96 
PURE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
food. No grain food alone will equal oats. If timothy or prairie hay is 
used for roughage, bran can be added to the oats, about half of each by 
measure. If alfalfa or good clover can be secured the bran will not be 
needed.” The use of automatic feeder is advocated by Carlson on the 
ground that with it the weanlings could have access to feeds at will and 
yet not waste nor soil the feed. And too, the automatic feeder is claimed 
to retard the act of feeding so that the feed is thereby more thoroughly 
matsicated. 
Kennedy 01 advises weaning the colts as late as possible, which usually 
is late in fall. He says that “After the colts are weaned from the dam, 
it is difficult to keep them in good condition, and at such times special 
care and feed should be given them. Feed is seldom made too liberal, as 
this is the time to show the cold if exceptional growth is desired. Horse¬ 
men agree that if you stunt the colt you stunt the horse, and that if you 
have stunted the yearling you seldom obtain a good mature horse. On the 
other hand, a growthy yearling does not need the feed nor care afterwards 
that the stunted one demands. In order to get this growth in the 
winter, it is necessary that the colt be fed some grain in connecion with 
hay and roughage. If timothy is fed as the roughage, the grain must be 
of nitrogenous character, as oats and bran. If good alfalfa or clover hay 
is accessible for the colt, this with oats will make a very desirable ration. 
Young colts make larger growth than older horses in proportion to the 
feed consumed and hence it is an economical proposition to put grain 
into the young animal. 
“In addition to good feed, the young colts must have plenty of exercise. 
An open shed arrangement is excellent in most sections of the country for 
this purpose. This shed may be constructed by putting the feeding 
quarters inside and having them bedded so that the colts may have a 
dry place to eat and sleep; but with access to a lot or pasture where 
they may run at will. Colts handled in this way will have long hair, 
but will develop a ruggedness that cannot be obtained with colts that 
are raised with lack of exercise. Winter pasture should be used if avail¬ 
able but it should not be depended on for the entire ration if maximum 
growth is desired. 
“Castration is usually performed when the colt is one year old. If the 
animal is undeveloped in the neck and fore-quarters, the castration is 
sometimes deferred until the second year, but there is less danger of 
losing a colt by castration when one year old than later. Unless colts 
are castrated they usually have to be separated from other horses as 
early as the second winter, as they become a great nuisance, although 
they are not usually capable of getting colts until the second spring. 
“The feed that the yearling should obtain will depend largely on his 
future use. If maximum gain is to be desired, as in the case of pure bred 
colts, they should receive some grain in connection with pasture. If the 
animal is merely growing for market purposes and the pasture is good, 
this should be sufficient. Under range conditions, nothing other than 
grass will be supplied. In sections in which the grass is limited and 
more grain is raised, the grain can be supplied to better advantage. If 
the maximum gains are desired, the colt should be kept up in the day¬ 
time when the flies become bad, and fed some grain, and then turned 
out at night. 
“Plenty of bright legume hay, good water, shed for shelter, and as 
much oats as can be spared is a program that makes for ideal winter 
management of the yearling. If the animals come into the winter in good 
•condition, very little grain is usually needed. A feed of grain once a 
day will help materially in keeping the flesh on the colt, and therefore 
make for larger gains. Under range conditions, the yearlings are usually 
left to run with the bunch, but if maximum size is desired, it would be 
more satisfactory to cut them from the bunch and winter on the better 
pasture, or with hay. With pure-bred stock, when large size is desired, it 
