Essays on horse subjects

Experience proves that there is no better concentrated food for a horse for good hard work than oats. This can be readily explained. First of all, it contains the essential flesh-forming, fat and heat-producing elements in approximately their proper ratio. It also supplies to the nervous system, as no other grain appears to do to the same degree, the sustenance that gives life and ambition. In addition to this, oats have a physical property that mechanically fits them for ready digestion in a greater degree than any other grain. This is due to the fact that the particles of the meal are more loosely put together than in any other grain and that the hull is coarser. On this account, when a masticated mass of oats enters the stomach, owing to its looseness it is readily permeated by the digestive fluid, so that digestion goes on readily and thoroughly. Possibly the most indigestible of all grains, when fed by itself, either ground or whole, is wheat, and this is due to its physical character. A mass of wheat forms a tough, glue-like lump in the stomach, so that it is comparatively impervious to the action of the digestive fluid, and digestion goes on slowly and imperfectly, and is apt to be arrested, causing serious indigestion. Peas and beans, owing to their flinty nature, are also less digestible than oats. Corn, when fed whole, is fairly easily digested, but when ground is difficult of digestion, unless the cobs are also ground with it, which renders it more pervious. Wheat, corn, pea and bean meal can be rendered much more digestible by being fed thoroughly mixed with a little chaffed hay. The chaffed hay, when consumed with the meal, renders the meal more pervious to the action of the digestive fluid and consequently more digestible. Where, from economy or convenience, it is found desirable to use any of these grains for horses, it can be done with comparative safety, if they are ground and fed with chaffed hay. When meal is fed with chaff in this way, it is generally quite thoroughly moistened, which is a mistake, as in this condition it is apt to be too hastily eaten and too imperfectly mixed with saliva to be thoroughly digested. One reason given for moistening is that it makes the meal stick to the chaff and insures the two being consumed together. There is something in this, but, as a rule, if they are thoroughly mixed, there will be enough of the chaff consumed to insure the digestibility of the meal. If moistening is done at all, it should be done only slightly. A horse is so constituted that the major portion of his feed should be fed to him dry, as in this condition he will digest it more thoroughly and with less liability to digestive troubles.

Of course, a certain amount of laxative food is necessary in order to mildly stimulate the bowels and keep them sufficiently active. Some horses cannot stand laxative food without their bowels becoming unduly relaxed. To such it is better not to give any, particularly if they are going to work the next day. It is an interesting point to study, and one that throws some light on the peculiarities of the digestive tract, to explain why bran mash, boiled feed and roots act as laxatives. They do not possess any purgative principle, as aloes does. If a dose of aloes is given to a horse, it is dissolved in the stomach, taken up by the blood vessels, going the round of the circulation, and is eventually eliminated by the glands of the bowels, increasing their secretion very much and rousing the action of the coats of the bowels, so that a large quantity of liquid excrement is passed. An explanation sometimes given of the laxative action of mash and the like, is that it is due to the increased amount of liquid supplied by the moist food; but that is not a satisfactory explanation, as there is not enough of it to make any difference. The most reasonable explanation appears to be that it acts as a laxative by virtue of its indigestibility. It apparently acts in the way that oil does. Small quantities, as a couple of ounces, of linseed oil, given three times a day to a horse, are digested and cause the animal to accumulate fat; but if a pint or a pint and a half is given, it will not be digested, but passes on into the bowels and stimulates them, causing laxative action. It will be noticed that it is the undigested portion of the oil that causes the purging. So it is with boiled feed and mash. It is on account of a considerable quantity not being digested, that passes into the bowels and stimulates their action. This is beneficial up to a certain point, but if the bowels are overstimulated, irritation is apt to result and the system is robbed of some nutrition. Horses that are not worked or worked very little, can stand, and, in fact, require more laxative food than those more exerted. Active exertion of itself has a naturally stimulating effect upon the bowels.

The lesson we learn from all this, is that moist food for horses should be given with care and judgment. Given too frequently or in too large quantities at a time, it is apt to cause indigestion and undue relaxation of the bowels. Most horses that are doing little work, such as those in moderate exercise, are benefited by a little boiled oats and barley, given every evening. This is a very good plan, particularly for sale horses. It is a good rule to follow with hard-worked horses, that if they happen to stand in for a day, a mash should be substituted for their evening meal of grain. With horses that work hard and regularly six days in the week, the general custom of giving the mash on Saturday evening is a good one; but in the case of horses that may be left in for the day at irregular intervals, it is usually the best plan to give simply a mash for the evening meal instead of grain.

Veterinarians meet with a frequently fatal disease called by them azoturia, which in almost all cases is a preventable disease, due to an error in feeding. It usually occurs in horses used to regular work and good feed being kept idle for a few days and getting as much feed as when they are working. It has been found in large stables that with the carrying out of the rule that if a horse does not go out during the day he shall have no grain in the evening, but only a mash, there will be very few, if any, of these cases.

Indiscretion in watering horses sometimes leads to derangement of the digestive organs. The chief trouble arises from allowing too long intervals to elapse in watering. Under normal conditions water may be given as often as it will be taken, and it is rare that a horse will take too much, unless he is very warm. Even when he is quite warm, a quart or two may be given with impunity. The proper plan is to water before feeding, as the water is then rapidly absorbed and does not interfere with digestion. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get many horses to drink, particularly in cool weather, before feeding, and they have to be watered afterwards; it is, however, wise to allow an hour to elapse before doing so. If a horse takes a full feed of grain and a drink shortly afterwards and is then put to any violent exertion, he is very apt to suffer from digestive derangement. If a horse is suffering from diarrhœa, or is purging from a dose of physic, water must be restricted and slightly chilled; otherwise, superpurgation and death may result.

An irrational plan of salting horses sometimes causes trouble. That horses require salt is generally recognized, but a great many follow the plan of giving it at intervals of a week or more, when they become very ravenous for it and eat a great deal of it, which makes them so thirsty that they will drink immoderately, and this will sometimes cause digestive derangement. Horses should have access to salt constantly; they then get the most benefit from it.

Before leaving the subject of feeding, it should have been stated that care should be taken in making changes of diet, which should not be done too abruptly, particularly changes to food which, if eaten hurriedly or in considerable quantities, is apt to cause indigestion. Good examples of such food are roots, boiled grain and grass. An attack of indigestion in a horse that is a good feeder may almost certainly be caused by giving too large a feed of roots or boiled grain or by turning him into a fresh clover field that has a luxurious growth of herbage. If the grass is short, and he has to work hard for his feed, he can be safely turned into a pasture field; but where there is luxuriant growth, there should be several days’ restricted feeding before it is safe to allow some horses, particularly greedy feeders, liberty to eat at will.

In all horses in which the excrement from the bowels shows evidence of imperfect mastication, the cause should be sought for, and removed if possible. Greedy feeders bolt their grain, not taking time for perfect mastication. This not only results in waste, but is apt to cause irritation also. Bolting the grain may be prevented in a variety of ways. Numbers of feed boxes have been invented to overcome this trouble, some of which are fairly effectual. The old-fashioned plan of putting a number of stones amongst the grain works very well. The addition of an equal quantity of bran to the grain is also an assistance, but really the most effectual plan, where practicable, is to mix two or three pounds of chaffed hay with the grain. In the case of horses which do not bolt their grain, where there is evidence of imperfect mastication, the grinders should be thoroughly examined. This should be done by a qualified and reputable veterinarian. The wandering, self-styled horse dentist should be carefully avoided, as he is apt to injure the teeth by the over-use of the forceps and tooth-rasp. Many horses’ lives are shortened by allowing unprincipled and ignorant men to ill-treat the teeth.

Horses are more liable than almost any other species, to irregular growths of the grinders, owing to their peculiar anatomical arrangement. The two rows of grinders in the upper jaw are further apart than those in the lower, and consequently overlap them on either side. The grinding surface is beveled, and in the upper jaw slants from within outwards, forming a ridge on the outside of each row. The arrangement in the lower jaw is just the opposite, the ridge coming on the inside. In order that grinding of the food may take place in a perfect manner, the teeth must come into perfect apposition. If the grinders do not come into perfect contact in the process of grinding, the food is not only imperfectly masticated, but the teeth wear irregularly. Nature’s method of keeping the teeth of normal dimensions is by the wear they experience during grinding. If from any cause this wear does not take place throughout all the grinding surface, irregular projections form, and are most apt to be found on the outer ridge of the upper rows of grinders and on the inner of the lower ones. These projections are liable to interfere with mastication to a degree proportionate to their size, and sometimes cut and abrade the cheeks and tongue. When the mouth is in such a condition, it will be much benefited by proper attention. The owner, however, should not be misled by traveling dentists into thinking that all horses’ teeth require attention. The dentist points out the projecting ridges on the outside of the upper rows and on the inside of the lower ones, and makes the owner believe this to be an abnormal condition. Some owners seem to think, or are made to think, that the grinding surfaces should be level from side to side, instead of beveled, as nature made them.

In addition to the tendency to injurious projections on the grinders, as already described, we not infrequently find on the front part of the first upper grinders and on the back part of the last lower ones, prominences of considerable size. These are found generally in horses with “parrot mouths,” or what are sometimes called “overshot mouths.” This is a deformity, as the upper jaw is placed a little too far forward with respect to the lower one, so that a portion of the first upper grinders and of the last lower ones do not come in contact with opposing teeth. These are not kept of normal dimensions by wear; consequently, projections are formed, which seriously interfere with mastication, and otherwise injure the mouth. Occasionally a broken or decayed tooth is found, which also gravely interferes with the grinding of the food. If from any cause the power of mastication is impaired, it results not only in waste, but the imperfectly prepared food is liable to cause digestive derangement. If a horse is found to slobber at the mouth and to have difficulty in eating, the teeth should always be carefully examined by an expert.