CHAPTER XIX. 



FEEDING AND WATERING;^= 



Hay, corn fodder, oats, and corn constitute the princi- 

 pal food of horses in this country. Hay and oats in the 

 Northern States, fodder and corn in the South. The food 

 should be of the quality and quantity to impart strength, 

 vitality, and elasticity ; and this requires some discrimina- 

 tion and care, as the food shoukl be harmonized both to the 

 condition of the horse and the severity of the labor to which 

 he is subjected. As a rule, the stomach should not be dis- 

 tended with food when prolonged, energetic effort is re- 

 quired. This is to be especially guarded against in the feed- 

 ing of hay. Greedy eaters can and often will eat so much 

 hay as to unfit themselves for active labor, and it usually 

 results in heaves, or broken wind. Heaves are always 

 found in the teamsters' or carters' stables, where there is 

 no care in feeding. This disease is never found among rac- 

 ing horses, from the fact that the utmost care is used in 

 selecting the food, and feeding in small quantities, or in 

 adapting it more perfectly to the wants of the system. 



It has been demonstrated beyond doubt that the reason 

 horses improve so much in wind by eating prairie hay is, 

 that it is so coarse that they cannot eat it fast enough to 

 overload the stomach. The quantity of hay should be 

 carefully regulated, and never as much given as the horse 



* The main points of this paper were dictated by Dr. Somerville, of Buffalo, 

 N. y., to the writer while studying with him. (551) 



