66 HORSES: 



i«g 1 >3S° pounds each, and hauling heavy loads; the 

 other three animals about 1,000 pounds each, and 

 doing light work — all fed alike ! In this stable, last 

 year, there were three cases of distemper — the three" 

 lightly-worked, but equally fed, animals were the vic- 

 tims ! Does this not afford much more than a hint? 

 In the stable next door are seven horses, weighing 

 about 1,400 pounds each, and doing ten hours' hard 

 work every day, and yet they eat but six quarts of 

 grain each — four quarts of corn (two quarts morning 

 and night), and two quarts of oats, the latter the only 

 feed at noon. These horses are in splendid condition 

 all the time : they look fat, but they are not so, being 

 filled out with solid muscle. Another pair, one of 

 the city teams, young horses, four and five years old, 

 weighing 1,500 pounds each, have but six quarts of 

 oats a day, and present an elegant appearance. A 

 young, growing animal, other things equal, requires 

 more than an old one. Indeed, the digestive powers 

 of any creature correspond very closely to his muscu- 

 lar powers. Hence, as old age and decrepitude come 

 on, the food ration, as well as the work ration, re- 

 quires to be curtailed. So long, however, as any ani- 

 mal or any man can and does perform his full measure 

 of work, he can and will digest his full measure of 

 food — providing, always, that he has a full measure 

 of fresh air twenty-four hours every day ! 



If the foregoing be the ration for a draught horse 

 working from morning till, night, how much should 

 be allowed for the healthy maintenance of a horse 

 weighing 900 or 950 pounds, standing in the stable 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



