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ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 
on light land, moving at the rate of two miles an hour through a 
day of eight hours’ duration. In the keep of these horses, grass in 
the summer and straw in the winter form the bulk of their food, 
assisted, perhaps, by a bushel or two of oats per week during half 
the year. In consequence of this low feeding their stamina is low, 
they are always under par , and are incapable of doing a hard 
day’s work. Though their bellies are large and distended, their 
ribs are plainly to be seen, and their actual weight from deficiency 
of muscle is not more than two-thirds what it ought to be. Now, 
I do not mean to assert that farmers’ horses ought to be fed so 
high as railroad horses ; their work is different, and they are kept 
under different circumstances ; their food should, therefore, be 
regulated accordingly, avoiding alike the two extremes of too high 
and too low feeding. The circumstances in which they differ from 
contractors’ horses are these : — they are required to be kept all the 
year round, their work varying according to the season ; their 
provender being raised on the farm, and not purchased, must 
depend very much upon the season, being also often very in- 
different as regards its quality, whilst at the same time being 
unsaleable, the damaged provender must be consumed at home; 
then, again, the litter which the contractor is obliged to purchase 
costs the farmer nothing, being compensated for by the dung. 
There is not, therefore, the same necessity for getting out of each 
horse the utmost amount of work ; but he may well be expected to 
observe the juste milieu , keeping his horses in such condition 
throughout the year as will enable him without injury to exact 
some extra labour during the busy periods. 
Taking it for granted that this is desirable, I proceed to consider 
the description of food, with its quantity and quality, necessary 
for this purpose; and here I must observe that food must certainly 
be regulated by the description of farm, for in 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 1 To this 
I unhesitatingly answer, No ! In this country, if a horse is to be 
kept in working condition, he must have a certain 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 
position, 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. 
