74 THE HORSE 



the thoroughbred also gets tired, but he keeps on. 



This wonderful piece of mechanism gets out of 

 order in a horse dawdling in stable or paddock. 

 But give the horse plenty to do and his nervous 

 machinery again becomes healthy and runs 

 smoothly. 



The feeding in neurotic cases has also a direct 

 bearing upon the end in view. The chemical ele- 

 ment that nourishes the nervous system is phos- 

 phorus. Therefore, when the nervous system is 

 performing its proper work, there is little danger 

 of giving the horse a food too rich in this element ; 

 but when the nervous system has no chance to 

 spend its energy, the excess of nerve-food be- 

 comes hurtful, rather than beneficial. The horse- 

 foods which contain the largest percentage of 

 phosphorus are oats and barley, and that is why 

 these grains put so much life into a horse. Next 

 in order comes Southern corn. Northern corn 

 contains little phosphorus, but a large amount of 

 carbon, and hence it is a sleepy food, making a 

 horse fat and lazy. 



The knowledge of these facts should be turned 

 to practical account in feeding. In the earlier 

 stages of treatment the neurotic horse should be 

 deprived of a portion of his oats, substituting a 

 proper ration of Northern corn. Usually a 

 slight change in this respect is enough to produce 



