LESSON FOURTEEN 
FEEDING FARM HORSES 
1. A fundamental principle in horse feeding.—A rela- 
tively smaller quantity of roughage and a correspond- 
ingly larger amount of concentrates is advisable for 
horses than for bovines. The kind of work to which 
horses are put calls for the least possible load on the di- 
gestive organs, which, even in the heavy draft breeds, are 
small, and particularly the stomach. Hence the food of 
the horse should be nutritious in quality, be supplied fre- 
quently and in comparatively small quantities. 
2. Sound and wholesome 
food.—The food—and it may 
include a wide range of feed- 
ing materials—must be clean, 
wholesome and sound; but be- 
yond this no specific rules can 
be laid down, except that, gen- 
erally speaking, reasonable at- 
tention should be given to the 
polht incest reason why cour Gigestibie | mutrients, in that 
not for horses. ng snou ear the proper 
proportion one to another. The 
amount and character of the food must vary with the size 
of the horse, the purpose for which it is used, the climate 
and the season, and the section in which it is used. 
3. Character of food—The horse feeds on a wider 
range of food substances than is popularly supposed. In 
Arabia, where stamina and sinew are famous, the prin- 
cipal food is barley and scant herbage; in Ireland it is 
dried fish mainly; in England hay, oats and beans com- 
140 
STOMACH CAPACITY 
