CHAPTER III 



THE FEEDING OF HORSES 



Feeding the horse presents a problem of as wide interest as 

 any in connection with farm animals. Practically all farmers, 

 whatever branch of farming they may be engaged in, have oc- 

 casion to feed horses. In addition to farmers, commercial firms 

 of various kinds keep horses in large numbers, business men and 

 sportsmen keep many horses for pleasure, all of whom have a 

 deep interest in methods of feeding as well as the proper food. 

 The farmer, the business man, and the sportsman each derive 

 much pleasure in having their horses presentable at all times. 

 The farmer's relation to his horse may not be the same as that of 

 the sportsman, but his interest is as great and his care as pains- 

 taking. 



FOOD REQUIREMENTS FOR WORK 



The work horse may be compared to a steam engine in which 

 such foods as grain and hay serve as fuel, but it differs from 

 the engine because fire and steam are not used to convert the fuel 

 into work or energy. In the horse the food is converted into 

 energy in a different way. 



It is of interest to note that the horse makes better use of the 

 energy in the food than does the steam engine of the energy in 

 the fuel. It appears that about one-third of the total food 

 energy can be converted into useful work with the horse, while 

 the steam engine may recover as much as one-tenth of the 

 energy contained in the fuel. 



Many experiments have been made to determine the exact re- 

 lation between the amount of muscular work performed and the 



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