34 



material may be provided for the repair of the tissues without 

 causing an overloading of the digestive organs. We want to pre- 

 serve a condition of balance between destructive and reparative 

 processes. 



Varying the grain ration to correspond to the amount of labor 

 performed is an essential factor in the preservation of the health 

 of horses. An example will serve to illustrate. A horse accus- 

 tomed to work a greater part of the time becomes incapacitated 

 for further use on account of some trivial injury, or is perhaps, 

 on account of stormy weather, allowed to stand idle for several 

 days in the stable. Having become somewhat run down in flesh on 

 account of continuous hard work, the owner concludes that it is a 

 favorable time to get him in condition again, consequently he feeds 

 the usual or larger quantities of grain to him. On visiting the 

 stable some morning the owner is surprised to find the horse 

 standing on three legs, the fourth, usually a hind one, being 

 swollen to about four times its natural size. The foot of this is 

 raised from the floor, while the leg is carried out stiffly from the 

 body. The swollen member, high up on the inside of the thigh 

 especially, is knotted and corded, and very sensitive and painful 

 on pressure. The cause of the condition is usually attributed by 

 the owner to a sprain that has occurred during the night, whereas 

 the real source of the trouble is traceable to the large allowance of 

 feed that has been supplied, resulting in an over-distension and 

 inflamed condition of the lymphatics of the leg. 



Hfemaglobinuria is another disease occurring under similar con- 

 ditions. This disease occurs in a horse that has been driven but 

 a short distance from the stable, after having remained idle for 

 several days, on a full ration of grain, and is characterized by the 

 sudden development of lameness in one or both hind legs, with 

 cramp of the croup and thigh muscles, profuse sweating, finally 

 inability to remain standing. 



Colic, indigestion, purgation and other diseases might be added 

 to those already spoken of, but enough have been mentioned to 

 show the dangers attending the removal of an animal from hard 

 work, placing him at rest in the stable on full grain ration. The 

 rule to apply in such cases is to reduce the grain ration by lessening 

 the total quantity fed, or substitute some lighter grain in place of 

 a rich one, thereby lessening the quantity of proteid material in 

 the feed. Coarse wheat bran may be used to advantage in these 

 cases. Reduce the amount of corn or oats, and substitute an 

 equal quantity by measure of bran. This keeps the bowels open 

 and active, preventing that engorgement of the system liable to 

 occur when the heavier feeds are continued. 



