98 The Horse Farrier. 



portion of it escape the grinders, it will be partly pre- 

 pared for digestion by the act of bruising, Horses of 

 quicker draught, except they are naturally disposed to 

 scour, will thrive better with bruised than with whole 

 oats ; for a greater quantity of nutriment will be ex- 

 tracted from the food. 



For the agricultural and cart-horse, eight pounds of 

 oats should be added to every twenty pounds of cut 

 feed. Thirty-four or thirty-six pounds of the mixture 

 will be sufficient for any moderate-sized horse, with 

 fair, or even hard work. The dray and wagon-horse 

 may require forty pounds. Hay in the rack at night 

 is, in this case, supposed to be omitted altogether. 

 The rack, however, may remain, as occasionally useful 

 for the sick horse, or to contain tares or other green 

 feed. 



Horses are very fond of this provender. The major- 

 ity of them, after having been accustomed to it, will 

 leave the best oats given to them alone, for the sake 

 of the mingled cut feed and grain. We would, how- 

 ever, caution the farmer not to set apart too much 

 damaged hay for the manufacture of the feed. The 

 horse may thus be induced to eat that which he would 

 otherwise refuse ; but if the nourishing property of the 

 hay has been impaired, or it has acquired an injurious 

 principle, the annual will either lose condition, or be- 

 come diseased. For old horses, and for those with de- 

 fective teeth, cut feed is peculiarly useful, and for them 

 should be broken down as well as the fodder. 



While the mixture of chaff with the grain prevents 

 it from being too rapidly devoured, and a portion of 

 it swallowed whole, and therefore the stomach is not 



