CARE OF THE HORSE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19027, 26 May 1925, Page 14

CARE OF THE HORSE.

"THE KING OF ANIMALS." ECONOMICAL FEEDING. VALUE OF. GROOMING.

11Y W.S.

Tho feeding oE domestic animals is an important item in fann management, and one that deserves careful study. Those classes of feed that are cheapest and most suitable to the class of stock to be fed will naturally bo most commonly used. Oat's being the staple food lor horses in New Zealand is in such demand that in many instances for the better classes of Ziats tho price is almost prohibitive, <jt least on anything like a liberal basis. Those, however, who are in the fortunate position of producing their own horse iced will not feel the outlay as will those who have to buy from'the merchant or elsewhere. There are many who possess working horses who will find it dilhcult to feed oats in liberal quantity. Therefore a short article on tho care of the horse and the feeding of it on an economical scale may prove helpful to those who happen to bo in tho position above mentioned. The horse deserves every care that man can possible, bestow upon him, vet lie is often looked upon by careless individuals as a mere, slave, and any treatment is good enough for him so long as he can pull through his work. In recent years ./the dairy cows or the fat lambs have received most attention, while the horse—the king of the domestic animals —because he does not happen to produce marketable produce, such as butter-fat or meat suitable for local consumption or for export purposes, is looked upon as a secondary consideration, and is expected to perform his daily work upon food that is quite inadequate to his requirements. Besides being poorly fed, the horse, in the .hands of a earless or merciless master, is., often subjected to rough treatment, which no amount of feeding can wholly amend. It is the horse which performs the work necessary for the successful growth of our various forage and other crops, whereby other classes of stock are kept more adequately supplied witji suitable food. In other words, the horse feeds the other animals of tho farm. P.ation According to Work. For slow work, such as tho ordinary draught horse is asked to perform, the food need not bo of a very concentrated farm; / that'is to say, the grain ration need not be so high as for light horses doing fast work. In the latter case, if we cut out a large percentage of the grain feed and substitute it for food of a more bulky nature, this would have the effect of encouraging a large abdomen, a condition undesirable in the light horse, whereas it is not so objectionable in the heavy horse. Notwithstanding this, however, tho 1 draught horse should be given a liberal supply of nutritious food. It is almost impossible to state a ration suitable under all circumstances, as there are so many conditions under which even the draught horse has to work, beside* which conditions under which the various foodstuffs are / grown vary considerably. With this in view, tho .farmer must use his own judgment and feed according to the nature of the work he is expected t6" perform; also tho cheapest and most easily obtainable, and, at the, same tirno, t lie'most suitable food for th 6 animal's needs. In all cases, however, the working horse doing full work should have as much food of a nutri- / tious nature as he can comfortably digest. The large majority of draught horses in the Dominion are fed on oat sheaf chaff, with or without oats added. Many prominent farmers consider oat sheaf chaff of good quality without extra oat added quite strong enough feed for the ordinary draught hor£e doing slow work, while others feed heavily with oats in addition to oaten chaff and consider it pays. They contend that their horses cannot do full day's work continually if oats or some substitute be not liberally fed. This is a somewhat difficult point to decide, as both arguments are reasonable under certain conditions. If the oaten ' chtff is heavy and of good quality, say, not exceeding 25 bags to the ton, and horses are allowed to consumo as much as they can and given ample time to satisfy their . appetite, they will perform ordinary farm work, with ease, and keep in good condition, whilo if tho chaff is light, say 28 or 30 bags to the ton, and horses are expected to do full work, a little extra pats may bo necessary to keep them, in thriving condition. Value of Molasses. If, however, additional oats arc not available and the horse's condition is suffering, some appetiser may be used. Molasses diluted is one of the most useful / and most economical things for this purpose. It can be obtained in large barrels and supplied at a very moderate rate. The best way to use it is to put about half a bucket of molasses into another barrel and fill up with water and stir until thoroughly mixed, then at / each meal a little of this diluted molasses is sprinkled over the feed. The horses soon become very fond of the feed so treated. This besides encouraging them to eat a larger quantity o: feed has a beneficial effect upon the animal, as it acts as a corrective and is an excellent sub- < stitute for carrots or other roots, and is on the whole cheaper feeding. A barrel will go a long way,-and providing the team is carefully handled they will do all the work required of them and keep in the pink of condition without adding oats to the sheaf-chaff. 'lt must ever be borne in mind, however, that if bulky feed is used a longer time must be allowed for feeding, as a larger bulk must bo consumed to make up for tho deficiency in weight. If this simplo rule is observed there is no reason why the draught horse should not perform ordinary farm work, on good, well-chaffed oat-sheaves. It is a good plan to Sprinkle a little salt over the feed, unless free access to rock-salt is allowed, in which case additional salt need not be added. Grooming is also an important item in team management, but unfortunately for the animals this part of the management j is too often neglected in tho draught ' horse. Next to feeding and watering it is the. one thing conducive to health and comfort, j Good grooming promotes healthy*circulation, and tends to carry off noxious matter from the body.