74 



HORSES. 



to natural laws — a continued protest, wherein nat- 

 ure's patience under abuse is aptly illustrated. Sed- 

 entary men and sedentary horses, i.e., those who do 

 not work steadily a good portion of the day, are gen- 

 erally subject to flatulence ; and this is because they 

 have an appetite for liberal rations, relatively speak- 

 ing (and often positively), notwithstanding the fact 

 that the said rations are not " earned by the sweat 

 of the brow"! Such individuals are relieved by a 

 change of regimen, as working more or eating less, 

 perhaps both. It is easier to prevail upon a man to 

 take more exercise than to induce him to take less 

 food ; and, of the two, the former is far the best. It 

 is the same with the horse in all respects. If the 

 change is carried far enough, if the work is long and 

 steady enough to balance the diet, and if the food is 

 of the right sort and taken at proper times, there 

 will be entire exemption from indigestion and con- 

 sequently from flatulence (perhaps not immediately, 

 but finally), and, in the case of the cribbing horse, 

 the '' habit " will be eventually dropped. Since, 

 however, it is not practicable to give all horses suffi- 

 cient work or exercise to keep them in prime condi- 

 tion, and since they are rarely restricted in diet to 

 correspond — for we are inevitably tempted to over- 

 feed — few cribbers are ever cured. The horse is will- 

 ing to work early and late. He is ambitious to eat 

 largely, even though deprived of the work which is 

 equally essential to health and (prolonged) life. 



Says a recent writer (and this experience is not 

 unique by any means): "We have observed that 



