Horses and Horsemastership, 1^9 



The staple food is, of course, oats, and I know of 

 nothing to which the saying " There are good and bad 

 of all sorts" applies more aptly. Between very good and 

 ver\^ bad oats there is such a palpable difference that 

 the veriest novice should not be deceived ; but very good 

 oats rarely fall to the lot of a troop horse, so that we 

 shall have to learn the more difficult task of being able 

 to differentiate between bad oats and the varying degrees 

 of middling ones. 



The standard measure of oats is the bushel, and a 

 sack should contain four bushels. A bushel of very 

 good oats should weigh about 44 lbs. ; really good oats, 

 42 lbs. ; and what one may call good, everyday oats, 

 40 lbs. The average quality, however, is rarely over 

 38 lbs., and if the oats are clean (i.e., free from grit, 

 lumps of hard clay, seeds, or other kinds of grain), and 

 are otherwise of decent class, the horse wont fare badly 

 on 38-lb. cats. 



One of the first things, therefore, which you have to 

 note is if the oats are clean. They should be quite 

 hard, and if bitten in two should split right across; the 

 taste should be somewhat sweet and floury; there should 

 be practically no smell beyond that of a slight suspicion 

 of earthiness. An open handful should feel weighty, 

 and thev should present a compact, short appearance, 

 and be ur.iform in size. 



