Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 8, ELE-FOR

Hygeio-
logy.
E Law-
enct on
lorfes,
ol. ii.
225
’art IV. F A Tt It
nourifhment, and will keep a horfe and even fatten him j
but he is unable to labour upon hay alone, and experi¬
ence has fhewn that Bracken’s obfervation of the coii-
ftant ufe of hay injuring the fight of horfes, particular¬
ly if fuddenly put on fuch food after good keeping, is
very juft. Hard upland hay is the beft for race and
coach horfes ; and it fheuld be of a fine greenith colour,
fragrant fcent, and full of flower. It is faid that horfes
and cattle prefer fuch hay as has been fweated, or which
has undergone a partial fermentation : and it is even
thought that they grow much fooner fat on heated hay
than on fuch as has been gotten up dry and cool.
There can be no doubt that fvveated hay contains a
confiderable quantity of fugar, formed during its ftate
of fermentation j this may render the hay more pala¬
table to the beafts, but we have fome doubt whether it
be fo wholefome as frefli well-coloured hay. Clover-hay,
and hay of artificial grafles, from its groflnefs, is appro¬
priated to cart-horfes. Without attempting to afcertain
the precife quantity, it may be faid that hay fhould be
given as often as a horfe has a keen appetite for it j
but great care ftiould be taken that fo much be never
allowed at once, as that he (hall leave it, and blow up¬
on it. At night a confiderable quantity of hay is ufual-
ly left in the rack, and this is no doubt abfolutely ne-
ceflary for horfes who are hard worked during the day,
as night is their moft leifure time for feeding ; but it
admits of doubt whether horfes who live in a ftate of
luxury, and are but little worked, ftiould be indulged
in much hay at night*.
It will obvioufly occur to moft people, that the quan¬
tity and quality of a horfe’s food ftiould be proportion¬
ed to his labour ; that horfes who are lightly worked,
will not in general require fo much or fo nourifhing
food, as thofe who are conftantly kept to hard labour.
It is evident that when horfes ftand idle, and are at the
fame time high fed, they are expofed to many dangerous
difeafes, as inflammation, flaggers, arifing from a too
full habit of body j and thefe difeafes will be more like¬
ly to come on when a horfe that has been thus fed is
fuddenly put to hard labour, or obliged to make any
unufual or violent exertion. But this muft not be
carried too far. Horfes ftiould not, becaufe they have
little work at the time, be entirely confined to grafs, or
grafs and hay, unlefs they are at pafture, and are never
worked. For while a horfe ftands in the liable, and is
liable to be called upon on any emergency, his diet
fliould be fo regulated, as that he ftiall neither be fo fat
and full of blood, as not to perform oecafional work
without difficulty and danger, nor on the other hand,
fo poor and weak, as to be incapable of fupporting ex¬
ertion without injury to himfelf or rider. All horfes
that are fed on grafs and hay alone, are too weak to
perform a good day’s journey without Humbling. A
moderate quantity of corn or other hard food, Ihould
therefore be allowed to fuch horfes as ftand conflantly
in the liable, or who, while at pafture, are occafionally
worked.
Mr Clark obferves, that throwing great quantities of
clean grain before horfes at one time is very improper j
as they eat it too greedily, and fwallow whole mouth¬
fuls of it almoft dry. The moifture in the ftomach, or
water drunk immediately after eating, caufes the grain
to fwell, and thus the ftomach is greatly diftended, and
Jofea its contradling power on the food. By the preffure
iSf
I E R Y. 457
of the full ftomach on the inteftines, the paflage of the Hygeio-
food backwards is obftrudted, and the confined air, _ ^
arifing from the indigelted food, not having a ready "v
paflage backwards, and horfes not poflfeffing the power
of belching, the air becomes rarefied to a great degree,
the horfe is feized with colic pains j as thefe increafe
he becomes convulfed, and in many cafes the ftomach
burfts. Out of a number of cafes where the above wTas
difcovered on diflfedling the bodies, Mr Clark mentions
the two following.
“ A young draught-horfe was fed in the morning
with too great a quantity of barley mixed with peafe,
and had been allowed to drink water immediately
thereafter. He-was yoked to a two-wheeled chaife, in
order to travel a few miles, and was obferved about the
middle of the day to be very uneafy, frequently at¬
tempting to lie down. As foon as he was unyoked he
lay down and tumbled about, frequently lying on his
back, ftarting up fuddenly and turning his head to¬
wards his belly. He continued thus in great agony
till towards next morning, when he died. Upon open¬
ing his body, the ftomach was found burft, the barley
and peafe moftly entire, only greatly fw’elled, and the
whole contents of the ftomach fpread through the ab¬
domen.
“ The other cafe W'as a horfe who had been fed with
too great a quantity of oats and barley, and had been
allowed to drink water freely aftenvards. He was
feized with griping pains, fo that he frequently lay
down and tumbled, feemingly tortured with the moll
acute pains. He died next day. Upon opening his ^
body, the ftomach was found diftended to a moft enor¬
mous fize, but was not burft. Its coats were fo very
thin, from the great diftention it had undergone, that
its cohefion was almoft deftmyed, and had more the ap¬
pearance of a coat of mucus or llime, than the ftomach.
The oats and barley were for the moft part entire as
they were fwallowed, only greatly fwelled from thd
moiflure they had imbibed. /
“ From the cafes now related, it will appear how ne-
ceflary it is not to allow horfes to eat too great a quan¬
tity of clean grain at a time, but to give it in fmall
quantities, and repeated the more frequently. At the
fame time, it will fhow the propriety of mixing with
it a little chopped ftraw, or hay, in order to make them
chew it the more thoroughly before they fwallow ft.
This procefs alfo prepares the food for being properly
digefted, and not a fingle grain of it is loft gri‘
The method of feeding horfes with bruifed grain Prevention,'
and cut ftraw is recommended by the earl of Pembroke,
in his excellent treatife on horfes, as exceedingly proper. 22y
“ Every grain (fays he) goes to nouriffiment. : none is Cut Ilraw.
to be found in the dung 5 and three feeds of it go
further than four as commonly given which have not
been in the mill. But wheaten ftraw, and a little hay
fometimes mixed with it, is excellent food. To a quan¬
tity of corn, put the fame quantity of ftraw. It obli¬
ges them to chew their meat, and is many other ways
°f ^ V' JT r u r rn \ Military
Mr Lawrence duapproves 01 the Ute or ftraw, as Equitation.
containing no nourifhment. In this he probably goes
too far, as both horfes and cattle are in ftraw-yards
often fed with little elfe. He prefers chaff, or cut
clover hay to mix with the corn, efpecially for cart-
horfes. Mr Lawxense, however, allows that cutting
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