases of 

 scouring, I have very often found that it cured it. Give 

 the colt no physic unless you are sure that there is something 

 the matter with him. Physic is to cure sickness. Its pre- 

 vention belongs to diet, careful observation, and general 

 treatment. 



When the colt is a yearling, his allowance of oats may be 

 increased to four quarts a day. His other food must be 

 good and abundant ; and that is to be the main-stay. My 

 principle is to give oats sparingly until the time comes to 

 put the horse to some work ; and I think it will commonly 

 result in tliis : that the horse will have all the size thai in 

 the order of nature he should have had, and be of a much 

 hardier, healthier, and more enduring constitution than he 

 would have been if he had been forced along rapidly by 

 means of all the higldy-stimulating food that he could be 

 got to consume. It will take longer to mature him by feed- 

 ing only moderately of grain at this early period, but he is 

 meant to last longer ; and I repeat that a-AvXy maturity is 

 not favorable to long endurance. By the other method, 

 you may show me a colt at two years old that looks more 

 like a horse than mine will at three ; and at three more like 

 a grand horse than mine will at five. But now I shall 

 begin to overtake you. When yours is live or six, he is at 



4 



