Part 3

In the Madras Presidency and Southern India black gram is used, the Bengal white gram not being grown there. This has to be boiled before use. Military horses are fed on it, but it is said that it makes them soft. I have, however, no personal experience of black gram.

Preparation of Food.

In India it is the custom to damp the food before it is given. It should not be saturated so as to turn it into a sloppy paste, but just damped sufficiently to make the particles stick together. Grooms (syces) generally deal out each feed into a bucket dry from the corn-bin, and then damp it; but a better plan is to weigh out the whole of the amount required for all the horses, and put it into a wide-mouthed earthen bowl called a "naund," that can be purchased for a few pence, or a box, such as an old wine case, and damp the whole amount together, then portioning it out for each animal. The reason of this is that, if the grain is damped in the buckets, they are at once taken away, and, the probabilities are, never cleaned; but if they have to be brought forward for each feed to be put into them, and the owner takes the trouble now and again to inspect them, "syces," who are creatures of habit, get into the way of cleaning them before they bring them forward. The box, or naund, in which the grain is damped being stationary, can be looked at any time. It is necessary to be very careful about this, as the particles of food left very quickly ferment in a hot climate, and get sour, and quickly taint all the rest. As a rule, about ten minutes is long enough to damp grain; and this should be done as soon before feeding as possible, otherwise, if left long standing, it will get sour. If a horse refuses his feed, it should be at once thrown away, and on no account be kept till the next meal, by which time it is pretty certain to have fermented.

Horses refusing Food.

Some horses are delicate feeders naturally, and take a long time in eating, or refuse their food altogether. In the case of a delicate or slow feeder, the food should be given in small quantities and often, rather than in the usual somewhat rather large feeds three times a day; and the horse should be fed by himself. This is easily done in India, as nearly all stables are loose boxes; but if the animal is picketed out with others that are likely to teaze him, he should be taken away and fed out of a bucket in the "compound" (garden or enclosure round the house). "Syces," like all natives of India, have no idea of the value of time; and if he has his "hooka" (pipe), and a friend to talk to about the price of food-stuffs, rates of wages, and other such-like interesting bazaar topics, he is perfectly content to sit holding the bucket before the horse all day long, if necessary. If the animal refuses his food altogether, then it should be taken away, for if left standing in front of him he breathes on it, and if it remains any considerable time it becomes sour and fermented, and he gets disgusted with it; whereas, if taken away and nothing more given till next feeding-time, the appetite often returns, and the food is consumed with a relish; especially in the warm weather, if he is first led out and exercised, or picketed out under a tree. On no account should the feed that has been refused be kept over till the next feeding-time; a fresh one should be prepared, as in a hot climate wet grain ferments and turns sour in a very short space of time.

Times of Feeding.

The stomach of the horse is very small in proportion to the size of his body, and he requires to be fed often, and in small quantities. In England hunters are fed four, or even five, times a day. In India it is the usual custom to feed three times, and perhaps it is often enough. In all military stations a gun is fired at noon, and the midday feed is given at that hour; but the morning and evening one varies with the season of the year. I usually give only half a feed in the evening about five o'clock, and the remainder the last thing at night, about eight or nine, according to the season of the year; but, unless carefully watched, "syces" will not do this, as it is the custom only to feed three times daily, and "dastour" (custom) is a thing it is impossible to make a native break through.

Bolting Food.

Some horses have a trick of bolting their food without masticating it properly, especially if another is being fed in their company. It is a good plan to feed such horses apart from any others, which can easily be done in an Indian stable, as they are all loose boxes, or, if picketed out in the open, by moving him a short distance away from the others. A small quantity of chaff, grass, straw, or what is known as "bhoosa," which is wheat straw that is crushed and broken into small pieces in the process of treading out the grain by bullocks, mixed in with the feed, will usually make them masticate it properly.

Spilling Food on Ground.

Horses have also a trick sometimes of throwing their food out of the bucket or manger, and spilling a quantity on the ground. Not only is a large amount wasted, but when the animal has finished what is left, and tries at his leisure to gather up what is on the ground, he eats a large amount of earth and dirt with it, which is injurious. The best way I know to prevent this is to feed the horse on a cloth on the ground; any bit of old sacking about four feet square will answer for the purpose.

Grass.

In India hay is not often seen, and horses are fed on grass; even race-horses are trained on it. This may at first sound strange, but Indian grass is very different to English meadow grass, and chiefly consists of the roots and runners, the actual blade of grass not being more than about an inch long. The best grass is what is known as "dhoob." It is a short grass, with long roots and suckers, which is dug up out of the ground with a short iron hoe or trowel, called a "kurpa," which is used with a scraping motion of the hand, the process being called "cheeling." A considerable quantity of earth is taken up with it, which ought to be knocked off against the hoe; but as the grass is sold by weight, and the usual quantity a private "grass-cutter" is supposed to bring in daily is 20 seers (40 lbs. weight), it is not to his advantage to clean it. If horses eat dirty grass for any length of time, the sand and dirt, besides damaging the teeth, is likely to accumulate in the intestines and give rise to what is known as sand colic. When the "grass-cutter" brings in his bundle of grass that he has collected, which he generally does at midday, it should be spread out and cleaned; sticks and thorns should be picked out, as they are likely to lodge in the horse's throat and choke him, and it should be well beaten with a stick to get rid of the sand and dirt. A good plan is to fasten a net between the wooden framework of a "charpoy," or native bedstead, lay the grass on it, and beat it there with a stick, and it is surprising what a quantity of rubbish will fall through. An old lawn tennis net, if the meshes are not too big, answers well for this purpose. Grass-cutters are fond of wetting the grass to make it weigh. If it is brought in fresh, and damped with clean water beyond the actual loss in weight, I do not know that it does much harm; but it is exceedingly likely that the water has been obtained from some stagnant dirty puddle, and the bundle has been left standing for some time so that fermentation has set in, giving it an unpleasant smell. It is therefore best to have the bundles at once opened out and spread in the sun to dry as soon as they are brought in, and not allow the "grass-cutters" to take them away to their own houses. In parts of the foot hills of the Himalayas ("hurriarie," or "hurrialie") grass is obtained. It is not found in the plains, or in the very high mountains where it is cold. It is a long grass, running to about three feet high, and is cut with a curved sickle. When young and green it is a capital fodder grass; but when the seed is shed, and it gets dry, it is unfit for any other purpose than bedding, as the stalks get very hard and brittle, and so dry that there is little or no nourishment in it. It should not then be allowed into the stable for any other purpose than bedding; but being much easier to collect than "dhoob" grass, the "grass-cutters" will bring it as long as they are allowed to, even when it resembles nothing more than a bundle of sticks. I have frequently heard owners of horses in the hills complain of their animals getting thin and out of condition, the cause of which on inquiry was simply due to the bad dry hurrialie grass that was brought for them to eat.

Churrie.

This is the dried stalk of one of the shorgum tribe of plants, which is also known as the Chinese sugar-cane. It is a summer crop cut in the autumn. It grows to five or six feet high, and is cut and stored by the natives as a fodder for the cattle. It would to the new-comer appear to be a most unsuitable article of food, but is full of saccharine matter, tasting quite sweet when chewed in the mouth, so much so that in parts a rough sugar is extracted from it, but to look at is like a bundle of dried reeds. Animals of all sorts are very fond of it, and I have frequently fed my horses on it for days together in out-of-the-way places where no grass was to be obtained. It is not used as a regular horse fodder, but it does well for it on a pinch.

Bhoosa.

In the East all grain is threshed out by the primitive process of putting it in a circle and driving bullocks round on it, and in this process the grain is trodden out of the ear, the straw being split and broken up by the animals' feet into small fragments from one-eighth to two or three inches in length, which is called "bhoosa." This is the staple food of the working cattle, and is also used for horses. It is a most important item of the crop, and in the rural economy of an Indian village almost as much is thought of it as the grain itself. Wheat and barley straw makes what is called "white bhoosa," and gram and the various pulses "missa bhoosa." Both these can be used as horse food; in fact, on the Afghan frontier they get nothing else, and many natives feed their animals entirely on it, never giving them grass; but although they will eat it, and for a time keep condition, it is not to be recommended. If it has to be used, and it is possible to obtain any grass, they should be mixed together. A small quantity of "bhoosa" mixed in the feed will make a greedy feeder masticate it. "White bhoosa" looks like badly chopped straw-chaff. "Missa bhoosa" is of a dark colour, the particles not being straight-like sticks, but bent about, and frequently there are a quantity of the leaves of the plant mixed with it. Care should be taken that both sorts are not mouldy, which is very apt to be the case, as the native farmers store it in large quantities during the winter, and when the new crop comes on, if there is any of last year's left, it is what they try and sell. Being stacked in the open, it is exceedingly likely to get damaged by the rain. "Bhoosa" should have a clean, fresh smell like sweet straw, not be discoloured or have any patches of mould about it, and be free from impurities such as sticks, thorns, or pieces of mud or stones.

Bamboo Leaves (bans).

In Eastern Bengal, Assam, and parts of Burma, the green leaves and young shoots of the bamboo are used for forage. During the Chin-Lushai Expedition in 1889-90, the animals with the force got nothing else for nearly eight months. I had three ponies of my own that were worked moderately hard the whole time, and they remained in good condition. The transport mules, which were worked very hard indeed in a very trying climate, did not fall away nearly as much as I expected. The young shoots and leaves are cut with a sort of a billhook, called a "dah," and care must be taken that only the young green leaves and soft tender shoots are given, the old leaves and the edges of the dry stumps of the bamboo cutting like a razor. I have seen some bad wounds on the lips, tongue, and angles of the mouth from this cause. It is best to make the "syces" and "grass-cutters" pluck the leaves off the branches altogether, and not leave them about the stable, for fear of wounding the horses. This they will readily do, as they use the débris for fuel. I have seen some bad cuts and injuries in both men and animals from the edges of the split bamboo, which are very sharp--so much so that the savage tribes on the eastern frontier use a properly split piece of bamboo for a knife in skinning animals; and the sap of the green bamboo appears to have a peculiarly irritating or poisonous action, a wound caused by it festering and suppurating in both man and beast, whereas one inflicted with a dry bamboo will heal up healthy. Horses require a larger amount of bamboo leaves than grass. If an animal is getting 20 lbs. of green "dhoob" grass daily, he will require 30 lbs. of bamboo leaves to keep him in condition. Although at first horses may refuse them, they take to them kindly after a little while.

Oat Hay Forage.

In the South African colonies grass hay is almost unknown. The oat is cut when about half ripe, dried, and given in the straw, in which condition it is known as forage, and is excellent feeding. It is usually sold in bundles, wholesale at so much per hundred, and retail at hotels and livery stables at so many bundles for a shilling. Some years ago, when I was travelling in the Dutch part of South Africa, in the more out-of-the-way parts of which there are no hotels, it was the custom to ask the owner of the farmhouse where you arrived permission to "off-saddle" if you were riding, or "out-span" if driving, for the night or a couple of hours, as the case might be. This was a roundabout way of asking if he could put you and your animals up for the night. When leaving in the morning, it would have been a great breach of good manners to ask for your bill, but you inquired what you were indebted to his head-boy for the forage your horses had consumed--a polite way of asking for your account; the number of bundles per shilling varying according to the time you remained, and the accommodation you had received; but, notwithstanding this fiction, I did not, as a rule, find the total any less than in a regular hotel where you get your bill.

Hay.

Hay, as is known in Europe and Australia, is never seen in India. In some parts, what is called hay can be obtained; but, compared to English meadow hay, it is at the best but poor stuff. No doubt hay of a very tolerable quality can be made in India; in fact, I have done so, but usually the grass is cut after the plant has flowered, the seed ripened and shed, when it is what is known as "the sap being down," and then it is dry and with little nourishment in it. It is generally also allowed to lie out too long after it has been cut in a hot, powerful sun, which utterly bakes it up. The grass should be cut when the seed is green and the sap well up in it, and should not be allowed to remain too long drying. I have generally found that from eight to ten hours of the Indian sun was enough, so that grass cut in the morning should be stacked at night; it will then not be utterly dried up, and in the stack will undergo the process of fermentation that gives the characteristic smell to English hay. There is a certain amount of difficulty in doing this. The grass flowers and seeds at the end of the hot weather, about September, when the monsoon rains are on, and these sometimes last for days together. It is, therefore, sometimes difficult to get a fine day to cut and save the hay in before the seed is shed; and before the dry weather again sets in the sap has gone down, and there is but little nutriment left in the grass. It is not a bad plan to sprinkle some salt over each layer of hay as the stack is made up; horses eat this cured hay with great relish. In making up the stack, a bundle or two of straw, put on end from the bottom upwards, should be built into the centre of it as it is being raised up, to act as a chimney or ventilator to carry off the heat while the stack is fermenting. If this is not done, there is danger of its catching fire; and even if it should not heat to such a degree, part is likely to get discoloured--what is termed "mow-burned." This chimney can be made with bundles of sticks, boards, or even stones; but sick horses will often eat the straw from the centre of a haystack when they won't look at anything else, and it sometimes comes in useful, and in any event, is not wasted. The stack should be built on a foundation of brambles, stones, or a mud platform--the latter being the best--to raise it and protect it from damage by the rains, which at times come in a regular flood, and also to keep out rats, mice, and other vermin. When the stack gets down to the bottom, care should be exercised in handling it, as it is a great refuge for snakes, and I have seen one fatal accident from snake bite from this cause. It, then, is a good plan to make the men remove the hay in small quantities at a time with a hay-fork, which is easily made by fastening a couple of short sticks converging from each other on to a long bamboo; but natives are such fatalists that, no matter how much warned of the danger they are incurring, they will not take the commonest precautions as to their safety if it gives them a little extra trouble. A somewhat larger quantity of dry grass is required than green "dhoob" by weight, the proportion being about 15 to 20 lbs. respectively.

Green Food (khawid, or khasil).

In the spring of the year in India it is common to give horses green wheat, oats, or barley. This is cut in the straw from the time it is about a foot high until the grain begins to ripen, a period that lasts about a month or six weeks in the Punjab--from the middle of February till the end of March. This green food is called by the natives "khawid," or "khasil." It has an excellent effect on the system, and is what is used by the native dealers to get their horses into condition for sale. Too large a quantity should not be given at first, as it is likely to cause diarrhoea; about 4 lbs. daily being sufficient at first, but it may be increased up to double this amount if it agrees with the animal. Care should be taken that the green food is only given when young and the straw tender, for when it gets ripe, and the straw woody and hard, it is very indigestible, and a common cause of intestinal obstruction and colic. In some parts green barley is given in the same manner, and when it is young it is as good as wheat or oats; but when it begins to ripen it should be stopped, as the awns or beards begin to get hard, and not only are they likely to choke the horse, but to cause dangerous intestinal obstruction. Oats can be given much longer than barley or wheat; in fact, as I have said, ripe oats are cut in the straw, and used as hay in many parts of the world. The green crop must be purchased standing from a cultivator, and this is best arranged through your head "syce." It is sold by measurement, a patch in the field being marked out; or else the grass-cutters go and cut as much as is required daily, the whole amount used being afterwards measured up and paid for at the fixed bazaar rate, or, as it is termed, the "nirrick."

Green Gram.

Natives are very fond of giving horses green gram, but it is a most dangerous custom. It is most indigestible, the stalk when green being full of a strong tough fibre. The sap and leaves have a peculiar irritating or almost corrosive property, and in the spring of the year many fatal cases of intestinal disease are caused by it.

Carrots (gajar).