GROOMING AND FEEDING. 23 



eating them or digesting them. Therefore much 

 of the nourishing properties of the food are lost, 

 that is, are not turned into flesh, muscle, and 

 bone, and this of course means waste and expen- 

 sive feeding. 



Whereas, if the oats are crushed and mixed 

 with chaff, the horse is obliged to chew them 

 and the chaff well together. This causes the 

 saliva to mix freely with the food, and promotes 

 digestion. 



It is not what you swallow that of necessity 

 does you good, but what you digest. It is 

 much better for the health and strength of your 

 animals, and for your own well-being, to take a 

 small quantity of well-digested food than a larger 

 quantity of badly digested food. 



You make a horse comfortable for the night 

 by " Bedding up," as it is termed that is, you 

 pile up around him and under him a good thick- 

 ness of clean straw upon which to lie. After 

 you have done this, give him a good armful of 

 sweet, old, greenish-looking hay. The best hay 

 has always a strong, sweet smell, and has a 

 greenish look. When hay looks dark brown it 

 shows that it has not been harvested in the 

 best condition ; in other words, that much good- 

 feeding quality has left it, and that there is 

 very little nourishment in it. 



Horses are very particular as to the water 



