horses drinking cold water, than when the system has begun to flag; and that, in the latter case, the water should be made slightly tepid, or a bucket of gruel should be substituted for the cold fluid. As the application of cold causes contraction of the muscular coats of the blood vessels, so does it retard the absorption of water which is taken into the stomach.

When a horse goes through violent and continued exertion without drinking, the amount of water in his blood falls below its normal quantity. If this loss is considerable, the thickened blood will be unable to circulate through the lungs with its wonted facility; in fact, more or less congestion takes place, while the action of the heart becomes laboured in its efforts to pump this abnormally dense fluid through the system. If a horse, in this state, be given a couple of gallons of water, they will be absorbed at once into the blood, and will restore it, more or less completely, to its normal fluidity; while the action of the lungs and heart will be almost instantaneously relieved, and the feelings of distress will rapidly subside. But had water been denied until the horse had cooled down, the prolonged distress, even if the congestion had passed off with no bad results, would undoubtedly tell on the animal's condition and spirits. In accordance with this principle, I have adopted, with the best results, the practice of giving half a bucket of water to race-horses I have had in training, immediately after their gallops.

Those who have had to ride long distances, in hot countries, are well aware of the advisability of allowing their mounts to drink frequently during a journey, at

any good water near which they may pass, even when the horse is bathed in perspiration.

In Northern India the ecka (a small two-wheeled trap) ponies, which average about 13 hands 1 inch in height, frequently travel 50 to 60 miles a day over unmetalled roads during the hottest weather, when the noontide heat often exceeds 120° in the shade. Such performances can only be accomplished by watering the ponies every 7 or 8 miles the system pursued being that they get at each bait from 1 to 2lbs. of suttoo mixed in a couple of quarts of water. This is in accordance with the practice-generally adopted by stokers and firemen on board steamers— of mixing oatmeal with the water they drink. These men, who are exposed to intense heat, and consequently are obliged to drink very large quantities of water, experience the greatest advantage from this precaution.

In the stable, I think the best system is to allow a constant supply of water: a practice which is not alone beneficial to "washy" horses that scour easily, to roarers and to broken-winded animals, but also is particularly well calculated to prevent and to cure the pernicious habit of wind-sucking.

CHAPTER VI.

Practical Rules for Feeding and Watering Horses. FROM the theoretical considerations detailed in the two preceding chapters, and from the results of experience, we may draw the following conclusions:

1. The horse's corn should be given dry; except when the grain—such as linseed, kúlthee, &c.—is too hard, in its natural condition, to be properly masticated ; when, from old age and other causes, the animal's powers of chewing are impaired; and when the appetite has to be humoured in sickness.

The only way I can account for the practice-now happily falling into disuse of steeping grain in water, before giving it to the horse, is that it is done with the idea of causing the grain to swell, as much as possible, before entering the stomach, in order that it may not do so after arriving there, especially, on the eventuality of the animal being subsequently supplied with water. Those who adopt such a precaution, entirely ignore the fact that it is the evolution of gas-resulting from the decomposition of the foodwhich produces flatulent colic and rupture of the stomach, and not any swelling of the grain, which, if it be given dry-as we have previously seen-will become saturated with a greater quantity of saliva than that of its own bulk, before it even reaches the stomach. The

danger of a horse choking himself—if the stableman take the most ordinary precautions-is purely imaginary.

2. The different grains, before being given to the horse, may be prepared as follows:

Oats and wheat, bruised.

Gram, Indian corn, and rice in husk, roughly broken; the last mentioned may be previously parched.

Barley, parched and roughly broken. If the parching be dispensed with, this grain should at first be cautiously given to the animal, as it is then apt to scour him.

3. The following forms a list of Indian foods, calculated to maximum amounts :—

I have assumed Indian oats to contain about a quarter

less nutriment than English corn.

Bearing in mind the difficulty there often is in procuring certain grains in many parts of India, I

E

have varied the proportions, so as to suit horse owners who have but a limited supply of particular grains, such as oats for instance.

The reader may rely on these foods being suitable in practice, as well as correct in theory. Nos. 6, 8, 9, and 10 are those I would specially recommend. The first mentioned is the best for hard-worked horses, such as those used in racing; No. 10 for similar animals when low in condition; while the other two can be very generally procured, and at a cheap rate. The amounts are intended for a full sized Waler, or English horse. During ordinary work, we may give from two-thirds to three-fourths of them. One-half will be sufficient during idleness.

4. A 13 hand pony will eat about half as much as a large horse; while an Arab will, as a rule, require about 4lbs. less than the latter.

5. The amount of grain, given to the animal, should be proportionate to the work he is called upon to perform, remembering, always, that there is a constant waste of tissue going on which demands repair by food.

6. When a horse is comparatively idle, his food may consist of one-third to one-half of bran, and twothirds to one-half of oats, Indian corn, barley, or paddy— in preference to gram or kúlthee, say 8 or 10 lbs. altogether. The same practice may, with advantage, be observed during the hot weather.

7. Horses should not be allowed to run down in condition, even when out of work, for in India, especially, it takes a long time to put flesh on them again.