HORSES. 79 



attendants knowledge. The presence of fresh droppings or of 

 recently passed urine is no detriment to the health of man or 

 beast, but the decomposition that follows in blocked-up pipes or 

 under iron plates not thoroughly washed every day is most 

 injurious. 



WATER. 



The amount of water required by a horse differs greatly 

 according to his work, his food, and the temperature of the air. 

 An average allowance, according to the best army observers, is 

 six gallons per day. The allowance on board ship is only five 

 but it is found quite sufficient when there is no exercise taken. 



When to water. Before hygiene was understood it was the 

 almost universal custom to withhold water from a horse when 

 he came in hot or was on a journey. It was thought to produce 

 colic, and in some instances would do so, when very cold 

 water was given in reckless quantity to a horse suffering 

 with thirst. Again we would refer to the cavalry and other 

 army horses as examples of good management, and say that, 

 since horses have been watered before feeding, the number of 

 gripe cases has diminished by more than half. The physio- 

 logical explanation is, that the water passes in two or three 

 minutes into the large bowels, and is absorbed into the 

 circulation before the food given a few minutes later has the 

 opportunity of becoming saturated and afterwards swelling 

 up or fermenting. Water given on the top of a hastily 

 swallowed feed of corn is liable to check digestion, and to 

 swell up the corn to such an extent as to cause rupture of the 

 organ. Soft water is preferable for many reasons, not the least 

 of which is the tendency of hard^water to produce gripes, and to 

 form calculus or stone in the bowels and bladder. The supply 

 of soft water is, unfortunately, seldom pure. On farms the pond 

 receives the surface drainage of any land higher up than itself 

 or from the yard itself, and the water becomes the colour of 

 coffee. It must, however, be said that such discoloured water 

 is often preferred by horses, and particularly by cattle, and the 

 proofs of its bad effects are wanting. 



