Fatigue destroys the appetite of some horses very readily. Carrots, boiled barley, malt, or any article which the horse is known to prefer, may be offered in small quantity. After a severe day, the food should be rather laxative, for hard work constipates the bowels, which is easily obviated by a bran-mash.

Grooms are often in too great a hurry. Though the horse should not eat till he has rested a few hours, he is none the worse. There is no occasion for forcing food upon him, and it is not always necessary to excite the appetite by cordials. Gruel is very good, if the horse will take it himself; but it is absurd to pour it into a stomach which can not digest it. The very act of forcing it on him is particularly distressing, and it should never be done. I know of no state of the body in which it is ever proper to force food upon the horse.

Cordials are sometimes useful after great exhaustion Robust good-tempered horses rarely need them. Timid nervous horses are a good deal agitated by fast work, and in general they remain in a state of fretful excitement for a good while after the work is over. These are much the better of a cordial: a ball, not a drink. Draughts are annoying and disgusting to the horse, though perhaps very palatable to the groom. One ball is sufficient; it may be given half-an-houi after the horse is dressed. Very often the horse needs nothing but water to give him an appetite.

Bedding

A loose box is the best place for a tired horse. It gives him choice of position, and he assumes that which is most favorable to repose. It should be deeply littered over all its length and breadth. When a stall must serve, it should be the widest, the litter deep, and carried back farther than usual.