492 
REMOUNT HORSES IN INDIA. 
the sale of litter; the price varies very much at different stations and 
according to the season of the year. I got here during the past year 
21 rupees per*.month, which I spend on linseed oil and other extras. 
The daily ration per horse is 10 lbs. of corn of sorts and 26 lbs. dry 
grass : green food can generally be obtained up to a certain extent at 
the rate of 2 lbs. of green for 1 lb. of dry grass j 1 oz. of salt per horse 
is also allowed. 
In most parts of India the grain used is gram ; in the Madras Pre¬ 
sidency, coolthi takes the place of gram. Gram should be given 
crushed, and slightly damped. Coolthi requires boiling until quite 
soft, just enough water being added to be absorbed in the boiling. 
Bran can generally be drawn pound for pound in lieu of gram or 
coolthi by applying to the Commissariat Officer; if he be unable to do 
this, the contractor will generally manage it. In the hot weather it is 
advisable to give less grain and more bran. 
In the battery I command, from April to July, the horses get about 
5 lbs. of gram to 4 lbs. of bran, one pound of gram per horse per day 
being stored away for the cold season, when the work is heavy. (This 
I arrange with the contractor.) From November till March they get 
7 lbs. of gram to 4 or 5 lbs. of bran—the gun horses about 8 lbs. of 
gram. Their daily ration is also supplemented during these months by 
4 or 5 lbs. of lucerne and carrots, which are purchased out of the funds 
made by selling litter, etc., aud provided by the battery garden. 
A good division of the daily feeds is as follows :—About \ \ lbs. at 
5 a.in. before going out, dividing the rest into three feeds, one at 10 a.m., 
another at 1 p.m., and another at 6 p.m., but different men have, of 
course, different ideas on this subject. I recommend that a board be 
hung up in the stable of each sub-division showing each horses* feed, 
with a column left blank for extras. Some horses may be on all bran, 
some on extra corn, some may be getting green grass, and some linseed 
oil. The C.O. selects the horses for these extras, the Section Officers 
see the order entered on the board opposite the horse’s number, and 
the Nos. 1 carry it out. 
Watering. 
The watering of the horses requires a good deal of supervision; it 
is imperative that an officer attends every watering parade. Nearly 
all the kicks and treads occur at the water trough, when the syces are 
watering at mid-day and on holidays, if not well looked after. 
I have found, from experience, that horses during the hot months 
will drink more water late in the evening than at any time during the 
day, and I always have them watered in the lines from buckets at 
8 p.m. Most batteries do not water after evening stable hour, about 
5 p.m., and the horses are not watered again till after parade in the 
morning, about 7.30 or 8 a.m. I maintain that this is a very wrong 
system. The ordinary water parades are daily about 7.30 to 8.30 
after morning parade, 9.30 a.m. at stable hour, 12.30 mid-day, 5 p.m. 
evening stable hour, and 8 p.m. 
During the hot weather I strongly recommend stopping the horses* 
fore feet with cow dung and clay. The fore feet become very hard 
