io 4 THEORY OF FEEDING. 



The nutritive ratio of beans would be 



25.41048.5 + 1.5 x 2.3 = 51.95 

 i to 2 (about). 



That of maize 



10.3 to 70.4 + 5 x 2.3 

 i to 7.9 (about). 



Experience shows that the nutritive ratio of oats is practi- 

 cally correct for the usual requirements of horses. Hence, 

 in the combination of grains for the food of these animals, it 

 is generally advisable to try to obtain a mixture which has a 

 nutritive ratio somewhat similar to that of oats. 



APPETITE AND DIGESTIVE POWER. 



Appetite (hunger or craving for food) is the instinct which 

 prompts an animal to eat. As it has become developed in 

 the species under the natural condition of the animal having 

 to find his own food with more or less difficulty, we may con- 

 clude that it is a more reliable guide to the selection of suitable 

 food when the horse is in full exercise, than when he is idle. 

 Hence we find, that although in almost all cases it is safe to 

 allow a horse an unlimited supply of oats and hay, with free 

 choice between the two, when he is in very hard work, it is 

 highly dangerous to be equally indulgent when his physical 

 powers are not taxed. We should here take into consideration 

 the nature of the forage ; for his food in the open is not pre- 

 sented to him in a form so concentrated, and consequently so 

 liable to upset his digestion, as it is in the stable ; and besides, 

 it is very rarely as palatable as thrashed oats, for instance. 

 The general wants of the system and a more or less empty 

 condition of the stomach appear to be the essential stimuli of 

 hunger (appetite), which can be allayed, as has been shown by 

 experiment, by the introduction of food into that organ through 

 an artificial opening. Appetite is also excited by external 

 impressions connected with food, as we may note when the idea 

 of food presents itself to the horse by his sense of smell, taste, 



