FEEDING. 135 



and will gorge themselves by eating so much hay as to be 

 unfit for active labor, and is usually shown to result in 

 heaves or broken wind. Heaves are always found in the 

 teamsters' or carters' stables, where there is no care in feed- 

 ing. This disease is always found among horses of the 

 above class, but never found among racing horses, from the 

 fact that the utmost prudence and care is used in selecting 

 the food, and feeding in smaller quantities, or in adapting 

 the food more perfectly to the wants of the system. 



It has been demonstrated beyond doubt that the reason 

 horses improve so much in wind by eating prairie hay is, 

 that it is so coarse that horses cannot eat it fast enough to 

 overload the stomach. The quantity of hay should be 

 carefully regulated, and never as much given as the horse 

 will eat if at all voracious. The majority of owners pack a 

 large rack full, allowing either liberty to eat too much, or 

 making it unpalatable and unhealthy, by being breathed 

 upon. From eight to ten pounds is about the average 

 quantity for an ordinary roadster to be allowed in twenty- 

 four hours, more or less, according to size, the kind of 

 work, and the quantity of grain given. Dusty or mouldy 

 hay should not be fed, as it is liable to produce various forms 

 of disease. 



All food should be clean, and in quality perfect. Hay is 

 most perfect when it is about a year old. Horses would 

 perhaps prefer earlier, but it is neither so wholesome nor so 

 nutritious, and may purge. When it is a year old it should 

 retain much of its green color and agreeable smell.* The 

 blades of corn pulled and cured in the summer are unques- 

 tionably much better than hay. I should certainly prefer 

 this kind of fodder to any kind of hay, for fine horses. It 

 is strange that it is not prized more highly in the North. 



Oats make more muscle than corn. Corn makes fat and 

 warmth. Hence, the colder the weather, the more corn 

 may be given, and the harder the work, the more oats. 

 Oats should be a year old, heavy, dry and sweet. New 

 oats will weigh from ten to fifteen per cent, more than old 

 ones ; but the difference is principally water. New oats are 

 said to be more difficult to digest, and when in considerable 



NOTE 1. In packing or stacking hay. salt should be slightly sprinkled 

 through it BO as to detroy insects. It also aids in preserving il bright, and make* 

 it more palatable and healthy for the horse. 



