Horses and Horsemastership. 



New oats are usually much softer than old ; the husk 

 is far brighter, the taste more juicy, and the floury 

 flavour more pronounced ; the smell is distinctly earthy. 

 If you strip a new oat you'll find it covered with a 

 quantity of silver-coloured, tiny hairs. The "" beard" 

 of the husk is usually longer in new oats than in old. 



Now as to defects : Dirtiness is, of course, serious, but 

 on that account alone oats otherwise of fair quality need 

 not be absolutely condemned, but they should be care- 

 fully sifted and screened before being used. Mustiness 

 and mouldiness, which are but the first and last stages 

 of decomposition, can be easily detected by the smell; 

 oats in such a state are quite unfit for food, and should 

 be condemned at once. Oats will sometimes start 

 sprouting if they have been exposed to damp and slight 

 heat. This, of course, differs a great deal from mould, 

 which is the process of decay, but nevertheless it is a 

 condition which is not calculated to benefit the horse. 



A trick of the trade is to kiln dry damp, or soft, oats. 

 It may be detected by the smell, taste, and appearance 

 of the oats. The smell and the taste is best learnt by 

 putting a few damp oats in a dry saucepan and holding 

 it over a fire until the oats have become quite a 

 brownish-red colour ; when cold you can educate both 

 your nose and your palate. This colour the trickster 

 gets rid of by fumigation, but to the experienced eye a 



