Nebraska advertiser., 1882-08-03
Stable Management.


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 incom-
potency. IL is more difficult to find
competent groom than il is to find an
experienced farmer, skilled mechanic, or
practical sailor, because there is no rule
or mechanical standard by which TO de-
tcrmine 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 he
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. lie keeps order
oversees every department, secures
cleanliness and vigilance in the serv.
ants, and has the power to discharge
help for ineliciency or bad conduct,
which has a 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 i'm
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 put 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 IA
tions increased to thirteSn or fourh n
quarts of oats and an equal amount o.
hay three times a 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 a day.
The feet and legs of horses require
particular attention. II is an old say
ing with horsemcn: 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 i'm
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 eye
sores, and which, without diminishing
his capa ity for labor, materially affect
the market value of the horse.
The plan of stulling the feet twice a
week in dry weather, is adopted by
many with horses used for fast work.
The stuiling generally used consists of
equal parts of clay and COW dung. Moss
or tow is cleaner stuling, and quite
superior to clay rs 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. Stuiling prevents the
feet from becoming dry and brittle
National Lire Stock JOur7lai.
The Survey Of EoSta,n paIaStiun