FOOD 107 



person to examine samples of provender before the purchase is made, and 

 to see that the bulk corresponds with the sample. But the owner would 

 very often find it economical, as well as advantageous to his animals, to 

 examine the samples himself, and to see from time to time if the quality 

 is maintained. It is true that this presupposes a certain amount of know- 

 ledge which the owner may not possess, but it is certain, on the other hand, 

 that a good many who do possess the necessary knowledge do not take the 

 trouble to apply it to a useful purpose. 



The ordinary articles of food of the horse are oats, bran, and hay, straw 

 being employed only in admixture with the hay to form chaff. Oats are 

 placed first, as the most important, and there is no article of provender 

 which differs more in quality. Between the best and the worst it is not 

 difficult for even a tyro to distinguish. Anyone can recognize bright, 

 plump grains, having a sweet odour, containing no shrunken or broken 

 grains, free from dust and other foreign matter, firm to the touch and also 

 to the pressure of the teeth, and weighing not less than 40 Ib. a bushel. 

 It is also an important character of a good sample of oats that the grain 

 must vary very little in size. In judging a sample, the observer has to 

 note particularly that the oats have not been artificially dried by heat after 

 they have become damaged by water. Dark-coloured oats, and those which 

 have a peculiar odour, are always open to suspicion. At the present time, 

 however, the methods of preparation to disguise the colour, as well as the 

 taste and smell, of kiln-dried oats are so skilfully applied that damaged 

 oats may very frequently pass muster, unless the observer has the skill 

 which is only to be acquired by practice. 



In some private stables it is customary to give a feed of oats entirely 

 unmixed; but there are certain disadvantages attending this procedure. 

 Horses are disposed to swallow rapidly or bolt oats which are given alone, 

 and the quantity ordinarily given would be insufficient in itself to satisfy 

 the appetite of a hungry animal. A similar quantity, 5 peck of good 

 chaff and a handful or two of bran, combined with the feed of oats, will 

 force the animal to masticate the mixture and avoid waste. Crushing oats 

 is undoubtedly a useful mode of preparation, and certainly facilitates 

 digestion, and especially in the case of ravenous feeders which " bolt " 

 their food without sufficient mastication. 



Although oats constitute the staple food of a horse, other grains are 

 occasionally given. Barley is very rarely employed as food for horses, and 

 it is admitted, by those who are disposed to favour its use in mixture with 

 other food, that it should be boiled previously to being given. Brewers' 

 grains are also occasionally used for horse food in moderate quantities. 

 They are the refuse of malted barley left after the brewing of beer. 



