252 Our Noblest Friend, The Horse 



bowels, and for adding to a repast a savoury fra- 

 grance which few horses can resist. 



Corn-meal, oat-meal, bran, etc., are capital as 

 change foods, and should always be fed mixed with 

 hay (or straw), which has been cut short and 

 moistened, thus affording the gastric juices a chance 

 to promptly .ensure digestion. Cut feed should not 

 be fed in large quantity — about four quarts of the 

 mixture is enough — and the chaff should be very 

 short. If fed regularly it ensures, from fermentation, 

 sooner or later, an acid stomach and colic. To pre- 

 vent these results, a tablespoonful of the following 

 should be mixed with each feed : 



Bicarbonate of Soda 

 Gentian (powdered) 

 Ginger (powdered) 



Equal parts ; mix. 



The coarse and strawlike timothy hay which is 

 in such demand is never needful for ordinary feeding 

 — nor has it the nourishment nor varying flavours 

 of the cheaper mixed grades, while it is vastly more 

 expensive. Clover-mixed hay, fine hay (including 



