292 Feeds and Feeding. 



ments of nutrition. No specific directions as to the quantity of food 

 can be given. Some horses will require nearly twice as much as 

 others; and the quantity that may be safely given will depend 

 somewhat upon the amount of exercise in any given case. Some 

 horsemen recommend feeding 3 and others 4 times a day; but in 

 either case no more should be given than will be promptly eaten up 

 clean. If any food should be left in the box, it should be at once re- 

 moved and the quantity at the next time of feeding should be reduced 

 accordingly. As a rule, it will be safe to feed as much as the horse 

 will eat with apparent relish; and then, with plenty of exercise, he 

 will not become overloaded with fat. The hay, as well as the grain 

 feed, should be sound and free from mould and dust, and the stall 

 should be kept clean, well lighted and perfectly ventilated. 



"The amount of exercise to be given will vary somewhat with the 

 condition and habit of the horse. If he be in thin flesh, and it is 

 thought best to fatten him up, the exercise should be lighter than 

 it otherwise would be; and on the other hand, if there is a tendency 

 to become too fat, this may be corrected by increasing the amount 

 of exercise that is given. ... No draft horse, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, should have less exercise than 5 miles a day, and the 

 roadster and running horse may safely have 6 miles, which in some 

 cases should be increased to 8 or even 10. 



"The point to be aimed at in the stable management of the stallion 

 is so to feed, groom, and exercise as to keep the horse to the very 

 highest possible pitch of strength and vigor. The idea which pre- 

 vails among many stable grooms that feeding this or that nostrum 

 will increase the ability of a horse to get foals is sheer nonsense. 

 Anything that adds to the health, strength, and vigor of the horse 

 will increase his virility or sexual power, simply because the sexual 

 organs will partake of the general tone of the system; and on the 

 contrary, whatever tends to impair the health and vigor of the gen- 

 eral system vdll have a deleterious effect upon the sexual organs. 

 A healthy horse needs nothing but good food, pure air, plenty of 

 exercise, with due attention to cleanliness and regularity in feed- 

 ing and watering; and when all these things are attended to prop- 

 erly, the drugs and nostrums that stable lore prescribes as 'good for 

 a horse' would be better throwTi to the dogs." 



462. The brood mare. — Mares used only for breeding purposes do 

 well without grain when on nutritious pasture. With insufficient 

 pasture some grain should be given. The feed should not be concen- 

 trated in character, but should possess considerable bulk or volume. 



