THEIR FEED AND THEIR FEET, 71 



is truly enough said of some horses that *' oats don*t 

 do them any good," or much good, to say the least. 

 These animals are so greedy that they swallow their 

 oats with but very little mastication, and hence there 

 is a failure in digestion. For such horses whole corn 

 is the only proper grain, and in many instances even 

 this should be given 



ON THE COB. 



This is by far the best way to feed corn in any case, 

 more especially with old horses. Fed thus it is sure 

 to get the most complete mastication, so essential to 

 digestion and the extraction of the entire nutriment. 

 F. D. Curtis, of Kirby homestead, and many others 

 speak highly in favor of this feed from actual experi- 

 ence. It is almost the exclusive grain fed — and 

 sometimes almost the exclusive feed — in the West 

 and Southwest. I believe that in many cases the use 

 of the cob itself, ground with the corn, is a great ad- 

 vantage — furnishing bulk, and some nutriment — es- 

 pecially for horses of light work. 



FLATULENCE — CRIBBING. 



The idea prevails very generally that a horse be- 

 comes flatulent by swallowing air; and, if he is a 

 '* cribber," it is thought to be a sure case. Now it is 

 about as difficult a matter for one to take air into the 

 stomach as food into the lungs — perhaps I may say 

 that it is even more so. Certainly the latter is one 

 of the rarest circumstances ; the former is well-nigh 

 impossible, and, I believe, never occurs. It is not 



