310 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1902. 
Horses require water at frequent intervals. To let an animal drink its 
full at 7 a.m. and then work till noon, without any refreshment, is cruelty. If 
men would but pause, and think of the effect of a drink on themselves, perhaps 
they would have more consideration for the patient horses. The man feels 
thirsty after following in the dust of a harrow for an hour, and he quenches 
his thirst by a good drink from the bag. Now, as he gets to work again, the 
violent exercise causes him to perspire freely, and it is not long before the loss 
of moisture by perspiration requires replenishing. Then, again, he has recourse 
toa “quencher” from the bag. Why, in the name of humanity, can he not 
consider that the same causes produce the same effect on the horses? There 
would be little time lost if they were allowed a drink every two hours. They 
would work the better for it, and be less liable to internal disorders from 
overloading their stomachs with fluid at long intervals. I cannot too strongly 
impress upon you and on all men in charge of horses that the animals like to 
drink little, but often. ‘The renowned Sarah Gamp used to say, ‘Put the 
bottle on the mantelshelf and let me help myself when I feel so dispoged,” for 
which see Dickens’s ‘“‘ Martin Chuzzlewit.” 
In the same way, the horses mutely appeal to their driver, ‘‘ Put some 
water on the field and let me help myself when I am so disposed, which is at 
intervals of two hours.” 
The following advice about watering a horse is given by the Agricultural 
World :—‘‘1t has been found that a horse drinks less water in a given time if 
he has continual access to water in the stable than when watered at long 
intervals; and nothing can be said against this practice, except that the water 
is apt to become stale and foul by absorbing the ammonia generated from the 
urine, unless constantly changed. A horse should always be allowed to quench 
his thirst after coming in from work, even if he is hot. A very general opinion 
exists that it is injurious to water horses when they come in from work in a 
heated state, and they are, therefore, in many instances, not watered until they 
have somewhat cooled down; this opinion is fallacious, as it does not hurt 
horses to drink cold water directly they return from work. It is, however, 
hurtful to let a horse drink after he is partly cooled down, and this practice is 
very liable to cause a chill to the system. It may often be noticed that horses 
that have come in hot, and are not watered directly, but some time afterwards, 
commence to shiver after drinking a pailful of water, whereas if a horse is 
allowed to drink before the blood has cooled down be will not do so. The 
explanation of this is, no doubt, as follows :—Cold water, on entering the body, 
absorbs a certain amount of heat from the system, in order to bring its 
temperature up to the internal temperature of the animal drinking it. In the 
case of a horse in a hot state the loss of heat is not felt, as there is sufficient 
heat to spare; whereas in a horse which has already partly cooled down, and 
whose system has begun to flag, the sudden further loss of heat occasioned by 
the cold water entering the body and absorbing heat causes the system to 
become chilled.” 
As to feeding your horses, you should study well their constitution. One 
horse will have a good appetite and eat up all his dinner and be ready for the 
afternoon’s work in reasonable time, while a horse with a poor appetite will 
take more time and pick out the best parts. This is no fault of the horse. He 
wants some appetising medicine. Give him something, less in quantity, but 
better in quality—a little bran or pollard, for instance. This will enable the 
weaker horse to keep up to his work. Old horses must have more attention 
than younger ones in the matter of food. Itis unreasonable to expect old 
horses to do the same amount of work as younger ones on the same kind and 
amount of food. Remember that horses have small stomachs, so they should 
not be fed too much at one time. If you allow a horse to gorge himself, he 
will get indigestion. 
Don’t feed hay in the middle of the day. Give the heaviest feed at night, 
when he will have plenty of time to digest it. Some horses require more hay 
or chaff than others. Study your horse, and never feed him so that he looks 
