70 CONKEY'S STOCK BOOK 



IV. Good Care 



Scrub conditions make scrub animals. Some critics say the horse gets 

 the least attention of any animal on the farm. 



Whether true or not, such a general statement doesn't matter. The 

 question is your farm: How about your horses? 



The cost to keep a work-horse varies more than that of any other 

 farm animal. In the first place a horse is fed for a different purpose, as 

 it's not horse steak we're after, but horse sweat: in other less homely 

 phrase, work and energy. 



We value a horse as we do a man or a machine for the work we can 

 get out of him. 



FEEDING We feed a horse to get this valuable return in energy, hence 

 the rule: Feed wisely, temperately, in accordance with class 

 or the amount of work to be done. 



Feed well enough, but not too much. Let up on the feed when the 

 hard work season is over. Avoid "Monday morning disease" by more 

 temperate feeding over the rest-day, Sunday. Don't feed the same whether 

 working or idle. Safe to say most horses get too much anyway, and all 

 sorts of indigestion troubles follow. Feed regularly irregular feeding tends 

 to the habit of bolting. Swallowing food without properly chewing it is 

 a fault of many horses. If the trouble is with the teeth, have them 

 attended to; if just a habit, put some round smooth stones in the feed box 

 so that the bolter will have to nose around to get the food, hence cannot 

 eat so rapidly. 



DANGER FROM Any sudden or violent change is what plays hob 



SUDDEN CHANGE with horses. A sudden change in the amount or 



way of feeding is almost sure to cause digestive 



derangements, generally colic; and from colic more horses die than from 

 any other disorder. All forage should be clean and of the best quality. 

 Water must be abundant, clean and pure always, as horses are easily 

 affected from water impurity. Cases of colic are often traced to bad water. 

 Salt is another necessity. See that your horses have constant access to 

 salt better still, a medicated salt mixture, as advised on page 46 where we 

 give receipt for a good and cheap home-made stock salt, combining Stock 

 Tonic. 



AIR Your horse needs air just 20 times as much air as you do. Pure 

 air is more essential than warmth. Bad ventilation in the stable 

 leads to catarrh, coughs, colds, chest diseases, and other serious conditions, 

 among them the incurable diseases, glanders and farcy. Avoid drafts but 

 insist on fresh air in your stable. If necessary, saw holes and protect from 

 drafts by covering the holes with muslin. 



LIGHT Your horse should have proper light in his stable for general 

 comfort and health, but light direct in the face should be care- 

 fully avoided. Horses kept in dark stalls are frequently subject to eye 

 disorders from the abrupt change to daylight. The floor of the hayloft 

 should be seed and dust tight or there may be injury to the sensitive eyes 

 or ears of your animals. 



