STABLING AND FEEDING 83 



smaller quantity of molasses — say, a pint — and 

 work up gradually to a quart. 



There is nothing equal to molasses for getting a 

 run-down horse in condition and for this purpose 

 it may often be fed to young horses as well as old. 



(4) For horses used under all ordinary condi- 

 tions feed corn in the morning, oats at noon, and 

 oats at night. Two quarts of shelled corn are 

 enough, and the oat ration may range from two 

 quarts to four quarts at a feed, according to the 

 amount of work the horse is doing. 



For forage, good, sweet hay must be the main 

 dependence. As a general thing, too much hay is 

 fed to road-horses, especially in the country. 

 From ten to eighteen pounds, according to the 

 horse and the grain he is getting, is enough; per- 

 haps twelve pounds would more often prove the 

 right quantity than any other. But it must be 

 remembered that will be sufficient only when he is 

 receiving a good grain ration ; when only a little 

 grain is fed, the hay ration must be much greater. 

 If hay is only sweet and nicely cured, I have never 

 been able to discover that its coarseness or fineness 

 made the slightest difference. Hay that is mowed 

 rather late — say, just as it is going out of bloom 

 — is better for horses than that which is mowed 

 earlier. 



Good, bright corn-fodder, run through a cut- 



