DISEASES OF DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 151 



rarily lowered; under such conditions a short period of repose is 

 as essential for the digestive organs as for the legs and body before 

 calling upon them for active work such as the process of digestion 

 involves; under such circumstances the horse should be allowed 

 two or three mouthfuls only of water, with about a double handful 

 of hay to play with while being cleaned and dressed, and at the 

 expiration of one hour an ordinary supply of water to be followed 

 shortly by the usual feed of corn; in this way nature is gradually 

 restored to her normal state and digestion will proceed in the 

 ordinary course without fear of the dire consequences that fre- 

 quently supervene upon the well-intentioned but very-injudicious 

 methods referred to above. 



It must therefore be understood by owners that it is a false econ- 

 omy to allow their horses, whatever the class or breed, any thing 

 but good, sound, wholesome food, and further that if the very fre- 

 quent cases of disorders affecting the intestines are to be obviated, 

 it must be by the exercise of common sense and ordinary intelli- 

 gence, in the manner of supplying the food, making due allowance 

 when animals have been called to fast long and continuously, not to 

 overload the stomach unduly thereafter, nor to lower the internal 

 temperature suddenly by allowing a hot, fagged and thirsty animal 

 to drink his fill immediateh^ on arriving home; nor in the cases 

 of heavy draught horses to sanction their being allowed to drink 

 absolutel}' cold water while at work, and on a long journey; at 

 such times a very necessar}^ refresher should consist of a moderate 

 quantity of warm thin oatmeal gruel; in offering these suggestions 

 we fully sympathize with the difficulties against which owners 

 have to contend through the carelessness and indifference of 

 stupid servants. The subject of dietary is an all important one 

 and calls for more careful discrimination than it generally receives; 

 if one were to judge by the ordinary actions of horse owners and 

 stablemen, it would be quite reasonable to come to the conclusion 

 that the majority of these men look upon the digestive apparatus 

 of this animal as a sort of metallic machine into which must be 

 crammed to the full, whatever comes to hand in the shape of food, 

 good, bad and indifferent, nevermind which, so long as the greatest 

 quantity can be stowed away in the smallest space of time; this 

 at all events used to be the prevailing idea; but thanks to the 

 veterinary profession methods more in harmony with an intelli- 



