8o HORSES. 



FORAGK 



It is not perhaps generally known that, until the present 

 century, barley was the grain on which horses were usually fed. 

 It is still sometimes given to them, but the superiority of oats is 

 unquestionable. Until the advent of the chaff-cutter, corn was 

 given whole or, at best, bruised. Whole oats given without chaff 

 are apt to pass through the body without being acted on by the 

 digestion, and the system of adding chaff to the feed has the 

 effect of making the animal grind his food better. He cannot 

 swallow a lump of dry hay or chaff; it has to be insalivated first. 



Digestion in the horse cannot be complete without some 

 amount of distension. Although a single-stomached animal, 

 and that a small one, he must have bulk ; nutrition is not 

 everything. All the elements may be found in neat corn to 

 sustain him, but he will thrive better on a less quantity with 

 some long stuff added. The quantity of oats necessary for the 

 maintenance of a horse in health, will depend largely upon the 

 nature of his work. Race horses are induced to eat all the good 

 oats they can, but the conditions of training do not apply to 

 general feeding. Ten to twelve pounds is a fair allowance for 

 a saddle horse or hackney, 12 to 14 for a cart horse, and, if beans 

 or peas are given, a corresponding amount of oats should be 

 deducted. The army ration is 10 lbs. The Government weight 

 required for oats is 36 lbs. per bushel. 



Hay. — Horses doing fast work are given a large proportion 

 of corn and but little hay ; hence the racer eats the least hay, 

 and the farm and heavy draught animal the most. For the light 

 breeds about 12 lbs. a day is enough, including that which is 

 cut up into chaff. Double that quantity is not too much for a 

 waggon horse. 



Maize. — This corn is largely used as being cheap and sus- 

 taining, but it has nothing like the feed value of a corresponding 

 weight of oats. Too much maize is productive of colic and 

 conduces to swollen legs. 



