Feed and Care of the Horse — Rations. 293 



That the mare may amply provide milk for her young there should 

 be a liberal supply of foods furnishing crude protein, phosphorus, 

 and lime. (Tables III and V, Appendix) Thru the proper combina- 

 tion of feeds the bowels should be kept natural — a little loose rather 

 than otherwise at the time of parturition, when bran is particularly 

 helpful. To confine a brood mare to a box stall without suitable ex- 

 ercise, while supplying an abundance of food, is too common a prac- 

 tice, and one carrying great risk, "With the horse, above all animals, 

 an abundance of exercise should go with liberal feeding. The labor 

 of the brood mares should not be severe, nor of such nature as to 

 keep them long from their foals, for then great hunger may be fol- 

 lowed by surfeiting. Idleness, the bane of horse breeding, should be 

 avoided whenever possible. Working mares are more certain of 

 bringing good foals than idle ones. 



463. Feeding the trotter. — The single requisite of speed makes 

 the carrying of every pound of useless body weight, and more espe- 

 cially of feed, a serious matter in the management of the trotting 

 horse. There is also to be considered the effect of the food on the 

 character of the muscles formed from it, and especially on the nerve 

 and mettle of the horse. For help in this line we can draw from no 

 better source than Hiram Woodruff,^ who tells how the trotter should 

 be fed and managed. 



When going into winter quarters, the feed of the trotter should 

 be reduced fully one-half in order to prevent fattening, for too 

 much fat on the intestines and about the heart makes the trainer 

 no end of trouble in working it off. A few carrots may be given 

 and a bran mash occasionally, with good clean, sweet hay. Horses 

 whose legs must undergo blistering or firing should have feed of 

 a cooling nature, mashes and carrots being in more abundance, 

 with less oats, in order to reduce the tendency to feverish, inflam- 

 matory symptoms. Care must be taken not to permit the animal 

 to get flabby or washy by too much soft food while undergo- 

 ing treatment. Horses turned out to the field should be fed oats 

 twice a day, for the exposure to the severity of the weather in- 

 creases the need of heat-giving food. In the spring when shed- 

 ding, bran mashes are in order to keep the bowels open. Flax 

 seed and linseed meal should not be given, for they have a tend- 

 ency to relax the system too suddenly and to cause the old hair 

 to come away before the new coat is well started. 



1 The Trotting Horse of America, pp. 90-105. 



