FOOD 145 



from five to ten minutes to eat one pound of corn and 

 fifteen to twenty minutes to eat one pound of hay. We 

 shall not be far from the truth in saying that they require 

 from five to six hours out of every twenty-four for feeding, 

 that is to say, one quarter of the day must be expended 

 in taking in sufficient nourishment for the repair of the 

 machine. We see here the wisdom of the carter and 

 cabman, who put on the nosebag at every available 

 opportunity. 



Sudden changes of diet should be avoided ; horses fresh 

 from grass must be gradually brought on to the usual 

 stable food. In the same way animals which are intended 

 to be ' turned out,' should have their corn ration reduced 

 and replaced by succulent herbage. 



The necessity of increasing or reducing the corn ration 

 to correspond with the work performed is another point of 

 practical importance ; beans added to oats will produce the 

 most highly nitrogenous diet a horse can assimilate. 

 Where a reduction in diet is required, mashes of bran are 

 substituted for the whole or part of the corn ration. 



One sound system the result of experience, is giving 

 highly-fed and hard-worked horses nothing but a bran 

 mash on Saturday night, and this diet, with hay, might 

 well be continued until the evening feed on Sunday. 



It is the secret of preventing, among draught horses 

 especially, lymphangitis and azoturia, and further, even if 

 these diseases are not threatened, it gives the stomach a 

 needful rest and keeps the bowels in order. 



The conformation of a horse affects in no slight degree 

 its capacity for assimilating food. Animals with narrow 

 chests, badly ' ribbed up,' and of a light mealy colour, are 

 notoriously ' bad doers ' ; they never look well, are prone to 

 derangement of the digestive organs, purge on the slightest 

 provocation, and are generally known amongst horsemen as 

 ' washy.' They require careful dieting ; new oats or hay 

 should never be given them, their work should be light, and 

 they must not be worked soon after feeding. In winter 

 their water must have the chill taken off, the body should 



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