HORSES AND MULES 



337 



throughout the western states. When 

 eaten in large quantities, this material 

 is highly injurious^ and may cause 

 death if persisted in. (See Poisonou3 

 Plants.) 



In Vermont, the common horse-tail 

 or scouring rush has been found poi- 

 sonous for horses. It affects young 

 animals sooner than old ones, but horses 

 fed grain resist the action of the poison 

 much longer than those which do not re- 

 ceive grain. Apparently, horses which 

 graze upon the green plant are not poi- 

 soned, particularly if the plant is some- 

 what immature. In hay, however, it 

 causes serious results. The symptoms 

 are unthriftiness, loss of weight, loss of 

 control of the muscles, muscular spasms 

 and inability to stand. The treatment 

 consists, in the first place, in stopping 

 the use of the hay which contains the 

 plant, and the administration of a pur- 

 gative tonic and nutritious ration, par- 

 ticularly one which is slightly laxative. 



Occasionally golden-rod has proved 

 more or less poisonous to horses, prob- 

 ably on account of the presence of an al- 

 kaloid or a fungous disease. The exact 

 nature of the poisoning, however, is not 

 well understood. 



In the western range states, a num- 

 ber of poisonous plants are known to af- 

 fect horses. The loco disease is ex- 

 ceedingly common in horses in parts of 

 Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Colo- 

 rado. (See Poisonous Plants.) 



Lupine hay has occasionally caused 

 poisoning in horses but this occur3 

 much less frequently than with sheep. 

 The apparent immunity in most cases 

 of horses to lupine poisoning appears to 

 rest on the fact that the horse does not 

 eat the lupine beans, but selects merely 

 the leaves, which do not contain any 

 poison. In South Dakota, the rattle-box 

 weed was found to be quite poisonous to 

 horses, although the number of animals 

 which feed upon it is comparatively 

 small and, therefore, only slight impor- 

 tance attaches to it. 



Not only feeds containing ergot may 

 be injurious to horses, but also moldy or 

 smutty grains or coarse forage may 

 cause bad results. Thus horses have died 

 as the result of eating a smutty oat hay, 

 moldy corn, moldy silage, moldy clover 

 hay and other spoiled feed stuffs. Horses 

 appear to be more susceptible to the inju- 

 rious effects of molds and parasitic fungi 

 than are cattle and sheep. The poisonous 

 effects of sorghum, which occasionally 



develops prussic acid, are, of course, 

 equally apparent in horses and cattle. 

 The bad effects noted in feeding millet 

 hay to horses in North Dakota have al- 

 ready been referred to. In addition to 

 the poisonous plants and fungi already 

 discussed as poisonous to horses, men- 

 tion should also be made of larkspur, 

 aconite, death camas, flat pea, and many 

 other native plants, which are more or 

 less common on the western ranges. 



Box stalls for horses may be con- 

 structed in so many different ways that 

 it is of little practical importance to 

 suggest the details of construction, since 

 these will be determined by the particu- 

 lar circumstances of each case. Good 

 •esults, however, have been obtained 

 from the use of planks 2x6 inches 

 placed 3 inches apart, and bolted. If 

 it is especially desired to keep the feed 

 box clean, it may be constructed so as to 

 tilt outward, except at feeding time; it 

 is thus easy to clean it and no project- 

 ing pieces of wood are left in the box 

 stall, which may tempt the horse to form 

 the habit of cribbing. 



Ventilation_Bad ventilation for 

 horses has been found to predispose 

 them to brain congestion, respiratory 

 catarrh and a general unsatisfactory 

 condition. It is not necessary, however, 

 to construct such elaborate systems of 

 ventilation for horses or other farm 

 animals as has sometimes been recom- 

 mended. In other words, good ventila- 

 tion is much more necessary than a high 

 temperature of the stable and a sufficient 

 amount of fresh air may be obtained 

 in almost all stables. In fact, unless 

 stables are built with- particular care, 

 it is impossible to prevent air from 

 passing through them in all directions 

 and affording sufficient ventilation for 

 more animals than the stables could pos- 

 sibly accommodate. 



A good temperature for horse stables 

 is about 50° F. in winter for work horses 

 and 60 to 65° F. for mares and suckling 

 colts. For work horses, however, it is 

 not necessary, as every farmer knows, to 

 have the temperature so high. In fact, 

 the whole matter of the temperature 

 requirement depends on what the ani- 

 mal is accustomed to. Horses which 

 have been kept in artificially warmed 

 stables would be likely to take cold if 

 exposed in stables full of cracks and 

 showing practically the same tempera- 

 ture inside as outside. On the other 



