HAT — EICE. 115 



same practice should be pursued when boiled barley, or oats or 

 linseed, is given in combinatioa with the bran. 



Hat. — Hay, as an article of food for healthy horses, I have 

 abeady treated upon at page 35. The giving of it as part of the 

 diet of a horse vfhen ill, will depend upon circumstances. It 

 will generally prove injurious if given to a patient affected with 

 epidemic catarrh, more especially if the disease be associated 

 with that low typhoid state of the system, so common in this 

 form of disease. The following symptoms are amongst the most 

 prominent which forbid its use. It should not be given when 

 the pulse is feeble, quick, and irritable, — when the digestive 

 organs are in a foul state (which state may be recognised by 

 the presence of a soapy-looking tongue, attended with clammi- 

 ness, a bad smell of the mouth, and rapid variation of the tem- 

 perature of the body), — and when the nasal membranes are 

 pallid, or of a dull leaden colour. All these are symptoms 

 which forbid hay being allowed ; and yet it is not improbable 

 that a patient so affected wQl prefer it to any other kind of 

 food. When hay is allowed to a diseased animal, it should 

 be selected with care, and sparingly given. 



BiiOE. — Rice is is an excellent article of diet for sick horses. 

 It should be cooked and prepared as though intended for human 

 beings. I always direct it to be stewed in water, and after- 

 wards mixed with milk, and slightly sweetened with sugar. I 

 only prescribe it for well-bred horses when ill, and occasionally 

 for delicate feeders. Coarse-bred and robust horses do not 

 require such a refined food. A lesson from the cook of the 

 establishment will perhaps be the most direct mode of the 

 groom acquiring a proficiency in the preparation of rice. 



Speaeed CoEsr. — Speared com is simply corn in a sprouted 

 state. The way to prepare it is as follows : — Put the requisite 

 quantity of grain (either oats or barley) into a bucket, and pour 



