The Treatment of Horses 



goes out at night. And this is the secret of 

 turning out horses without doing them harm. 

 They should from June to September come up in 

 the day time and go out at night. It is the horse's 

 nature to feed during the early hours of the night. 

 Thus the horse is not worried by flies, and so he 

 lies down part of the time ; he does not make him- 

 self so gross as if he has the longer time to feed 

 in. A horse that is only wanted to travel at a 

 moderate pace and over comparatively short dis- 

 tances of ground thrives with very little corn. 

 Most horses are over-fed in proportion to the 

 work they do. If you have occasion to work a 

 horse hard you cannot feed too well, as the great 

 omnibus companies and cab proprietors have dis- 

 covered. A hunter may have as much as he can 

 eat while he is doing full work, but his rations 

 should be docked as soon as ever he ceases to 

 work. But to return to the horse at grass. 

 There is one thing most important, and that is 

 that there should be a continual supply of water 

 in the field where he is. Horses suffer a great 

 deal from want of water, and in no case should a 

 horse be left for twenty-four hours in a field 

 where water is not accessible. The horse that 

 spends his day in the loose box can have a pail of 

 water always by him, arid will not want to drink 

 at night. On the other hand, if there is water in 

 a pond or stream in the field they will in hot 

 weather stand in it. I had only this last summer 

 E 6$ 



