HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 207 



times a day. Of the grains, oats always take the lead. The 

 usual ration is from ten to twelve quarts a day in three equal 

 rations. Barley is frequently used for work horses. Corn is a 

 heavier food than oats, more fattening, but may be given in 

 cold weather, in small quantities, cracked and mixed with oats, 

 (in some cases), but generally preferred whole. A bran mash 

 serves to keep the bowels open and may be given once or twice 

 a week, according to condition. Always give it at night. Of 

 the roots, potatoes and carrots are most esteemed. These are 

 the general essentials, to be varied according to the condition 

 of the horse, the work he is doing and the work required of 

 him in the future. The subject of feeding is a whole study in 

 itself, and one which the groom should master in all its 

 details, according to the individual peculiarities and different 

 constitutions of each of the horses under his care. See Bran 

 Mash and Oats. 



Rattled. When a horse becomes confused or unsteady 

 in a race, is obstinate and unmanageable, he is said to be " rat- 

 tled," to have his head turned. 



Ill the contusion Palo Alto became rattled and made a very bad break. 



—Training the Trotting Horse, Cliarles Marvin. 



Readying. [Eng.] Explained by the quotation : 



Trial in a horse case. Question: Do you mean to say tliat you don't 

 know what was meant by " readying" Success? Answer : Ot course 

 I know what it means. It means pulling.— London Standard. 



Rearing". When a horse rears furiously the rider should 

 bend w^ell over the horse's neck, lower the hands and pull him 

 vigorously to one side or the other. Rearing is a serious vice. 



Record. A fact written down officially for preservation 

 and future reference ; the time made in a race ; the best 

 recorded achievement of speed. Every public performance for 

 a purse, stake or premium must be timed, and the time thus 

 made written down in a book and attested by the signatures of 

 the judges. This writing in the book is the record, and when 

 once made must remain till blotted out. When one horse trots 

 against another the time made by the horse first to pass under 

 the wire is recorded against him. When a horse trots against 

 time, say to beat 2:28, and the time is recorded as 2:28^, that 

 time is officially ascertained and must be officially recorded. 

 The common theory that because a horse fails to win he fails 

 to make a record, does not hold. In hundreds of instances a 

 horse is first in a heat and is distanced in the next, and fails to 

 win a dollar. But he has made a record. 



Record Breaker. Any horse that lowers a record ; a 

 horse making faster time than that which has previously stood 

 as the record for age, class or distance. 



