The Arizona sentinel., 1886-07-24
FEEDING FOR WORK:
The Kinds of Food Required by Driving
 and Slow-Pulling Horses.


 and Slow-Pulling Horses.
 Work or any other kind of muscular exertion causes a large consumption .ot muscular fiber, as we'll as of fat. It alsd intreases the citculati6h ahd tespitation as well, because the respiration is al. ways proportionate to the circulation, and thus causes a waste of heat This is known by the precipitation produced by sevete muscular exettion; and this is simply method of nature to get rid of the excess of heat. It therefore results that an animal which is working re- quires an increased quantity of food of both nitrogenous and carbonaceous character to make up for the waste of muscle, largely consisting of nitrogen; 5tis ttiatter ahd tile loss of heat, which consumes carbon: The muscular ex- ertion is accompanied by disin- tegration of fiber and it's absorption into the blood, from which it is filtered by the kidneys in the form of urea. A great many experiments have been made to elueidate this point, Both upon work ing animals and men who have beeti subjected to severe labor, as soldiers on march and the professional pedestri- ans, whose muscular work has been of the most exhausting kind. The results of these investigations have been re- duced to rules by which the owners of establishments where many horses are in use fix the rations and the choice of various foods. Another element, how ever, comes into the consideration, which is the relative cheapness of the various kinds of food, for wliere profit is the end In viewt the varying prices are, of course, taken into account. Thus oats are considerably dearer than corn pound for pound, and containing more indigestible fiber, and unless there is some good reason why oats should be used corn is more economical food.
 There are two kinds of work: Fast driving and slow pulling. as blowing or handling heavy loads upon roads. The difference between these two kinds of work would reasonably call for different feeding. The fast working horse exerts the lungs more freely than the slow worker; hence, the food should be more concentrated but yet digestible; it should also contain sufficient quantity of fiber mixed with the finer matter to give the masticated food a porous conscience and prevent it from forming a too solid mass in the stOf1iach: Oats are precisely the kind of food required to meet such a case. The husk of oats forms large portion of the substance of the grain, while the kernel is rich in nitrogenous matter, and has sufficient carbonaceous matter to supply all the needs of the lungs, which are stimulated by the mus cular action to greatly increased eXer- tion. The oats contain precisely the requisite proportions of fine and coarse matter for the horses aliment in suf- ficiently concentrated condition to avoid overlooking the stomach, and are thus the best food for the fast working horse, which needs no hay. But to get the best results from this grain it should be crushed, and should be fed four times a day, so that the system is never exhaust ed for want of food.
 The slow working horse, on the con. Irary, the farm horse for instance, does not require concentrated food nor so frequent feeding, because its work is slower and the consumption of force is not so great. A nature richer in car bonaceous elements is required, and as bulk is not objectionable cheaper food may be used The rat on of city car horse, for instance, which does not travel more than four miles an hour, is about fourteen pounds of hay and twenty pounds of corn-meal, finely ground, and on this feed the horses travel about twenty miles per day. The meal is never fed alone and always with cut hay, which is wetted, and it is found that the finer the meal is the better it sticks to and mixes with the hay, and the better, therefore, it is digested. To feed whole corn and long hay has been proved over and over again to be a waste of one-third of the food, and to feed fine meal dry and alone, without the cut hay, is exceedingly dangerous, and apt to produce fatal attack of collie. Where economy is not a pressing necessity an excellent feed is ten bushels of corn, ten bushels of oats, five bushels of rye and one bushel of hax-seed ground together. This meal affords every element required for slow working horse, and the oil of the fax-seed has most excellent medicinal effect upon the bowels, as well as SUD- plying carbonaceous and fattening mat ter which is specially adapted to the healthful supply of oil-glands of the skin. The soft glossy coat of the horse fed upon this mixture is com- mon one among the best farmers of Eastern and Central Pennsylvania, who grow tlax-seed for the special purpose of feeding it to their horses and calves proves how this food fits the functions of the skin. Where the grain ration is rich, the hay may be reduced in quantity and straw substituted for it. The Penn sylvania farmers use their rye straw for horse feed and sell hay, bringing back for every ton of hay a large load of which taxes the full strength of their enormous wagons and their power- ful four-horse teams. The nitrogenous character of clover hay fits it excellent ly for the food of working horses, and if it is cut and wetted and mixed with corn- meal cakes, without any other mix ture, sufficient food for the hardest worked farm horses. N. r. 7Vuteo.