^95 



QUANTITY OF FODDER. 



No more straw or hay should be placed before 

 a horse in the morning than he can eat cleanly up 

 in an hour. A less quantity should be given at 

 mid-day, and in the evening he should never get 

 any more than will reasonably serve him over the 

 night. Some men, through pure ignorance of a 

 horse's requirements, will fill his rack to the top, 

 and it may not be cleanly eaten out for a week, ay, 

 and in many cases^ a month. The rack is always 

 kept full. It is filled to overflowing at night, and 

 in the morning, before it is half empty, it is filled 

 again. Thus the horse, in a great measure, is 

 always eating old soiled fodder. When hay or straw 

 has been twenty-four hours in front of a horse its 

 freshness and sweetness are reduced, if not absolutely 

 destroyed, by his warm breath going continually 

 through it. As horses vary so much in size and 

 appetite, it is difficult to lay down any fixed quantities 

 for their consumption ; these can best be regulated 

 by their attendants. 



Generally speaking, agricultural horses will con- 

 sume about eighty to one hundred and twenty pounds 

 of hay per week, and about fifty-six pounds of oats. 

 In addition to this a few roots may be given — carrots 

 or swedes — which are very conducive to the health 

 of horses, only care must be taken not to give them 

 too many at a time. Eight or ten fair-sized carrots 

 twice a day, or two average-sized swedes, are suffi- 



