TRACTICAL HORSE FEEDING 34I 



lessens the usefulness of the horse. Within proper limits 

 the more concentrated the food, the less time and energy 

 will be required to make it available. While the relative 

 proportion between the grain and roughage in the ration 

 will depend upon the amount and kind of work per- 

 formed, yet a hard-working horse should never be ex- 

 pected to consume more roughage than grain by weight. 



In the choice of grains the cost is given little or no con- 

 sideration by the average person. Thus, we often con- 

 tinue to feed oats when it is the most expensive grain 

 upon the market, whereas equally as good results would 

 be obtained by feeding some other grain, in part at least, 

 and the cost would be lessened thereby (p. 348). 



Feeding the driving horse. — The periods of compara- 

 tive idleness, followed by long drives and hours of over- 

 exertion, make the feeding of the driving and carriage 

 horse a difficult task. The irregular work, necessitating 

 irregular feeding, often weakens the constitution of the 

 driving horse, which generally has but a brief career. 

 As far as possible, the same general plan as that sug- 

 gested for the work horse should be followed. When 

 the horse is not driven the grain part of the ration should 

 be reduced and the normal allowance should not again 

 be given until the work is resumed. Driving horses are 

 often overfed because of the desire of the owner to keep 

 them in the pink of condition. This overfeeding and ir- 

 regular exercise is the cause of most of the ills of the 

 driving horse. 



Oats and bran easily lead among the concentrates and 

 timothy hay among the forages. A bran mash should 

 be given once a week if bran is not more regularly fed. 

 Care must be exercised in feeding laxative foods, such 

 as green grass, clover or alfalfa hay, and too much bran, 

 as such foods prove very draining on the system of the 

 horse as well as disagreeable to the driver. 



Wintering the idle horse. — Since practically all of the 

 farm work comes during the growing sea§pn, many 



