Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-08-04
Stable Management.

Much depends upon the groom in the
management of horses in the stable.
Frequently very poor grooms get con-
troll of good horses, and the owner suf-
fers the loss resulting from their incor-
potency. 1t is more difficult to find a
competent groom than it is to find an
experienced farmer, skilled mechanic. or
practical sailor, because there is no rule
or mechanical standard by which to de-
termine the groom's competency. An
efficient groom will keep the stable
clean, and purified from the carbonic
acid gas generated from the lungs in
respiration, and the ammonia escaping
from the excrements, so that the horses
will not breathe these gases, which
create disease. He will arrange in all
ways for the comfort and good health
of the animals placed in his charge;
he will have "a place for everything,
and everything in its place." he will be
kind tempered, humane to his horses,
and faithful to his employer, and will
understand his business, and have the
honesty to execute the trust with fidel-
ity, vigilance and economy.
In many stables there is head man,
or superintendent, who takes the re-
sponsibility of managing the stable.
He feeds, or sees that the grain is prop
erly measured out. He keeps order,
oversees every department, secures
cleanliness and vigilance in the serv-
ants, and has the power to discharge
help for inefficiency or bad conduct,
which has q powerful influence over
their good behavior. He provides food,
superintends shoeing, and attends to
the repairs of the stable He does
everything that an agent can do as
well as the principal.
Feeding is one of the most important
duties in the stable. Horses require to
be fed at regular hours, and in such
quantities as will keep the subjects in
condition to perform their daily labor.
Horses at work require about two per
cent. of their live weight as the daily
allowance of food. From sixteen to
eighteen pounds of grain, and an equal
weight of hay, would be considered a
liberal allowance for a large horse in
full work. Small, or idle horses, would
not require more than one-half of that
amount, as the quantity of food will de-
pend upon the size and the amount of
work required of them. They must be
fed enough to supply the natural waste
OF the body, and to re-supply the sub
stance exhausted by the labor per.
formed.
1t is not good policy to let work horses
get thin. 1t costs more to pat on flesh
than it does to keep it on. Flesh that
becomes hardened by exercise will be
kept up with less food, under the same
work, than it took to put it on. From
fifteen to twenty pounds of food will
about supply the daily consumption of
horses, large and small.
The English cavalry horses are fed
ten quarts of oats and twelve pounds of
hay three times day. The American
cavalry horses have had the English ra-
tons increased to thirteen or fourteen
quarts of oats and an equal amount of
hay three times day. The hunter, in
the season, is allowed from sixteen to
eighteen quarts of oats, and about eight
pounds of hay, fed five times day.
The race-horse is allowed from eighteen
to twenty quarts of oats per day, and
nearly as much hay as the hunter, being
usually fed five times day.
The feet and legs of horses require
particular attention. 1t is an old say
ing with horsemen: keep the feet and
legs in order, and the body will take
care of itself" The legs are the first
to fail. The horse, when brought in
from severe, protracted exertion, Should
be rubbed down dry. His legs, from
the knees and hooks down, should be
well hand-rubbed, so that friction will
create insensible perspiration; that will
tend to prevent swelled legs, stiff Joints,
contracted tendons and sprung knees.
When the legs are fevered from over
driving, they should be bandaged with
wet cloths, to take away the heat and
prevent wind-galls, that prove eve.
sores, and which, without diminishing
his capacity for labor, materially affect
the market value of the horse.
The plan of stuffing the feet twice 8
week in dry weather, is adopted by
many with horses used for fast work.
The stuffing generally used consists of
equal parts of clay and cow-dung. Moss
or tow is cleaner stuffing, and quite
superior to clay as an antidote for
thrush and frog diseases. 1t can be
packed in dry, and wet afterward. 1t
will leave the feet sweet, clean and
soft, when washed out regularly with
warm salt water. Shutting prevents the
feet from becoming dry and brittle.
National LtCe Stock Journal.