FIRE HORSES. 241 
though not so extreme, 1s sufficient to disturb the 
animal’s health, to impair his digestion, to prevent 
his taking the needed amount of rest, so that event- 
ually he too, after being doctored perhaps for an 
imaginary disease, is transferred to some more peace- 
ful occupation. 
Now that we have seen how a fire-engine horse is 
instructed, and where he lives, it might be interest- 
ing to know in what manner his daily life is ordered. 
He takes breakfast, in Boston, at five or half past, 
in some houses as late as six o’clock, —the meal con- 
sisting, as a rule, of two quarts of oats. After break- 
fast, he receives a thorough grooming, and about ten 
o’clock he goes out to walk for an hour, with an 
occasional trot, one horse of a pair being ridden and 
the other led. At half past eleven or twelve he has 
dinner,—two quarts of oats again,— which also is the 
allowance for supper, at half past five or six. Some 
old and some delicate horses have nine quarts of oats 
per day. Usually a bran mash is given once a week, 
and in some houses a little bran is fed every day. In 
the afternoon the horse has another hour of exercise, 
supposing that no fire has occurred. Hay is allowed 
at night only, and in most of the houses it is fed from 
the floor, so that the horse can eat it while lying 
down. For several reasons this method is far better 
than feeding from a rack, especially for the fire horse, 
who takes a long while to eat his hay, inasmuch as the 
bit remains in his mouth. In most cities the grain 
allowance is about the same as it is in Boston, al- 
though in Chicago the horses are fed just twice as 
much, twelve quarts per day, and in Brooklyn, as I 
am informed, the allowance varies from twelve to 
16 
