284 PRODUCTIVE FEEDING OF FARM ANIMAIS 
a common practice to give horses all the hay they can eat, but the 
results of careful investigations tend to throw doubt on the wisdom 
of this practice. In experiments at the Montana station® in which 
timothy and clover hay were fed to work horses in different amounts, 
it was found that the horses receiving two-thirds as much hay as 
they would have eaten if given all they wanted had more life and 
perspired less than those that were not limited in their hay. When 
not more than 10 pounds of clover hay per 1000 pounds live weight 
was fed, it proved as satisfactory as timothy hay. It was also found 
that early-cut timothy hay was relished more and eaten in larger 
quantities than late-cut timothy, and that horses doing light work 
can be carried through the winter on 714 pounds hay and 5 pounds 
of grain daily per 1000 pounds. 
Horses should not be fed more hay than they will eat up clean 
at each feed ; this is usually less than 20 pounds and, on an average, 
about 15 pounds per day per 1000 pounds live weight, The eating 
of too large quantities of coarse feed taxes the digestive apparatus 
of the horse unduly and is responsible for the disturbance of the 
respiration of the animals known as heaves, especially when over- 
ripe and dusty hay is fed. The Utah station reports’ that there 
was not a single case of digestive trouble among its horses when 
the amount of alfalfa hay was limited, and states that “ many valu- 
able horses and thousands of dollars could be saved annually if the 
amount of coarse fodder fed to horses could be reduced one-half.”® 
Work horses, which are the animals primarily considered in this 
discussion, should, in general, receive about two pounds dry feed 
for each 100 pounds of live weight; of this amount, one-half should 
be concentrates and one-half hay or its equivalent of succulent feeds 
when a medium amount of work‘is done; as the work increases, the 
concentrates are increased and the amount of hay decreased. 
Hay for Horses.—Among the rough feeds, timothy hay is con- 
sidered especially valuable as a feed for horses, but other kinds of 
dry forage, like clover, alfalfa, prairie hay, cowpea hay, grain hay 
(wheat, barley, or oats), corn fodder, millet, and others, are all 
valuable horse feed when well cured and free from dust, and are 
used in different parts of the country. 
Alfalfa Hay.—There is a prejudice against legume hay, and 
perhaps especially against alfalfa, among many horsemen, as it is 
believed to make the horse soft and unfit for heavy work. A-number 
® Bulletin 95. 
7 Bulletin 77. 
® See also Illinois Bulletin 150. 
