HORSES. 



97 



s*ve food. In Arabia these articles are considerably 

 used for horses. Milk is the natural food of the colt, for 

 the first four or six months. 



Bread is considerably used on the continent of Eu 

 rope, as horse feed. It is made from various kinds of 

 grain, and fermented. It is nutritious and wholesome, 

 and, in some sections, economical. 



Fruits, of various kinds, are used, such as apples, 

 pumpkins, sweet potatoes, chestnuts, dates, &c. Some 

 think pumpkin-seeds should be removed ; lest, from their 

 diuretic quality, they produce diabetes. 



Flesh and Fish are fed to horses in Iceland, and some 

 parts of Norway. 



PREPARATION OF FOOD. 



Something has already been said on this subject, in 

 regard to several kinds of food which we have named. 

 [See, also, page 31.] 



Cutting Fodder. There are several advantages in 

 cutting fodder. Different kinds may be mixed together, 

 and all consumed without waste, the unpalatable with 

 the good. When a horse is heated, hungry, and thirsty, 

 lie may eat moistened food, and thus quench his thirst, 

 satisfy his hunger, and cool gradually ; when, without 

 this preparation of food, he would be too hot to drink, 

 aud too thirsty to eat dry fodder. 



By this preparation, a horse has time to eat his food, 

 and "lie down, and rest, instead of standing all night, and 

 chewing hard, long, 'dry fodder. This is important, 

 v.^ien a horse has been on his legs all day. 



Cut and moistened fodder prevents the heaves, and it 

 cures this disorder, or so far relieves it, that animals 

 which have been thus affected, are enabled to do good 

 service, and appear to be cured. The superintendent of 

 a stable of forty horses, informed us, that during many 

 years' experience, and his horses in very hard service, he 

 never had one affected with the heaves ; and several that 

 he procured, when they had this disorder, in some cases 

 severely, were cured in the course of a few months, and 

 not troubled in this way again while under his care. 

 He attributed these favorable results to the con.stant use 

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