Strange and Unique horse feed - updated

Odd Feeds for Horses

I have been reading up on some older, out of print books to find out what sorts of things horses have been fed in the past and in other countries.  I find this very interesting, as many of the things considered normal and proper have changed with scientific advances. Some things horses were fed in the past were necessary due to lack of “proper” feed, and were downright strange.  For example:

A still more stimulating food was sometimes provided for Indian horses in a meal of boiled mutton or goat's flesh . Marco Polo tells us that in Malabar they fed their horses on boiled meat and rice. In Cutch , before hard work , the old outlaw custom of giving the horse such food still prevails. (from Things Indian Being Discursive Notes on Various Subjects Connected with India By William Crooke · 1906)

The following is from Training and Horse Management in India With a Hindustanee Stable & Veterinary Vocabulary, and the Calcutta Turf Club Weights for Age and Class, By Matthew Horace Hayes · 1885

Rice.-- In some parts of India , especially in Eastern Bengal, rice in husk , commonly called paddy (Hind . Dhan) , is much used , after it has been kept for one season . It is given raw and in a broken state. It forms a fairly good food. A mixture of one part of gram to two of rice is an excellent one for feeding purposes. Rice, without the husk, is quite unsuitable for horses. [I found this very interesting, as I started feeding cooked parboiled rice to my elderly guy which really seemed to help him put on weight.  Not sure why he says ‘rice without the husk’ is unsuitable].  

Carrots and other roots contain but a small amount of nutriment compared to their bulk, hence they are inapplicable for forming a large proportion of the food of horses, which are called upon to do fast work. They supply the system with certain important salts , which tend to preserve the fluidity of the blood and to build up tissue. … They come into season during the autumn, and may, with great benefit, be given in quantities of 6 or 7 lbs. daily: 2 or 3 lbs. will be sufficient for race-horses. Parsnips are almost as good as carrots.

…Carrots also improve the state of the skin. They form a good substitute for grass, and an excellent alterative for horses out of condition. To sick and idle horses they render corn unnecessary. They are beneficial in all chronic diseases of the organs connected with breathing, and have a marked influence upon chronic cough and broken wind. They are serviceable in diseases of the skin.

Milk. For sick or delicate horses, milk is often most valuable, and they will seldom refuse it. Sweet skim-milk is preferable to new milk, which, from being too rich, is very apt to purge the horse [Give them diarrhea]. A couple of gallons may be given daily. To correct any tendency it might have to produce diarrhea, the milk might be brought to the boil in a clean vessel, care being taken that it be not smoked during the process . Sugar or salt may be added.

Another snippet, this one from John Lockwood Kipling, C. (1904). Beast and Man in India; A popular sketch of indian animals in their relations with the people. New York: The Macmillan Company.

 [The following discusses the desire of a stocky, draft-like build in naturally thin Indian horses] 

"But by rigorous confinement and careful stuffing with rich food even this condition is approached. Many horses belonging to persons of rank are fattened like fowls in France, by the grooms thrusting balls of food mixed with ghi, boiled goats' brains, and other rich messes down their throats. And, as might be expected, very many die of diseases of the digestion and liver under the process. The difference between East and West, between old and new, between feudal and free conditions, is shown in few things more clearly than in a comparison of the horse of the Indian Raja with the scientifically treated animal of Europe and America. The latter is carefully fed during the all-important period of its growth, so that its strength and substance are fully developed, while it is made to take regular exercise." (p.166)