278 STABLE ECONOMY. 



The third mode of grazing appears to be less objectionable. 

 The horses have no field labor on Sunday ; if the pasture be 

 good, the weather favorable, and the horses not fatigued, they 

 are better at grass than in the house. 



In Scotland, the road-horses are sometimes put to grass on 

 Sunday. The practice has nothing that I know of to recom- 

 mend it. The w^eekly work of these horses in general de- 

 mands the rest which Sunday brings ; and if they run at a 

 fast pace, as all coach-horses do now, they are apt to eat so 

 much grass, and carry such a load in their belly, that on Mon- 

 day they are easily over-marked. The breathing is impeded 

 unless the horses purge, which a few do. They often come 

 from grass as haggard and dejected as if they had done twice 

 their ordinary work the day before. 



SOILING. 



When grass is given in the stable, the horse is said to be 

 soiled. From what the word is derived, or what was its 

 original meaning, I have not been able to learn. At present 

 the term is used as if it denoted purification, or ?^«soiling. 

 Grass is often given in the stable, under a vague impression 

 that it removes impurities, or foulness, produced by the con- 

 tinued use of a strong, stimulating diet. By some, soiling is 

 regarded as an incomplete substitute : by others, as an equiva- 

 lent to pasturing ; while a few hold that it is the best mode of 

 giving green food. 



When the horse has to continue at work, or when his al- 

 lowance of food must not be such as to produce fatness, or 

 when its bulk must not impede the breathing, soiling is to be 

 preferred to grazing. The allowance can be regulated in the 

 stable, but not in the field. 



All horses do not require soiling. It is not true that green 

 food is absolutely necessary for any horse in health. In 

 tnany studs, an allowance of grass is given to each horse 

 every year, not because it is a cheaper or more wholesome 

 diet, nor because the horses are in bad condition, but because 

 it is supposed to be necessary for preventing disease. In all 

 large studs there are generally a k^w horses that require a 

 change of diet ; they may be out of work, or in bad health ; 

 reduced, perhaps, by sickless, lameness, bad food, or hard 

 work. For such, soiling may be highly beneficial. But it 

 does not follow that all should be soiled. They may, without 

 injury but it has never been proved that it is absolutely ne- 



