FEEDING 233 



sometimes called " Monday morning disease," result from 

 feeding horses heavily when they are idle over Sunday and 

 are given no exercise. Farm horses should be turned on to 

 a short pasture when not at work. This gives the animal 

 an opportunity to roll, get a bite of grass, and sufficient 

 exercise to prevent disorders due to overfeeding. The 

 animal will not need the noon feed, and in the evening a 

 lighter feed than usual may be given. If horses are not 

 used to it, too much grass may produce colic. 



In case horses caimot be turned out, a good plan is to 

 give the regular grain feed at breakfast time and cut the 

 noon and evening meals in half. The old custom of feed- 

 ing a bran mash on idle days has been quite generally 

 abandoned. A small allowance of bran in the daily ra- 

 tion is nutritious, and its mild laxative effect will keep 

 the animal's digestive tract in good condition. Horses 

 should not be fed or watered when very hot. It is often 

 fatal to the animal; or founder and stiffness may result, 

 from the effects of which horses seldom recover. 



The Brood Mare. — The brood mare should be treated 

 with more consideration than the work horse. It is better 

 to work the brood mare than to deprive her of the oppor- 

 tunity to get sufficient exercise. She should not be allowed 

 to " rough it " in winter. It is not necessary to keep her 

 in a warm stable if she is given sufficient wholesome, 

 nourishing food, but good colts should not be expected 

 from dams forced to go through the winter on hay and 

 straw alone. The dam must be fed tissue-building ma- 

 terials. A good grain mixture consists of 3 parts of 

 oats and i part of bran. Good timothy or mixed hay 

 is satisfactory for roughage, and some cut hay may be 

 introduced into the grain ration. 



