meal.

Condition and bloom may be obtained by adding a small quantity of boiled barley or a handful of linseed meal to the food above mentioned, while horses lying in should have a boiled linseed and bran mash about once a week.

It should be remembered, as before stated, that horses are not like cattle, sheep, or pigs, being fattened to be killed. They have a comparatively long life in front of them, so that it is necessary to build up a good constitution. Then they may change hands many times, and if they pass from where cooked foods and condiments are largely used to where plain food is given they are apt to refuse it and lose flesh in consequence, thus leading the new owner to suppose that he has got a bad bargain.

Reference has already been made to the pernicious system of stuffing show-animals, and it is not often that farmers err in this direction. They are usually satisfied with feeding their horses on sound and wholesome home-grown food without purchasing costly extras to make their horses into choice feeders.

It is always better for the breeder of any class of stock if the animals he sells give satisfaction to the purchasers, and this is particularly true of Shire horses. A doubtful breeder or one which is not all that it should be may be fattened up and sold at more than its market value, but the buyer would not be likely to go to the same man if he wanted another horse, therefore it is better to gain a reputation for honest dealing and to make every effort to keep it.

It might be here mentioned that it is not at all satisfactory to rear a Shire foal by itself, even if it will stay in its paddock. It never thrives as well as when with company, and often stands with its head down looking very mopish and dull, therefore the rearing of Shires is not a suitable undertaking for a small holder, although he may keep a good brood-mare to do most of his work and sell her foal at weaning time.

In the absence of a second foal a donkey is sometimes used as a companion to a single one, but he is a somewhat unsatisfactory playfellow, therefore the farmer with only one had far better sell it straight from the teat, or if he has suitable accommodation he should buy another to lie with it and rear the two together. Of course, two will need more food than one, but no more journeys will be required to carry it to the manger. Care should be taken, however, to buy one quite as good, and if possible better, than the home-bred one.

If they are to make geldings the colour should match, but if for breeding purposes the colour need not necessarily be the same. Except for making a working gelding, however, chestnuts should be avoided. It is not a desirable colour to propagate, so one can breed enough of that shade without buying one. A remark which may be also made with regard to unsound ones, viz. that most horse-breeders get enough of them without buying.

During their second summer—that is as yearlings—Shires not wanted for show purposes should be able to do themselves well at grass, supposing the land is of average quality and not overstocked, but if the soil is very poor it may be necessary to give a small feed once a day, of which pulped mangolds may form a part if they are plentiful. This extra feeding is better than stunting the growth, and the aim is to get a big romping two-year-old colt, filly, or gelding as the case may be.

Colts not up to the desired standard should be operated on during their yearling days, preferably in May or June, and, as before indicated, merit should be conspicuous in those left for stud purposes, while the back breeding on both sides counts for much in a stallion. That is why Lockinge Forest King, Childwick Champion, and a few others which could be named, proved to be such prepotent stock-getters.

After June or July colts should be separated from fillies unless the colts have been castrated, and they must be put inside good fences, this being something of a puzzle to a farmer with a few paddocks and poor fences. Consequently, a second or third-rate young stallion often causes a good deal of trouble, in fact, more than he leaves a return for.

For the second winter the young Shires still need a bit of help. If they are to make, or are likely to make, anything out of the common they should be fed liberally, otherwise a feed of chaff and corn once a day will do, with a bit of hay to munch at night, but it must be good wholesome forage.

During their second spring, or when two years old, they should be put to work as described in a former chapter, after which they are able at least to earn their keep; the cost of rearing on the lines indicated up to this age will be found to be considerable, so that a good saleable animal is needed to make the business a profitable one; but I have kept the rearing of good sound Shires in view, not crocks or mongrels.

The effect of the war on the cost of feeding horses has led the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to issue a leaflet telling horse owners of substitutes for oats. When it was written beans were relatively cheaper, so was maize, while rice-meal was recommended to form part of the mixture, owing to its lower cost.

Those who have fed horses are aware that they do not like any food which is of a dusty nature. It sticks in their nostrils, causing them annoyance, if not discomfort, which a horse indicates by blowing its nose frequently.

Any kind of light meal should therefore be fed either with damp chaff or with pulped roots, well mixed with the feed in the manner described elsewhere. If mangolds have to be purchased at £1 per ton, they help to make the meals more palatable. The farmer who grows a variety of corn and roots is usually able to prepare and blend his own foods so as to make a diet on which horses will thrive although oats are scarce.

In Scotland boiled swedes or turnips are largely used for farm horses, but coal and labour are now scarce as well as horse corn.

CHAPTER VII
Care of the Feet

There is no part of a Shire to which more attention should be paid than the feet, and it is safe to say that the foot of the present-day cart-horse is infinitely better than were those of his ancestors of forty, or even twenty, years ago. The shape as well as the size has been improved till the donkey-shaped hoof is rarely met with, at least in show animals of this breed.

It is always advisable to keep the feet of foals, yearlings, and two-year-olds attended to whether they are required for show or not, and if they have their feet quietly picked up and the edges rasped, the heels being lowered a little when necessary, the hoof is prevented from breaking, and a better and more durable hoof well repays the trouble, moreover the task of fixing the first set of shoes—which used to be quite a tough job for the smith when the colts were neglected till they were three years old—is rendered quite easy.

Except for travelling on the road, or when required for show, there is no advantage in keeping shoes on young Shires, therefore they should be taken off when lying idle, or if worked only on soft ground shoes are not actually necessary.

Where several are lying together, or even two, those with shoes on may cause ugly wounds on their fellows, whereas a kick with the naked hoof is not often serious. There is also a possibility that colts turned away to grass with their shoes on will have the removing neglected, and thus get corns, so that the shoeless hoof is always better for young Shires so long as it is