. 600 
CARE OF THE TROOP HORSE. 
Forage. 
Teeth. 
barley, or gram, with which we feed our horses, are more or less 
artificial food to them; therefore, you should, with young horses, give 
grain at first in moderation, otherwise you will upset their stomachs. 
All grain should be crushed and mixed with chaff, to prevent horses 
bolting it, which many will do ; you can easily trace those that do so 
by examining the droppings; some grains are more heating than others, 
gram is especially so; this is the staple food in India, it should at first 
be given in very small quantities and mixed with an equal weight of 
bran. 
Oats are the best of all grains, next, I think, barley, especially if 
parched (roasted); this process counteracts the irritant effect which the 
husk has on the stomach. Indian corn, though not good alone, when 
mixed with a third of its weight of gram, answers very well; Cooltee 
requires boiling, and I don’t like it myself, though it is used in Madras. 
A pound or two of boiled barley in the evening’s feed is an excellent 
thing for thin and backward horses, boil with but little water, and do 
not throw the water away. For bad doers and horses that are thin 
and hidebound, or otherwise in poor condition, 1 lb. of linseed boiled, 
with the evening’s feed, will, after a month or so, often bring about a 
marvellous change; if you cannot manage to boil the linseed then buy 
a barrel of linseed oil from some cake-makers, and give 4 ozs. a day in 
the food, two in the morning and two in the evening, for some time. 
At home I recommend always having a barrel on hand. In India I 
have often used the refuse linseed, after it has been crushed, with suc¬ 
cess, you can buy it in the bazaar, the natives use it for their cows. 
Every horse should have from 1 to 2 ozs. of salt daily, and if possible 
also a piece in the manger to lick. Black pepper mixed in the food is 
an excellent stomachic, as also is turmeric. The latter is very useful 
in cases of indigestion, give one tablespoon full in each feed. As young 
horses cannot go so long on empty stomachs as old ones, try and feed 
them oftener. 
A good alterative condition powder is as follows : two parts sulphur, 
two parts epsom salts, and one part black antimony, give a couple of 
tablespoons full for five or six days in the evening food. 
Some horses, like men, suffer from indigestion very much, and others 
soon get liverish if they get too much corn. In the latter case, stop all 
corn, give green food liberally, and a good drench of 12 ozs. of epsom 
salts, followed by 4 ozs. linseed oil, to move the bowels. They will 
probably get all right in a few days, if fever sets in they may give 
trouble and be very wrong for some time. 
Horses that do not masticate their food may be suffering from sharp 
or bad teeth; always have them examined and, if sharp, filed, I attribute 
a good deal of bad condition to bad teeth. Some horses will, however, 
do what you will, always look bad, bad constitutioned horses; it may 
be hereditary and it may be from being overworked, as four or five- 
year-olds, before they were fit; if you look up many of these in the 
horse-book you can often trace the date of their ruin to some camp of 
exercise, or long march, during their first season. Also there are good 
horses that never carry flesh from a nervous temperament, as there 
are men that do the same; some inspecting officers appear unable to 
