CHAP. vii. EXPERIENCES IN HORSE FEEDING. 453 



of undigested grain voided in the excrements of every horse fed on 

 whole oats or corn ; and still more considerable, when we mark the 

 difference in the condition of those horses which are fed on crushed, 

 and chopped, and cooked food, and those which get their allowance in 

 its natural and crude state. 1 



The feeding of an ordinary farm mare during the hardest period of 

 work in winter and spring is well illustrated, says Mr. Macneilage, on 

 farms in the Glasgow district, where there is much heavy carting. 

 The allowance per head per week is two bushels bruised oats, one 

 bushel maize, and cut hay. Each animal gets nightly a pailful of 

 boiled food, consisting of barley, turnips, and chaff, mixed in a large 

 cooler, with one basketful of bran, and as much good rye grass or 

 timothy hay as each horse can eat. The use of boiled food is, however, 

 dying out in the west of Scotland, and on many farms it is never used. 

 Horses winter much better, and are less liable to colic, without it. In 

 Ayrshire, in districts where early potatoes are raised, and high farming 

 generally is the rule, the morning feed for each work-horse at 5 '30 is 

 3lb. bruised oats, 3lb. maize, and 31b. chopped hay, mixed. At noon 

 a repetition of the same. At 6'30 p.m., 3|lb. bean meal, and 3|lb. 

 chopped hay, mixed together and saturated with boiling water, five 

 hours before feeding time. At all times, in addition, the horses have 

 an abundance of good hay in front of them. 



At Udny, Aberdeenshire, the following are considered good rations 

 for a work-horse : Feed six times a day. 5 a.m., mash, consisting 

 of 2jlb. oats and 3lb. bran: 5.45 a.m., 21b. oats: 11 a.m., 2i Ib. 

 oats ; 12 noon, 2Jlb. oats ; 6 p.m., 2|lb. oats and 3|lb. bran in mash ; 

 8 p.m., 81b. raw turnips. Hay uncut ad libitum, and oats always 

 bruised. 



Work-horses should be fed at least four times a day, and from 14 to 

 161b. of grain, with as much fodder as they can use, is a good allow- 

 ance for each animal. 



Of equal importance with the feeding of horses is the MANAGEMENT of 

 them, when their daily labour is performed ; but concerning the best 

 mode a considerable difference of opinion prevails. By some it is 

 remarked, that the keeping of horses in stables, with separate stalls for 

 each, so that they may feed quietly and be expeditiously harnessed, is in 

 every respect the preferable method, provided the stable is well venti- 

 lated. By ventilation we do not mean the admission of draughts of 

 cold air from various quarters, as is too often the case in carelessly- 

 constructed farm stables, but that means shall "be taken to facilitate the 

 removal of the heated and impure air, as by tubes, funnels, or perfora- 

 ted ceilings ; and where the hay-loft happens to be over the stable, 

 every precaution should be taken to prevent any of the foul air from 

 permeating into the loft and saturating the food with its noxious 

 gases. 



Others, on the contrary, assert that sheds, open to the front, with 

 racks and mangers fixed below, and having a pump and cistern, as well 



1 Veterinarian, 1849, p. 237. Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. ix. 

 p. 250. 



