36 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



of it — all these circumstances are entirely under man's 

 control, often caprice. His manner of living may vary 

 from several days per week of a constrained idleness in 

 the stable — with its attendant evils of sluggish liver, 

 swelled legs, uncalled-for corn, and unnecessary fat — to 

 an enforced life of yearly labour far beyond his endurance, 

 with a lack of proper maintenance, and a disgraceful 

 neglect of his comfort when ailing. The ill effects of 

 domesticating the horse, so far as they tend to the 

 production of colic, I purpose describing under separate 

 heads as follows : 



{a) Food. — There are several reasons that lead one 

 to look upon the food as a prominent factor in the 

 causation of colic. In the majority of cases, unless the 

 horse be one of a large stud, where the business of 

 feeding is reduced almost to an exact science, this food 

 is selected without any regard for the proper balance 

 of its constituents as a suitable, easily digested, and 

 economical diet. Even in cases where some little atten- 

 tion is paid to this essential by the owner, his well-meant 

 intentions fail in that the animal's attendant will use far 

 too much of the food so chosen, or, in others, the niggard- 

 liness of the owner prevents the requisite amount being 

 given. 



In my own district it is absolutely impossible to arrive 

 at any just measure of the amount weighed out per diem 

 to each horse. The owner will tell you one thing, the 

 men another, and the horse, by his illness, contradict 

 both. Oats, the food par excellence for the horse, is very 

 seldom used even in country districts. It is sent in bulk 

 to market, and maize purchased in its stead. In agricul- 

 tural districts the maize has added to it whatever else 

 may by chance be on the farm. More often than not 

 this is wheat or barley — two notoriously bad foods for 



