i6o POLO PONY MANAGEMENT. [Chap. VII. 



couple of pounds a day, mixed in the corn, will help to 

 check a tendency to looseness in the bowels, probably 

 on account of the presence of the bran obliging the 

 animal to chew his oats better than he would do if the 

 bran was absent. Bran prepared in India contains a 

 larger amount of flour than English bran, and appears, 

 apparently for this reason, to be more nutritious. The 

 good results obtained by giving remounts a large pro- 

 portion of bran in their corn, when sending them to 

 South Africa on board ship, shows that bran is a 

 valuable food. Its mode of administration, and that 

 of other feeding stuffs for use in the East, are fully 

 discussed in Training and Horse Management in 

 India. 



A little meadow or rye grass, clover, lucerne, comfrey 

 or carrots may be regularly given with advantage, even 

 when a pony is in the hardest work ; but the amount 

 should be kept within such moderate limits that the 

 green food or roots may not have any tendency to 

 unduly distend the stomach and intestines of the ponies 

 which eat it, or to make them scour. On Saturday 

 nights all the ponies may get a mash made of bran, 

 bran and linseed, or boiled barley mixed with them. 



It is a good general rule always to leave water with 

 the ponies, so that they can take it when they want it. 

 There will then be no doubt about their getting enough. 

 In this case, the bucket should be left in a corner of the 

 stable away from the manger ; for some horses will slop 

 the water all over their corn if the bucket is kept close to 

 it. If it is not convenient to have a bucket of water 

 always within their reach, they should be invariably 

 given as much water as they choose to drink before 

 every feed, and whenever they come in from exercise. 



