Chapter IL — Forage 



THIS is the one chapter in the book in 

 which I shall not be found on the 

 side of apparent economy. Nothing is 

 more extravagant than inferior oats and 

 hay. The reader may be assured that I have 

 made every effort to lessen the cost of my stables. 

 I have never gained the smallest real advantage 

 from foreign oats or hay, nor even from buying 

 inferior samples of English grown stuff. With 

 hunters I have always found the best to be the most 

 satisfactory, and with other hard worked horses 

 I would rather buy better stuff and give less of 

 it. Moreover, in a small stable it is not worth 

 while to have two qualities of food going at the 

 same time. More can be achieved by avoiding 

 waste and extravagance than by saving in the 

 actual cost of the hay and oats. 



The reader will note that I put the hay first 

 as being of the greatest importance. Hay is 

 nowadays always expensive to buy, and is more 

 often wasted than anything else in the stable. 

 The quality of the hay he eats is very important 

 to a horse doing fast or hard work. Moreover, 

 I am pleased when having eaten his oats, the horse 

 shows a disposition to clear up all his hay ; nor 

 should I grudge him a little over his daily ration. 

 There is one incidental but strong argument for 



13 



