132 HOW TO FEED A HORSE. 



this rate one will do his fifty miles for a few days, or his 

 forty, day in and day out, for a month — as the writer has 

 done more than once, without trouble or distress to his 

 team. 



On getting to the journey's end, at night, if very much 

 exhausted, the horses should be plentifully supplied, as 

 quickly as they can have it, with tepid gruel, if they will 

 drink it, — the thicker the better ; they should be walked 

 about until cool, be thoroughly cleaned, having a bit of 

 hay to amuse themselves with, nicely clothed, and their legs 

 bandaged. Then they should have half a pail of water, 

 and six quarts of oats ; and, after giving them the second 

 half pail, their racks should be furnished with six or 

 eight pounds of good hay, and they should be left for the 

 night. Give them good beds, and they will be as fresh as 

 birds, and ready for any work they may be required to 

 perform, to-morrow. Far otherwise, if you feed them 

 lightly, at night and in the morning, and stop them twice, 

 or more during their working hours, to fill their bellies 

 with a mass of hay and oats, and then work them, with 

 their stomachs distended, and their bowels stuffed with 

 crude or undigested food, from which they have derived 

 no real nutriment. 



With regard to mere farm-horses, it is, usually, the habit 

 to feed them entirely on hay, or cut straw, with now and 

 then a mash, giving them little, or no oats, or corn. It is 

 certain, how'ever, that this is a mistake. That the value 

 of the work which the. horse can do, and of the horse 

 himself, arising from his improved condition and increased 

 endurance, will be materially raised, while the actual cost 

 of his keep will not be very materially increased by the 

 diminution of the quantity of the cheaper and less nutri- 

 tious food given to him, and the addition of a smaller or 

 larger portion of the more nutritive grain, which furnished 



