TAKING UP 1'iiOM GKASS. 255 



CHAPTER XTL 



TAKING UP FROM GEASS AND 



"WHEN a horse is taken up from grass the state of his 

 body, as well as his outward appearance, must undergo 

 a judicious course of preparation before he is put to 

 hard work ; his feeding and watering, exercise, groom- 

 ing, and physicking, are the main points that require 

 attention. It would be a sure mark of ignorance to take 

 a horse up from grass and feed him with an unlimited 

 quantity of corn and hay at once ; these should be 

 given very sparingly at first, particularly the hay ; it 

 should for the first week be sprinkled with water to 

 moisten it, and the oats should be mixed with bran, in 

 the proportion of two parts of bran to one of oats, les- 

 sening the bran a handful every feed, until it is seen by 

 the consistency of the horse's dunging that he can digest 

 his oats without the inconvenience and dangers of that 

 bane to condition constipation. This most essential 

 point in the stable-management of horses is very much 

 neglected. Grooms seldom take notice of a horse's dung 

 until he is off his feed, and then they either have re- 

 course to some nostrum of their own making up, or wait 

 uatil inflammation sets in, and in either case a veterinary 



