Year: 1868

T IVY little of my experience concerning the management of that noble animal

 Commencing when tho foal is day or two old, I go to it, and pass my hands down its face, along it's back, and down it's legs to it's hoofs, hind and fore, not to mesmerise or charm the animal, but to accustom 1t to being handled, "a thing which cannot be commenced too soon - Foals are animals that when quite young have more sagacity, and are more tractable and easily taught than any other animal, so whatever you want them to learn, com mence before they are old enough to make resistance, and depend upon it, they will never forget it. Put halter on it and lead it about. but be careful not to let it break away from you Be very careful and gentle to it, but show that you are its master.

 l next proceed to the horses feet. Horses hoofs are things of the greatest importance for who would want to follow lame horse at either work or pleasure! Many things ruin the feet of horses, which I cannot pretend to touch on, but I will try to point out few errors which any man can see and correct, the greatest of which is leaving their shoes on too long. This hurts the hoofs, strains the legs, and causes lameness in every shape. In the winter this has worse effect than in summer, as then the feet are more dry and clean, whereas in summer, they are wet, and the mud and heat of summer will rot the hoofs and cause the shoe to fall off. l have known horses shoos nail ed on in the fall and not taken of until the next sumnier, when they would fall off in the pasture, a practice which sell dom fails to bring on lameness. A horses shoe should never be on longer than three months, and two months are very often too long.

 Horses hoofs were meant by nature to 20 bare, and run on the earth in their nat ural state, and as long as we drive them on such, they need no shoeing; but when we drive them on paved streets, hard roads, etc., we have to shoe them and stop the wear that nature meant should be on their hoofs. The consequence is that the shoe binds the hoof, and often causes con traction and many other evils, when nail- ed too far to the heel, left on too long, or when the hoof is not sufficiently pared down between shoeings. See that the shoe is not nailed too far to the heel.- Any intelligent man can see when shoe has been on long enough, and take it of, when it may be left off day or two, or longer, as the case may be. A drive over soft snow, few days blowing or harrow ing, or the like, would spread the foot and help to eounteract the effects of shoe ing. Always see that the hoof is prop erly pared before tho shoe is again put on. I have never yet seen the hoofs of old horses greatly improved by being left bare few weeks in pasture. There are many other things that hurt horses feet, such as too poor feed, too high feed, too hard driving. 

 The most natural feed for the horse is what he can pick for himself, but as. we cannot let him run and pick his own liv- ing, let his feed be as near natural as pos sible. Too high or too low feed have both bad effect, but as different individ- uals will form very different notions of what high and low feed are. l will try and point out what consider middle course to be. Hay alone, be it ever so good. is pot fit food for horses, whether working or idle. They need grain, with an occasional feed of roots, bran mash, or something to keep their bowels open Horses need regular feed. The feed l general, find best for horses is about l2 pounds of hay and from nine to twelve quarts of oats, given in three regular feeds, with feed of raw potatoes once a week, when idle, or at gentle work; and small increase when at hard work The practice of feeding horses all the hay they can eat when idle, has many bad eff fleets; whereas if they get three small feeds, they will stamp about in their stall, and take exercise between feeds, which will keep their legs from swelling, etc.

 But remember, do not advocate small feeds of hay without grain A very cheap way of feeding horses, and not bad way, is on straw, with fair allowance of oats. l have tried great many experiments, and have found horses always do better on straw, than horned cattle. Horses nill do better on straw, provided it be good, than they will on hay only, without grain in both cases but of course they must not be stinted. The main point with farmer who keeps horses, is to use them in such a way as will give them all the strength and agility the animal is capable of, and to work them all they can stand without injuring either. The poor, half starved horse is an animal any man ought to be ashamed of; but on the other hand, the pampered and over-fed and half-worked horse, though he may look very nice to soma ;s an animal I yould advise the far