A List of F ok age. 513 



mass, deposited in regular annular rings, resembling in appearance the concentric yearly rings of wood ; they prove to 

 be composed of phosphate of magnesia and ammonia. Millers' horses are particularly subject to this malady. 



The best way to guard against it is to add half a pint to a pint of linseed, boiled until quite soft, to the mash of 

 each horse. 



G?ren Forage and Roots. — Some persons make a point of giving their working horses 

 green forage in spring, and if it is fresh, and given in moderate quantities, there is no objection ; 

 it inay serve instead of mashes. Lucern is the best green forage, and vetches the worst. Good 

 grass mixed with hay or oats does very well. Vetches are most commonly sold for the purpose 

 near great towns. 



Mangcl-ivurzil. — A very hard rider on the road as well as the field used and recommended 

 mangel for riding horses not required for hunting. It is also, if pulped and mixed with chaff 

 alone, or chaff and oats, good food for mares with foals, colts during breeding, and any horses 

 in slow summer work. 



All green food and roots are best mixed with a moderate portion of cut hay, where there is 

 convenience for the operation. 



Rye-grass grown with sewage irrigation has of late years come into use, especially for 

 slow draught horses. It is best cut up with hay or straw into chaff. Old vetches are heat- 

 ing, and stale green forage of any kind is likely to produce dangerous derangement of the 

 stomach and bowels. 



Carrots are excellent horse food, which should be kept in store for use in winter and 

 spring. They are particularly valuable for getting a horse into condition after sickness. 

 Perhaps parsnips would answer equally well. Either may be given whole, or sliced in a 

 turnip-cutter with oats and beans, or if oats are scarce, with beans and bran. 



Bran. — A stable should never be without a supply of fresh bran. Bran, fresh ground and 

 wetted, is a laxative. It acts mechanically on the lining membrane of the intestines, causing 

 a slight amount of irritation, which increases the secretions and quickens the passage of the 

 contents. Dry bran has an astringent effect. 



Linseed. — A few bushels of linseed are as necessary in the corn-loft of a stud as bran. 

 Linseed, unlike bran, will not spoil by keeping. It is, as already mentioned in a previous 

 chapter, one of the best ingredients of a mash, hot or cold, and it is the foundation of a very 

 wholesome drink. 



Potatoes. — Nothing will make a horse fatter for sale than boiled potatoes mixed with 

 hay chaff. 



Salt is supposed to assist in keeping horses in health ; at any rate, they like it, and a 

 lump of rock-salt may as well be kept either in the hay-rack or the manger. 



Sugar makes fat, and may be given with advantage to horses in low condition in 

 moderate quantities, either in mashes or mixed with corn. Formerly molasses were used 

 in mashes, but as long as good moist sugar can be purchased at twopence a pound, it will 

 be found a more convenient and cleanly saccharine article mixed with boiled oats. 



Oil-cake of the very best quality, given, as already mentioned, when a horse is changing 

 his coat, seems to have a very good effect. There are large quantities of inferior adulterated 

 oil-cake sold. 



Chaff composed of meadow hay, cut up with a machine, with each feed of corn, is of 

 value to make a horse masticate his food, and is the most economical way of feeding with 

 hay, but where horses come very hungry they should have a little long hay to occupy them. 

 Chaff bolted by a hungry horse produces colic. There is no advantage in turning straw into 



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