CHAPTER II. 



FEEDING AND WATERING. 



Observations on Feeding Rules for Watering Salting 

 Feeding Conveniences and Watering Tank and Trough 

 General Notes. 



Of food and drink give me the best, 

 From brutal treatment keep me free ; 



Give me when tired a little rest, 

 And see how useful I can be. 



A horse has a smaller stomach than an ox and conse- 

 quently it must be fed less at a time. It has less power to 

 digest coarse foods. It eats much slower, as it must do all 

 its chewing before the food is swallowed. For these reasons 

 it requires a longer time to eat and its food should be more 

 concentrated. It wants only a little coarse food at a time. 



Most people feed too much rather than too little. Two 

 pounds per day of hay and grain for each loo pounds of live 

 weight, is usually enough for good working condition. A 

 general all-round good ration for any horse consists of six 

 parts bran, three of oats and one of linseed-oil meal. It is a 

 grand combination for muscle, for work and for health. In 

 cold weather corn should be added, and the cornmeal, oats 

 and bran may be of equal w r eight, still adding a little linseed 

 meal. Feed a small amount of hay twice a day. 



There is no doubt that farmers generally depend too much 

 on corn to feed their work horses. Corn is good to lay on 

 fat, but muscle is what a work horse needs, to give which 



