FOOD. 91 



light delicate horses, by way of a change ; but it 

 should not be given to craving horses, which are apt to 

 feed too voraciously on it. 



Oats, which my readers know, constitute the prin- 

 cipal food for horses of all descriptions when in work, 

 are the cleanest, the best, and perhaps the most 

 nutritious of any of the different sorts of corn, and 

 they appear to agree with the different constitutions of 

 all horses. For those in training, they should, of 

 course, be of the very best quality, — sweet, heavy, and 

 thin in the skin. They should not only be well win- 

 nowed, but particularly well screened before they are 

 brought from the farmer's, so as to do away with all 

 the small thin light oats, and tailings. It is better 

 that the oats should be thus cleaned before they are 

 delivered into the stables, than that they should be 

 thrashed or beat in sacks by the boys between stable 

 hours, a little at a time, and, as was the practice, after- 

 wards winnowed by them, by letting them fall from 

 the sieve into some spare sheets or quarter pieces laid on 

 the heath for the purpose on a windy day. 



Beans are very nutritious ; they are of an astringent 

 and heating nature, and if given too liberally, they 

 produce great thirst, and make some horses very costive. 

 Craving horses do not require them. These horses, 

 when in training, eat from twelve to fifteen quarts of 

 oats per day, by which their constitutions are sufficient- 

 ly nourished ; therefore beans need not be given them, 

 unless when travelling. If a groom, when travelling 

 with horses, observe the hay and corn at the inns to 



