FEEDING AND CONDITION 



THE Vicar of a Yorkshire Parish was in a 

 Chemist's shop, asking for some alterative 

 Powders for his mare. He described her 

 staring coat and hidebound skin and the chemist 

 proceeded to prescribe for her. There was in 

 the shop at the time the Vicar was tehing his 

 story, a certain bluff Yorkshireman — a carrier 

 by trade. He knew the Vicar and some of his 

 pecuharities and he was not backward in tender- 

 ing his advice '' Give her some wots (oats) parson ; 

 give her some wots/' said he. 



And the old carrier, who was speaking from 

 practical experience, was right, for the founda- 

 tion of all horse feeding in the house is good 

 sound oats. Other grain may be used but at 

 best it is but a makeshift ; and of course other 

 food has to be given such as hay, bran etc., but 

 the staple food for conditioning light horses is 

 oats. 



Before going into particulars about the various 

 rations which it is desirable to give horses it 

 seems desirable to say a few words about stable 

 routine. This varies according to circumstances 

 and the minutiae of stable management are 

 affected by the whims of owners or their grooms. 



