FEEDING 



149 



Water Before Grain. 

 The stomach of the horse holds but 3^ gallons. 

 If he eats his oats, which remain in the stomach 

 for digestion, and then drinks four or five gallons 

 of water, the latter, as explained above, passes 

 through the stomach and lodges in the large in- 

 testines, and in doing so must of necessity wash 

 out undigested oats into the intestines, where they 

 are not digested, but decompose and set up irrita- 

 tion or give forth gas, which causes colic. 



Schedule for Feeding. 

 Feed the horse hay after drinking water the 

 first thing in the morning and his oats after the 

 small am^ount of hay has been eaten; at noon, 

 water, then oats ; at night, water, then oats, and 

 two hours afterwards all the hay he will clean up 

 before morning. More than twenty pounds of 

 hay should never be offered to any horse, no mat- 

 ter how large and heavy he may be. Hay should 

 not be kept in front of a horse all of the time, as 

 it is on many farms ; so used it is a positive detri- 

 ment, rather than a benefit to the animal. 



Feeding Colts. 



wh^t is the best system and food for yearling colts through the 

 wintef montt, to make them thrive and grow? Am feeding on good 

 oats and Lay' bnt if there is any ^"f titute 7^^^" \/\^" ^f^^^ ^ 

 desired results T would like very much to kno« it. (1. i.. h.. iii. ■ 



We should advise feeding a mixture of 60 per 



