This section is from the book "The Stable Book: Being A Treatise On The Management Of Horses", by John Stewart. Also available from Amazon: The Stable Book.
Clover, Ryegrass, Tares, Lucerne, Saintfoin, And The Oat-Plant, are all used as green food. So far as the horse is concerned, one seems to be as good as any of the others. They appear to produce the same effects as grass. Amid such variety we might expect to find some difference; but I have not been able to perceive any. Some horses, indeed, like one article better than another, but this seems to be mere taste, for no one of them appears to be generally preferred nor rejected. There are various opinions, however as to the com parative value of these articles. Some affirm that clover is less nutritious than ryegrass, some that tares are poor watery feeding, and others that lucerne and saintfoin are the best of the whole lot. But opinion on the subject seems to he quite vague. Whatever one affirms, another will be found to deny. In Scotland, lucerne and saintfoin are very little used; but clover, ryegrass, and tares, are given each in their season, as if one were equal to another.
 
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