FEEDING 97 



much greater ratio than usual, the stomach, being conse- 

 quently supplied with a greater quantity of blood within a 

 given time than it would have received without undue 

 excitement, is as unfitted to perform its task while under 

 the influence of that stimulus as the eye would be to bear 

 a strong light after having been irritated by some heating 

 application. Let your horse then remain quiet for some 

 time after he has done his work, and he will not only feed 

 the better for it, bub will likewise digest what he eats. 



There are not a few masters or horses who, from a 

 mistaken feeling of kindness, like always to see a good 

 quantity of food before their animals, so that they maj; 

 never be hungry ; not stopping for a moment to consider 

 the degree of injury they occasion by this perpetual cram- 

 ming, but vainly imagining that every extra mouthful a 

 horse swallows is so much added to his strength and con- 

 dition. We cannot, of course, expect the brute creation to 

 act as rational beings, or to be able to resist the temptation 

 of eating more than is good for them ; and therefore the 

 tirst symptom of loathing food, which is the necessary 

 consequence of perpetual repletion, is a proof that the 

 powers of the stomach have been overtaxed, and that it 

 requires the same rest — only for a much longer period — as 

 does the body generally after severe exercise. 



Next to the quantity and quality of your horse's food, 

 there is nothing that will tend so quickly to put him into 

 condition as giving it at stated hours and at regular inter- 

 vals. After a meal proportioned to his work — say from a 

 quartern to a quartern and a half of oats — four hours are 

 the very least period that should be allowed to elapse before 

 your horse is again fed ; and during this time (unless he 

 has been worked so hard that you wish him to lie down), 

 his head should be fastened so that he may not be able to 

 get at his straw, which very many horses will eat, no 

 matter how soiled it may be. A horse in regular and fair 

 exercise should have but very little, if any, hay in the 

 middle of the day ; but a small quantity may be given in 

 the early part of the morning, and a sufficient portion at 

 night to make up his daily allowance of about eight pounds 

 — not more. Although corn is certainly more nutritious 

 than hay, yet if you increase your number of feeds of oats, 

 and deprive your horses entirely of hay, it is surprising- 

 how quickly some of them will lose flesh. 



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