FARM HORSES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 September 1938, Page 3

FARM HORSES

POINTS IN FEEDING PRACTICE. NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTARY FODDER. Insufficient attention to feeding is a frequent cause of trouble in workinghorses, states Mr W. T. Brown, Instructor in Agriculture, Hamilton, in the “Journal of Agriculture.” Little trouble is experienced on farms where horses are stall-fed, as a teamster knows the ration required by each horse under his care, according to whether the horse’s work is heavy or light, so that the ration is varied to enable each animal to perform its work successfully. On the all-grass farm the horse’s ration of grass is insufficient for heavy work, and during periods of hard work should be supplemented with a little more concentrated feed. The customary feed used in New Zealand for horses is oaten-sheaf chaff, and as chaff cut from a 40bushel crop of oats gives a good proportion of straw and grain it is z a good standard by which to work. Forty pounds of such chaff will contain about 161 b of oats and 241 b of straw. For horses in light work, 121 b to 14 lb of grain well mixed with straw chaff should be sufficient for each day, and, as the weight of the work increases, so the weight of grain should be increased. If the work is very heavy it is advisable to add oats to the oaten-sheaf chaff, thus cutting down the proportion of straw. Each horse should be given the exact ration required, and any chaff left after a feed should be cleaned out. .

The day of a horse in hard work is long and strenuous. At 5.30 a.m. the horses are let in to the stable and given a small feed of about 71b of oaten chaff. After grooming and harnessing, make the feed, if any remains in the box, up to 71b of oaten chaff; and at noon a full feed of 71b of oatensheaf chaff and 31b of oats should be given. On returning to the stable at 5 p.m. give the horse a feed of 101 b of oaten-sheaf chaff, and at 7 p.m. make any feed in the boxes up to the equal of 71b of oaten-sheaf chaff. At 8.30 p.m. the horses should be turned out. Always allow horses a small drink before feeding. In the North Island the majority of horses are fed entirely on grass. This method of feeding, although contrary to all hard-feeding methods, is justified, as grass is the cheapest feed available and the horses are not called upon to work such long hours or perform such heavy work as the grain-fed animals. Normally, horses work satisfactorily on this feed, but in times of heavy rush work grassfed horses are often mishandled and abused. They are taken straight from lush grass, and, instead of being allowed to rest for an hour to allow them to digest some of the food, are put immediately into heavy work. This practice causes untold suffering, and an observer will have noticed the profuse sweating and. distressed condition of horses in the first hour of work. Horses on some of the poorer farms have insufficient feed in the winter, and as they cart out the hay or ensilage to the other stock they only get the leavings, which are of inferior quality. If the working-horses were fed a little concentrated feed during periods of hard work they would retain their vitality throughout the winter and in the long harvest-days. A most suitable supplementary feed for horses in heavy work is rolled oats. Fed at the rate of a small double handful in the morning, two large double handfuls at midday, and a little in the evening, one sack of oats for each horse, plus plenty of good grass, will suffice to bring a horse through the harvest or other short period of hardship.