450 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK in. 



But an excessive supply of comparatively innutritious food to compen- 

 sate for defective quality is not only embarrassing to the stomach, but 

 hampers the horse with bulky dead weight. Severely worked horses 

 require much more reparative material than those which are not so 

 taxed, and they should therefore be supplied with more concentrated 

 food, easier of digestion, and rich in flesh-forming qualities. 



For the largest sized draught horse, which performs steady but hard 

 work for a number of hours every day, 18 Ib. of hay with a small 

 proportion of straw cut into chaff, and 18 Ib. of oats, with a pound or 

 two of beans or peas added, is reckoned a fair daily allowance. How- 

 ever nutritious the food may be, less than 29 Ib. per day will not, it is 

 asserted, suffice to keep heavy horses in working condition. In a 

 well-managed stud of cart-horses, the following was the daily allow- 

 ance : Maize, 10 Ib. ; Egyptian beans or Canadian peas, 5 Ib. ; oats, 

 2 Ib. ; oatmeal and linseed, 1*3 Ib. ; bran, 2'1 Ib. ; ha}', 10'6 Ib. ; roots 

 and grass, 3 Ib. Maize, beans, or peas, with bran and cut hay, formed 

 the basis of the usual food allowance. The oats and linseed were used 

 only for sick or delicate-feeding horses. The oatmeal was made into 

 gruel, of which each horse was allowed a drink on arriving at his stable 

 when the day's work was completed. The bulk of the hay was given 

 chopped along with the grain, which was crushed, two or three pounds 

 only being put in the rack at night. In another stud of similar-sized 

 horses, the daily ration was 13 Ib. oats, 16 Ib. hay, per day, and 

 78 Ib. straw per week for chaff and bedding. In winter one pint of 

 linseed and a peck of bran were given in the form of a mash, while in 

 summer a certain quantity of grass was allowed in lieu of some hay or 

 oats. 



There is, of course, some variety in the kind, as well as in the 

 quantity, of forage allowed in different horse establishments, but these 

 two examples will give a general idea of what is usually allowed for the 

 heavier horses. For smaller horses undergoing regular but hard work 

 within a brief space such as omnibus or tramcar horses a smaller 

 quantity of forage is generally given, ranging from 26 Ib. to 32 Ib., the 

 proportion of grain varying from 13 Ib. to 20 Ib. The chief tramway 

 company in London, for instance, gives : maize, 13 Ib. ; oats, 3 Ib. ; 

 beans, 1 Ib. ; hay and straw in chaff of the first 7 Ib., the second 3 Ib. ; 

 while the Edinburgh Tramway Company allows : oats, 8 Ib. ; maize, 

 4 Ib.; beans, 4 Ib.; hay, 14 Ib.; Marshlam, 2 Ib. In Paris the horses 

 were receiving in 1886 : oats, 5'50 Ib. ; maize, 12'92 Ib. ; beans, 

 10 Ib. ; bran and carrots, '50 Ib. ; hay, 8'62 Ib. : straw, 7'30 Ib. 



The scale of rations for our troop-horses is usually 10 Ib. of oats, 

 12 Ib. of hay, and 8 Ib. of straw per day, the latter being used for 

 litter, and the hay is rarely chopped. When in camp 2 Ib. to 4 Ib. 

 extra of oats are allowed, but no straw. 



For hunters during the season the grain allowance is high, from 16 

 to 18 Ib., with 8 to 10 Ib. of hay, and 2 or 3 Ib. of carrots per day. 

 Frequently 1 or 2 Ib. of beans are added to the ration. 



Carriage-horses, when hard-worked, should be fed like hunters ; 

 ponies and under-sized horses do-not require so much hay or grain. 



