Notes on Stable Management in India and the Colonies

by Joshua A. Nunn

Although grown all over India, maize is not much used for feeding horses; but in South Africa, where it is known as “mealies,” it is the staple food grain for both man and beast. In India it is said to make horses fat and soft, but no animal in the world does harder work than a South African post-cart horse. In all probability the reason they do well on maize is that in the oat-hay forage they get there is a considerable quantity of grain; and although I have never seen it used, the experiment of feeding on oats and maize would be worth while trying in India. In South Africa maize is usually given whole, but in any of the towns it can be obtained crushed, and it is better to give it in this state. During the Afghan War maize was plentiful in some parts of the country, and I gave it to some of the horses that I had charge of. I had it parched on hot sand, in the same way as barley (adarwah) is parched, making it into American pop-corn. With certain somewhat thin and debilitated animals it had a marked effect in getting flesh on them, and all horses eat it greedily. In India maize is a summer crop, ripening in the autumn, when the ears or cobs are picked off the stalks. It is stored in the cob, and the individual grains knocked off as required by rapping them against a stick; but they must be turned over in the heap occasionally, as rats and mice are likely to cause damage, particularly the musk rat, that taints everything it comes into contact with. Horses have frequently been brought to me, said to be off their feed, and on inquiry I have found this only to be caused by the grain being tainted by musk rats, and that when a clean feed is offered to them they devour it ravenously. There are in South Africa and America a number of varieties of maize, but in India I only know of two sorts, in one of which the seeds are white and the other yellow, or a deep red colour. I don’t think that there is much difference in them as far as horse food goes, but each individual grain should be plump, and fill out the husk well; they should be free from weevils, worms, or the marks of attacks from rats and mice. The husk should be well filled out, and have a shining, pearl-like, glistening appearance, and when let fall on a stone or other hard substance give off a metallic sound. When broken open, the grain inside should be of a pure white colour, and of a pleasant, mealy smell, like fresh flour. If it is discoloured, it denotes that it has been wet and fermented. Maize can be crushed by most grain-crushing machines, also in the native mill (chuckie) if the stones are properly set; but both in South Africa and India the natives pound it in a large wooden mortar made out of the trunk of a tree.

Wheat (ghehun).

Although it is not to be recommended as a food, still I have seen wheat used when no other grain could be obtained, and it was a choice of it or nothing at all; and in parts of Australia, and, I believe, America, it is regularly used as a horse food. It is commonly supposed that wheat is almost a rank poison to horses, and will cause fever in the feet; and no doubt with stabled animals in England it will do so, especially as the majority of cases of this nature are from accidents—horses getting loose and gorging themselves with wheat during the night, or when unobserved. With animals standing out in the open and working hard, as they do in India and the colonies, it is not so dangerous. I should not suddenly change a horse’s feed from oats or gram to a full ration of wheat; but when nothing else can be got, it can be given in a small quantity without much fear of danger; but as soon as any other grain could be obtained, it should be used.

Rice (dhan).

In Eastern Bengal and Assam horses are fed on unhusked rice and will do well on it. During the expedition into the Lushai Hills in 1879-80, in many places nothing else could be got to feed the transport mules on. Gram is not grown in that part of the country, and what little there is has to be imported, and is at a prohibitive price. I found that animals did well enough on an equal mixture of gram and rice, although at first some of them refused it. In Japan rice is the only grain horses get, and the pack ponies of that country are hardy beasts, and appear to work well on it. If the rice can be crushed, it is all the better; and in Bengal and Assam there is no difficulty in getting this done, as it is the food of the people, and they grind it for their own use.

Millet (bajara).

The various millets, known in South Africa as “Kaffir-corn,” are not often used in India as horse food, but in the Cape it sometimes is. In India the millet is a summer crop harvested in the autumn. The seeds are small, and of a dark or greyish colour. It requires to be crushed before use, as the husk is very hard.

Pulses (dhal).

The various species of pulse grains enter largely into the food of the natives of India. Two, known as “mung” and “mote,” or “moat,” are excellent for getting flesh on thin, debilitated animals. They are both small oblong seeds of an olive green colour, with a very hard husk, and can be obtained in any bazaar. I prefer the mote to the mung. They both require to be well boiled to the consistency of a jelly before use, and then being well mixed in with the food, about a pound in weight of the raw seed being enough for each feed, so that the horse gets three pounds daily, a corresponding quantity of the other grain being withdrawn. I have seen most excellent results in weak animals recovering from a debilitating illness from its use, but great care must be taken that it is boiled properly.

Linseed (ulsie).