The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-03-16
HORSES MUST Be
CONDITIONED FOR
THE SPRING WORK
DIR. j. H. Shepperd Makes
Suggestions on Feed
and Care of Horses

The following suggestions on the
care Of horses and the necessity for
] getting them in condition for spring
work have been issued by j. III. Shep :
perd Of the North Dakota Experiment
station.
The amount of work that horse is
able to carry during seeding depends
| to a great extent upon how he Is
cared for and how he is prepared be-
! fore the heavy work begins. Gradual
| w accustom your horse to heavy work
| by whatever means is most convent
| emit. Frequently you can harrow for
| time in the middle Of the day When
| the frost is too heavy in the morning
and evening to permit of II. Ihls Is
worth doing for the sake of harden
| ing the horses even If you do not
accomplish much in the work per-
| formed.
Before starting out be sure that
your collars fit the horses that they
ara used on. A new collar or a col
lar that is not adjusted to the should
ers of a particular horse can be soak
ed in water for several hours, draeo
off so that it will not make the
horses shoulders wet and put on
while it is soft from the Wetting, so
that it will adjust itself to the shape
of the particular horse, A new collar
should be prefCred in this way and
adjusted to the horses shoulders that
il is to be used on and it should never
be used on any other horse.
Keep The Collars Clean.
Every morning before narnessing
your horses, or better still in the even
ing when you unharness them, ruo
the face Of the collars clean either
withsa cloth or with the palm of your
hand so that there is no dirt to gather
and chafe their skins, One of the
most common sources of sore shoul-
ders Is the accumulation of hair that
is shedding or dandruff and dirt out
Of the skin, 1t is a good plan to wash
the shoulders Of the horses in the
evening after the collars are taken
off. and wash their necks as means
OF getting out all of the dirt. lose
hairs, etc,
Adjust the harness and watch it
carefully during the first part of the
work, see that 1t fits to the horse ana
is not chafng him anywhere. When
ever YOU stop to rest them step
around in front of your team and pull
their names out from under the col
lar. rub off the faces of the collars,
particularly when YOU are first be-
ginning work so that hair and dirt
will not accumulate during the half
day that you are out and make sore
shoulders.
Condition BY Feeding Grain.
Horses must have grain while they
are working il they are to do a rea-
sonable amount of pulling. Feed
them grain for as long a time as
possible before You begin spring
work. A little grain for three or four
weeks before you begin viii make
big difference in what team can
stand when the field work begins.
whenever horses are idle during the
working period as on Sunday, on ac-
count OF rain or for any other reason
cut down the feed to half Of what
they are getting when you are work
ing them. over feed and idleness or
lack of exercise are two of the worst
things for horses. 1T is worse when
they are accustomed TO working each
day and eating heavily They will
eat grain. OF course, if you viii give
it to them, but they are worse off for
having it when they are idle.
Trim up Horses Feet.
Before you start spring work at all
trim their hoofs. 1t viii save them
carrying the extra weight, will kee5
them from interfering and in many
cases will prevent them splitting up
their hOofs In case you have to travel