30 THE HORSE 



it is alwa\^s a good plan to purchase a small quantity as 

 an addition to the ordinary hay. 



There are many varieties of clover, but giant clovers 

 are much too coarse for horses unless cut up. The white, 

 the red, the pink, and the hybrid clovers are all excellent 

 forage for horses, either green or as hay, and these 

 animals are remarkably fond of them, a remark which 

 appHes with equal truth to sainfoin and vetches. No 

 horse should ever be allowed to graze on such succulent 

 herbage as clover before the dew has been evaporated 

 from it by the sun, otherwise the fermentative changes 

 which are liable to occur in the stomach may cause such 

 rapid hberation of gas as to produce death within a short 

 time. Frosted grass and frosted roots are also bad for 

 horses and particularly so for " in-foal " mares. To assist 

 the reader in recognising several of the best grasses which 

 should form part of a good sample of hay, it is a good 

 plan to obtain specimens of these from some seedsman. 



Concerning oats and barley both these cereals should 

 be a year old at least, and whichever has the lowest 

 market price may be used, but oats are always preferable 

 to barley, provided that they are of good qualit}^ The 

 average weight for oats ranges from 36 to 42 ib. per 

 bushel, but sometim.es a few pounds more — more often, 

 though, a few pounds less. If so, their feeding value is 

 proportionately decreased. Oats constitute a food par 

 excellence for the horse, and many farmers rely exclusively 

 upon oats and hay for feeding all their horses. The 

 farmer is not, however, as a rule a great horse master, 

 and the management of his stud is commonly left in the 

 hands of certain of his dependents, some of whom possess 

 more knowledge than others, and it is fortunate for the 

 horse that this is so. All sorts and conditions of oats are 

 thrust upon the market and imported into Great Britain 

 from various countries. A good sample of oats will have 

 very httle husk but plenty of kernel, a shiny outer 

 shell, be free from any musty odour, and neither bleached 



