MANAGEMENT OF LIGHT HORSES. 169 



and in pursuance of this theory, horses are stuffed with 

 stimulating food, and then physic is administered to cool 

 them down. It is submitted that any system of feeding 

 and stable management which engenders this fever, and de- 

 mands physic to check it, is wrong, at any rate in the case 

 of horses which are wanted, not on a particular occasion like 

 a race horse, but for two days a week or three days a fort- 

 night, like a hunter. 



It may be admitted that there cannot be much variation in 

 the matter of food. Hay, oats and beans must form the 

 stable diet of saddle and harness horses, and bran mashes, 

 carrots, and green food can only come in as alteratives. It is 

 true that wheat, barley and some kinds of prepared food are 

 sometimes recommended ; but, on the whole, it will be found 

 expedient to confine the articles of food to those which have 

 stood the test of time, especially when the horses are hunters, 

 or harness horses whose work is hard and fast. It is, of 

 course, well known that the London General Omnibus Com- 

 pany feed largely on maize, and for horses doing slow work it 

 answers fairly well when mixed with oats, but it is too heating 

 and fattening for horses doing fast or very easy work. New 

 oats should not be given to horses. They often cause horses to 

 scour, and to sweat with the least exertion. Why this effect 

 should be produced by new oats is not, so far as the writer 

 is aware, known ; but the fact is plain enough. By Christ- 

 mas, however, a change comes over the oats which have been 

 cut during a preceding harvest, and after Christmas those 

 which have been "well got" are permitted in many hunting 

 stables, though it is better if possible not to use oats till they 

 are one year old ; that is to say, oats harvested in 1893 should 

 not be used till the autumn of 1894. Some people prefer 

 white oats, others pin their faith on black ones ; but so long 

 as they are thin-skinned, full of husk, and weigh at least 

 thirty-eight pounds to the fair bushel, it does not matter 

 whether they be black or white ; but palpably yellow oats 

 should not be chosen when the others are available. 



