16 



The time of giving water should be carefully studied. At rest, the 

 horse should receive water at least three times a day ; when at work, 

 more frequently. The rule here should be to give in small quantities 

 and often. There is a popular fallacy that if a horse is warm he 

 should not be allowed to drink, many claiming that the first swallow 

 of water ''founders" the animal, or produces colic. This is erroneous. 

 No matter how warm a horse may be, it is always entirely safe to allow 

 him from six to ten swallows of water. If this is given on going into 

 the stable, he should be given at once a pound or two of hay and 

 allowed to rest about an hour before feeding. If water be now offered 

 him it will in many cases be refused, or at least he will drink but spar- 

 ingly. The danger, then, is not in the " first swallow " of water, but is 

 due to the excessive quantity that the animal will take when warm if 

 not restrained. 



Water should never be given to horses when it is ice-cold. It may 

 not be necessary to add hot water, but we should be careful in jilacing 

 water-troughs about our barns to have them in such position that the 

 sun may shine upon the water during" the winter mornings. Water, 

 even though it be thus cold, seldom produces serious trouble if the 

 horse has not been deprived for a too great length of time. 



In reference to the purity of water Smith, in his "Veterinary Hy- 

 giene," classes spring, deep-well water, and upland surface-water as 

 wholesome ; stored rain-water and surface-water from cultivated land 

 as suspicious ; river water to which sewage gains access and shallow- 

 well water as dangerous. The water that is used for drinking purposes 

 for stock so largely throughout some States can not but be impure. I 

 refer to those sections where there is an impervious clay subsoil. It 

 is the custom to scoop or hollow out a large basin in the different pas- 

 tures. During rains these basins become filled with water. The clay 

 subsoil being almost impervious acts as a jug, and there is no escape 

 for the water except by evaporation. Such water is stagnant, but 

 would be kept comparatively fresh by subsequent rains were it not for 

 the fact that much organic matter is carried into these ponds by sur- 

 face drainage during each succeeding storm. This organic matter soon 

 undergoes decomposition, and as the result we find diseases of differ- 

 ent kinds much more prevalent where this water is drunk than where 

 the water-supply is wholesome. Again, it must not be lost sight of 

 that stagnant surface-water is much more certainly contaminated than 

 is running water by one diseased animal of the herd, thus endangering 

 the remainder. 



The chief impurities of water may be classed as organic and inorganic. 

 The organic impurities are either animal or vegetable substances. 

 The salts of the metals are the inorganic impurities. Lime causes 

 hardness of water, and occasion will be taken to speak of this when 

 describing intestinal concretions. Salts of lead, iron, and copper are 

 also frequently found in water, and will be referred to hereafter. 



