A CONCISE AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE HORSE BY JACOB BIGGLE ADAPTED TO THE NEEDS OF FARMERS AND OTHERS WHO HAVE A KINDLY REGARD FOR THIS NOBLE SERVITOR OF MAN ILLUSTRATED 'Always speak to a horse as you would to a gentleman.' PHILADELPHIA WILMER ATKINSON Co. IQOI Copyright, 1894, By Wilmer Atkinson Company. I FOURTH EDITION, IQOI. PREFACE. The Author has not much to say by way of Preface. A. portion of the material contained herein has been contributed by practical Horsemen and Veterinarians of the highest standing in the United States. It contains much of the kindly wisdom of John Tucker and the gentle thought of Harriet Biggie as they have been displayed in the pages of the Farm Journal. Much space has been given to the humane Training of the Horse, to his proper Housing and Feeding, to the Care of his Feet, and to the Education of the Colt. The Author is fully conscious of the incompleteness of the work, of its imperfections and omissions ; but he has done the best he could in the space allotted, and hopes his book will be of permanent value to all into whose possession it may come. JACOB BIGGLE. ELM WOOD FARM. INVOCATION. When cold and wet, please rub me dry, And do not beat me when I shy ; Give twice a week a hot bran mash, With corn and oats and salt a dash ; Ten pounds each day of hay that's free From dust — all you should give to me ; Feed twice a week, instead of oats, A pair of carrots — 'twill shine my coat ; When hot, don't give me drink or grain ; When cold, don't stand me in the rain ; Batten my stable warm and tight, And see that it's kept clean and light; In winter, blanket close and bed me deep ; And you'll find I'll pay you for my keep. CONTENTS. PAGE PREFACE 5 INVOCATION 6 HISTORY 9 HORSE MAXIMS n CHAPTER I. — THE DIFFERENT BREEDS 13 CHAPTER II. — FEEDING AND WATERING 31 CHAPTER III. — IN THE STABLE AND AT WORK ... 40 HORSE MAXIMS 49 CHAPTER IV. — WHIMS AND VICES 50 CHAPTER V. — HARNESS HINTS 53 CHAPTER VI. — AILMENTS AND REMEDIES 58 CHAPTER VII. — AILMENTS AND REMEDIES 63 CHAPTER VIII. — DOCTORING 70 MARE MAXIMS 74 CHAPTER IX. — MARE AND COLT 75 CHAPTER X. — THE COLT'S EDUCATION 83 COLT MAXIMS 89 CHAPTER XI. — THE FOOT . . . . 1 90 HORSE MAXIMS 96 CHAPTER XII. — SHOEING 97 MAXIMS : 103 CHAPTER XIII. — A WORD FROM HARRIET 105 COLT PHILOSOPHY no CHAPTER XIV. — AGE OF A HORSE in CHAPTER XV. — ABOUT STABLES 115 HISTORY. In all authentic history of the human race, we find the horse mentioned as the servant and companion of man. When the horse was first domesticated is not known, nor do we know of what country he is a native. Central Asia, Arabia and Central Africa each claims this honor, and we will not dispute the claims of either. In the time of Moses, horses were used in Egypt ; and later on, Solomon kept and used large numbers of them. From Job's vivid description it is evident that they were used and well bred in the countries farther east. Horses are represented in the carvings on the ruins of ancient Ninevah and in the marble friezes of the Greek Parthenon. When the Romans invaded Britain, they found the natives using horses of superior quality, and took some of them back to> Rome. It is supposed that the Spaniards brought horses to South America as early as 1535, and that soon afterwards others were shipped to Paraguay. From these importations, it is thought there resulted the countless herds that have since spread over South America, and, passing the Isthmus of Panama, wandered into Mexico and California. In like manner, European settlers carried this noble animal to- Australia, where, as in America, he has multiplied to a. prodigious extent. He has, indeed, been diffused by the agency of man throughout the whole inhabited globe. REFERENCE CHART. 0. Poll or nape of the neck. 1. Neck. I x. Jugular gutter. 2. Withers. 3. Back. 4. Loins. 5. Croup. 6. Tail. 7. Parotid region. S. Throat. 9. Shoulder. 10. Point of the shoulder. 11. Arm. 12. Elbow. 13. Forearm. 14. Chestnut. 15. Knee. 1 6. Canon. 17. Fetlock. 18. Pastern. 19. Coronet. 20. Foot. 21. Xiphoid region. 22. Ribs. 23. Abdomen. 24. Plank. 25. Sheath. 26. Testicles. 27. Buttock. 27 Ins. Angle of buttock, 28. Thigh. 28 bis. Haunch. 29. Stifle. 30. Leg. 31. Hock. 32. Chestnut. 33. Canon. 34. Fetlock. 35. Pastern. 36. Coronet. 37. Foot, HORSE MAXIMS. JOHN TUCKER says : Proper food and lots of sentiment will make with good blood a good horse. 77te brush will save oats. There is a great deal of saving in a walk. It is all right to feed the horse hay only twice a day and the most at night. Find some way of keeping tJie horses busy all %vinter. Thus only will they keep sound and be ready for hard spring work when it comes. It is txpensive to warm ice-water inside the stock. Horses eat dirt and gnaw their mangers from habit and because they want to. Ask the horses if they can't help out the hay mow by eating the straw sprinkled with bran. If yon must put frosty bits in some months, let it be your own. Suffering begets sympathy. 12 HORSE MAXIMS. HARRIET BIGGLE says : There are oats in the currycomb. There is more profit in coaxing than in kicks. Do not push the plow team the first week or you may get behind. If they throw up their heads and act timidly look after your stableman. Such acts speak louder than words. Carry the bridles with you to the house when you go to breakfast and pttt the bits near the stove while you eat. Be gentle, be kind, be patient. Always speak to a horse as you would to a gentleman. A horse can travel safer and better with his head hang- ing down or free than it can when it is checked up. By all means, let your horse have its head. The three greatest enemies of the horse are idleness, fat and a dumb blacksmith. Did you ever think uf it? The whip is the parent of stubbornness. It is sure to be found somewhere in the pedi- gree of every balky horse. In training a young horse, use as intelligent brain instead of a cruel whip. Many a horse stands up all night because its stall is not made comfortable to lie down in. You cannot whip terror out of a Horse or pound courage into one. Kindness and reasonable persuasion are the best weapons to use in training and educating a horse. If he shies or frightens, soothe and encourage him, rather than beat and abuse him. Give to me nutritious food ; Give me water pure and good ; When the chilling winds do blow, Over me a blanket throw ; Shield me from all cruelty ; When I'm old be kind to me. CHAPTER I. THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. Realizing that lack of space forbids a description of every breed and type of horse, it is our aim to describe only a few breeds that fad and fancy, which often mean practical utility, have brought to the front of modern popularity. Although the effort to improve the breeds of horses must have existed at all times, it has only been within the last few centuries that records have been preserved to us as to how this end has been sought and accomplished. The horse whose record has been most carefully preserved, and who no doubt has left a deeper imprint on most of the modern breeds of horses, is the English Thoroughbred. Al- though ' ' Thoroughbred" is apt to bring to the mind the breeding of horses for racing purposes alone, we must not forget that the qualities of courage, endurance and intelli- gence have largely been derived through the Thoroughbred strain, and that good blood of any kind is apt to give stronger muscles, finer bones, better joints, and superior wind and lung power. It was during the reign of Queen Anne, in 1702-1704, that there was imported by a Mr. Barley an Arabian horse, which was called Barley's Arabian, and from him almost all of the famous horses of later day were descended. But whatever we owe to the great number of horses which were imported into England, both before and after this time, much credit is unquestionably due to the native mares, which some authorities say were mostly Cleveland Bays, upon which the Arabian, Barb or Turk was grafted, and which laid the 14 THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. foundation for the modern Thoroughbred. By " thorough- bred" is meant a horse or mare that can trace for generations from sires and dams of pure blood, or from Arabs, Barbs or Persians, recorded in the stud-book kept for that purpose. Our illustration, made from a photograph from life, shows an Arabian horse, " Missirli," one of two presented to Gen- GEN. GRANTS ARABIAN. eral Grant by the Sultan of Turkey about the time of the Centennial. THE CLEVELAND BAY constituted a well-established breed in the Cleveland district, Yorkshire, Eng. , as long ago as 1 740. It was named from the location and his invariable color, ranging from light to very dark bay. For at least 150 years the Cleveland Bay has been renowned as deep enough in breeding to insure transmission of his popular and solid constitution and bay THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. l£ color, and has been considered the best general-purpose horse bred in England. During that time a few farmers kept the blood of the Cleveland Bay pure, and refused to mix it with other horses of the district. Some of the long- time farm leases of Yorkshire provide that the favorite Cleveland Bay mare and her progeny should be bred pure CLEVELAND BAY FILLY. on that farm during the term of the lease, and this has pre- served the breed in all its renowned essentials. Thirty years ago a few breeders thus owned most of the mares that had been bred pure, when a sudden demand sprung up for horses with level heads, good constitution, large bone and endur- ance, and drew attention to this breed. Then its friends were rewarded by large prices for their horses. From that 16 THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. time they have been most carefully bred. They are espe- •cially desirable for family teams because of their fine style and action, level heads and good disposition. They are intelligent, sensible, good roadsters, and stylish. For this .reason they are unexcelled as teams for wealthy city men who are willing and able to pay a good price. THE YORKSHIRE BAY. Among the finest carriage horses in the world is the high- •class Yorkshire Bay, combining as he does the quality and :grace of the Thoroughbred with the strength, color and beauty of form of the Cleveland. He is an ideal of all that is mag- nificent and useful in the carriage horse. His color is a rich, shining bay ; his coat is as bright and fine and as glossy and as iridescent as that of the race horse ; his legs, mane and •tail are raven black, setting off the splendor of his golden color. He is strong and lengthy ; he stands over a great •deal of ground ; his top has the flowing lines of the Cleve- land back and level quarter; his ribs are well sprung; he •carries his neat head and arched crest, as well as his high-set tail, with all the pride and grace of an Arab, and no bearing- rein is needed to make him bend. At rest and in action he is a golden picture of stateliness. There may be other breeds that lift the knee higher, Jbut the movement of the Yorkshire Bay is fine and free ; it is not a mere snapping of the knee and flexing of the hocks, but he moves smoothly, evenly and with liberty from the shoulders and thighs ; step- ping lightly and airily, yet with a long reach, he covers the ground swiftly and with ease. The Yorkshire Bay is a created type. Its home is the north and east ridings of Yorkshire. It has been formed by selection and crossing the Cleveland directly or indirectly with the Thoroughbred. THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. I/ THE FRENCH COACH horses are a combination of power, endurance and elegance that represents the outcome of centuries of government pro- tection, and the careful breeding of the best horses obtainable, controlled by the best minds trained for the purpose and sup- ported by unlimited means. No other civilized nation has ever taken the uninterrupted interest in the improvement of the equine race that France has evinced. As early as the feudal ages her stock of horses had a far-reaching fame, due to the individual necessity of the knight. As the government became more centralized, the powers of State became respon- sible for the production of a higher class of horses for military protection and equipment. As early as 1690, statistics prove France to have had 1600 horses in her federal studs. A century later this number had increased to 3239 stallions that sired 55,000 living colts. From 1815 to 1833 France bought 1902 stallions for public service, and of these 223 came from Arabia and other foreign countries. The re- mainder were selections principally within her own borders. In 1833 a royal stud-book was established, and since then the improvement in horses has been greater than ever. The Government has kept one central object constantly in view — to encourage the people by every possible means to a higher standard of breeding, and at the same time to furnish them the means by which to accomplish this purpose, by introdu- cing in every locality the finest of the different breeds and types, which are offered for service to owners of choice mares at nominal fees. The animals mentioned are not all owned by the Government, but many are owned by individuals, and having been inspected and approved by the authorized offi- cials, are employed at 300 to 3000 francs per annum, and others still, though not salaried, are recommended govern- mentally as worthy of public patronage. To prevent the use 1 8 THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. of inferior stock, all horses not authorized by Government are excluded from service. Besides this, large sums are annually expended as prizes for choice colts reared under governmen- tal auspices. STANDARDBRED HORSES. A Thoroughbred horse is usually understood to be a running horse, while a Standardbred is one bred to trot. America RYSDYCK'S HAMIJLKTONIAN. and Russia are the only two countries where that artificial gait, the trot, has been bred for and highly developed. The importation of the thoroughbred Messenger, in 1788, was the beginning of an interest in trotting in this country and Canada. To-day almost every American trotting horse traces his pedi- gree back to old Messenger, who was foaled in 1780, and who in turn was descended from Barley's Arabian. Messenger was gray, and was 15.3 hands high. He was an animal of THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. 19 great vigor and soundness, and was a natural trotter. He was the great grandsire of Hambletonian, of whom an illus- tration is given taken from a photograph. Hambletonian is the founder of the greatest trotting family the world has ever seen. He was foaled May 5, 1849, and died March 27,. 1876, and was a beautiful bay, with white hind feet and a small white star in his forehead. His excellence consisted in his long trotting gait, his muscular development and the quality of his sinews and bones. He was never engaged in any race. The leading families of Standardbred horses are the Hambletonians just referred to; the Membrinos, whose mod- ern head was Mambrino Chief, a descendant of Messenger; the Bashaws, the Clays, the Stars, the Blue Bulls, the Canadians, the Royal Georges, and several Morgan families, to which a section of the chapter is devoted. THE MORGAN. The Morgan is termed by many the "American Hackney." He is known as a stayer. The ambition among old Norfolk trotter enthusiasts was not to go a mile in two minutes, but an unlimited distance in a limited time. The aim was loo miles in ten hours to saddle, and the Morgan has the ability. Circumstances of locality have influenced this breed for such a purpose more than any other class of horses. The hills of New England prevent stretches of speed, and encourage staying powers against adverse conditions. The old Morgan appears to have had size and contour similar to the old Nor- folk, with greater substance. For long, steady, untiring work, the Morgan will unquestionably come to the front again in popularity. The history of the breed dates back to the foaling of Justin Morgan, in 1793. This horse was taken from his home at 2O THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. Springfield, Mass., when two years old, to Vermont. He was dark bay, fourteen hands, and 950 pounds. His walk was rapid and trot a smooth stride, and he was noted for courage, untiring action and beauty. Justin Morgan is con- ceded to have much Arabian blood in him. He left six entire sons — Hawkins, Sherman, Bulrush, Fenton, Revenge and Woodbury. Sherman, Bulrush and Woodbury left stock OLD ETHAN ALLEN. that has made them famous. P>om the first carne the Black horses : Ethan Aliens, Lamberts, Knoxes and Herods ; from Bulrush the Morrils and Fearnaughts, and from Woodbury the Golddusts and Magna Chartas. The Morgan is a trotting roadster, only that instead of turning off a fast mile he rapidly covers many miles with ease. His animation and eagerness make him a general favorite, whether for pleasure or business. The Morgans are a long-lived race. Justin died at 29, Sherman and Gifford at 26, Revenge at 22, Bui- THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. 21 rush at 35, Billy Root at 23 and Royal at 37. Their •prepo- tency for loo years has been remarkable. The illustration shows Ethan Allen, one of the famous descendants of Justin Morgan. THE HACKNEY. Many persons make the mistake of believing every com- pactly-built horse a Hackney, when in truth this animal is a THE HACKNEY. distinctly English-bred trotter of exact type and antiquity of origin, dating, his lovers say, as far back in English literature as 1170. A Hackney should be bred for quality as much as possible, and he must have bone and muscle enough to do the work required of him. The demand is for power enough to draw four persons ten to twelve miles per hour without 22 THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. trouble. The Hackney has made some remarkable records as a trotter, and his courage and intelligence make him an aristocrat among horses. Just at present the fad of fashion seems to have turned his way, and probably one-half the horses exhibited in the great horse shows of the country are Hackneys. Their compact build, bright eye and high knee action make them sought after for the carts and carriages of the rich. THE DRAUGHT HORSE— THE FARMER'S HORSE. Few men who buy horses will ask whether they are Norman, Clyde, Belgian, Percheron or Suffolk. They only PERCHERON BROOD MARE. •seek large, handsome, good horses, reasonably sound, with free action, and will pay good money and be glad to get them. They are all grand horses, and except for the heavily THE DIFFERENT IJREKDS. haired leg, or clean leg, no man can tell one from another. All are most valuable and come from one source. They have become what we see them by climatic influence, feed and environment. We must have weight to suit the city markets, A proud-stepping, vigorous, powerful Draught Horse, with beautiful form, is eagerly demanded by com- merce. Only high-class mares and the best Draught sires can produce such horses. Too many small chunks are bred. They fail to bring Draught- Horse prices, and their breeders then pronounce Draught- Horse breeding a failure. A requisite for the far- mer's horse is early ma- turity, or size and strength to perform much of the farmer's necessary work while growing or being fitted for market, and this without breaking down or being injured in any way by such work. He should be of medium size, evenly proportioned, with flat limbs powerfully jointed, but not coarse. Bays, browns and chestnuts are the favorite colors. Select animals with a swinging road gait that will draw two men a mile in four minutes, or ten miles an hour — a horse that can go fifty to sixty miles in a day without feeling it. The action shoujd be courageous and free, and he should have bottom enough to repeat the performance as frequently as one may desire. It is not difficult to get a high price for such horses. The man who has any Hackneys, French Coachers, or Cleveland Pays, 'is not far out of the way. HEAD OF DRAUGHT HORSE. 24 THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. There is no brighter possibility for the farmer than in breeding large, young native mares of amiable disposition to full-blood stallions, thus obtaining half-blood grades at slight cost. Such animals are as good for all practical uses as if full-bloods, and sell as well for all purposes except breeding. Why does not some enterprising breeder make a specialty of intelligence in horses, as has been done in the case of the dog with marvelous results ? There would be money in the thing. Let the breeder of horses school himself to sell his stock for just what it is. He will quickly make a good name for himself, and be able to get for his really good horses enough to more than recompense what he loses in telling the truth about the poorer ones. TtlE DIFFERENT BREEDS. 25 A good riding horse should have a long neck and carry its head high. The rider wants to see some horse ahead of him. THE GOOD MULE. " It is a poor mule that won't work both ways." Having made a business of rearing mules for market, I have learned many things concerning the breeding and use- fulness of this animal that those persons should have who are convinced he is a vicious and untrustworthy brute. To breed anything like the ideal mule, greater care must be exercised in the selection of sire and dam than is neces- sary in producing a model horse. How many ill-shaped,, ugly mules we see, each the result of careless breeding ! I have been taught by observation that more depends upon the sire than upon the dam in getting an ideal mule foal. Good points, however, come readily from both sides. Some men, in selecting a Jack, look to his height, and, for such, the more daylight found under him the better. What foolish men ! The Jack must be low and heavily quartered, with large bone and a neat head. This sire will bring good mules nearly every time. Some men who own curby, heavy- crooked mares say, " They '11 do to raise mules." This carelessness, coupled with ignorance, accounts for the great number of degenerated hybrids. A mule possesses keener instinct than a horse, and for this reason is easily trained. He should be handled from the very beginning of his life. A small leather halter should be worn about the stable for the purpose of holding him while being patted and rubbed about the head. This kind treatment will win respect for the owner of the most stubborn little hybrid for all future time. I have never found an ex- ception to this rule. I have found, however, that by tickling and teasing, it is easy to get an all-round kicker. The young THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. mule should be bitted when rising in his second year, and harnessed to light work. I have never seen a mule that I could not train to be good and gentle by handling him firmly, but easily and quietly. A good, tough mule will usually show TIM'S TEAM. it when a stranger approaches him. He will be shy. This shyness is his staple virtue, and means snap. What is the mule best adapted to? and what is he not adapted to? I use mules only on my farm and have no horses. The mule is harnessed for all purposes, from plow • THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. 2/ ing in new ground to attending funerals — both solemn occa- sions. He has a swinging gait, peculiar to himself, that makes him a speedy animal for such farm work as mowing and raking, cultivating and reaping. He is especially well adapted to the coach, being sufficiently speedy and exceed- ingly plucky, and handsome enough for any king to sit behind. General George Washington, much noted for keeping handsome horses, was also an extensive raiser of mules. Among the hills of Pennsylvania, where lumbering and mining is so extensively carried on, the mule is king of the collar. In this county (Westmoreland) the mule market is always good. I am happy to say the tariff never affects our mule market very much. Among the mountains of Western Pennsylvania the mule is an indispensable beast, as much as on the cotton and tobacco plantations, and in the cane brakes of the sunny South. Speaking of mules, Rufus Mason says : To a young man courting a girl whom he suspects is not quite as sensible as she ought to be, he can go on horseback ; but the day after the wedding, trade off the horses and get a first-rate mule team. She won't dress so fine to ride behind mules; and, seeing that the mules are sensible and businesslike, she will have a good example before her. SHETLAND PONY. The Shetland ponies are from thirty-four to forty-four inches high. They are very hardy and strong, with long manes and tails. These are a protection to them in the cold climate in which they are reared. They have long and shaggy coats. After being in America a few years their coats become finer. The Shetland Islands, where they come from, are north of Scotland. The pasture is scanty, and the climate severe. This is why they have become so small. 28 THE DIFFERENT BREEDS. They will carry a full-grown man, but the trouble is to find a good place for the rider's feet. But they are just adapted to the boy and girl. A child will get more fun, physical development, and ruddy health to the square inch with a pony, than in any other way. The child who has a pony should be taught to care for it. In this way the little boy or girl can take in horse sense, and this knowledge of how to do things will be A, FRIEND OF THE BOYS AND GIRLS. of great benefit to them. The pony will think more of them and they will think more of the pony. There is now a great demand for ponies, and there will be more as people find out how much good it is for the children to own them. The picture represents Sparkle, a beautiful specimen owned by J. Murray Hoag, of Maquoketa, Iowa, who imports large numbers of them. SHOWING 1. Mouth. 2. Pharynx. 3. (Esophagus. 4. Diaphragm. 5. Spleen. 6. Stomach. 7. Duodenum. 8. Liver, upper extremity. 9. Large colon. * Haines, after Megniii. From Prof. Michener in U. S. Gov. Report on Diseases of Animals. DIGESTIVE APPARATUS.* 10. Qecum. n. Small intestine. 12. Floating colon. 13. Rectum. 14. Anus. 15. Left kidney and its ureter. 1 6. Bladder. 17. Urethra. CHAPTER II. FEEDING AND WATERING. Observations on Feeding — Rules for Watering — Salting — Feeding Conveniences and Watering Tank and Trough — General Notes. Of food and drink give me the best, From brutal treatment keep me free ; Give me when tired a little rest, And see how useful I can be. A horse has a smaller stomach than an ox and conse- quently it must be fed less at a time. It has less power to digest coarse foods. It eats much slower, as it must do all its chewing before the food is swallowed. For these reasons it requires a longer time to eat and its food should be more concentrated. It wants only a little coarse food at a time. Most people feed too much rather than too little. Two pounds per day of hay and grain for each loo pounds of live weight, is usually enough for good working condition. A general all-round good ration for any horse consists of six parts bran, three of oats and one of linseed-oil meal. It is a grand combination for muscle, for work and for health. In cold weather corn should be added, and the cornmeal, oats and bran may be of equal wreight, still adding a little linseed meal. Feed a small amount of hay twice a day. There is no doubt that farmers generally depend too much on corn to feed their work horses. Corn is good to lay on fat, but muscle is what a work horse needs, to give which 32 FEEDING AND WATERING. oats are a much better feed. However plentiful corn may be, it should be fed sparingly. Lay on as much muscle as you please, the more the better, but a horse overburdened with fat is unable to stand as much hard work as one whose muscles are better developed. Great care and regularity should be given to watering and feeding. The water should in summer be clean, fresh and cool, and in the winter should be free from ice. Every liorse should have cut hay, straw, corn-fodder, or wheat •chaff, wetted and mixed with bran, at least once a day the year round. In the hot weather a horse should not be fed much corn. Bran and oats are much better. The more work the more feed, of course. The practice of feeding the horse when tired and thirsty l.s altogether too common, and then too with the extra thirst of a full meal allow it to gorge itself with water. When this is done the horse should remain quiet for a full hour before starting on the road or at hard work to get space for its lungs to play and its heart to beat, by the digestion of the food and its removal to the bowels. Did you ever get in your mouth or on your plate some potato that had soured in the hot weather? If so, you know something of the misery a horse must suffer when compelled to take all his food from a sour marlger. Cut food, moist- •ened, is very likely to sour the manger. The good horseman will always bend over it when tying his charges. Sourness is easily detected and easily cured by a pail of scalding water. A pinch of charcoal dust thrown in the manger •daily will help keep things sweet and prevent acidity in the horse's stomach. If the horse eats lots of grain and does not do well, it must have sore teeth or a poor digestion. It is an easy thing to have the teeth smoothed so it can eat well. If the trouble FEEDING AND WATERING. 33 is in the stomach, feed less grain. Too much grain will often make a disordered stomach, and the animal will do better on less. The breath of a horse or any other animal upon its food is unwholesome. For this reason put into the manger only food enough for one meal. Meal is not a natural food for a horse which can chew well. They eat it too fast and it does not get enough saliva with it to digest well. The saliva is the first secretion in the process of digestion and it must do its part to have the food agree fully with the animal. Green forage crops must be fed with discretion and not largely at first, or the result will be profuse sweating, result- ing in weakness, and sometimes colic. It is never safe to turn horses with strong, unsatisfied appetites for green crops loose in the rank growth. Every barn should have a bran bin which should be re- plenished annually at the time when bran is low in price. Its cost per ton is usually as low or lower than that of the best hay. Bran should be fed liberally when the old coat is shedding, and each horse should be treated to a daily ration in summer. Its tendency is laxative, keeping the entire system cool, and its effect upon the skin excellent, prevent- ing surface irritation common among animals fed largely upon corn. Four quarts of bran with a pint to a quart of oil meal lightly saUed will appeal keenly to the horse's taste. Potatoes are an excellent food for horses during the winter, in connection with other food, keeping their bowels open and their skins loose. There is nothing better than sweet apples to help put a horse in fine condition. Give them four quarts at a mess three times a day with the grain. Few people realize the value of sweet apples as a relish for horses. 34 FEEDING AND WATERING. One of the most useful foods whether green or hayed is oats and peas. The crop is easily raised in large quantities on rich land well prepared, where one-half bushel of peas are sown with two and one-half bushels of oats per acre. As soon as the peas are in full bloom the fodder is ready for use, and all should be cut for feeding or drying before the peas are ripe. If it should happen to be dull weather and the crop matures, no harm has been done, because it can be cured, run through the threshing machine and straw cutter, moist- ened, and the ground oats and peas sprinkled over it. Experienced horsemen understand that with a heavy feed of oats, at night, and a light breakfast, a horse gets a reserved stock of muscular strength laid in in advance, and travels faster and further than one having a hearty morning feed. A warm bran mash does good occasionally. Don't let the bowels of any horse become constipated. A night pasture for work horses will help to cool their blood. Give them their grain ration just the same. There are a few horses whose stomachs will not tolerate rye in any form ; will either get colic or staggers. Rye is always a dangerous feed when given alone. Spasmodic salting is all wrong for any animal, and espe- cially for horses. It may cause colic, and often does. The horse eats too much salt at a time, if only salted now and then, and when this is the case the coats of the stomach and the bowels are irritated, and congestion takes place and ex- cessive thirst. The horse then drinks too much and a chill follows, and this makes more congestion and inflammation may follow, and colic and a set-back, if not death. What is the use of such doings ? It is just as easy, and easier, to be more sensible, and to keep salt before the horse all the time, and then it will partake as directed by its instincts, and FEEDING AND WATERING. 35 only a lick will be eaten. Prepare the horse for the con- stant supply by giving it a little every day for a week, and then no harm will come. Teamsters should feed their own horses, and every team- ster who takes pride in his team should handle the measure himself, and should make appetite and digestion of food a subject of study. Horses refuse their feed because of overwork, too little exercise, or because the food is not right in some way, sore- ness of mouth or teeth, or general faulty management. If the trouble is due to overfeeding, short rations for a day or two will remedy it. Food that is not eaten within a reason- able time should be removed from the manger and the ration correspondingly reduced. No animal should have more than he will eat up clean. When a horse refuses to eat and becomes thin and weak for no apparent reason, he should have some condiment to increase the appetite. A good combination is the following : Ground oats and corn, of each five pounds ; oil meal, four ounces; salt, two ounces j a dessertspoonful of powdered gentian, and a small tea- spoonful of dried sulphate of iron. If the animal refuses the ration a little starvation will make him taste it, when his dislike will cease at once. Begin with a small quantity of this mixture for each meal, and increase it gradually until a- full ration is being fed. Water your horse before you give him hay. Give hirrr hay before you give him grain. Give the concentrated food last. His stomach is not large enough to hold all at once. The digestion of food is frequently badly retarded or pre- vented by mistakes in watering. Water should always be offered the horse twenty minutes before he is fed, and neves less than two hours after feeding. The drink is rapidly taken from the stomach by the intestines, and the time meik- FEEDING AND WATERING. tioned is sufficient to distribute three or four gallons of water throughout the digestive tract, diluting the salivary secretion so as to supply all water needed for digestion of the food. When regular watering is practiced no water will be craved soon after food. To observe this method prevents the wash- ing of undigested food from the stomach into the intestines, where it ferments, producing gas and resulting in colic. THE BARN TANK. There is no greater convenience in and about a horse barn than water obtainable instantly and at wholesale. Many persons are not situated where they can have pipe water at command, and will delight in arranging a tank in the upper part of the barn which may be kept full by the use of a hand or power pump. This tank should have an overflow pipe so that it will never be rilled so full as to make trouble. It need not be anything more than a cask well hooped and painted. A loo-gallon box lined with metal will answer better, pernaps, in quickly supply- ing drink for the horses, water for sponging their feet and legs, washing carriages, washing the floors and windows, etc. A hose is a great aid to the rapid washing of windows, and with a tank in the loft one is as independent of city water works as of Niagara. In connection with the water system every one should have a slatted platform an inch or two above the ground, where the wagons may be drawn for washing. Here the water and mud are instantly washed away, so that the hands and sponge are kept clean avoiding varnish scratching, and the feet are not kept in a puddle. FEEDING AND WATERINr,. 37 FIG. I. The most economical troughs are those made from plank. Use pine plank two inches thick. The plank must contain no knots or wind shakes, nor large cracks. The excellence of this sort of a trough especially depends upon the way in which it is made. Two drawings will show best and quickest the right and the wrong way. Letting one part into another makes the trough tighter, and if let in as shown in Fig. I, and not as shown in Fig. 2, the trough will be made much stronger and more durable. The bottom is let into the sides also. Smooth the edges to be let in. Lay them against the plank to be grooved, make a mark close to each edge, and then savsr just a little inside of each mark, so the groove is a little narrower than the edge to be fitted in it. Saw a long quarter of an inch deep and then chip out the wood with a chisel, making the groove of the same depth throughout. Paint the groove and edge with thick paint — brown mineral paint is cheapest and best — before they are put together. As Fig. I does not show the end piece let into the bottom, the reader is safe in concluding that the better way is to let the end of the bottom into the end piece. The bolts should be of FIG 2, iron, one-half inch in diameter. With the grooves they will hold the trough well together, and no- nails should be used. Such a trough is durable. Bore a hole in the bottom of every trough and fit it with a hard- wood plug. Then the water can be let out of freezing nights. If a stout tarred string is tied to the end of the 38 FEEDING AND WATERING. plug and fastened to the top of the trough, the plug will not be lost, and one will not have sometimes to reach into cold water to pull out the plug. It pays to have plenty of good troughs about the farm. The horse that eats his grain too hastily is sure, sooner or later, to become a dyspeptic. Bolted food cannot be assim- ilated, and hence is worse than wasted, as it deranges and poisons the digestive organs. Some horses, whose stomachs are already out of order more or less, from the vice of too eager eating, will plunge their noses into the oats nearly to the eyes, fill their mouths and fairly crowd the food e — Spavin — Scratches — Itching Skin — Overdriven Pace. When cooled and rested, Give me water and feed ; And P II willingly serve you In time of need. Whenever a horse is seen to bleed or emit offensive mat- ter from the nostrils, Glanders is suspected and treatment should not be attempted. It may be a dangerous case,, which is fatal alike to man and beast. A veterinary sur- geon should be called. Gorged Stomach results when a horse has been fed after a long fast. The small stomach of a horse is so distended that it is unable to contract itself upon its contents, a mo- tion which is necessary in digestion. The horse becomes stupid, slight colicky symptoms are observed, and he carries- his head low and extended. As he grows worse he pawsr becomes delirious, is covered with cold sweat, trembles,, slobbers, staggers and drops dead. Treatment is difficult, A purgative of Barbadoes aloes, one ounce, should be given at once, followed by Cayenne pepper, one-half ounce, or Jamaica ginger, one-half ounce. If the bowels can be stim- ulated to act, they will in a measure relieve the stomach. For this purpose use turpentine, two ounces, and linseed oil, eight ounces. 64 AILMENTS AND REMEDIES — CONTINUED. Horses liable to Staggers and Fits should have harnesses that are carefully adjusted, and should not be pushed in hot weather. No heavy feed should be given them at any time, oats and sweet hay or grass being the best. Such animals should not be driven when it can be avoided. When indi- cations point to an attack, the horse should be stopped, his harness loosened, some cold water given him to drink and his face sponged at the same time. Rye is a bad feed for sleepy staggers. Lockjaw is caused by cuts, nail in the hoof, etc. Nothing is so common from wounds in the feet and from docking. The horse is unable to open his jaws to the fullest extent, and mastication is impossible. Various muscles twitch, the head and tail are elevated and the nose protruded, and the anus is •compressed. The animal swallows with difficulty ; saliva flows from the mouth. Of course, in this disease the ne- cessity of calling in a skilled veterinary surgeon is indi- cated. A horse which is frequently or occasionally overtaken with Giddiness or Megrims is dangerous to use. This trouble is hard to cure. It indicates the need of moderate driving, es- pecially in hot weather, and that a small amount of hay should be fed. Horses that are Choked thrust out their heads, bend and stretch the neck, while there is a copious flow of saliva from the mouth. In some cases there is distention of the gullet on the left side of the neck, if it have descended so far. If it be in the upper part of the gullet a man accustomed to giving balls may be able to reach it with his hand. Obstruc- tions that have got lower down may be moved upward gently from the outside. Sometimes an obstruction is soft and may be crushed small enough for the animal to swallow it. A mass of meal or other impacted food is sometimes removed AILMENTS AND REMEDIES— CONTINUED. 65 by frequent drinks of water, and a drench of olive or cotton seed oil can do no harm. The plan of reaching a whip or heavy piece of rope down the gullet to push the substance into the stomach is risky, in the hands of one not accustomed to the anatomy of the horse. Lampas is usually an imaginary trouble. Very rarely does the membrane directly beneath the upper front teeth congest and swell enough to interfere with feeding. When this trouble is feared there is no quicker nor surer cure than feed- ing a little corn in the ear. When biting off the kernels, the horse naturally compresses the membrane or forces it back. The burning of the lampas is cruel and unnecessary, and if the swelled parts are cut, the cut should not be deep, or danger will result. There is a widespread delusion that Hooks , so called, is a dis- ease affecting the horse's eye. A barbarous custom among cruel men is to forcibly destroy the membrane which keeps the eye free from foreign substances, but the cruelty does not accom- plish the desired result, though it may injure or destroy the eye. The obstinacy of the membrane simply shows some- thing to be wrong in the anatomy of the horse, just as the tongue will indicate to the observing physician when the stomach of his subject is out of order. To cut or disturb the hooks in the eyes is as absurd as to doctor the tongue instead of the stomach in the human case. Remove Lice by rubbing the animal with a solution of sulphate of potassium', four ounces, and water, one gallon, or with strong tar water ; or dust with Persian insect powder ; or the skin may be sponged with benzine or quassia chip tea. Any of the applications must be repeated a week later to destroy the lice hatching in the interval. All blankets should be boiled, and the stalls painted with turpentine, and littered with fresh pine sawdust. 66 AILMENTS AND REMEDIES CONTINTED. Knuckling, or cocked ankle, is a condition of the fetlock joint which resembles partial dislocation. The trouble is not considered unsoundness, but it predisposes to stumbling. .Foals are quite subject to it, and no treatment is necessary, as the legs straighten up naturally in a few weeks. It is caused in horses by heavy and fast work, and is produced sometimes by a disease of the suspensory ligament, or of the flexor tendons. This should be relieved by proper shoe- ing. The toe must be shortened and the heels left high, or the shoe should be thin forward with thick heels or high calks. A Splint may be rubbed off and the wrork aided by putting on a liniment, but few would persevere in the rubbing long enough to make a cure. A blister will do it. If the Fetlock be Sprained, and the injury slight, bandage and apply cold wrater frequently. Where the lameness is intense, and the swelling and heat great, the leg should be kept in a constant stream of cold water. When the inflam- mation has been subdued the joint should be blistered. Ring Bone is an osseous exudation or bony deposit at the crown of the hoof. When its presence is first detected the place should be severely blistered once or twice, or red iodide of mercury applied. If this fail, firing with the hot iron in the hands of a competent surgeon will be necessary. If you have a suspicion of a Spavin coming on your horse, employ a good veterinary surgeon. Heroic treatment is the only thing in such cases. Judicious firing, strong blistering and perfect rest for at least six weeks or two months, and good nursing will, in most cases, arrest the disease and cure lameness. It is the result of too great exposure in draught or speed, or from slipping and kindred causes. Scratches or grease is frequently proof of carelessness in clearing stables, and includes poor ventilation. The trouble AILMENTS AND REMEDIES CONTINUED. 67 may result from condition of the blood, from unwhole- some fodder, or work in irritating mud or dust, especially of a limestone character. It has been brought on by using caustic soap on the legs, clipping the heels in wintertime, by debilitating disease, etc. The first step in a cure is to remove the cause, and if there is much local heat, administer a laxative like a pound of Glauber's salts. Highly-fed animals should have their rations reduced, or replaced by bran mashes, flaxseed, fruits, roots, and other non -stimulating food. Bitter tonics are essential also, and may be continued six weeks to two months. If the skin is unbroken, bathe with water, one quart, in which sugar of lead, two drachms, is dis- solved, or annoint with vaseline, one ounce, sugar of lead, one drachm, and carbolic acid, ten drops. To clip the hair from the horse's heels and poultice them with grated carrot, night and morning, is sometimes beneficial. Free exercise is important. Rub the heels dry and apply equal parts of glycerine and compound tincture of aloes. The treatment for Wind Galls consists in pressure by means of bandages and by cold lotions. Blistering will remove them. Capped Hocks are reduced in the same manner. There is no treatment that will surely avail in the cure of String Halt. For Itching Skill, wash the skin thoroughly with carbolic soapsuds, and give the horse a half pound of Glauber's salts daily for a week. Do not feed him any grain but wheat, scalded bran and linseed meal, three quarts of the former and one quart of the latter, for two weeks. There will speedily come a change. Card him daily. Scald his oats and give him salt daily. Feed oats, bran and linseed after the two weeks and scald the whole mess. When horses are covered v/ith bunches or lumps, their blood is out of order. 68 AILMENTS AND REMEDIES CONTINUED. Give doses of Glauber's salts daily and hot bran mashes. Give salts a half pound daily. A gill of raw linseed oil every day will be good, mixed with the bran. The horse which eats its own excrement does it for the acids it contains, which are voided in it and in the urine which it has absorbed. Give such a horse a pinch of cop- peras, bone dust, salt, ashes and saltpetre mixed in its meal once a day. A few days of pasturing is good. Horses snort and wheeze because of an enlargement of the glands in the nostrils. A skilled veterinarian can remove the trouble by cutting it out. Doctoring will not cure snor- ing or wheezing horses. The air passages are stopped. A twenty-year-old horse was not doing well. Upon examination his front teeth were found to be so long that his grinders were kept from coming together, and he could not masticate his food. His teeth were filed off, and the sharp points evened with a float, and he is now doing as well as any of the younger horses. Watch the teeth of the old horse. An experienced horseman, if human, will not push his horse beyond his strength by Overriding or Driving ; still at times an indiscreet driver will bring an animal to the verge of extinction, when it is well to know what to do for him. The symptoms are plain in the audible breathing, staggering gait, exhausted appearance and heaving flank. The girts must be removed and the face turned toward the wind, the animal being protected from the sun meantime. The head must be left free and the limbs and body well rubbed. The movement of the ribs should not be hindered in any way. A few swallows of cold water may be allowed, and, in hot weather, the mouth, forehead and face may be sponged with it. When sufficiently revived the horse should be slowly led to a comfortable box-stall and heavily blanketed, woolen bandages being wound about the legs as well. Tf AILMENTS AND RKMKDIES CONTINUED. 69 the horse has fallen he must not be allowed to lie until he voluntarily gets up, but must be propped up on his breast and not allowed to lie flat on his side. Heat exhaustion is some- what similar in symptom and demands similar treatment, with the addition of throwing cold water over the animal, particularly wetting the head, and causing a current of air to pass over him that evaporation may take place. NEVER SICK A DAY IN HIS LIFE. CHAPTER VIII. DOCTOR INC;. Giving Medicine — Medicine Ball — Injections — Physic — Condition Powders — Ending a Horse's Life. Many inexperienced horsemen know nothing of how to give a horse medicine. Some who can administer a drench have never tried balling. Many get bitten who try, so it is best to be careful. Hold the head high, reach the fingers into the animal's mouth just back of the forward teeth where there are no teeth, and no danger of being bitten, and grasp the tongue, pull it out gently, and as you do so the horse will open his mouth, allowing the tongue to loll between the grinders. The medicine ball may then be safely pushed down the animal's throat as far as the hand can be made to reach, for the animal will not attempt to close his jaws while his tongue is between them. Two persons, one to administer the medicine, while the other is holding the tongue and head, will accomplish the desired object more quickly. The throat should be watched carefully, and the animal not be allowed to lower his head until he is seen to swallow. The tongue should be pushed back into his mouth as soon as the ball is put well down the throat, as it will assist in the svval lowing process. Horse balls usually come wrapped in tissue paper, and should not be unwrapped before adminis- tering, as it prevents bad taste in the mouth. The giving of a drench is so easy and common as not to need description. The medicine should be shaken well with DOCTORING. 71 half a pint of water, and poured into a wide-mouthed heavy glass bottle that the horse cannot easily crush. Having se- cured the head and tongue as described in * * administering a ball," turn up the bottle in the horse's mouth, holding the head so the contents will run down his throat. Remove the bottle after pouring in about four ounces. If he does not swallow at once, gently close the nostrils for a moment, or tickle the roof of his mouth with the finger nail. This will cause him to move the tongue and before he knows it he will have swallowed the mixture. If coughing occur or the bottle be crushed, lower the horse's head immediately. Injections should be small in quantity when for absorp- tion, and at a temperature of 90 to loo degrees. They should be introduced only after the last bowel has been emptied by hand or by copious enemas. Clysters are given usually to aid the action of physics, and should be in suffi- cient quantity to cause the animal to eject them. Warm water, salt and water, or soap and water, one gallon or more at a time may be given every half hour. It is best that they be not discharged immediately. Liquids may be injected by means of a large syringe, or by a simple funnel made for the purpose of a two-quart pail or pan seven inches in diameter, to which a pipe sixteen inches long is soldered at right angles. This pipe is introduced into the rectum and must be made perfectly smooth and be oiled before using. Pour the liquid into the funnel rapidly after it is inserted, and the bowels will be drenched as quickly and effectively as by a more complicated arrangement, and in safety. Or a common funnel and rubber pipe will answer a better purpose. Be- sides those described, there are few or no other methods for administering doses that are necessary or safe enough for the novice to attempt. 72 DOCTORING. An excellent physic ball for a horse is made of powdered Barbadoes aloes, seven drachms, powdered gentian, two drachms, and sufficient syrup to stick it into a hard ball. The ball should be three or four times as long as its diameter. When a horse has been physicked severely he should not have any hard exercise for several days, but should be walked a little every day and allowed to stand in the sun. Bran mashes should take the place of his regular ration for three feeds, water often, but sparingly, even if thirsty. Condition powders for horses are not only expensive and undesirable, but frequently unsafe as well. Recent analyses of condition powders selling by the package at the rate of $1,000 per ton, have been found to contain linseed meal principally, with small quantities of camphor and other drugs, more or less harmful, in varying amounts, the mix- ture not costing the manufacturers over $28 to $30 per ton. As a natural tonic for the system, the safest and best condi- tion powder permissible under all conditions is good food, perhaps placing linseed meal at the head of the list of grains. It imparts strength and tone to the system, nourishing the nerves as well as the muscles, acting like a gentle laxative upon the bowels, mellowing the hide, glossing the coat, and removing it betimes in the spring. No prescription is bet- ter than the following, as a rule : Dried sulphate of iron, two drachms, powdered gentian and powdered fenugreek, of each four drachms, all in one powder, to be put in the feed night and morning for three weeks. There is danger in using many of the advertised tonics and condition powders which contain arsenic. These bene- fit animals at first, but not permanently. How to poultice a horse's leg is often a problem, espe- cially when the poultice must be kept at a point high up or arching. A bag is prepared a little larger than the leg, and DOCTORING. 73 with no bottom. Around the lower edge a puckering string is run in to tie around the leg. Next, cords two-thirds the length of the bag are made fast to the top of it, and then sewed to the bottom, so the lower third pouches below and outside of the puckering cord. The top is held up by cords fastened to old harness, kept on the horse. The poultice is poured in, a bountiful quantity being used. Such a bandage will hold it in place without waste or failure unless the injury itch or pain severely. Then the animal will use its teeth upon it, if allowed to reach it. If animals must be killed, humanity requires that it be done in the quickest and least painful manner. For shooting a horse, place the pistol muzzle within a few inches of the head, and shoot at the place marked above by a dot, aiming to ward the center of the head. If it must be done by blows, blindfold, and with a heavy axe or hammer strike at the same spot as above. Two vigorous, well directed blows should make death sure. Be careful not to shoot or strike too low. If there is no other way to get rid of dead carcasses cover them with earth a few inches deep and burn them. The earth will absorb a good part of the gases and when burning put on more. When all burned, cover up well with earth and then mix the mass and sow it broadcast on any land and it will tell wonderfully. Spare me up and spare me down, But spare me not on level ground. MARE MAXIMS. JOHN TlK'KKR says: Don t breed scrubs. If s wicked. If we breed our colts in the autumn we reduce their cost, -as tJie mare can do team work all summer. The same mare to tJie same horse and all the neighbors doing the same thing will get tJie matches. Mares bred at home, not traveled, are more sure. In many cases it would be better to take the mare to tJie stable •of the sire before the time of heat and leave her a few davs ^after service. Anyway, she shotild be walked all the wav home. The old mare should be kept breeding, for if you skip #ver a year she mav not conceive again. J\Iares will breed usually till twenty, and often for years after. We would not risk feeding rye to mares in foal, as the reaching from near the floor up and out through the roof. The bottom is open, but closes with a slide. Near the ceiling is a hinged door con- trolled by a cord, as shown. In warm weather this upper door can be opened to let out the heated air, which always rises. In cold weather this door can be closed, and the slide at the bottom opened to remove the foul gases that, from their greater weight than air, sink to the floor. The draft up through this ventilator will remove them. Too often the chutes which bring down hay and oats are the only ventilation in a stable. They may be a source of much discomfort if not danger to the horse. Such chutes should be fitted with cross boards for sliding in, to close them tightly at top or bottom to stop air currents. Hay or straw chutes may well serve as ventilators if they .be closed always, where the hay is put in directly after using, and if they are carried up to the roof. A ven- tilator so arranged is here illustrated. The bottom should be two feet from the entry floor. It contains near the stable ceiling a hinged door, opened and shut by a cord, and near the top of the building a damper to close in case of high winds. The damper is shown closed, as for a night of high winds. To open it pull the cord and wind it about the ABOUT STABLES. 121 cleat shown. The damper is made of a board just the size of the inside of the ventilator. It is kept from falling down the ventilator by resting upon a cleat at one side and the damper rod at the other. It is not balanced, and its own weight causes it to fall across and close the shaft when the cord is loosened. The feed-door shown open must be tight when closed after throwing in hay. There should be several of these doors in the ventilator at different heights. For controlling odors in the stable nothing equals fine road dust. Its absorptive quality is surprising. Never use lime nor ashes. They only set the ammonia free as an annoying and destroying gas to act upon the eyes of the horse, spoil the carriage varnish, and rot the harness. The necessity for a harness closet, and an illustration of one, has already been given on page 56. Another great con- venience about the stable is the wash -pave, where the carriage may be washed without getting it splashed with mud while doing it, or at the same time get your feet muddy. It should be somewhat larger on all sides than the carriage, and should be depressed towards the centre, with a gutter to run the water off. It may be made of flat flagging stones, bricks or concrete. Have it in a sheltered sunny place if possible, and the carriage will get washed on many winter days when otherwise it would not be done. There is another chief stable necessity — pure water. Be sure it is pure. Impure water dulls the lustre of coat and eye, and numbs the action and other faculties, gradually poi- soning the system and lessening the value of the horse, or destroying him if its use be continued. A stable or yard draining into or soaking through the soil to a barn well makes water impure, dangerous. If the purity be questioned, send a sample quart to the chemist of your State experiment station to be analvzed. ABOUT STABLES. B/IR|N DOOR /] JLJ FIG. I. A home-made device for locking rolling stable doors which requires no key, and yet which is securely fastened, is shown in Figure I. Have a string go through the wall to raise the catch on the inside. A very simple and cheap home- made latch for the barn door is shown in Figure 2. A, B and c are sticks of hard wood two inches square. In A and B are cut notches at D and E an inch deep for the bolt c to slide in. The bolt is also cut down, as shown in the drawing, sufficiently to allow it to work freely even in damp weather. Screw the pieces A and B to the inside of the door. Bevel the end of the bolt c at H at such an angle that when the door shuts, and the bolt strikes the jamb j the bolt will be pushed back and fall into the slot in the jamb by its own weight. Put a strong pin in the hole of the bolt at K, and make a slot in the door for this pin to work in. Keep the bearings well greased. FIG. 2. Perhaps a better bolt, but one a little harder to make, is shown in Figure 3. In it A is a spring made of hickory or oak and set into the end of the bolt B. At c is a flat strip of wood, which goes through the bolt 1 and through a slot in the door to open it from the other side. The bolt is beveled at the end so that it will slide back, and the spring will throw it into place every time, no matter how hard the door may be slammed. A pin at D will prevent the bolt FIG. 3. going too far. If your barn doors are cut through at the middle, as they should be, the hickory spring A could ABOUT STABLES. 123 be continued up above the top of the lower door and the pin c dispensed with. This is a good arrangement where chil- dren are around. While they can push back the pin and open the door, they are not able to reach to the top of the door and push back the spring. Have a place for everything, and, what is of more impor- tance, see that everything is put in its place. Neat and convenient hooks for the stable tools and brushes will save time and temper, aside from keeping everything orderly about the stable. The little illustration speaks for itself. Herewith are given the ground plans and elevations of three different stables, in which those contemplating building or altering may find some helpful hints even if the plan is not adopted in full. The stables may be con- structed of whatever material the builder may desire, and as the localities in which this book will be read are so widely separated, and the price of materials consequently so variable, it is impossible to give any accurate estimate of their cost. For the reason that we have not room to give the plans of large general -purpose barns, the plans given are those of stables alone; but the arrangement or suggestions in the drawings may well be followed in planning quarters for horses in large barns. There are many people living on small lots and in villages who need stable room for only one horse and perhaps a cow. The stable here shown is an excellent one. The framework of the whole is 1 8 by 25 feet. The carriage room is 9 by 1 8. A foot or two more in its width would not be amiss and would then give space for the carriage, sleigh, lawn-mower, etc., besides room for unhitching in stormy weather and for 124 ABOUT STABLES. cleaning harness. By the way, the harness should be hung up on pins in this room, away from the ammonia generated in ELEVATION SHOWING SMALL VILLAGE STABLE. the stable. The horse, as will be seen in the plan, can be taken directly into the stable without going out-of-doors. Straw and hay are stored in the lofts above, reached by the flight of stairs, as shown. The arrange- ment of the loft may be according to the wishes and needs of the builder. The plan of the stalls without an entry in front, as shown, while very common and economical of space, is not a good one if it can be avoided, as all the feed has to be carried in alongside of the animal. When a cow is kept in a stall of this kind there is always danger of her throwing her horns around and injuring her attendant. PLAN OF SMALL VILLAGE STABLE. ABOUT STABLES. 125 Some may prefer a hinged door to the carriage room, but the rolling one has the advantage of never blowing about in a high wind and is easily opened and shut under all circum- stances, including a big snowdrift right up against it. The plan has been drawn to the scale of sixteen feet to the inch. The second plan and elevation show a stable larger than the preceding, and is one designed by a member of the Farm A THREE-HORSE STABLE. Journal staft. It has been in use for several years, and has proven to be very satisfactory and convenient. There is stabling for three horses, and by doing away with the harness- closet four may be accommodated. The covered driveway in front will be found almost indispensable — for hitching and unhitching, for washing the carriage on the washpave, (shown in the plan,) for cleaning the horses, etc. The harness-closet should have been shown with a window in it, and should be made as tight as possible of tongued and grooved boards. The stairway leads up from the entry to the second floor, which contains a good-sized room for the man to sleep in, a storage room for grain, a mow for hay 126 ABOUT STABLES. over the carriage room, and one for straw over the stalls. The hay is thrown down the chute into the entry, and the straw down the chute back of the stalls. The location of the chutes is shown by dotted lines. ' The manure pit is conveniently placed just alongside of the back door, where drains in the cemented floor of the stalls lead the liquid manure. Either end of the shed may be boarded up if necessary to make it more protected from storms. This plan has also been drawn to the scale of sixteen feet to the inch. The third stable shown is much more pretentious, having accommodations for seven horses and half-a-dozen carriages. There is a good-sized harness-room, a large areaway for inside ungearing, two box stalls, a good-sized feeding entry, watering trough, a ventilating shaft, and other con- veniencies. Under the stairs leading to the second floor there is a closet. The second floor furnishes abundance of ABOUT STABLES. 127 room for the man, storage for hay, grain and straw, and a carpenter' s room for working in on rainy days could be easily located. The box stalls open on the outside as well as into the stable. STABLE FOR SEVEN HORSES. In this plan the space devoted to carriages could no doubt be advantageously reduced, as the room shown is about 26 by 32 feet. SL In conclusion, it might be said that each builder should make the measurements which are best suited to his wants. These plans are merely presented as suggestions and aids in the arrangement and location of the different essential parts of the stable. INDEX. Age of a Horse, how to tell. in. Ailments and Remedies, 58. Kalky Horse, the, 50. Blanket Shield, 52. P.reecls, 13. Breeding Farm Horses, 76. Capped Hocks, 67. Choking, 64. Choking Distemper, 61. Colic, Spasmodic and Wind, 60. Colt's Education, the. 83. Condition Powders, 72. Corns, 94. Digestive Apparatus, 29. Distemper, 59, 61. Docking Horses, 108. Doctoring, 70. Driving the Colt, 83. Dysentery^ 62. PLxterior of the Horse, 10 Fast Walking, 86. Feeding and Watering, 31. Fits, 64, Foot, the, 90. Giddiness, 64. Glanders, 63. Gorged Stomach, 63 Grooming, 42. Halters for Pullers, 53. Halters, Road and Stable, 54. Harness Closet, 56. Hay Chute, 39. Heaves, 62. Hoof Cleaner, 44. Hooks, 65. Horse Tie, 54. Indigestion, 60. Injections, 71. Interfering, 102. In the Stable and at Work, 40. Itching, 67. Kicking, 51, 86. Killing a Horse, 73. Knuckling, 66. Lampas, 65. Leading Horses, 55. Lice, 65. , Lockjaw, 64. Mare and Colt, 75. Maxims, 11,49, 74> 89,96, Megrims, 64. Navicular Disease, 93. Overexertion, 68. Paddock, Stallion, 78. Parts of the Horse, 10. Poultice, how to, 72. , Puncture of the Hoof, 93. j Remedies, 58. ! Ring Bone. 66. Running Away, 52. Salting, 34. Scratches, 59, 66. Shoeing, 97. ! Sore Shoulders, 61. Spavin, 66. Splint, 66. Sprained Fetlock, 66. Stable Floors, 40. Stables, 115. Staggers, 64. I String Halt, 67. Syringe, 71. Tail Rubbing, 50. Thrush, 94. j Troughs, 37. Tying the Colt, 85. Vices, 50. Watering, 31. Wind Galls, 67. ; Worms, 59. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. RENEWALS ONLY— TEL. NO. 642-3405 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. oks are subject to immediate recall.