The farmer and mechanic., 1911-07-04
DIET AND FOOD OF HORSES IN
RUSSIA.
(By Consul-General John II. SnOd-
dress Moscow


dress Moscow
Oats constitute three-fOurthS of the
food upon which the Russian horses
must exist during the twelve months
of the year. Russian oats, however,
are far superior in sustaining power
to the American cereal. 1t is also
claimed that animals do not become
SO tired Of this steady diet as they do
of the hay and corn products in the
United States. This statement is made
by an American with eighteen years
experience in horse breeding ana
training in Russia.
Among the upper classes twelve to
fourteen pounds of hay are fed daily
| to the carriage and race horses, in
addition to the twenty quarts of oats
that are thought necessary for a
horse during the twenty-four hours.
In many other sections owners of
horses must be content With the
native marsh grass, which resem mbles
the American prairie grasses On the
uplands, however. good quality or
grass is grown which resem bles Ken
lucky blue grass.
The peasant feeds the marsh
grasses to his own stock and sells the
better grades of the uplands, so that
his horses are fed upon the inferior
hay, although regular rations of oats
I are provided, if possible. In the cities
the ordinary draft horses are fed upon
diet similar to that fed by the peas
ants, with perhaps less hay. Nose
bags are used.
Straw is also fed in the country, but
IN such an unpa 1atable condition that
1T is of little value as food. In the
cities there are comparatively few cut
ting machines, so that straw cannot
be mixed with bran or oats and is
therefore little used
AS a result of a light hay diet, Rus
sian horses are remarkably free from
the heaves, though a more serious
trouble originates from a continuous
diet Of oats; namely, cracked shins
and heels with open sores. The
writer is informed by well-known
hOrseman that he has many times
seen blood oozing from the shin and
heels Of horses without any apparent
cause though an investigation always
proved that a steady diet Of oats was
to blame. The same person stated
that he had experimental upon horses
afflicted with the disease, and that,
after a few weeks Of proper feeding.
the sores and cracks disappeared and
the animals improved in everv way,
especially in appetite and endurance.
City horses never taste a spear Of
green grass, but appear to keep in
fairly good condition with practically
no attention from the grooms They
occasionally are fed carrots, but this
does not apply to the average work
horse, driven at all times Of day and
night, and subjected to Russian win
ters. His endurance is one of the
marvels of the country.
The feeding of corn. mixed foods. or
prepared diets is unknown in Russia,
except among the racing Fraternity
who have adopted American ideas
from the trainers brought over years
ago from the United States. The race
horses in Moscow. for example. have
a variety of diets according to the
work they are doing. and the Ameri-
can suggestion Of a Saturday evening
hot-bran mash has been adopted. with
the usual good results. They are also
given ground or cracked cereals bran
mixed with oats. chopped hay and
oats, and the usual spring treatment
for appetite and improvement of the
blood