mbers of
breakdowns and cases of lameness sensibly diminished; the paces were
fresher; in short, the material improved most noticeably. Are not
these breakdowns, lameness, and dulness in the horses, in the great
majority of cases but the consequences of over-exertion of the animals
when in a low state of condition? The cases of colic, too, diminished
rather than increased, which speaks well for the harmlessness of the
foods employed, but may in part also have been due to the fact that
both the bulk of the ration and the amount of exertion demanded were
only gradually diminished after the manoeuvres.

The experiment also showed that most horses would not touch the white
beans at all, or only unwillingly, and the best proved to be either
the green Smyrna or brown Dutch beans, which for the same weight and
nutritive value bulked bigger, for instance, than the peas, and were
very willingly eaten. Peas and beans as a ration alone were found not
to answer, as the horse misses the mechanical action--irritation of
the bowel and stomach--and requires also certain chemical constituents
present in oats to assist digestion. Even with the proportion of oats
and beans actually used--seventy-six to seventy-eight oats to sixty
beans--it was found advisable to increase the 'Rauffutter' ration to
replace the missing oat-husks. But to provide this addition there were
ample means, since the manure fund of the regiment, or of the
squadron, was available; and in spite of the increased ration it
became possible to make savings which in a single year sufficed to
build a spacious riding-school, and thus contributed in another way
to the training and general efficiency of the squadrons.

In the third year the price of oats fell, and that of the other feed
rose; hence, and for other reasons also, the conversion of the oat
ration into other more nourishing materials had to be abandoned,
although it would still have been possible to maintain a considerable
increase in the nutritive value of the food issued. To keep the ration
up to approximately the same level as in the preceding year, recourse
had to be had to other means.

It was found by experiment that a couple of pounds of straw per horse
could easily be saved per day, and again ample funds for a supplement
to the ration were available, a measure particularly applicable when
the price of straw rules high. This year, too, as the expenditure on
the riding-school was closed, the manure fund wa