74 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 



grass, clover, boiled turnips, carrots, &c., insuring a strong, 

 healthy colt and a safe parturition. 



The feed of the stallion, or entire horse, during the 

 season of service, or when used for mares, should be full, 

 nutritious, and somewhat stimulating, consisting of the 

 plumpest and heaviest oats, some corn, and sound timothy 

 hay occasionally, mixed with fresh-cut grass, to regulate 

 the secretions and neutralize the effects of the heating of 

 the body and blood by the stimulating feed. 



The feeding of mules we notice only to say, that the full 

 feeding of corn or oats that is usually fed to horses of ordi- 

 nary work, will keep three working mules in excellent order 

 if plenty of rough feed or hay be allowed them. They are 

 good eaters of hay, not more so than horses, perhaps, but 

 eat much less solid and expensive food. 



The general principle for feeding horses is about as 

 follows : — 



Horses should be watered from a brook, pond, or river, 

 and not from wells or springs, as the well water is hard and 

 colder, while the running stream is soft and rather warm. 

 The preference of horses is for the soft, even though it be 

 muddy water, to that which is hard. Horses should be 

 allowed in summer time at least four waterings a day, and 

 half a bucketful at a time, and in winter a pailful may be 

 allowed morning and evening, which is sufficient to assuage 

 their thirst without causing them to bloat or puff up. 

 Care, however, should be taken that the horse is not put 

 to work immediately after drinking a full bucket of water, 



