GRAIN AND CONCENTRATES FOR THE HORSE 



349 



all kinds of work. When the horse's teeth are good and 

 the labor not severe, barley may be fed whole. Ground 

 barley when mixed with saliva forms a pasty mass in the 

 mouth, and is therefore unpleasant to the horse while eat- 

 ing. Crushing the grain makes it less objectionable. 



Rye is often fed to horses. It is the least palatable of 

 all the grains and many horses will hardly eat it unless 

 .round and mixed with other foods. In many localities, 

 lye is likely to be infected with ergot, which has a bad 

 effect upon the horse and may be the cause of abortion in 

 brood mares. 



Leguminous grains. — Besides the cereal grains there are 



a few leguminous 



- e e d s that are 



<;ed as horse 



3. These le- 



ninous seeds 



"er from cereals 



their composi- 



>n, in that they 



titain a relative- 



'■ large percent- 



'^' of protein, 



Tid are perhaps 



i6t so digestible 



.% some of the 



cereal grains. 



Horse beans, 

 ;reld peas and 

 cowpeas. — These 

 are perhaps the 

 most used leg- 

 umes as a food 

 for the horse. 

 Horse beans and 

 field peas are ex- 

 tensively fed in 

 Europe and Can- 



FiG. 157. — Bulk in Grain Ration 



1. Shelled corn. 2. Corn meal. 3. Whole oats. 4. 

 Ground oats. 5. One-half shelled corn and one-half 

 whole oats. 6. One-half corn meal and one-half ground 

 oafs. 7. One-third wheat bran, one-third corn meal and 

 one-third ground oats. 



Each lot contains the same amount of digestible 

 nutrients. Note the larger bulk in lots 5, 6 and 7. 



