36 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



of oats at noon, with a large armful of hay ; to 

 give the same amount of hay at night, with the 

 remainder of the oats, and to give the remainder 

 of the hay last thing at night. This allows the 

 horse the whole night to munch his hay quietly. 

 If the oat ration is very large, four feeds should 

 be given a day, i.e. one late at night. Heavy 

 draught horses usually get three feeds a day of 

 one and a half gallons, which is over half a 

 bushel a day. 



142. The principle adopted in feeding horses 

 is to water before feeding, and not for at least 

 an hour after feeding oats or two hours after 

 rice. Grain or wet green food must not be fed 

 when the horse is exhausted or overheated. 

 The horse should be fed often and in small 

 quantities. He must not be worked hard or fast 

 for an hour after feeding grain. Very fast work, 

 as racing, should not be allowed for two hours 

 after feeding grain. We must feed a horse on 

 such food, in such a manner, and in such a 

 quantity as will keep him in health and fitness 

 for the work required of him. No opportunity 

 should be lost for grazing a horse or allowing 

 him to pick at suitable food. 



In commercial stables hay is often chopped 

 up with the grain, forming " chop," which is 

 fed almost continuously throughout the day, no 

 long hay being given. This is done with 

 London cab horses. If we study the very small 

 stomach of the horse, and the fact that his 

 digestive fluids flow continuously (he has no gall 

 bladder as we have), and take into account his 

 natural methods of feeding, we shall realise 

 fully that this method of feeding continually is 

 the right one for horses, but not for ourselves. 

 The horse has been known to graze for twenty- 

 two out of twenty-four hours when undisturbed. 

 The horse is better if his stomach is always 

 partly filled, because, as stated above, his 

 digestion is continuous, so I must emphasise 

 strongly the importance of horses being fed 

 frequently and in small quantities. The system 

 of putting large rations before a horse is most 

 wasteful, but the horse will seldom waste small 

 rations. Overhead hay racks are most objection- 

 able. Hay should be put into the rack by hand, 

 and not with the pitchfork. Four pounds of 

 oats, with a couple of handfuls of chaff, is the 

 maximum that a horse about 15.2 hands should 

 be given at one feed. Oats weighing thirty-two 

 pounds to a bushel would weigh four pounds to 

 the gallon ; good oats, of course, would weigh 

 a little more than this. If the stomach is 

 overloaded, it will become distended, the food 

 will ferment, and gases will be given off. Gas- 

 tritis, or even rupture of the stomach, may 

 result. With thin horses it is even more import- 

 ant to give small feeds, repeated often. 



143. The reason liard or fast work should not 

 be allowed for an hour or two after a meal, 

 according to the meal and form of work, is 



because the stomach and bowels will be dis- 

 tended with food and gases. These will press 

 against the diaphragm and lungs, and hinder 

 the free action of the latter, and may cause them 

 to become choked with blood ; or, vice versa, 

 the expansion of the lungs may rupture the 

 stomach or intestines. 



With increased work increased grain must be 

 given. A heavy horse doing slow work can be 

 given a large amount of bulky food, as its lungs 

 are not so much required, and he may be worked 

 half an hour after being fed. Racehorses only 

 get about seven pounds of hay a day, and get as 

 much as fifteen to twenty pounds of oats. Dealers 

 feed their horses well on hay and bran to keep 

 them fat — fatness covers up a multitude of evils. 

 Hay can always be fed to a hot or tired horse, 

 unless he is very fatigued, when a hot mash or 

 gruel should be given, with a little salt added. 



144. Exhausting work has a weakening effect 

 on the digestive system, hence we must not allow 

 the horse to eat grain when exhausted or heated, 

 because the blood is at the surface of the body 

 or in the tired muscles away from the stomach 

 and intestines. A horse must never be hurried 

 over its feeding. If he has not time to finish his 

 usual feed, he must be given less, and fed the 

 remainder when he has time. If he misses one 

 meal, he must not be given double at the next 

 meal on any account, but be given an extra meal 

 late at night. 



Horses are usually allowed one hour for 

 meals, but one hour and a half should be allowed 

 for the midday meal. While he is eating his 

 hay he can be rubbed down, but while feeding 

 oats he should be left alone. 



While digestion is going on rapidly a large 

 supply of blood is in the blood-vessels of the 

 viscera, and therefore we should not call upon 

 any muscles to do work ; in order to work they 

 require an extra blood supply. 



The greatest care must be exercised in feed- 

 ing horses. The theory of feeding must be 

 understood, and this must be combined with 

 the closest observation. In no equine matter is 

 there more ignorance displayed than in that of 

 feeding. Hot feeds and hot drinks should be 

 given on the horse's idle days, and always one 

 night a week. Hot gruel should be given after 

 a hard day's work, and the legs massaged and 

 bandaged. 



145. Special Cases of Feeding. — If the addi- 

 tion of bran or chaff will not prevent a horse 

 from bolting food, a large manger may be used, 

 with the feed thinly spread all over it ; large, 

 smooth stones may be put in the manger ; the 

 manger may be divided into partitions by cross- 

 bars, or, better still, the manger may be cast 

 with a series of cups in the bottom about five 

 inches in diameter and two inches in depth, each 

 cup approximately fitting the horse's mouth. 

 Whole grain in the manure is a sure sign of 



