52 STABLE MANAGEMENT. 



still and the sand and gravel can settle, one should 

 be made by building a dam. 



Times of Watering. 



Horses should be watered half an hour before 

 feeding, or, if this cannot be managed, at least two 

 hours should elapse after the feed before he is allowed 

 to drink his fill. The reason of this is that the hard 

 grain tlie horse eats is only partly crushed and 

 broken by the teeth, and it is in the stomach where 

 it is principally softened before passing on into the 

 intestines. If, when the stomach is full of partly 

 digested food, a large quantity of water is given, 

 some of it will be washed into the intestine, and, 

 being hard, and not properly softened, irritate it and 

 set up colic. The best plan is to always have water 

 in front of the horse, so that he can drink when he 

 likes, and I have found that they take much less 

 this way than when watered at regular times. In 

 India this can be easily done by building up in mud 

 a wide-mouthed, shallow, earthen vessel, called a 

 " gumalo," in one corner of the stable, in the same 

 way that a manger is made. It should be high 

 enough for the horse to conveniently reach it, and 

 be kept constantly full. 



