CHAPTER XIV 



THE FEEDING OF HORSES 



One of our leading texts on feeding has this most appro- 

 priate quotation on its fly leaf : '^ The eye of the master fattens 

 his cattle/' 



The feeding of stock is both an art and a science. The artist 

 docs not employ a T-square and compass, nor does he resort to 

 mathematical equations to express his conceptions on canvas. 

 The accuracy of his results is in proportion to his skill. The 

 scientist, on the other hand, is exact to the fifth decimal and is 

 held to the most absolute accuracy in his methods of determi- 

 nation. 



Scientific research has provided us witli most valuable data 

 bearing on the subject of nutrition, but the possession of such 

 data alone does not constitute all of the qualifications of a suc- 

 cessful feeder. In an effort to make feeding an exact science 

 there is danger of losing the art. Provide two feeders of similar 

 classes of stock with the same scientific data and allow them both 

 access to the same mows and bins, yet there may be a wide varia- 

 tion in the results obtained by each. One lacks the art of apply- 

 ing the science; it is as essential to know how as what to feed. 



Art in Feeding Horses. — This is especially true of the feed- 

 ing of horses. The block animal has simply to &(3 a superior 

 carcass, and to tliis end he is provided with every advantage, 

 and requires from but a few wrecks to three years, at the most, for 

 its attainment. A horse's obligation is to do rather than to he; 

 he is required to perform more complex functions, and for a 

 period of such duration as Avill justify the gTcater initial invest- 

 ment which he represents. The nature of a horse's work is so 

 exacting and yet so variable, his opportunity for mental and 

 physical disturbances so great, and his misuse so common, that 

 in his case no standard or rule can be applied unalterably. 



Successful horse feeders are " artists " with eyes for the 

 " fattening " of their stock. They balance their rations, not so 



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