30 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease 



Gram is not considered quite wholesome until six or 

 eight months after it ripens ; therefore, as it is harvested in 

 March or April, it should not be given until the following 

 October. The usual allowance, when unmixed with other 

 food, is from four to five sirs daily to horses of average size. 

 The grain which is supplied to troop horses is roughly 

 ground, usually in native hand-mUls called chakki, but 

 sometimes in English oat-crushing machines. 



It was formerly the custom to soak it for several hours 

 before giving it to the horses ; but this is now, I believe, 

 seldom done except in private stables. The practice is in- 

 jurious in various ways. 



1. The gram becomes so soft that greedy horses swallow 

 quantities of it half masticated, and before it is so well 

 mixed with saliva as it ought to be, in order to ensure the 

 proper digestion of the starchy portion. 



2. In hot weather the soaking sets up a fermentation, 

 which often makes the grain actually sour. The acid thus 

 formed is injurious to digestion, and the fermentation is apt 

 to continue after the grain is eaten, producing colic, which 

 sometimes ends in ruptured stomach or intestine. 



3. When, as is often the case, too much water is used, a 

 great deal of the nutriment is dissolved out. Some men are 

 so well aware of this that they give the superabundant water 

 to weakly horses to drink. 



Gram, after being passed through an English oat-crushing 

 machine, may be given perfectly dry, in which state a horse 

 is compelled to masticate it thoroughly before he can swallow 

 it. A small portion, however, in crushing is turned into 

 actual flour, and a very considerable quantity when it is 

 ground in the native hand-mills. As this is to some extent 

 blown away, when dry, by the horses' nostrils, the better 

 plan is to wet the grain sufficiently to make it damp just 

 before it is given. Actual soaking should on no account be 

 sanctioned, for if permitted at all it is almost certain to be 

 continued to an injurious extent. 



Gram is sometimes given both uncrushed and unsoaked. 

 I have not known any injurious effects from this practice ; 



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