64 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



the horse is not taken from the stable during the day, the con- 

 centrates, or grain part of the ration, should at once be reduced 

 by one-third and the normal allowance should not again be given 

 until the work is resumed. Driving horses are usually overfed, 

 because of the desire of the owner to keep them in the pink of 

 condition. This overfeeding and irregular exercise are the cause 

 of most of the ills of the driving horse. Oats leads easily among 

 the grains. When it is fed, the horse exhibits mettle as from no 

 other food. If at any time the animal should seem constipated, 

 a bran mash should be given. Timothy is the preferred hay. 

 While a certain amount of roughage must be fed to give bulk or 

 volume to the ration in order that the digestive functions may 

 be properly maintained, yet we must remember that a large ab- 

 domen cannot be tolerated in a driving horse. Another factor 

 that the feeder of this class of horses must ever be on his guard 

 against is the feeding of laxative foods, such as clover or alfalfa 

 hay or bran, in too large quantities, for when the horses are put 

 on the road and warmed up, they will prove very draining on the 

 system as well as disagreeable to the driver. Style and action 

 are prerequisites, while economy in feeding and sometimes the 

 health of the animal are held to be but secondary. Profes- 

 sional drivers may not be the safest persons to advise on 

 feeding. 



WINTERING THE IDLE HORSE 



On the average farm most of the work comes during the grow- 

 ing season. It is more economical, and perhaps advisable, that 

 the idle horse be turned into a lot, if it is well protected^ to be 

 roughed through the winter rather than confined too closely in 

 the barn. As winter comes on the horse will grow a heavy coat 

 of hair, which will afford excellent protection. Such a horse 

 may be maintained wholly or nearly so upon hay, oat straw, or 

 corn fodder, as it has time to masticate food, and not being 

 taxed by labor, it is able to subsist on food containing a large 



