HAY AND GRASS 59 



Hay and Grass. — We may consider these two to be, 

 nearly, the same kind of food, except that the former 

 contains a less proportion of water than the latter. 



I have previously argued that a horse should get a full 

 supply of hay under all circumstances, except when he is 

 unable to take sufficient exercise. 



A horse, omitting exceptional cases, evinces a marked 

 preference for corn compared to hay; hence we may 

 assume that, when he turns from the former to the latter, 

 he does so from the prompting of an instinct which is 

 intended by nature to guide him in the selection of the 

 food most suitable for the requirements of his system. 

 We need hardly dwell on the not uncommon folly of 

 stinting a horse of his hay, when the object is to get him 

 to eat as much corn as possible, in order to enable him 

 to sustain violent and continued exertion, such as that 

 demanded during the training of race-horses. I have 

 always found that such animals eat more corn and digest 

 it better when their supply of hay is unlimited at all 

 times, than when it is curtailed, and especially so when 

 they are deprived of it during feeding hours. The idea 

 that a groom, trainer, or owner, can tell to a pound, how 

 much hay his hard-worked horse should eat, is palpably 

 absurd. The case of corn is very different ; for a horse, 

 unless his powers are fully taxed, is almost always prone 

 to eat too much of it, and its bad effects are patent to the 

 most careless observer. General Sir F. Fitzwygram justly 

 remarks that, "practically it will be found that horses, 

 which are not limited as regards oats, will not usually 

 consume above 6 lbs. of hay per diem." Surely no one 

 could say that this was an inordinate amount ? As 



