Stable Management, 67 



of all sizes and all descriptions should have chaff mixed 

 with every feed of corn, as it enables them to masticate 

 the oats more thoroughly, and so far assists digestion. 



Soiling is a term used for the feeding of horses on green 

 food indoors. 



Turning to grass is practised when the health is injured 

 by long-continued hard work and dry food, or when the 

 legs are sore, or the feet inflamed. For the former state 

 a summer's run is the best remedy, because at that time 

 the grasses are the most sweet and nutritious, and the con- 

 stitution is not tried by exposure to the cold and wet. A 

 meadow should be chosen where there is plenty of good 

 and sweet grass, and 'the horse should be gradually pre- 

 pared for the change, except in the height of summer, by 

 taking off his clothing while in the stable, allowing the dirt 

 to accumulate in his skin, and also reducing the tempera- 

 ture of his box. In the summer, tips to his fore-feet will 

 generally be prudent ; but in winter, when the ground is 

 always soft, they are seldom necessary. If the legs or feet 

 are " stale," a winter's run will do far more than the same 

 time occupied in the summer's run, because the object is 

 not only to avoid fresh battering of them on hard ground, 

 but also to lower the whole system by a poor and re- 

 ducing diet. Winter grass, therefore, will effect the object 

 very differently from the fattening feed which is met with 

 on the meadows during summer and autumn ; and by 

 turning the lame horse out in December, great good to his 

 legs may be expected when taken up in the following May, 

 before which time it is not to be expected that he will be 

 sufficiently in flesh and his coat smooth enough for any 

 work. Whether in summer or winter, every horse accus- 

 tomed to a stable ought to have a hovel to run into, which 

 protects him from flies in the hot days of summer, and 

 from the wind and snow in the cold nights of winter. 



While giving the foregoing popular advice, we desire 

 to state that for the restoration of jaded legs and shat- 

 tered constitutions, there is nothing like absolute rest in 

 a cool box, having a small, dry paddock or yard at- 

 tached. We thus avoid damage to the feet and legs, as 

 well as the pasture. 



