186 



FOOD. 



Healthy corn, having been bruised, is not even then properly prepared 

 for the equine digestion. The stomach of the horse is a delicate mem- 

 braneous sac, which is easily perforated or ruptured. It has no provi- 

 sion suited to digest hard corn, neither are the teeth of the animal fitted 

 to masticate so resistant a substance. Unlike the similar organs in man, 

 the equine tooth is destined to wear by attrition, and anything calculated 

 to hasten that process equally diminished the existence of the animal. 

 The inappropriateness of the stable and its food must be the reason why 

 English horses are so lamentably short lived. The quadruped was, ac- 

 cording to the briefest calculation, designed to exist for forty years ; but 

 the majority in this country cease to breathe before they attain the sixth 

 birthday. How much money is thereby sacrificed ! How much bar- 

 barity is by this lamentable mortality proved to exist ! What a terrible 

 amount of unmerited abuse must be yearly perpetrated ! What a lack 

 of appreciation of the Creator's goodness is exemplified by the cruelty 

 which thus shortens the duration of His choicest gift to the human 

 race 1 



Prior to the grain being placed before the horse, it should be softened. 

 Where a building is heated by steam, the accomplishment of this would 

 always be at command. Let each feed of corn and every portion of hay, 

 whether cut into chaff or not, be cooked by being exposed to the action 

 of the vapor for a couple of hours. Moisture, in the form of steam, is 



APPARATUS FOR PREPARINa HORSES' FOOD. 



a a. Pipes, having stop-cocks to regulate the Bteam and to allow It to circulate when the holler is not 

 employed. 

 bb,bb. An iron pot, having a close-fitting lid, hut pierced to admit the steam pipes, 

 c c. A shifting interior case, made with a perforated bottom. 



dd. A layer of straw or of hay to prevent the crushed grain clogging the openings. 

 eee. The broken corn undergoing the process of being prepared. 

 f. A small tap to drain oflf the condensed fluid. 



known to be very penetrating ; and the ingredients of the manger, when 

 thus prepared, are always more relished than in the raw condition, while 

 the liquid which drains from the provender will prove a highly grateful 

 and a most nutritious beverage to the tired quadruped. 



Hard substances taken into the stomach of a horse are well known to 



