HORSES AT GRASS

Otago Witness, Issue 2997, 23 August 1911, Page 17

HORSES AT GRASS

i The reasons why horses are turned out fcc grass at different seasons of the year, prin* cipally, of couree, during the summer months, are many and varied, which meana that owners are actuated by different motives, or have different objects in view. A horse running at liberty in the fields a.n|d I living on grass is placed under conditions ! more nearly akin to those of Nature than, it is possible to secure in any other wavi and yet turning out has its drawbacks and : its risks, and the practice of running mature horses at grass, is undoubtedly becoming lees popular than it was years ago. It goes without saying that the held k the best place for' the in-foai mare thai is not called upon to do any work during the gestation period, and also for the mare and foal during the suckling oeriod, and for the colt from weaning time until taken into work. Exercise is essential to the hetalth, of the mare and the development of the j growing foetus, grass is the best material j for milk production, and the freedom of 'the field is better for the colt than tlha confinement of the yard or the loosebox. Climate, of course, makes some difference, but not so much as the supply of food; for horses suffer very little from exposure in an ordinary English winter —unless, perhaps, in the _ north—4f they have plenty to eat. There is a saying among horse men that the best time'of year at which to turn horses out is for " six weeks in the month of May'-' (November in New Zealand). Good pasture grass in May has an albuminoid ratio as narrow as 1 to 4, which two months later is widened to 1 to 7, and this is why grass is so well adapted for mares and foals during the early part of the summer, and why, later, on some assistance is often needed. — > Considering that there is some land that will fatten a big bullock to the acre without any cake, and much on which a sheep to the same area is over-stocking, it is obvious that there is a vast difference ja the quality of keep; but to some grass is grass, and it is difficult to get them to appreciate the fact that there is a vast difference between the" nutrient properties of grass in' spring and early summer and' grass in autumn and winter. It generally ipays to give the mare arid foal—and certainly the colt—a bit of. corn to supplement the grass, especially when the summer is over. Corn-Ted colts may be brought into work earlier than, those getting grass only. Nutrient-feeding develops "the frame and muscles, and colts that get a generous allowance of corn are generally as wed furnished as grass-fed animals a year o'der. It is corn-feeding that renders two-year-old racing possible. Colts—indeed, all horses, even those that have been stabled—prefer the open field, even in bad weather, and we often see them lying out in. the sno*w when tihere is a comfortable shed for them to run into; but if a shelter is provided, and they are fed in it, they will often be found there at other times, and it is good policy to keep oolts in the open, and, provide a rough shelter and feed them in it once or twice a dav. Some owners —especially farmers and country residents having a paddock attached to their 'houses—turn out because they have an idea that a horee can be

kept more cheaply in the field than in the stable. In point of actual cost for food it can, but all the same there is reason to doubt its economy. It is impossible to have either hard or fast work on what is vulgarly known as. a grass belly, for, as every 'horseman knows, it is no more possible to have condition on grass than it is for the athlete to get "fit" on cabbage. The man who will keep a horse when he only has use for half of one find it convenient to run the animal in the' paddock! The cost of keep is less, tho animal not so likely to " wax fat and) kick," and it requires much less attention in the way of feeding, grooming, and exercise, giving the man more time to dig in the garden, feed the pigs, milk the cow, and wait on the maids in the house. The worst of it is that this class of owner is generally thd most unreasonable, and when pleasure or business impels him to take a ride or drive Oi© wants to go as fast and as far as anybody else whose horso is in "hard" condition.

It is something the same with the farm horse, except that the pace is slow ; but tho horse that is turned out after his work to walk about for the greater part of the night in search of food, and that is crmght up in the morning, to bolt a feed of "pilkings," or attenuated Russians, while he is scratched over with a currycomb and has his harness flung on him, cannot be in such good trim to do a day's work us th>i ibotrse that has had all his food prenired and placed before him, and an opportunity of resting on. a good bed after he has consumed it.—Mark Lane Express.