46 HORSES: 



amount of food swallowed. Extra work and expos- 

 ure to cold, by a corresponding consumption of the 

 tissues, cause demand for an increased amount of 

 food to make good the waste, and the digestive flu- 

 ids are increased in like measure. Blanketing a 

 horse does not diminish the size of his stomach, and 

 hence he will, at least for a time if permitted, eat as 

 much as if unblanketed, and would continue to eat 

 more than he needed, and would stuff himself when- 

 ever opportunity offered. So, too, he will for a time 

 (and always until affected injuriously by the means) 

 eat as much when at leisure as when working. But 

 eating and digesting are far from synonymous terms. 

 He can not digest more than he needs, and any ex- 

 cess above such needs is not only so much for indiges- 

 tion, but tends strongly to the imperfect digestion 

 of all the food swallowed and to a condition of gen- 

 eral disorder. 



KIND TREATMENT. 



In addition to the causes already mentioned which 

 impair digestion, and therefore predispose to disease, 

 unkind treatment is often a serious one. All horses 

 are more or less sensitive, while some are as " sensi- 

 tive as a woman " to the treatment they receive. 

 An outburst of anger, accompanied by twitching or 

 yelling, directly before, during, or soon after a meal, 

 would absolutely prohibit or delay digestion in case 

 of a fine-grained animal, and perhaps occasion serious 

 mischief. Severe indigestion often results from this 

 cause in the case of human beings — victims to theii 



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