PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING. 231 



has been allayed, and the system calmed, there is seldom any 

 appetite. If the horse have fasted long, or be tempted by an 

 article of which he is very fond, he may be induced to eat. 

 But it is not right to let him ; a little does him no good, and 

 a full feed does him harm. The stomach partaking of the 

 general excitement, is not prepared to receive the food. Fer- 

 mentation takes place, and the horse's life is endangered ; 

 or the food lies in the stomach unchanged, and produces 

 founder. 



Food, then, is not to be given after work till the horse be 

 cool, his breathing tranquil, and his pulse reduced to its 

 natural standard. By the time he is dressed and watered, he 

 is generally ready for feeding. 



Salt and Spices aid Digestion. — On a journey, or after 

 a severe day, horses often refuse their food. When fatigued, 

 tired of his feed, a handful of salt may be thrown among the 

 horse's grain. That will often induce him to eat it, and it 

 will assist digestion, or at least render fermentation less 

 likely to occur. Some, however, will not eat even with this 

 inducement. Such may have a cordial ball, which in general 

 produces an appetite in ten minutes. I am speaking of cases 

 in which the horse has become cool, and those in which the 

 work has not fevered him. The horse should always be 

 cool before food is offered ; and if his eye be red, and pulse 

 quick, cordials, salt, and the ordinary food, are all forbidden. 

 The horse is fevered. 



Abstinence unusually prolonged is connected with in- 

 digestion, and it produces debility. 



The Indigestion of Abstinence may in some cases arise 

 from an enfeebled condition of the digestive apparatus. The 

 stomach and bowels may partake of the general languor and 

 exhaustion, and be in some measure unable to perform their 

 functions ; but of this there is no proof. When a horse has 

 fasted all day, he is very apt to have colic soon after he is 

 fed at night. It happens very often. The voracious manner 

 in which the horse feeds has something to do with it. He 

 devours his food in great haste, without sufficient mastication, 

 and he often eats too much. The sudden and forcible dis- 

 tension of the stomach probably renders it unable to perform 

 its duty. The quantity, the quality, and the hurried ingestion 

 of the food, account for the frequency of colic, after a long 

 fast, without supposing that the stomach is weak. The ap- 

 petite seems to indicate that it is not. 



The result may be prevented. Give the horse food oftener. 



