18 HOESE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA. 



sun a few days before using, so that it may become 

 too sapless and unpalatable to be chosen in preference 

 to grass, while a layer of old bedding may be kept on 

 the top. Such cases of morbid appetite will generally 

 call for medical treatment, if a full supply of salt and 

 green meat, such as carrots, lucern, etc., fail to correct 

 the habit. 



Cheena straw makes excellent bedding, as it 

 is soft, difficult to break, and unpalatable to most 

 horses. 



The bedding should be carefully spread, so as to be 

 as comfortable as possible for the horse ; and should 

 be banked up around the walls, so that the animal may 

 not hurt himself when lying down, or when rolling. At 

 the entrance of the box or stall, for appearance sake, 

 the bedding should be arranged in a straight line, which 

 may be finished off by a piece of plaited straw being 

 stretched along it. 



Hard-worked horses should, if possible, have the 

 bedding under them by day as well as by night, so that 

 they may have every inducement to lie down and rest 

 themselves, when they choose. Besides this, when the 

 horse stands on the bare ground, he will abstain from 

 staling longer than he ought to do, and, may be, to an 

 injurious extent. Most of us old Indians know that a 

 straw mat, expressively called, in Hindustanee, a seetul 

 patee, or cold mat, is the coolest thing on which to lie 

 during the hot weather ; so we may infer that straw 

 forms an equally grateful couch for the horse. While 

 he is out at morning and evening work, the bedding 

 should be removed, and dry straw should be substituted 

 for any that may have become soiled or wet. 



