342 



MANAGEMENT AND BREEDING OF HORSES 



horses are idle during the remainder of the year. As 

 they do not do sufficient work to pay for their keep, they 

 should be fed as economically as possible. It is more 

 economical, and, perhaps, advisable, that idle horses be 

 turned to a lot to be roughed through the winter rather 

 than confined too closely in the barn, particularly if they 

 have access to a dry, well-protected shed. Under such 

 conditions they grow long, heavy coats, which afford 

 them excellent protection. Idle horses have ample time 



FIG. 155.— PERCHERON STALLION AND MARE WORKING SIDE BY SIDE 



to masticate and digest their food and can subsist largely 

 on forage, such as hay, corn fodder, straw, and the like. 

 Some grain should be fed once a day. If the shed is kept 

 well bedded and dry, idle horses can be comfortably win- 

 tered in this way at much less expense than by stabling. 

 Grain feeding, together with some work, should begin 

 three weeks before spring work starts to put the animals 

 into condition. 



I Feeding the stallion. — The object to be attained in the 

 management of a stallion is to so feed, groom and exer- 



