Management of Farm-Horses. 
267 
some instances pasture or water meadow hay is very abundant, 
and in other cases very scarce. In some the amount of straw is 
enormous, in other cases by no means considerable, being no 
more than sufficient for the cows or young stock. However much 
the quantity and quality of hay and straw may vary, it may be 
asked have we any substitute that will supply the place of oats ? 
To this I unhesitatingly answer, No ! In this country, if a horse 
is to be kept in working condition, he must have a certam amount 
of concentrated food, and no form is more suitable for the stomach 
or more conducive to health than that of oats. To establish this 
positioii, let us consider for a few minutes the construction as well 
as the functions of the stomach of the horse as compared with 
the ox, an animal that is capable of subsisting readily on a large 
amount of unnutritious food. 
The stomach of the horse is comparatively small, holding about 
three gallons, whilst the ox possesses no less than four stomachs, 
the^rs^ of which is considerably larger than that of the horse. 
This difference shows, what indeed the habits of these animals 
also demonstrate, that whilst the ox is so constructed as to con- 
sume a large quantity of food at a vieal, the horse, on the other, 
is adapted to consume a moderate quantity, and often. If such a 
mass of food as is often found in the maw of the ox were con- 
tained in the stomach of the horse, it would be impossible for 
this animal to perform those exertions he is often called upon to 
accomplish, for the loaded stomach presses against the midriff or* 
diaphragm, the muscle of respiration, and would thus materially 
retard or prevent its action. The internal surface of the stomach 
of the horse is worthy of particular notice. One half, or that 
nearest the cardiac orifice, as the entry to the stomach is termed, 
is lined by a white coat called the cuticular, from its being com- 
paratively insensible bke the cuticle or outer skin, and the other 
half has a reddish coloured coat called the villous, which is not 
only sensible but secretes the gastric juice, by which the food is 
converted into chyme. This chymification, as the first act of 
digestion is termed, is thus accomplished by means of the acid of 
the gastric juice ; and small as the stomach is, yet only one-half is 
really devoted to the process of digestion, the other moiety acting 
as a reservoir for the food. Now it is a well-known fact, that in 
proportion to the exertions of an animal is the expenditure of 
the muscular system, and the consequent necessity for an equi- 
valent supply of nutriment. 
If, therefore, bearing this in mind, we consider the smallness 
of the stomach of the horse, it seems evident that he was intended 
by nature to consume concentrated food such as grain, and the 
formation of the molar teeth strongly corroborates this view of 
the matter. These molar teeth, or grinders, as they are com- 
monly and very expressively termed, are broader and less cutting 
T 2 
