I 4 2 WATERING HORSES. 



feed. If we found, after a horse had eaten his corn, that by a 

 mistake or through ignorance he had not been watered for a 

 considerable time before getting it, the safest plan would be to 

 give him, say, from half a gallon to a gallon of water every half- 

 hour, until his thirst was assuaged. The longer the period 

 after feeding, the larger would be the quantity of water which 

 could be given with safety. Feeding a thirsty horse, and at 

 the same time withholding water from him, is a practice alto- 

 gether opposed to the conditions which promote digestion. In 

 speaking of feeding, I refer particularly to feeding with corn, 

 the digestion of which is more liable to become upset by sub- 

 sequent watering, than that of grass or hay. 



5. It is injudicious to give a horse as much water as he can 

 drink-, shortly (say, within an hour] before taking him out of 

 the stable to be worked ; supposing that he had been deprived 

 of water for several hours previously. In such a case, the 

 presence of a large quantity of unabsorbed water in the 

 horse's alimentary canal would be liable, under the influence 

 of subsequent exercise, to set up temporary diarrhoea. I 

 have often known this to occur with horses which had been 

 watered shortly before being taken out in the early morning ; 

 but have observed no such tendency when the interval be- 

 tween the watering and the beginning of the work has been 

 extended to over an hour. Some horses which we might 



o 



class as " washy," are very susceptible to the influence of water 

 in thus bringing on diarrhoea. This tendency to looseness 

 of the bowels is aggravated by excitement, fast work, the pre- 

 sence of undigested food in the alimentary canal, and a large 

 quantity of corn in the daily ration ; and can easily be 

 obviated by keeping a constant supply of water in the box or 

 stall, or by frequent watering. 



It is instructive to note that horses which drink water 

 when they are warm from exercise, seldom if ever " scour " 

 on being again put to work. Their immunity is evidently 



