THE HORSE : ITS KEEP AND MANAGEMENT. 3! 



does not appear to do them half as much good. It is 

 therefore much better to keep horses in good working order 

 and their ribs well covered with fat. During the long days 

 of Summer I have been very much surprised in going 

 through farmyards to see what a great waste there is with 

 the green stuff, viz., clover and tares. It is usually carried 

 with a fork from the cart to the stable, and little pieces drop 

 on the way, which are wasted. I consider on a farm where 

 there are from seven to twelve horses kept, in almost every 

 case there is nearly a load of hay lost. That is to say, if 

 more care were taken in feeding the animals, and instead of 

 dropping so much about, it was cut and dried, it would 

 make a load of hay, which some years would be worth five 

 pounds, but at any time three pounds. 



Farmers are usually careful with their money, but not 

 with their money's worth in these little things. It is just 

 the same in feeding horses in the stable. Many farmers, 

 especially those in the midland counties, will rack their 

 horses up the last thing at night with a bundle of hay, 

 giving a little piece to each horse in the rack above the 

 manger, usually throwing it in with the fork, so that the 

 horses can pull it out as they like. When it is meadow 

 hay, and the horsekeeper takes it from where the bundle 

 lies in the stable, right up between the horses, on the fork, 

 it drops all the way. Sometimes, where the hay is 

 very short, it almost covers the ground. Where the 

 attendant has been carrying it along from horse to horse, on 

 a fork, I have known from two to three pounds of hay 

 wasted out of about thirty-six pounds which has been given 

 the horses in this way. 



