108 ESSAYS ON HORSE SUBJECTS 



have had less, and the first opportunity taken of 

 giving him another small feed. 



We have the same thing occurring under dif- 

 ferent conditions, as, for example, when a horse 

 has had an unusually hard day's work and is very 

 tired. He is put in the stable and given his usual 

 meal, which he eats. After an hour or so he be- 

 gins to show signs of abdominal pain. His at- 

 tendant cannot understand the reason for this, 

 as the horse has only had his usual feed. He does 

 not realize that the horse's vital powers have be- 

 come very much lowered, the result of unusual 

 fatigue, and that the stomach participates in this 

 temporary inability and becomes, for a time, un- 

 equal to exerting its full digestive powers, and 

 that indigestion has resulted in consequence. 

 Had the horse been allowed to rest for a time, 

 given a little water and allowed to nibble hay, 

 he might have been fed with impunity, although 

 it is usually a wise plan to lessen the feed if a 

 horse is unusually fatigued. The condition, then, 

 of the individual has to be considered in deter- 

 mining the amount of food he should get. Horses 

 that are in good condition, having regular hard 

 work and full feed, are much less liable to be af- 

 fected by unusual fatigue and full feed than 

 those that are irregularly worked. 



In addition to the necessity for caution in feed- 

 ing when a horse is fatigued from hard work. 



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