



8 4 



THEORY OF FEEDING. 



would be unreasonable to imagine that a horse could digest 

 all, or even a large part, of the food which his intestines are 

 capable of containing. We may see by referring to pages 96 

 and to 98, that this indigestible matter consists chiefly of 

 vegetable fibre, which, although it contributes little or nothing 

 to the direct nourishment of the system, greatly aids the 

 digestion of the nutrient portion of the food. 



The conclusion as to the advisability of frequent feeding, 

 is in agreement with the manner a horse eats when at grass, 

 namely, that of consuming small quantities of food at short 

 intervals of time ; in fact, feeding more or less continuously. 

 When a horse is fed during frequent intervals between labour, 

 the digestion of comparatively small quantities of food in the 

 stomach is not as a rule followed by digestive disturbance. 

 For instance, although strong exercise immediately after 

 feeding would be dangerous for a horse that has a liberal 

 daily ration divided into only three or four feeds ; it produces 

 no bad effect on an ordinary London cab horse, which on 

 every available occasion during his tour of duty has the 

 feeding bag put on his head. 



Under ordinary conditions, as soon as a horse's stomach 

 becomes nearly filled while he is eating, food, more or less 

 digested, begins to pass from his stomach into the intestine at 

 the same rate as fresh food enters into his stomach from his 

 mouth and gullet. The food that is then in front, on its way 

 out of the alimentary canal, gets to a greater or less extent 

 pushed out of the stomach by the food behind it. When the 

 animal stops eating, the rate at which the food leaves the 

 stomach, gradually decreases, and even after the horse has 

 been fasting for a considerable time, a certain residue of food 

 will be found in that organ. Hence, the larger the quantity 

 of food consumed at one time, other things being equal, the 

 quicker will it pass through the stomach, and the less perfectly 

 will it be digested. During the digestion of food in the 



