t

THE

Handy Horse Book.

j A MANUAL FOR EVERY AMERICAN
1 HORSE-OWNER,

i-

> ' BY

•>

t C. E. THOmSTE, AND A. T. WILSON,

'^ Editok Fau-MandFikeside. Vetertnaey Surgeon,

> t

■>

^^

>

1 FARM AND FIRESIDE LIBRARY.

I - ■: ^ I

I ! NUMBER 20. I ocro....m2. \ «^"pfg'gir£S"^' I t

t PUBLISHED BY MAST, CROWELL & KIRKPATRICK, SPRINGFIELD, OHK

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THE

Handy Horse Book

A MANUAL FOE, EVERY AMEEICAN
HORSE-OWJSTER.

C. E. THORNE, AND A. T.WILSON,

Editor Fakm and Fireside. Veterinaet Surgeon.

H *i=:i.r-\, , %,

published by

Mast, Crowell & Kirkpatkick,

spben^gfield, ohio.

s...

COPYRIGHTED.

1883.

MAST, CROWELL & KIRKPATRICK.

PREFACE

111 the compilation of my portions of this book it has been my
endeavor to collect, in convenient form, such facts relating to the
history and management of the horse as I have often wished to
have access to in my own farm-life. While I can lay little claim
to originality in this compilation, I hope that my experience may'
have been such as to salt the whole with the savor of practica-
bility.

It will be seen that throughout my part of the book, as well
as Dr. Wilson's, no attempt has been made towards an exhaustive
discussion of the points considered. For such discussion the
reader must be referred to more extensive or more specialized
works, this book being designed, as its name implies, simply as a
handy manual for the ordinary horse-owner, and as such I hope
it will be found serviceable.

C. E. T.

J.

PART I.

HISTORICAL.

From the legends of the rocks we learn that the elevation of
the lands which had formed the bottoms of the oceans f the
Cretaceous period was very soon followed by the advent of hoofed
animals, already showing the differentiation into Artiodactyla, or
even-toed, and Perissodactyla, or odd-toed, which continues to be
a most important point in classification. Of the latter class the
earliest forms to which the modern horse can be traced, that have
as yet been found, have come from the fossil beds of New Mexico,
Utah and Wyoming, belonging to the Eocene period ; but as yet
the evidence that similar forms may not exist in other parts of
the world is only negative, since there are immense tracts in Asia
and Africa, where the paleontologist is as yet unknown.

The earliest form of the horse thus far discovered — the Eohip-
pus, of Marsh, was not larger than a fox, and had four toes, with
rudiments of a fifth. In succeeding forms the toes disappeared
and the size increased, until the horse which accompanied man in
his advent upon the world of history was an animal probably
much resembling the wild pony of the present day, with all the
toes obliterated except the central one, corresponding to the mid-
dle digit in man.

Zoologists place the horse in the genus Eqims, species cdbaUus.
This genus also includes (2) the domestic ass {E. asinus) ; (3) the
Asiatic wild asses, roaming from Syria to the frontiers of China,
and forming probably but a single species {E. hemionus), though
divided by some zoologists into the Syrian wild ass (E. hemippm),
the Onager {E. onager), from Persia, and the Kiang, or Dzeggettai
{E. hemionus), of the high table-lands of Thibet ; (4) the Quagga
{E. quagga)] (5) the Dauw, or Burchclls Zebra (E. BurchellU), and
(6) the Mountain Zebra {E, Zebra); the last three belonging to

[5J

6 THE HANDY HORSE iOOK.

Africa, and being distinguished from each other by the Quagga
having the dark stripes limited to the head, neck and shoulders,
upon a brown ground-color, while the Dauw has a white ground-
color, with the stripes extending over the body and upper part of
the limbs, and the Mountain Zebra shows a still stronger con-
trast between the stripes and the white ground-color, the former
extending to the feet. This species is confined to southern Africa,
and is becoming extinct, owing to the encroachments of civ-
ilization.

These six modifications of the horse type are all sufl&ciently
distinct to be regarded as separate species. They are not so widely
separated but that each will interbreed with any of the others,
but the produce of such interbreeding is in every case a true hy-
brid ; that is, incapable of perpetuating its kind, although there
are some instances of female mules breeding with males of either
the horse or the ass.

Of these species but two, and these the two bearing the least
resemblance to each other — the horse and the ass — ^have been
brought into domestication. Of the time and place of this do-
mestication we have no tradition. A few scattering hints have
been obtained from geology ; from that picture-writing by which
primeval man sought to perpetuate his ideas on bone, or horn, or
rock ; and from a few indistinct allusions in he oldest forms of
wiitten language.

As before stated, the earliest paleontological remains of the
horse thus far found have occurred in America, and from the
Eocene EoMppus it is traced through various modifications to
forms differing but slightly from the horse of to-day ; yet, when
America was opened to civilization, none of these forms were rep-
resented in its living fauna, notwithstanding the fact hat the broad
plains of both continents were perfectly adapted to the necessities
of this animal, as shown by the fact that they soon became the
grazing gi'ound of -.mmense herds of \\dld orses, the produce of
individuals which had escaped from domestication.

From the natural adaptitude of the plains of southern Africa
to the habits of the horse, and from the. close resemblance in.

HISTORICAL. /

form of the other members of the genus now existing there, we
would naturally expect to find in that country his original home.
The evidence upon this point, however, is not conclusive. At
present no wild horses are known to exist either in Africa or else-
where, except as descendants of those which have escaped from
domestication.

The earliest historical references to the horse occur in words of
"Sanskrit origin, in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and in Hebrew
history. The chronology of these references is so obscure that
it is impossible to assign any dates to them, but they leave no
doubt that the horse was in domestication among the Hebrews
and Egyptians from sixteen hundred to two thousand years before
the Christian era, and they cause the surmise that he was prob-
ably brought, already domesticated, with the Aryan races who, at
about this period, began that westward march of civilization
which, is not yet ended.

In view of the perfection to which the modern Arabian horse
has been brought, it has been conjectured by some that
Arabia Avas his original home ; but that country has long been so
barren that the horse Avould not have prospered without human
care, while he seems to have been comparatively unknown there
in early times. Solomon appears to have mounted his cavalry
from Egypt, and it is not until the fifth century, a. d., that we
have any evidence of the possession of horses by the Arabians,
while even in Mahomet's time they were not abundant.

Xenophon, writing in the fifth century, B. c, describes, in the
horse of Greece, an animal which would to-day be recognized as
a good horse. The horse of Rome is supposed to have been in-
ferior to that of Greece, from the fact that the Roman cavalry
proved unequal to that of Macedonia and Persia, notwithstand-
ing the superiority of the Roman infantry.

In Great Britain and western Europe we have a series of evi-
dences which, apparently, take up equine history near the point
where it is dropped by the fossil beds of America. These evi-
dences exist in the debris forming the floors of the caves for the
possession of .which, as dwelling places, primeval man disputed

8 TSE fiAKDY ifORSE! fiOO^.

with the nyaena and great cave bear, and in whose lowest strata
the bones of these animals, as well as of the mammoth rhinocerous
and other animals of whose existence in those regions no other
tradition is left, are mingled with those of the horse, and with
human bones and implements of war and the chavSe. In these
caves we have not only tht^ evidence furnished by the commin-
gling of these bones, but even at that early date the instinct of
the artist had been born, andi on bits of bone, elephant's tusk,
deer's antlers, etc., have been found rude sketches of several of
these animals, the horse included. From these sketches we learn
that the horse of the cave-dwellers bore a considerable likeness
to the wild pony that roams the Russian steppes to-day.

Above the layer of debris which covere these remains exists
another from which the previous fauna has mainly disappeared,
but we still find the bones of man and horse, surrounded now,
however, with those of the domestic dog, pig, goat and ox, and
the badger bear, wild boar and other wild animals of the present
fauna.

The man who first inhabited these caves seems to have been of
the Eskimo type, to have had no domestic animals, and to have
subsisted wholly by the chase.- The horse was, therefore, to him
only an object of food. With the changed climatic conditions
under which the mammoth and hyaena gave place to the ox and
pig, the Eskimo disappears and his place is supplied by a type of
men which is thought to be still represented in the remnants of
the Iberic races now existing in the Basque provinces of Spain,
and which were driven to the westward and almost completely
annihilated by the Celtic offshoots of the great Aryan stock, who
were found occupying the land by Caesar, and who were in pos-
session of horses which they rode and harnessed to chariots.

No doubt these Celts had carried mth them in their westward
migrations some of the animals which had been domesticated in
their eastern homes, and most probably the horse of the neolithic
cave-dweller now received an infusion of eastern blood.

With the advent of the Romans, however, more definite history
begins, and we may be sure that the native mares • were crossed

HISTORICAL. 9

with the Roman remounts. We cannot be so sure, however, that
this cross was always an improvement, since these remounts were
obtained from all quarters of the world, while the Roman-, never
manifested much concern for the improvement of their horses.

The Jutes and- Saxons were maritime peoples, and the few
horses which they brought with them to assist in their inland
excursions were probably not superior to those already in Britain.
But the coming of William the Conqueror opened a new
era in the equine as well as the human history of England, in the
importation of the horses of Normandy and Spain. From this
time there were frequent importations of foreign blood. The
crusades furnished opportunities for the introduction of the blood
of Turkey, Arabia and Barbary, which has since become so cel-
e brated; but the small horses of those regions were not suited to the
carrying of an armor-clad knight, and consequently these only
found favor among monks and ladies, while the soldier of the
period preferred the powerful horses of Normandy and Flanders,
and King John is recorded as having imported a hundred
Flemish stallions.

That the English horse had early attained a valuable character
is shown by the fact that Edward III., in the fourteenth century,
forbade their exportation, a prohibition which was continued by
Henry VII. (1485-1509) in the case of stallions, but relaxed in
that of mares above two years old. Gelding is believed to have
had its origin in this reign, the object being to preserve and im-
prove the quality of the English breed by preventing the use of
inferior animals as breeders. Henry VIII. carried this idea so far
as to forbid the grazing on the commons of certain counties, of
any entire horse that was of less height than fifteen hands. Any
one was at liberty to seize such a horse, and there were those
whose duty it was to measure horses, under a heavy penalty for
refusal. It was furthei required that all forests and public com-
mons should be driven wdthin fifteen days of Michaelmas, and all
horses, mares or colts not giving promise of becommg serviceable
as breeders, were to be killed.

Up to this time the horse had been little used a& a draft animal ;

10 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

carriages hav not yet been invented, and the operations of agri-
culture were chiefly performed by oxen,, hence the horse had
been bred almost exclusively with reference to the carrying of the
heavily armored soldier, the steed also being covered with mail, so
that the exigencies of war had caused the laying of the founda-
tion of those breeds of massive horses which are now so valued
in agriculture. With the introduction oi carriages, however, a
demand arose for a lighter and more active breed, a demand which
was increased by the discovery of gunpowder, and the consequent
disuse of armor. In response to this demand, attention was
turned to the heretofore neglected breeds of the South, where the
wild Moor, Arab and Turk, untrammeled by armor, never using
their horses for draft, but valuing fleetness and endurance more
than aught else, had produced such lithe and supple animals as
were now needed to modify the heavier northern forms for future
use under the saddle or in light harness.

THE THOROUGHBRED.

The first horse of southern blood imported into England for
breeding purposes, of which we have any authentic account, was
an Arab stallion, brought from Constantinople, by a Mr. Mark-
ham, and sold to James I. early in the seventeenth century, for
five hundred guineas. This horse, known later as the ''Markham
Arabian," did not become popular, either on account of prejudice
or from actual lack of merit. Charles I. also favored the intro-
duction of the southern blood, but little progress was made until
Charles II. came to the throne. This king sent his naster of the
horse abroad to purchase a number of foreign horses and mares
for breeding purposes, and the mares thus introduced became
known afterwards as the "Royal mares" of the Stud Book.
These importations were continued by James II., so that the sev-
enteenth century witnessed the foundation of a new breed, based
chiefly, no doubt, upon the cross between the southern horse and
the English descendant of the earlier crosses of Norman and
Flemish stock, but also containing some pure southern blood.

The beginning of the eighteenth century, however, witnessed
the appearance in England of the three horses to which the mod-
ern thoroughbred race-horse more directly traces his lineage.
These were, (1) the Byerly Turk, of whose early history nothing
is known further than that he was used by Captain Byerly in
King William's wars in Ireland; (2) the Barley Arabian, a gen-
uine Arab, imported from Aleppo by a brother of Mr. Barley, of
Aldby Park, Yorkshire, about the end of the reign of William
III., or the beginning of that of Anne (1700-1706); and (3) the
Godolphin Arabian, or Barb, a horse supposed to have been pre-
sented by the Emperor of Morocco to Louis XIY., but which was
so little valued in Paris that he was set to drawing a cart, at
which occupation he was discovered by a Mr. Coke, by whom he

was sent to England, where he finally came into possession of the

[11]

12 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

Earl of Godolphin. Even yet he was not appreciated, and was
only used as a teazer ; finally, however, he was allowed to cover a
mare (Roxana) which the other horse had refused, and the produce
of this union (Lath) became one of the best horses of the day.
The Godolphin is supposed to have lived from 1724 to 175e3. He is
represented as having a remarkably high crest, and very round
and drooping quarters. He was of a brown-bay color and about
fifteen hands high. These horses being bred to mares which
already contained more or less admixture of southern blood, from
the previous importations referred to, produced a few horses of
exceptional merit, either as racers or as sires of racers, and it soon
became manifest that in this anglicized southern blood lay the
greatest promise of speed and endurance. It was not, however,
until the end of the century that an attempt was made to sys-
tematically preserve the pedigrees of animals of this strain; by
this time, of course, there were many false and inaccurate ped-
igrees claimed, and in order to reduce this confusion to system, a
Stud Book was commenced in 1791, which included such
pedigrees as could be established from the racing calendars, sale
papers, and traditions which were then accessible. The first
volume of the Stud Book appeared in 1808. As it claimed to give
pedigrees extending back to the beginning of the eighteenth cen-
tury, there were, of course, some inaccuracies, especially with regard
to dates, but it is now accepted as the most reliable authority
with regard to the history of the racing or thoroughbred horse.
It will be seen from the above that this term "thoroughbred"
is but of comparative significance, for there is probably no ped-
igree which can be traced back to parents of southern blood on
both sides ^vithout showing at some point an admixture of some
other blood, in the statement "dam unknown" — a statement
which generally means that the dam was of northern blood ;
while, if these pedigrees could all be traced back to the impor-
tations of the close of the seventeenth century, they would still
only show that the " thorough " breed was founded upon a
mongi-el breed, composed of Barb, Arabian and Turk, tempered
with the bloods of Flanders, Normandy and England. By this

fHE THOROUGHBBED. 18

fusion of bloods, size and strength have been added to the form
and courage of the southern horse ; the thoroughbred of to-day
averaging a hand taller than the Turk — v^^hich is the largest of
the southern breeds — and possessing such superior fleetness that
he is able to distance him, even when the latter carries the lighter
weight.

The thoroughbred was originally bred for running, and as a
runner he still excels all other breeds, but for actual service in
the every-day affairs of life this gait is of little value, however
useful it may be to the wild Bedouin of the desert. The smooth,
compact frame of the thoroughbred horse, however, and his speed
and great endurance, have been extremely valuable factors in the
modifying of the ordinary breeds to suit the demand for a light
business or pleasure horse, and in this he has served and is serving
a very useful purpose.

The shape of the race-horse is variable, and he is said to win
in any form, but it is essential to success on the race-course that
every muscle should be fully developed, and yet without surplus
flesh ; that the bones should be light, yet strong ; that the lungs
and air passages should be large, and the whole form so harmo-
nized that there shall be no superfluous weight of bone, tendon
or muscle. Such a form is most consistent with the greatest
neatness and beauty, consequently many thoroughbreds are of
most beautiful contour. This is not universally the case, some
successful racers having been large framed, heavy headed, and
plain looking, but such are exceptions to the general rule.

The color of the thoroughbred is generally bay or chestnut,
varying to black, gray and roan ; the latter colors, however,
being very unusual. His skin and hair are firm, and the veins
which underlie the skin more prominent than in other breeds.
His size ranges from fifteen to sixteen and one half hands — the
former being considered small, and the latter rather large. The
American thoroughbred, however, excels his English progenitor
in this respect.

THE TKOTTESTG HORSE.

Three principal breeds of trotting horses have been developed
since the closing years of the eighteenth century; one, known as
the Norfolk trotters, originated in England, 1790-1800; the
second, the Orloff trotters, was established in Russia through the
energy and skill of Count Alexis Orloff, at about the same period;
and the third, the American trotting horse, was founded by the
English thoroughbred, Messenger, foaled in England in 1780, and
imported to Philadelphia in 1788, where he was kept for stud
service several years, ending his life in the vicinity of New York
in 1808.

This celebrated horse was a gray, fifteen hands, three inches
high, and stoutly built. He was rather upright in the shoulders
and low on the withers, and had a short, straight neck and large,
bony head. His loins and hind-quarters were very muscular, his
windpipe and nostrils of unusual size, his joints large, his limbs
medium sized, but flat and clean.

Messenger was imported and used in the stud simply as an or-
dinary thoroughbred horse. At that time trotting was but little
in vogue, since the carriages of the day were too cumbersome for
comfort, either to horse or rider, and hence the favorite method
of locomotion was in the saddle, for which method the trotting
gait is but little adapted; consequently it is not known whether
Messenger himself possessed more than ordinary speed as a trot-
ter, nor is our knowledge of his immediate descendants more
complete. It was not until his grandchildren came upon the
turf that this peculiar quality of his blood was discovered.

The sons of Messenger, to whom most of the fastest trotters
of to-day trace their lineage, were Plato, Engineer, Commander,
Why-Not, Mount Holly, Mambrino, and Hambletonian. Of
these the most celebrated was Mambrino, who was a thorough-
bred, a bright bay, sixteen hands high, and, like his sire, upright

[14]

[15]

THE TEOTTIi^G HORSE. 17

ill the shoulders. He was rather a coarse horse, with a rapid
walk and trot, and running speed of the first order. He was the
sire of Abdallah, who also traced his lineage to Messenger on the
side of his dam. J\'om Abdallah, in turn, are descended many
of the most celebrated trotting horses, including Rysdyk's Ham-
bletonian and Mambrino Paymaster, sire of Mambrino Chief,
sire of Lady Thorne, Mambrino Pilot, Bay Chief, etc. Abdallah
was foaled in 1826, the property of Mr. John Treadwell, of
Jamaica, Long Island. In 1840 he was sold to Mr. John W.
Hunt, of Lexington, Kentucky, but was brought back the next
year, and died in 1852.

Hambletonian, the next in celebrity to Mambrino of the sons
of Messenger, was also thoroughbred. He was a dark bay, fifteen
hands, one inch high, and beautifully formed. He was the sire
of Topgallant, Whalebone, Sir Peter, Trouble, and Shakspeare,
all of whom ranked among the best of American trotters.

The other sons of Messenger have won less renown through
their descendants, although many valuable horses are descended
from them. It is generally found that horses which show
unusual speed as- trotters, if their pedigrees can be traced back
far enough, are descended, in some line, from Messenger.

One of the most celebrated of the later descendants of Mes-
senger was the horse called Rysdyk's Hambletonian, from being
the property of William H. Rysdyk (pronounced Risedick), of
Orange county. New York. This horse was fgaled in 1849 and
died in 1876. He was the sire of one thousand, three hundred
and twenty-four foals. For the last five or six years of his life
the charge for service was one hundred dollars cash in advance,
and four hundred more when the mare was known to be with
foal. His total fees amounted to more than $200,000. This
horse was the sire of Dexter, of Alexander's Abdallah, who
was the sire of Goldsmith Maid, and of many others more or
less noted for their speed, but of his thirteen hundred and
twenty-four foals only thirty have trotted in 2:30 or less, con-
sequently but a small proportion of his foals were worth their
cost.

18 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

Another class of speedy trotters has been bred from horses
that were originally fast pacers, and were supposed to have
descended from a breed known many years ago as the Narragan-
sett Pacers, which was supposed to be of Spanish origin. In
color the horses of this origin are frequently roans or duns, thus
showing a different ancestry from the thoroughbred, but they
equal the thoroughbred in endurance. Another line of pacers
which has done much toward the improvement of the American
trotting horse was headed by a black pacing and trotting horse,
of unknown ancestry further than that he was called a Canadian
horse, who was foaled about 1826 and died about 1855. This
horse was known as Old Pacer Pilot. He was very fast, both as
a pacer and trotter, and sired some very fast trotters, who owed
none of their speed to Messenger blood. His record as a pacer is
2 : 26, with a weight on his back of one hundred and sixty-five
pounds. Among the fast trotters who have been converted from
the pacing gait is Smuggler, whose record of 2 : 15 J is the lowest
ever reached by a stallion. The celebrated Maud S., whose record
of 2 : lOJ is the lowest ever reached by any trotter, traces her
lineage on the side of her sire to Messenger, through Old Ab-
dallah, and on the side of the dam to Old Pacer Pilot. This
wonderful mare also numbers among h^r ancestry the horse
Bellfounder, a horse of unknown lineage, but whose descendants
have in many cases proved valuable as trotters. He was foaled in
England about 1817, and Avas brought to Boston in 1823. His
appearance indicated that he was nearly thoroughbred. It is
only when his blood has been mingled with that of Messenger
that anything more than a good carriage gait has been developed.
Maud S. was bred by A. J. Alexander, of Kentucky, being foaled
March 28, 1874. She is a chestnut, full fifteen and three fourths
hands high, and weighs, in trotting condition, 940 pounds. As a
yearling she was sold to Captain James Burgher (since deceased),
of Cincinnati, for S325, and at three years old to Captain G. N.
Stone, of the same city, for $350. As a four-year-old, Maud S.
made, at Lexington, Kentucky, October 26, 1878, the unprece-
dented time of 2:17^, and was immediately sold to W. H.

THE TROTTIKG HORSE.

19

Vanderbilt for $21,000. On the 11th of August, 1881, this time
was lowered to 2:10^, being the fattest trotting time ever
made.

We present below the pedigree of Maud S., the names of
thort)ughbreds appearing in italics :

Abdallah

Harold

Hambleto'n

Enchantress

f Mambrino, by Messenger.

( Amcizonia, breeding unknown.

Chas. Kent

mare

Abdallah

(Bellfoi
^ ^OneEj

Bell founder, breeding unknown.
Eye, hy Bishop's Hambletonian,

er.

1

[ Daughter of

3fambrino, by 3Iessenger,
Amazonia, breeding unknown.

Bellfounder, breeding unknown.
Unknown.

Helen

Kussell

Pilot, Jr.

0,dPacerPilotjU;;tnown.

Nancy Pope

Boston

Sally Russell -{

(Havoc, hj Sir Charles, son of Sir
J Archy.

j Nancy Taylor, by Craig's Alfred, hj
[ Medley.

iTimoleon, by Sir Archy.
Daughter of Florizel, he by sire of
Sir Archy.

Thornton's Battler, by Sir Archy.

r Thornton's Rattler, by Sir Arcfiy.
[ Maria Russell \ Miss Shepherd, by Stockholder, by Sir
( Archy.

It will be seen from the preceding that the trotting horse is
not necessarily a thoroughbred, although a connection on one
side or both with the Messenger family of thoroughbreds seems
essential to the greatest speed in trotting.

In point of usefulness, the trotter must be regarded as far
superior to the thoroughbred, since his gait is one of great value
in many kinds of business, and the improvement which has been
affected in it by the wide diffusion of his blood throughout the
common stock of the country has been very great. As an indi-
cation of the advance which has been made in this direction, a
recently published table which gives the names of all horses that
have trotted a mile in 2 : 25 or better up to the close of 1879,

20 THE HANDr HORSE KOOK.

includes three hundred and seventeen trotters, all of which, ex
cept twenty-five, were living when the table was published. Thij;
shows that this rate of speed was very unusual only a horse-
generation ago, but it is now so common that a less rate is nol
considered especially promising.

The following are a few of the fastest trotting and pacing
records up to July, 1880 :

TR0TTIJq"G IJSr HARNESS.

One mile, first heat— St. Julieu, Oakland Park, Cal., Oct. 25, 1879, 2 m., 12% s*

One mile, second heat — Earns, Hartford, Conn., Aug. 23, 1878, 2 m., 13M s.

One mile, third heat— Rarus, Buftalo, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1878, 2 m., 13K s.

One mile, fourth heat— Lula, Rochestei', N. Y., Aug. 14, 1875, 2 m., 17 s.

One mile, fifth heat— Smuggler, Cleveland, Ohio, Juiy 27, 1876, 2 m., 17>^ s.

One mile, sixth heat— Goldsmith Maid, Hartford, Conn., Aug. 31, 1876,
2 m., 19M s.

Two miles— Flora Temple, Eclipse Course, Long Island, Aug. 16, 1859,
4 m., 503^ s.

Three miles— Huntress, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, L. I., Sept. 23, 1872,
7 m., 211^ s.

Four miles— Trustee, Union Course, L. I., June 13, 1849, 11 m., 6 s.

Five miles — Lady Mack, San Francisco, Cal., April 2, 1874, 13 m.

Ten miles— Controller, San Francisco, Cal., Nov. 23, 1878, 27 m., 28J^ s.

Fifteen miles— Girda, San Francisco, Cal., Aug. 6, 1874, 47 m., 20 s.

Twenty miles — Capt. McGowan, Boston, Mass., 1865, 58 m., 25 s.

Fifty miles— Ariel, Albany, N. Y., 1846, 3 h., 55 m., 40^ s.

One hundred miles — Conqueror, Long Island, Nov. 12, 1853, 8 h., 55 m.^ 53 s.

PACIKG.

One mile in harness — Sleepy Tom, Chicago, 111., July 25, 1879, 2 m., 1234 s.
One mile under saddle— Billy Boyce, Buffalo, N. Y., Au^. 1, 1868, 2 m., 143^ s.
One mile to wagon — Pocahontas, June 21, 1855, 2 m., 173^ s.
Two miles under saddle — Bowery Boy, Long Island, 1839, 5 m., 43^ s.
Two miles in harness — Hei'o, May 17, 1853, 4 m., 563^ s.

Three miles under saddle — Oneida Chief, Beacon Park, N. J., 1843, 7 ra., 44 s.
Three miles in harness — Harry White, San Francisco, Cal., Aug. 8, 1874>
7 m., 5734 s.

With regard to the comparative merits of thoroughbreds and
trotters as useful horses, we quote with approval the following

'•Since lowered to 2:1134, ai^d beaten by Maud S. in 2:103^.

Hm TROfttXa HOIiSE. 21

extract from a letter written by a correspondent of the National
Live Stock Journal:

" It is a well known fact, that the sole object aimed at by
breeders of thoroughbred horses for centuries past has been
adaytation h racing, EYeryllung has been sacrificed to this one
object, 'i'ractability, docility, sweetness of temper, beauty of
form — in short, every thing that does not have a direct bearing
upon the value of the horse for racing purposes, has been entirely
lost sight of by breeders of thoroughbreds, not only in this
country, but in England; and the result is, that the infirmities of
temper alone, which have been part and parcel of this race, are
so great as to render most thoroughbreds utterly unfit for the
farmers' use, and dangerous even as a cross. The theory is a
beautiful one, that all excellencies come from the thoroughbred,
and that to engraft stamina and stoutness upon any breed, this
cross must be used. Gentlemen of the old school, who have
come down to us from a former generation, never grow weary of
sounding the praise of the thoroughbred, and always prescribe
this cross as the panacea that will cure all the defects of modern
breeds; but I am certain that those who hold such extravagant
notions as to the virtue of this cross have been voluntarily deaf
and blind to all that the last twenty years have taught us.

" There is excellence in the thoroughbred, but it is not without
a great deal of alloy; and I am firmly of the opinion that our
best bred trotting strains have as much of it as is profitable for
the farmer's horse to possess. Indeed, I am decidedly of the
opinion that our American trotting horses are quite as highly
endowed with stamina and endurance as are the thoroughbreds;
and when to this we add the other qualities that adapt them to
useful purposes, there is no comparison. I might cite numerous
cases, I might name score of trotters that have manifested powers
of endurance upon the turf year after year, that would put to
shame anything that could.be instanced from the running turf,
and most of them have been good for something besides the use
of the gambler — the only man who has use for a race-horse.
But it is no use to waste space with names. Every horseman is

22 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

" It seems to me to be a fact patent to all observant men who
are of this generation, and not of the past, that we have in the
American trotting horse the very highest product of the breeder's
art in all the useful qualities, and that in leaving this and going
hack to the thoroughbred we voluntarily shut our eyes and refuse
to accept the benefit of what has been done for us by former
generations.

" That witty writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, has pretty fairly
expressed the relative uses to which thoroughbreds and trotters
have been bred, in the following caustic paragraph: 'The racer
is incidentally useful, but essentially something to bet upon, as
much as the thimble-rigger's "little joker." The trotter is
essentially and daily useful, and only incidentally a tool for
sporting men. * * * Wherever the trotting horse goes, he
carries in his train brisk omnibuses, lively bakers' carts (and
therefore hot rolls), the jolly butcher's wagon, the cheerful gig,
the wholesome afternoon drive with wife and child — all the
forces of excellence, except truth, which does not agree with any
kind of horse flesh. The racer brings with him gambling,
cursing, swearing, drinking, the eating of oysters, and a distaste
for mob-caps and the middle-aged virtues.'

''It is possible that Dr. Holmes may have drawn it a little
strong, but still he has given expression to what everybody
knows to be the truth — that running horses have for generations
past been bred for sporting purposes, while the trotter is emi-
nently the product of our utilitarian age."

THE OKLOFF TROTTEES.

The following history and description of this breed of horses,
which has recently attracted considerable attention in America,
is taken from the National Live Stock Journal^ of Chicago, for
July, 1877:

''The Orloff horse takes its name from Count Alexis Orloff
Tschismensky, an enthusiastic horseman of Russia, who, as early
as 1775, imported from Arabia a gray stallion named Smetanxa,
said to have been of unusual size and strength. A Danish mare
was bred to this imported Arabian stallion, and the produce was
a horse known as Polkau 1st. From a unjon of this half-blood
with a Dutch mare sprang a stallion known as Bars 1st, who is
generally known as the progenitor of the Orloff race of trotters.
The fame of this quarter-blood. Bars 1st, was chiefly perpetuated
through his sons, Lubeznay 1st, Lebed 1st, and Dobroy 1st.

" Count Orlo:^ and his successor, Y. T. Shiskin, devoted them-
selves assiduously to the improvement of these horses, selecting
their stallions exclusively from the foundation above alluded to,
but resorting frequently to English and Dutch mares of known
excellence; so that the OrlofE trotter, like the American, is of a
mixed origin; and neither the Arab, the Barb, nor the English
thoroughbred, can claim exclusive paternity in either case.

" Selection and crossing with a view to adaptation for a specific
use has accomplished the work of creating in both countries a
race of trotting horses. Count OrloS was an intelligent enthu»-
siast in the business — as all successful breeders have been — and
he persistently refused to part with any of his entire horses, pre-
ferring that he alone should dictate the choice of sires to be used
to perpetuate and improve the race. After his death the stud
was scattered — a considerable portion of it passed into the posses-
sion of the crown, several private studs were established and a
stud book was instituted to aid in th^ work of keeping the race

[23] •

24 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

free from further admixture, although with the Russians, as with
us, the question is not very well settled as to what constitutes
the best trotting pedigree, and purity of blood is rather a vague
and indefinite term when applied to the Orloff as well as to the
American trotter. The count had been an enthusiastic patron of
Uie race course, as a means of developing and testing the powers
of his horses, and since his time the government has given its
powerful aid to promote the same object, not only by establish-
ing breeding studs, but by furnishing more than one half of the
prize money that is contested for at these trotting races, which
have been held regularly in that country for the past fifty-three
years. Russian trials of speed are regulated by law, and the
driver or owner who violates any of the rules which have been
laid down to secure fair contests, is liable to take an uncere-
monious trip to Siberia at government expense — a punishment
that, as might be supposed, is much more effectual in suppressing
fraud than is that of an edict of expulsion issued by our National
Trotting Association.

"We have before us, as we write, a statement of the best
time at all distances in Russia each year, for fifteen years
past, from which it would appear that no improvement has
been made in the speed or endurance of the Orloff trotter
during the last five years. The fastest time ever made for
one verst (1,350 feet) was 1:40, by Potieshnoy in 1869, which
rate of speed, if kept up for one mile, would be a very little below
2:31. This rate of speed has never been reached by any other
Russian horse, the nearest approach to it being 1:42 J. The same
horse has the best record at three versts, being 5 :00, equal to two
miles in 5:01|. This appears to have been an exceptional case,
however, as the next best performances are three versts in 5:06
once, and 5 :07 twice. The best time for four and a half versts is
7:52, equal to 7:54| for three miles. For seven and a half versts
the best time is 13:49, equal to 13:56| for five miles. For thirty
versts the best time is 1 :08.30, equal to twenty miles in 1 :08.53^,
which is, by over three minutes, the best performance by a
Russiaii horse at that distance,

^ — - 5jj-g oSLOKP TROTTERS. 25

" Comparing these records with those of our American trotters,
we find the following:

BEST RUSSIAN TIME.

One Mile., 2:31

Two Miles 5:01%

Three Miles 7:52^

Five Miles : 13:56%

Twenty Miles 1:08.53^

BEST AMERICAN TIME. DIFFERENCE.

One Mile.. 2:14 [ 17 Seconds.

Two Miles 4:5014.. • 1134 "

Three Miles 7:21^^ 31% "

FiveMiles ...13:00 56% "

Twenty Miles 58:25 10:28K "

" From the foregoing, the superiority of American trotters at
all distances is very clearly shown; as we do not share in the
often-expressed opinion that our system of training, our tracks,
and our vehicles are materially better than the "Russian, about
700 American trotters have beaten the best one-mile time made
in Russia; and although two-mile races are not common in this
country, the exceptionally fast time of 5:01 J for that distance
made by Potieshnoy has been beaten by nearly all of our great
trotters; and we have no doubt but that we have fifty trotters in
training to-day that are capable of beating that time by several
seconds. No Orloff trotter has ever succeeded in trotting twenty
miles within an hour by nearly nine minutes, while five American
horses have compassed that distance vdthin the hour. Another
point of contrast, in which the American trotter shows at a great
advantage over his Russian competitor, appears to be in cam-
paigning properties. The oldest reported Orloff winner is twelve
years. Goldsmith Maid is in her prime at twenty. Pietel, the
most noted Orloff campaigner, was a winner for four successive
years; the Maid has been a winner for thrice that length of time,
while most of our great trotters have steadily improved until
they were fifteen or sixteen years of age.

"It is also worthy of note, that while the Russian trotter
appears to have attained his maximum of speed several years ago
the improvement on the pai^ of our American horses in this

26

THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

respect, within the past ten years, has been truly wonderful.
The records of the Buffalo Trotting Association, since 1866, make
the following showing:

YEAK. AVEEAGE TIME.

186() 2:38K

1867 2:34K

1868 2:31%

1869 2:29}4

1870 2:28%

1871 2:25M

YEAR. AVERAGE TIME.

1872 2:26

1873 2:26^

1874 2:24>^

1875 2:25%

1876 2:23

"Here we see that the average time of the heats has been
reduced from 2:38^ in 1866 to 2:23 in 1876, showing an average
increase in speed of about one and one half seconds per year.
Certainly the showing for speed and endurance of the Orloff
trotter does not compare favorably with the American, although
the former undoubtedly possesses both of these qualities to a high
degree. It is claimed, however, that in beauty of form the Orloff
is greatly the superior of our American production; but here,
again, we must be permitted to put in a demurrer; for, if the
animals that we have seen may be taken as fair specimens of the
breed, the facts are certainly the reverse of this statement. Our
breeders will certainly object to the prevailing color of the Orloffs,
as, upon an analysis of the winners in that country, we find that
55 per cent, are grays, 24 per cent, blacks, 14 per cent, bays or
browns, and 6 per cent, light bays."

THE DRAFT HORSE.

We have referred to the heavy horses of Normandy and
Flanders as being the parent stock from which have sprung the
draft breeds of England, as well as those of modern France.
Undoubtedly the fertile plains of those regions, with their abund-
ant supplies of food, had done much toward the development of
the bulky frames of their breeds of horses; but in this develop-
ment nature had probably been assisted by the early monasteries,
whose concentrated wealth and comparative security from the
vandalism which was so rampant during the middle ages, not only
drew within their walls men whose peaceful inclinations and
desire for the spiritual and temporal advancement of their fellows
unfitted them for the turmoils of the ordinary life of the period,
but gave them the opportunity to pursue their inclinations in
various ways.

Thus we not only owe to these establishments the preservation
of literature and art during a period when kings and nobles con-
sidered the pursuit of learning, even to the extent of being able
to read and write, an employment fit only for those too weak or
effeminate to follow the "nobler" pursuit of war, but the vast
landed estates attached to most of the monasteries, and their
comparative immunity from the devastations of war, gave oppor-
tunity (which was undoubtedly sometimes improved) for the
improvement of the domestic animals which were kept upon
them.

But however this may be, there can be no doubt that much of
the great size, the powerful frame and the quick action of the
best draft horses of to-day is due to the demand of the armored
knight of the feudal ages for a horse which should have the
strength, the speed and the endurance to carry him, with his suit
of steel, and his- heavy sword, axe and lance, through those terri-

[27]

2S THE HANDY HOUSE BOOK.

ble hand-to-hand battles, where the victory was frequently due
as much to the superior endurance or manageability of the steed
as to the prowess of his rider. In these battles the contesting
horsemen frequently came together with such force that their
steeds would be thrown upon their haunches, or completely over-
thrown; hence, the advantage of simple weight in the latter is
apparent.

The first record of the use of the horse in agriculture is in the
Bayeux tapestry, wrought by the wife of William the Conquerer.

THE DRAFT HORSE OF FRANCE.

There have been various infusions of foreign blood, chiefly that
of the thoroughbred, into the draft horse of France, and no stud-
book has been kept with this breed as with the thoroughbred,
consequently it shows considerable variation, both in form and
color, and attempts have been made to divide it into the sub-
breeds of Flemish, Percheron, Boulonnaise horses, etc. In
America, especially, the name "Percheron" has become firmly
fixed to the French draft-horse. This breed, whether it be called
Norman, Norman-Percheron, or Percheron, undoubtedly origina-
ted in Normandy, and from Normandy and Flanders are yet
brought the heaviest specimens of the French draft-horse. La
Perche, which lies to the south-east of Normandy, is a small de-
partment, its territory being comprised in an ellipse about sixty
by seventy-five miles in size. The farmers of this department
seem to have turned their attention, early in the present century,
to the breeding of horses for the omnibusses of Paris, and for
their purpose found* in the lighter and more active of the horses
of Normandy a suitable basis. With the advent of railroads the
demand for omnibus-horses decreased, while that for those
adapted to heavy draft improved, as did also the facilities for
inter-communication between different provinces, which rendered
more common the breeding of the stallions of one district upon
the mares of another, a practice which the government has
fostered by keeping stallions for public service at various stations

[29]

TSE DRAFT HOESE. 81

througliout the country. Taking these facts into consideration,
together with the fact that no attempt has been made to preserve
by means of a stud-book the pedigrees of any of the animals used,
wliile any draft-horse imported from France, or whose pedigree
traces to such imported horses, is eligible to entry in the Ameri-
can stud-books of '^Norman" or "Percheron-Norman" horses, it
is evident that the present dispute over the proper name for this
breed is simply absurd, that both the names now in use should be
dropped, and that of "French-draft" substituted, just as we use
''English-draft" or "English-cart" in speaking of the powerful
draft-horse of England. But, since these horses were known in
this country as "Norman" long before the name "Percheron" was
heard, it seems doubly absurd to drop the former name in favor
of the latter.

The prevailmg color of the French draft-horse of to-day is gray,
varying into black, white, bay, and occasionally into roan or
chestnut. Of 877 stallions whose color is given in the first edi-
tion of the National Register of Norman Horses 714 are gray, 86
black, 40 bay, 11 brown, 11 white, 10 roan, 4 chestnut, and 1
sorrel.

In disposition the French draft-horse is exceptionally patient, a
fact which adds much to his value for agricultural purposes; and
though his pedigree has not been preserved with the care which
the English have devoted to their improved animals generally, yet
his uniformity of color, shape, and general character, show that
he may be depended upon to perpetuate his characteristics in a
marked degree, a fact established by the great improvement made
in the American draft-horse since the first introduction of the
Norman.

There is little doubt that the French draft-horse made his first
appearance on this continent in Canada, where he was no doubt
imported by the French colonists of that country at an early day
in its history, as we have no record of the first importation. The
Canadian Norman horse, however, although considerably smaller
han his French ancestor, became very popular throughout the
eastern and northern United States, where his blood entered not

32 tHt: HANDY HORSE KOOK.

only into the draft-horse of the period, but also into the trotting
horse, which to-day owes much of his strength and endurance to
this infusion.

The first recorded importation of the French-Normans into the
United States was made in 1839, by Mr. Edward Harris, of
Moorestown, New Jersey, who brought over in that year a stal-
lion and two mares, and followed this importation with several
others in later years. The first importation into the region west
of the Alleghanies was made by Dr. Brown, of Circle ville, Ohio,
and the Fullingtons, of Union county, Ohio. In 1865 Dr. A. G.
Yanhoorbeke, of New Boston, Illinois, made the first direct im-
portation into that state; but now Illinois annually imports these
horses by the hundred, to supply a constantly increasing demand,
for the western farmer has found that he can raise a Norman
colt almost or quite as cheaply as a Short Horn steer, while
he can sell the colt for twice as much as he can get for the
steer. Thus far the surplus production of these horses has been
eagerly bought up by the eastern cities, and so well do they satisfy
the requirements made upon them there that the demand for
them constantly outruns the supply.

The following paragraph, by the editor of the Norman Register^
aptly and without exaggeration expresses the esteem in which
this horse is held:

" Since 1851 the Norman horse has crossed the Alleghanies, the
Ohio, the Wabash, the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Rockies; and
everywhere he thrives, grows in favor, and maintains his im-
perishable individuality. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, in
every territory, he is, in type, in qualities, in disposition, the same
peerless animal. His power, his endurance, his unequalled kind-
ness and tractability have won for him the warmest chamber in
the heart of the breeder and the most exalted place in the public
favor. Stallion-keepers love him because he is easily managed, a
sure foal-getter, and an incomparable improver of common
korses. Farmers love him because he is easily reared, cheaply
kept, no trouble to break, excellent at the plow, invincible at tho
wagon, and always marketable at the very best prices. Teamsters

THE DEAFT HOESlE. 83

^nd freiglit-haulers love Lim because lie never balks, always takes
a load with him when he goes, and, with half a chance, keeps in
good condition. Dealers admire him because he is sq gentle in
handling, and is a never-failing source of profit. In a word, he is
a universal favorite."

THE CLYDESDALES.

In previous pages we have shown that the various draft breeds
of Grreat Britain and France must have had a common origin, or
an infusion of common blood, at the time of the Conquest, and
that this community of blood must have been, to some extent,
perpetuated by importations of the Norman stock into England
during the interludes between the subsequent Anglo-French
wars. History, however, gives us but little information upon
this point until within the past century.

Within a comparatively recent period a breed of heavy draft
horses has come into prominence in Scotland, which has been
called, from the place of its origin, the Clydesdale. The follow-
ing account of the origin of this breed is condensed from the
introduction to the Clydesdale Stud Book^ issued in Great Britain
in 1879:

" Two theories have been advanced with regard to the origin of
the Clydesdale breed of horses: the first being that the breed is
the result of a cross between the native Scotch mares and some
Flemish stallions imported into Scotland by one of the Dukes of
Hamilton more than two centuries ago; the second, that its
origin is of a later date, though still due to a cross of the Flemish
blood. The first theory seems to be unsupported by the facts, as
there are neither records nor local traditions relative to the im-
portation of Flemish stallions referred to; but there is a well
authenticated tradition that at some time between 1715 and 1720
one John Peterson, of Lochlyoch, parish of Carmichael, brought
from England a black Flemish stallion, .which so greatly im-
proved the breed of the neighborhood as to make it noted all over
Scotland. It is probable that the horses of this section were of
better than the average quality previous to the introduction of

^4 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

this liorse, as it lies on the old drove road between England and
Scotland, thus affording unusual facilities for the interchange of
the live-stock of the two countries.

''The next noted sire in this breed was Glaucer (335), com-
monly called 'Thomson's Black Horse" from his owner. Glaucer
was descended, on the side of the dam at least, from the Lochlyoch
stock. He was foaled in 1810, and for many years stood in the
valley of the Clyde, between Lanark and Glasgow, leaving a
strong impression on all Clydesdale stock.

'' At about this time the Highland and Agricultural Society
(then the Highland Society) had begun to take an interest in this
bre6d of horses, and did much towards establishing the uniformity
of color which now characterizes it, by ruling that all animals
entered for competition at their shows should be either black
bays or brown bays, thus checking the reproduction of other
colors, especially grays, which had previously been very common.
From this time forth the Clydesdales were carefully bred, until
to-day they hold a deservedly high rank as improvers of common
horses, standing next to the Normans, as judged by the number
imported, in the estimation of the American people.

" In color the Clydes are mostly bay, varying occasionally to
black, brown, sorrel or gray; they nearly all have white faces and
white feet, and fi'equently have white spots about the belly. In
size they average somewhat larger than the Normans, and they
are usually longer in the body and in the hind-quarters than the
Normans. An abundance of long hair on the legs is considered
a good point in a well-bred Clydesdale."

CLEYELAKD BAYS.

Three breeds of draft horses have been extensively cultivated
in England: the Cleveland Bay, the Suffolk Punch, and the
Shire, or cart horse. . Of these the Cleveland Bay was first
noticed in Yorkshire, where, in the latter part of the last century,
the vicinity of Cleveland became noted for producing a heavy
horse suitable for coach or cavalry purposes. These horses

[35]

THE DRAFT HORSE. 37

originated in a cross between the thoroughbred and the large
native horses of the country, and as first bred were very large and
strong, and were properly rated as light-draft horses, the heavy
coaches and bad roads of those days rendering it necessary to use
horses of a great deal of power as roadsters. But as modern
methods of travel superseded the old-fashioned coach, and the
roads of the country were improved, a demand arose for a lighter
ajid finer horse than the old Cleveland Bay, which demand was
met by a further infusion of the blood of the race-horse, and as
now bred these horses are simply large carriage horses, weighing
about 1,200 pounds, uniform in style and color, good travelers,
and well worthy of cultivating as family or light business horses.

THE SUFFOLK PUKCH.

This horse is thus described in the National Live Stock Journal
by the Hon. Samuel Dysart:

" The Suffolk Punch is the draft-horse of the midland counties,
and derives its name from the county of Suffolk, where history
first finds it, and the square, compact form of their bodies. Their
breeders are now proposing to call them the 'agricultural horse,'
but undoubtedly their original name will follow them. Their
origin is unknown. Some breeders claim them to be descended
ftom the ancient Norman race; but, like all the horses of western
ICurope, the reliable part of their history is very brief. It is evi-
dent that, for many years, they have been bred with uniformity,
and the object has been to produce fine action, combined with
size and strength. The breed is better defined than that of any
other English draft horses. Their uniformity in size and color —
nearly all being of a chestnut-sorrel, with silver mane and tail —
proves this fact. Their average weight is about 1,500 pounds.
Their bodies throughout indicate great strength and easy keep,
being handsomely molded together. Their limbs are of moder-
ate length, muscular and bony, and are free from long hairs on
the lower portions. The feet are medium in size, with horny
lioofs. In walking they have a long and quick step, and a

38 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK. .

swinging trot that saves the muscles of the shoulders. Thej
have an excellent reputation for being true when put to the test
in drawing a heavy load; nev^r refusing to exert their utmost
power again and again at the word of their driver. Every person
is likely to have a preference according to his own ideas, and I am
free to say that, from my own stand-point, I believe that for the
uses in our country as a draft-horse the Suffolk Punch is prefer-
able to all others seen by me."

THE El^GLISH CART OR SHIRE HORSE.

The description of this horse we also quote from Mr. Dysart:
" Modern history finds in England the same large race of black
horses that were known at an earlier date as existing on the con-
tinent, along the coast of the North Sea. It is reasonable to
suppose that they were taken to England by the invasions of wai'.
Their improvement dates to the last century, by importing stal-
lions from Holland. Afterwards, the importations of mares
followed from the same place, and crossed oppositely. From that
time there has been a continual improvement by selection and
breeding for large and powerful draft-horses, known as cart
horses, and which are fairly established as a distinct breed, but
they can not with justice be said to be free from late crosses.
Being the production of the North of England, we have every
reason to believe that, even at the present time, there is some
mixture between them and the Scotch Clydesdale, if we would
judge by the breeds themselves. Be that as it may, the English
cart horses are real giants of their species. From them come the
famous brewers' horses of London, which average a full ton in
weight. They have every appearance of being Herculean in
strength, and, for an animal so large, they have a form that is
attractive in symmetry, and may be thus described in representa^
tive beasts:

" The head is rather short for the size of the animal, but heavy
in appearance; face broad, and oval on lower part; mouth large,
and lips thick; eyes small, with placid expression; ears broad,

THE DRAFT HOESE. 30

thick, and short; neck arched, heavy at throat, and thickening
almost in line to shoulder points; shoulder moderately slanting,
but the withers extending well back; the trunk of the body is
very round, and the loin bones reach forward so as to make the
coupling short; the rump bones are wide apart, but not promi-
nent, the rump drooping to the tail; buttocks thick and round,
which makes the quarter look short; the upper limbs are of pro-
portioned size, and well shaped; the lower part rather heavy but
bony, with long hair on the after-part ; feet very large, and quite
fiat on the bottom. That these horses have great strength, there
can be no doubt; but nature never intended them to trot or run,
and their walking pace is very slow. Their mission is at the
heavy dray, drawing great loads, where time is of no value.
They never will give satisfaction to Young America."

With regard to the similarity between the English cart horse
and the Scotch Clydesdale, Mr. Dysart further says:

" The Scotch appear to have only one favorite large horse for
draft, and that is the Clydesdale — so named from the river Clyde,
as along the valley of that stream they were first brought to
public notice. There can be little doubt that they are of similar
origin to the English cart horse. * * * The English breed-
ers told me that the Scotch breeders of the Clydes had come over
and bought mares of the cart-horse breed to improve the Clydes;
while the Scotchman claims the opposite to be the case. They
manifest strong feeling in this matter; and I am not prepared to
say either is correct, but if I were to judge by comparing the two
breeds of horses there are many points of similarity between them
that would give good ground for believing both stories; yet it is
plain that there has been a different object pursued in the breed-
ing of these horses. The English breeders seem to have aimed
solely at size and strength, without action; while the more far-
seeing Scotchman had in view size and strength, combined with
quick motion, which they have succeeded quite well in obtaining
in their horses. The result has given them a superiority which
renders them desirable for many purposes, and therefore more
valuable in the general markets than the English horse."

i'HE MOEGAisr HORSE.

Among the strains which have been most popular with Ameri-
can breeders, should be included that known as the Morgan;
which originated in a self-colored bay horse, about 14 hands
high, and weighing about 950 pounds, that was foaled in Mas-
sachusetts in 1793, and taken to Vermont (when a colt) by Justin
Morgan. This horse was got by "True Briton," who was probably
a thoroughbred, but this point is uncertain. Justin Morgan died
soon after the purchase of the colt, which was thereafter called
by his name. He was a quick-stepping, sure-footed, hardy horse,
very showy, and was very popular as a saddle-horse among the
commanding officers at the general musters of those days. He
died in 1821, at Chelsea, Vermont. Among the most famous of
his sons were Sherman Morgan, Bulrush Morgan, and Woodbury
Morgan, while Vermont Black Hawk was undoubtedly the most
famous of his grandsons.

Had this horse fallen into the hands of such intelligent breed-
ers as those who founded the Short-horn cattle and Leicester
sheep, he would undoubtedly have become the progenitor of a
strongly marked and most valuable breed. As it is, his descend-
ants are found scattered far and wide over the country, still
bearing the marks of color, form, endurance and disposition
which characterized him, although but little intelligent care has
been bestowed upon their breeding, but few pedigrees being
kept, and these tracing generally only through the line of the
sires.

[40]

[41]

PART II.

BREEDING AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT.

THE PRIIfCIPLES OF BREEDIl^-G.

The science of stock-breeding is practically in its infancy, yet
it has already grown into such proportions that its thorough dis-
cussion is impossible here. The most that can be done is to
outline a few of the most clearly established facts and most widely
accepted theories, with the hope that they will lead the reader to
further investigation. Certainly there are few subjects to which
the stock-growing farmer can devote his attention with more
hope of profit than this; for, upon the proper interpretation of
the laws which control the transmission of qualities, has depended
the success of thoSe breeders of our domestic animals who have
made theii names famous by their improvements upon the com-
mon stock of the country. It is very true that many of these
breeders have been guided rather by intuition than by any
knowledge of formulated laws; but as we look back upon their
work, and compare the results obtained by different methods, we
are enabled to see clearly many truths at which they only guessed,
and may thus work in the light of certainty where they groped in
the darkness of conjecture.

The foundation of all successful breeding is based upon the
principle of heredity^ a principle whose influence will scarcely be
denied by any one who has ever paid any attention to the subject,
rlthough there is yet a considerable diversity of opinion as to the
amount of this influence. As knowledge progresses in collateral
directions, howevpr, men are becoming more and more convinced
of the greatness of this influence, and this is especially the case
with those who have longest studied its effects in the breeding of

[43]

44 THE HANDY HOESE BOOK.

domestic animals, as is evidenced by the value placed upon
pedigree by a constantly widening circle of the most intelligent
breeders. That this influence has been overrated, causing many
inferior animals to be used in breeding, on the strength of the
good qualities of their ancestors, is no argument against its value ;
on the contrary, these examples only confirm the law of hered-
ity, in accordance with which inferior qualities are just as
surely propagated as superior ones.

To comprehend this principle more fully, let us suppose that
we have two animals, a male and a female, of original creation,
and therefore free from all ancestral taint, but endowed with
every principle which we see manifested in animal life to-day,
including this power of transmitting peculiarities of disposition,
as well as of form, to their offspring. In the first generation of
these offspring we should expect to find a very strong resemblance
in most respects to the parent animals; but no law of nature is
more plainly written than that of change. Were all the millions
of the earth's population gathered together we should each of us
be able to separate from the throng the friends whom we have
intimately known, and so with these suppositious animals; indi-
vidual points of the parental organisms would become intensified
in each of their offspring, one in one, another in another, accord-
ing to the greater or less infiuence of external surroundings.
Let us mate these offspring of the second generation, the males
vdth the females, and note the result: The third generation,
while still showing great resemblance to the original pair, will
still show great differences in this resemblance; for instance, if a
pair be mated possessing the greatest number of the peculiarities
of the original pair, we may expect their progeny to resemble
that pair very closely, more closely, possibly, than any of its im-
mediate descendants; while, on the other hand, the mating of a
pair having the fewest of these peculiarities may produce descend-
ants whose characteristics shall be still further from the normal
type. But even in these descendants of least resemblance we
shall find, lying dormant, those peculiarities which went to make
ujt the tptal organism, spiritual as well as physical, of the original

BKEEDIl^G AKD GEItEEAL MA:^rAGEMEKT. 45

pair; and, as time progresses, and external conditions change, we
shall find these dormant faculties being awakened, and reappear-
ing in future generations — a phenomenon to which the name of
atavism has been given. Sometimes the reawakening of these
dormant faculties will be caused by the reuniting of two strains
of the family, which may have been separated for generations, as
has been so frequently shown by the unexpected development of
the trotting quality in descendants of the race-horse, Messenger.

This is an epitome of the doctrine of heredity, as it is now un-
derstood. Our knowledge of this influence is not yet sufficient to
enable us to control with certainty the results of our breeding;
indeed, it is evident that an influence of such subtilety, and of
such intricate relations, must be extremely difficult to control,
even if fully comprehended; but it does enable us to predict, to a
very considerable extent, what will be the result of certain lines
of breeding.

It will be seen that, to realize the full benefit of this influence,
we must be acquainted not only with the peculiarities of the
particular animals which we are mating, but also with those
of their parents and grand-parents for an indefinite number of
generations; thus Agassiz says:

^' No offspring i"S simply the offspring of its father and mother.
It is at the same time the offspring of the grandfather and
grandmother on both sides; in fact, this dependence of offspring,
or liability to reproduce family characteristics, extends much
further up the ancestral line.''

Hence the value of herd-books and stud-books, and of the
fullest possible descriptions of all remarkable breeding animals.

In-h^eeding, or the mating of animals that are near of kin, is
the method which breeders have adopted for perpetuating and
intensifying the peculiarities of certain individuals; by this
method undoubtedly the most valuable features of several of
our breeds of animals have been developed and fixed; it will
readily be seen, however, that this method is one easily abused,
since it is just as liable to perpetuate and intensify the undesirable
as the desirable qualities, a fact of which breeders have repeatedly

46 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

had evidence, in the reappearance, frequently in aggravated forms,
of diseases and faults of temper.

Cross-breeding is the mating of unrelated or distantly related
strains, and has for its primary object the counteraction of the
weakening of constitution which may have resulted from in-
breeding, by the infusion of new strains of blood untainted with
the defects which may have become too strongly intensified in
those previously used. A second office of cross-breeding is the
bringing together of similar tendencies originating in widely
separated strains of blood, as illustrated in the union of the pacing
and trotting families of horses, a union which has given us.some
of our fleetest animals. A third object of cross-breeding is the
improvement of inferior strains of animals by the infusion of
superior blood, such as the breeding of the thoroughbred stallion
upon the common mares of the country, or the Short-horn bull
upon the common cows, methods which have resulted in a vast
improvement, for practical uses, of the general stock.

Prej^otencij is a term used to express the increased power of
transmitting valuable qualities which is developed by a philosoph-
ical system of breeding. Thus it is almost universally acknowl-
edged that a Short-horn bull or a thoroughbred horse will be far
more likely to impress his valuable features tipon his progeny
than would a grade bull or horse, although the latter might
appear to the eye to be even the better animal. This increased
power is simply an intensified heredity, and may manifest itself
m the ability to transmit speed, as in Messenger and Pilot, or in
form and aptitude to fatten, as with certain families of the Short-
horns, or in milk or butter qualities, as with branches of the Ayr-
shire or Jersey breeds.

This increased power of transmission has be6n well exemplified
in cases where the attempt has been made to improve a long
established breed by the sudden infusion of new blood; in such
cases, where the breed which it was desired to improve had been
closely bred within itself until its peculiar characteristics had
become strongly fixed, and a strong prepotency of its own thus
established, it has been found difficult to overcome these charae-

BEEEDING AI^D GENERAL MAKAGEMEKT. 47

teristics by an immediate cross from a widely different breed; but
if the heredity of the breed to be improved were first broken by
mingling its blood with that of others closely related, then the
foreign cross conld be made with good prospect of success.

This quality of prepotency is not confined to breeds alone, but
is frequently met in individuals of all breeds. Among horses one
of the best illustrations is the history of Messenger and his
progeny, already given. Sometimes this quality is found in the
sire, sometimes in the dam; in other words, the progeny will
sometimes more closely resemble the one or the other of their
parents, a fact observed throughout all animal life.

The first mipregnation of the female has been proved to have a
very important effect in modifying the fi*uit of her subsequent
impregnations. A celebrated illustration of this phenomenon is
that given by Lord Morton of a nearly purely-bred chestnut-col-
ored Arabian mare that bore a hybrid to a quagga; she was
subsequently bred to a black Arabian horse, and produced two
colts 5 these were partially dun-colored, and were striped on the
legs more plainly than the real hybrid, or even than the quagga.
Mr. Darwin, in commenting upon this instance, says: "Stripes
on the body, not to mention those on the legs, are extremely
rare — I speak after having long attended to the subject — with
horses of all kinds in Europe, and are almost unknown in the
case of Arabians." The hair of the mane in these colts resembled
that of the quagga, being short, stiff and upright.

Mr. Darwin, after quoting the above and numerous similar
instances of the evident effects of the first impregnation upon
subsequent births, says: -»

"Some physiologists have attempted to account for these
remarkable results from a previous impregnation, by the imagina-
tion of the mother having been strongly affected; but it will
hereafter be seen that there are very slight grounds for any such
belief.* Other physiologists attribute the result to the close

*Referring to a subsequent chapter, in which he says: "It was formerly a
common belief, still held, by some persons, that the imagination of the mother
affects the child in the womb. This view is evidently not applicable to the

48 THE HAI^^DY HORSE BOOK.

attachment and freely intercommunicating blood-vessels between
the modified embryo and mother. But the analogy from the
action of foreign pollen on the ovarium, seed-coats, and other
parts of the mother-plant, strongly supports the belief that with
animals the male element acts directly on the female, and not
through the crossed embryo. With birds there is no close connec-
tion between the embryo and mother; yet a careful observer, Dr.
Chapins, states that with pigeons the influence of a first male
sometimes makes itself perceived in the succeeding broods; but
this statement requires confirmation."

It is also believed by some that this influence is reciprocal, the
male not only acting upon the female but being, to some extent,
modified by her. If, as Mr. Darwin suggests, the influence which
the female certainly receives is transmitted directly fi-om the male
element, it would seem possible that under certain conditions the
male should be similarly affected. It is, we believe, a common
belief among poultrymen that it is disadvantageous to allow
purely-bred males to associate indiscriminately mth females of
other breeds, and the following instances, quoted by Mr. W.
Godwin, in the English Live Stock Journal, would tend to the
support of this view:

"A farmer obtained some of the famous Small White swine of
the Earl of Ellesmere. The sows produced pure white stock, just
like themselves, till the boar had been put to a neighbor's black
sow. The next litter after this theu' pigs came spotted. A sim-
ilar thing happened to another farmer, but the colors were
reversed. Here the boar was black, and the single sow served by
. «

lower animals, which lay un impregnated eggs, nor to plants. Dr. William
Hunter, in the last century, told my father that during many years every woman
in a large London lying-in hospital was asked before her confinement whether
anything had specially afiected her mind, and the answer was written down;
and it so happened that in no one instance could a coincidence be detected be-
tween the woman's answer and any abnormal structure; but when she knew the
structure, she frequently suggested some fresh cause. The belief in the power
of the mother's imagination may, perhaps, have arisen from the children of a
second marriage resembling the previous father, as certainly sometimes occurs,
in accordance with the facts given in a previous chapter."

BKEEDIIfrG AN'D GENERAL MAI^AGEMEKT. 49

him was white. The next time following, the black sows brought
spotted pigs.

"For the purpose of getting richer milk for family use, a
Short-horn breeder of thoroughbred stock obtained a Jersey cow.
This he put to his stock bull, and after that all the calves he got
the same season out of Short-horn cows came with brown or
(jreamy-colored noses just like the Jersey, but in every other
respect were of the Short-horn type — all right.

" He then gives like instances in poultry, and winds up by that
- :>f a chestnut-colored pony stallion. He was put one season to a
piebald mare. Shortly after he covered a brown mare, the foal
from which had distinct piebald markings on one of its fore-
legs."

These instances are not sufficient to confirm this theory^ which,
at first sight, seems highly absurd, and are quoted merely to call
attention to the subject, in order that more light may be thrown
upon it by future observation.

For a more complete discussion of the questions related to
breeding, the reader is referred to the excellent work of Dr. Manly
Miles upon this subject.*

CHOICE OF SIEE.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the first coupling of a
valuable young mare is a matter of considerable importance, aside
from the effect upon the foal then begotten. In selecting a horse,
therefore, care should be taken that his ancestry be good, and that
neither himself nor his progenitors, so far as may be learned, shall
have proved faulty m the same directions as the mare; better
breed to a somewhat inferior horse, in general make-up and
character, than to one whose defects are of the same nature as
those of the mare. On the other hand, violent crosses should be
avoided, if it be desired to produce a breeding animal, as all expe-
rience shows that the products of such crosses, though probably of
good appearance themselves, are very liable to prove failures as

*Stock Breeding, by Manly Miles, M. D.; D. Appleton & Co., Publishers.

50 THE HAITDY HORSE BOOK.

breeders. The most notable instance of this is the mating of the
horse and the ass, which produces an infertile hybrid; while the
mating of extremes of less degree of separation, though often
yielding a product of decided value in itself, as that of the Cots-
wold buck upon Merino ewes, or vice versa, yet fails to produce
an animal that will satisfactorily reproduce itself.

Hence we should breed constantly toward purity of blood. If
we have a large, roomy mare, she can probably be bred to ad-
vantage to one of the large draft breeds, selecting the breed and
the horse whose characteristics most fully counterbalance the
weak points of the mare ; and when the foal thus produced is old
enough to breed, if it be mare, breed it to the same strain of
pure-bred horses, never under any circumstances using a grade
horse as a sire.

CONTROLLING THE SEX.

Maiiy theories have been advanced with regard to the causes
which determine sex, but we of the enlightened To-day are as
much at a loss as were those Avho theorized in earliest times.
Among these various theories it has been supposed:

1. That one side (right or left) of the reproductive organs
produces males only, and the other side females. This has been
disproved by thorough experiments in which animals deprived of
one side or the other have been bred together, and yet produced
both sexes.

2. Prof. Thury, of the Academy of Geneva, proposed the
theory that sex is dependent upon the degree of maturity of the

.egg at the time impregnation takes place; and, therefore, that
impregnation in the earlier stages of heat will produce females,
and in the later stages males, and many examples have been
adduced in support of this theory; but if all the failures of con-
trolling sex by this method were carefully enumerated they would
undoubtedly outnumber the successes, for the natural method
among all wild animals, and largely among domestic animals, is
to allow the male and female to run freely together, in which

BBEEDI]N'G AKD GEKERAL MANAGEME2?^T. 51

case impregnation must generally occur at the commencement of
heat; yet males and females are produced in nearly equal
numbers.

3. A third theory is that the relative age and vigor of the
two parents has much to do in determining the sex of the
, offspring; that is, that if the father be older and stronger than
the mother the children will be chiefly males, while if the oppo-
site conditions hold they will be females. Many instances have
been brought forward to support this theory also. The report of
Lhe census commissioners of Ireland for 1841, as quoted by Dr.
Miles,* shows that

" When the parents are of equal age, of 509,913 children there
,• re 105 males to 100 females.

" When the father is older than the mother, of 419,052 children
there are 106 males to 100 females.

" When the mother is older than the father, of 48,481 children
there are 104 males to 100 females."

The relative vigor of the parents is not considered in this
calculation, as would obviously be impossible. In general it is
found that the males exceed the females at birth in the human
family, and frequently also among the lower animals.

Heredity seems to have some influence, in conjunction with
other causes, in determining sex, but this influence is not yet
sufficiently understood to be practically available.

These and many other theories have been advanced, and in
many cases remarkable illustrations have been adduced, but the
best informed physiologists of the present time are least sanguine
w]th regard to the solution of the mystery.

TREATMEls^T OF MAEE IN" EOAL.

After being served by the horse the mare should have a period
of comparative rest, as conception v^ill then be more likely to
take place than if she should immediately be put to some exercise.
From this time forth until near foaling time she will be the

*Stock Breeding, page 306.

52 THE HAliTDY HORSE BOOK.

better for a reasonable amount of work, but all hard driving or
very heavy pulling should be avoided, as being liable to produce
abortion. She should also be carefully guarded against being
kicked, or crowded in narrow doorways, etc. Her food should be
of liberal quantity and good quality, in order to afford ample
material for the growth of the foal, and at the same time for laying
up a store of surplus flesh to be drawn upon while nursing the
colt, but at the same time excessive fatness should be avoided, as
this is likely to induce difficulty of parturition, as well as to in-
terfere with the best growth of the foal.

In connection with the subject of working the mare while in
foal the following statements by a gentleman vsrriting over the
initials S. T. H., are interesting:

'' The writer's experience in working brood mares while in foal
has been exceedingly valuable. Three road mares, all of which
could trot faster than 2:40, were driven on the road within three
months of their time of foaling, and, in every instance, they pro-
duced colts not only gifted with remarkable trotting action, but
with great ambition to trot in the field after they became a few
weeks old. The same mares, since they have been devoted exclu-
sively to breeding, have not dropped foals equally gifted or
desirous to trot, either in the field or when broken to harness.
The first great colt trotter — the celebrated Cora, who was sired
by Neave's Clay, instead of Strader's Clay, as published by ' Harli
Comstock' — was the daughter of the celebrated roan mare Queen,
that, both before and after proving with foal, was used as a road
mare. Cora, like a bright school-girl, was talented from birth.
After her dam was used exclusively for breeding, and never driven,
she had five foals, yet none of them could trot in three minutes.
Mark the history of the breeding of the gem of the Fearnaught
family! Galatea, with a record of 2:25^ as a four-year-old, was
out of Grand Duchess, who was trotted continuously in the races
through the Grand Circuit at Buffalo, Utica, Springfield, and at
Taunton, winning her record of 2:26|^ after she had borne the
weight of the future Galatea five months in her womb. Harry
W. Genet, and many other historical trotters, will trace the secret

BUEEDIKG AKD GEKBRAL IfAKAGEMEHT. 53

of their speed to the same cause. It stands the test of reason.
If the trotting brain and trotting muscles and trotting action are
constantly stimulated while the mare is carrying the foal, the
same formation and development and ambition must be impressed
upon the growing foetus.

" The most interesting proof of this position has recently come
to the writer's knowledge. One of his friends, in Boone county,
Ky., owns a mare that* was sired by Alexander's Abdallah, out of
a daughter of Norman. She was not only trotting bred, but had
exclusirely pure trotting action. She was stinted to Bidwell's
Almont, a very fast trotting horse, by Wither's Almont, out of a
mare by Alexander's Edwin Forrest; so that both sire and dam
were trotting bred, with trotting action exclusively. After being
bred, she was used as a saddle-mare, and by the manipulation of
spurs, and long curb-bits, and weighting her hind feet, she was
made to go the running walk and canter, and pace and rack in-
differently well. In due time her colt was foaled, when, to the
amazement of its owner, it went all the saddle gaits naturally in
the field, just as though its ancestors for generations had been
bred to the saddle. While to some extent I believe in the vision
theory of leading the mare before the stallion after copulation to
secure an impress of color and form upon the foetus, to a more
decided extent do I believe in the. colt receiving its action and
ambition from the dam, if her action and ambition are stimulated
during ^the period of gestation by judicious driving. Trot the
mare during pregnancy, and the colt will inevitably trot."

PERIOD OF GESTATION.

There is considerable variation in the period of gestation in
mares, the extremes being given by Miles at 287 days for the
shortest, and 419 days for the longest. Youatt gives the average
period as eleven months, or 330 days. Armsby and Jenkins give
the average as 340 days, the extremes quoted by them being 307
and 412 days.* Their estimate is the same as that given in

*Farmers' Annual Handbook for 1882.

54 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

Mentzel & Von Lengerke's Landwirtlischaftlicher Kalender — the
organ of the German Experiment Stations.

SIGNS OF FOALING.

The first sign of the near approach of foaling is the filling up
of the bag; one or two days before delivery a sort of sticky sub-
stance, resembling drops of milk, may be found protruding from
the teats. After the appearance of these signs especial care
should be taken that the mare have abundant room, and that there
be no cracks in which the colt may be caught if she should foal
in the night. If the weather be warm the mare is better off in a
pasture lot where there are no other horses, nor any hogs or
cattle. In cooler weather she should have a roomy box-stall not
less than ten or twelve feet square.

ASSISTANCE IN FOALING.

As a general thing it is better to let nature take its course in
the parturition of all domestic animals, but there are occasional
cases of wrong presentation in which a little knowledge judi-
ciously used may be of great benefit.

The normal presentation of the foal is that of the two fore feet,
with the head between, or of the two hind feet, thus forming a
wedge-shaped mass which is generally easily expelled. Sometimes,
however, one of the feet or the head is turned backward, thus
forming a square shoulder which strikes the walls of the pelvis
and prevents the exit of the foetus. The water-bags which pre-
cede the foetus simply serve to distend the opening, and lubricate
it with the fluid they contain; if, after they have served their
purpose, the birth fails to take place, an examination should be
made, first thoroughly greasing the hand and arm with lard or
oil, and inserting it carefully. If but one foot is found, then
noose it with a light rope or string, push the foetus gently back,
get hold of the other foot and straighten it out; do this between
the pains; then, if other things are right, the birth will soon be
completed. Sometimes the mare may be so exhausted by long-

BREEDING AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 55

continued pains tliat it will be advisable to assist her expulsive
efforts by gently pulling upon the foetus, but this must be care-
fully done. If the head be thrown back, follow the same methods,
first noosing the feet. If the presentation be of the hind feet,
which may be ascertained by finding the tail, and by the absence
of the nose and mouth-parts, the recovery of a lost limb will be
somewhat more difficult, but may still be accomplished, vdth care
and patience. Occasionally both hind legs may fail to appear,
making a buttock presentation, when it is sometimes necessary to
cut the hamstrings, or to cut off the legs entirely. When the
presentation is more difficult than the dropping of a single mem-
ber, however, a professional veterinarian should be summoned, if
possible.

CARE OF THE FOAL.

For a few weeks after foaling the mare should have a period of
complete rest, being turned upon grass and fed very moderately
with grain, to induce a full flow of milk. It would probably be
better if no work were required of her during the time the colt is
sucking, but as this is not always practicable great care should be
exercised never to allow the mare to become overheated. The
overheating of the dam is a frequent cause of death to the colt,
and if, by any accident, it occurs, she should be allowed to cool
off gradually before the colt is permitted to suck. The colt should
be encouraged to learn to eat grain as soon as possible, and to this
end the manger in which the mare is fed should be low and wide;
thus arranged, the foal vdll soon learn to eat with the dam.

While the colt is running by the side of its dam its education
should be commenced by haltering it in the stable at feeding time,
and by tying it to the mare when at work. In this way it may
be taught to lead, and also to stand when tied, at the same time
becoming accustomed to being handled.

WEANING THE COLT.

Colts are usually weaned at the age of five months. The
following method for accomplishing clods result is recommended

56 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

by the National Live Stock Journal: "Halter the colt in a stall
adjoining the dam, with a partition so open that they are in
plain view of each other. Reduce the food of the mare to a
very small ration of dry oats and hay. When her udder
becomes so full as to cause her uneasiness, draw off a part of
the milk, but be careful not to milk her clean. This first milk-
ing should be done by the colt itself, but afterward it should be
done by hand, as the milk in the drying-off process soon becomes
unfit for the colt, and, besides, the drying-off will thus be more
speedily accomplished than when the colt is permitted to suck
occasionally. After the milk has entirely dried up, the mare and
her foal may be separated, and she may be safely turned out to
grass.

" In the meantime great care must be taken with the food of
the colt. If it has been properly treated it has already learned to
eat heartily, and the food should be of such a character as to sup-
ply the place of the milk of the dam. If the foal is young, or in
thin flesh, it may be easily taught to drink cow's milk, and
nothing can be found that will so completely supply the place of
the milk from its own dam, of whi(^h it is now deprived. Indeed,
it will be well in all cases where, from lack of quantity or
quality in the milk of the dam, or from lack of good pasture, the
foal is in low flesh, ±o early supply the deficiency with a good
allowance of cow's milk, in addition to what it gets from the dam.
New milk should be used at first, until the foal is accustomed to
drinking it, but very soon skimmed mill!* which will answer very
nearly as well, may be substituted. The effect which such a
ration will have upon the growth and condition of the foal is
wonderful. A quart of milk morning and evening will be quite
sufficient, and if it be sweetened a little at first, the colt will take
to it all the more readily, as the milk of the dam is much sweeter
than cow's milk.

" Oats, ground or unground, constitute the very best grain food
for a colt. We prefer to have them ground, and, as cold weather
approaches, about one fourth in weight of corn meal may profit-
ably be added, as it helps to lay on fat and keeps up the animal

BREEDIIS'G AN'D GEKEKAL MAKAGEMEKT. , S7

iieat. A little oil-cake meal, say a pint a day, may also be profitably
given with the oats for some time after weaning. Don't be afraid
of feeding too liberally. More colts are injured the first six
months after weaning by too scanty a supply of food, than from
any other cause.

" As soon as the mare and foal can be separated, the foal should
have, if possible, the run of a good pasture, as there is no food
better than grass, no medicine so good as exercise, and no exercise
so profitable to young animals as when taken just when they feel
like it. A good, warm shelter should be always accessible, so that
they may be protected from storms. The idea that 'roughing it'
the first winter makes a colt more 'hardy,' is all nonsense. The
true theory is plenty of food, abundant exercise, and protection
from storms and extreme cold, in well ventilated, well lighted
stables."

EAISIKG COLTS BY HAN"D.

It sometimes becomes necessary, through the death or ill-health
of the mare, to raise the colt by artificial methods. This should
only be attempted as a last resort, as it is very difiicult of accom-
plishment, the young colt being much more sensitive to changes
in its diet than a calf or lamb, while the great difference in the
quality of the milk of the mare and the cow renders the change
to the latter, especially for a very young colt, a difficult one to
bear.

When, however, the only alternative is to attempt to raise the
colt by hand or to let it die, the conditions of its natural food-
supply should be imitated as closely as possible. This food-supply,
we observe, is offered frequently, but in small quantities; the
milk o£» the mare shows, on analysis, a larger per cent, of sugar,
and a smaller of fat and casein, than that of the cow, hence cow's
milk should be slightly diluted with water, and somewhat sweet-
ened, before giving to the colt. It should, of course, be given
warm, and in small quantities at frequent intervals, until the colt
becomes accustomed to the change, when the intervals maybe
lengthened and the quantity increased. The most common error

58 , THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

in the feeding of colts, as of all young animals, is giving too
much. This induces diarrhoea, which, when started, is difficult
to check.

A little oil-cake meal may be added to the ration to advantage,
beginning with a very small quantity, and gradually increasing
to a tablespoonful, the meal to be made into a thin gruel with
boiling water and then added to the milk. This meal, judiciously
fed, will diminish the tendency to diarrhoea, although an excess
is to be guarded against. The colt should be induced to eat oats
and shelled corn when two or three months old — the whole grain
is less liable to scour than oatmeal or corn meal — and grass or
good hay should be furnished as soon as it will eat it.

AFTER WEAKIN^G,

Or after the withdraAval of milk in the case of the hand-raised
colt, the food should be such as to maintain a healthy and vigor-
ous growth. It is a great mistake to stint the growing colt,
while, at the same time, grain should not be given in such excess
as to overload the digestive organs. Oil-cake meal is one of the
best of foods for young animals, if judiciously used; corn is
objectionable, on account of its tendency to fatten, but it is much
better to feed corn than to give no grain. Exercise is very
necessary; without it all the good effects of liberal feeding will
be lost, as the digestion will either become impaired, or the colt
will become excessively fat, and its growth in bone and muscle
thereby retarded.

Handling should be continued in every practicable manner.
The sooner the colt learns the use of the harness, and the
fact that man is his master, the more valuable he ^ill be
when he reaches a serviceable age. No labor should be required,
however, until the growth is nearly attained, and no severe labor
until after the fourth year, as during the third and fourth years
the milk or colt teeth are being replaced by the permanent set, a
process which frequently affects the vigor of the animal; so fre-
quently during the fourth year, especially, that it is a common

BEEEDING A:N^D GEi^EEAL MAN'AGEIIEKT. 59

opinion among farmers that a three-year-old colt will perform
more labor than a four-year-old.

Shelter is essential to economical growth. The colt which is
exposed to the inclemency of the winter, getting its living only
around the straw stack, will neither be so large nor so hardy as
one which has been judiciously sheltered, while it will have con-
sumed a great deal of food that has simply been burned in the
body for the production of animal heat to resist the cold blasts,
which might far more cheaply have been shut off by proper
shelter.

EAELY BREEDIiq'G.

Fillies which it is desired should grow into valuable animals
should never be bred until their fourth year, thus giving oppor-
tunity for their growth to be well completed before subjecting
them to the exhausting drain, of reproduction. The same is true
of young horses; they should not be used while still colts for stud
purposes, as the progeny of such immature animals cannot
possess the strength and hardihood of those which have come to
maturity.

On the other hand, breeding from horses of extreme age is less
likely to give satisfactory results than if they be in their prime.
Yet there are exceptions to both these rules: for instance,
Rysdyk's Hambletonian was only two years old when he got
Alexander's Abdallah, and he in turn was only four years old
when he got Goldsmith Maid; while Lexington's dam was
fourteen or older when he was dropped, and the dam of American
Eclipse was twelve, he being her first foal.

These, however, as well as others which might be enumerated,
must be regarded as exceptional instances, since overwhelming
evidence may be drawn from all departments of animal life that,
as a rule, the most vigorous offspring come from fully developed
parents who are yet in the prime of life. The cases noted, there-
fore, only prove that the parents themselves were exceptionally
vigorous for animals of their ages.

60 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

TRAI3S^ING.

As previously urged, the education of the colt should begin
while it is still running by its dam. If the lesson is then
thoroughly inculcated that man is both friend and master, the
horse will never forget it. This early handling should not
include any form of labor, as the colt's bones do not become
sujSiciently hardened to perform any laborious service, without
injury, until it is nearly grown. The old style of training, or
"breaking," as it was then properly called, was to let the colt run
entirely free from restraint until three or four years old. It was
then taken up, harnessed, and put to work, the process involving
a struggle for freedom on the part of the colt which often
rendered the operation of breaking a dangerous one. If managed
as here urged the only difl&culty in the operation will be the
overcoming of a little awkwardness of the colt in its unfamiliar
duties.

The essential qualifications for a successful colt-trainer are
unlimited patience, indomitable perseverance, and ceaseless
watchfulness. The man who possesses these qualifications will
not fly into a passion and abuse his colt for his awkwardness, and
will even overcome stubbornness by continued patience, repeating
to-day the lesson of yesterday, and so on until it is thoroughly
learned, while he will see that the colt is never for an instant left
in such a position that he may get the advantage of his driver,
when impelled by sudden fright or restlessness. To accomplish
this every part of the harness must be secure, and the lines must
always be in the driver's hands, when the colt is not otherwise
securely tied.

In training a colt it should always, if possible, be first worked
by the side of a steady old horse, until it learns the meaning of
the harness, and i)egins to comprehend the duties expected of it;
and these duties should always be within the limits of accomplish-
ment without extreme exertion, both to avoid injury to the
unhardened shoulders and growing bones, and also to prevent the

BEEEDIKG AKD GENERAL MAKAGEMEi^T. 61

discouragement and consequent formation of the vicious habit of
balking, due to over-loading.

No word of command should ever be given to colt or old horse
unless in position to compel obedience. By adherence to this
rule the horse may be trained to stop at the word under all con-
ditions, and accidents often prevented thereby. The colt should,
from the start, be accustomed to the flapping of the tugs about
its hind legs, and to other unexpected touches, in order to dimin-
ish the danger from extraordinary emergencies, such as the parting
of the hold-backs when going down hill. He should also be
accustomed to all unfamiliar objects at which he shows signs of
fear, by giving him time and opportunity to examine them
thoroughly.

By patience, firmness, and carefulness, the most wayward colt
may be converted into a faithful servant; but in the absence of
either of these qualifications in the master, the servant may
become a treacherous enemy.*

STABLES AKD STABLE MAI^AGEMElifT.

Light and Ventilation. — The two commonest defects in our
horse-stables are insufficiency of light and improper ventilation.
More often than otherwise the only arrangements for the admis-
sion of light are the small holes at the rear of the stable through
which the manure is thrown, the cracks between the loose siding,
and the doorways, which, when open, admit light enough, it is
true, but when closed in stormy weather leave the stable so dark
that the sudden change caused by leading the horse into the
bright sunlight of the open air produces a severe shock upon the
optic nerve, frequently resulting in blindness or impaired vision.
Nature's provision in this case is plain enough, and we should
profit by it: the change from daylight to darkness through the
twilight or dawn is an almost imperceptible one, and therefore
our horse-stables, as well as our own living rooms, should be so
arranged that there shall be the least possible strain upon the
eyes in walking from them into the free sunlight.

62 THE HAl^^DY HOKSE BOOK.

Probably the best point from which the stable can be lighted
is the rear, thus avoiding the glare of direct light. As, however,
it is seldom practicable to admit a sufficient quantity of light
from this quarter, provision should be made for side lights, and
these should be placed as high as possible, in order that the light
may fall upon the eyes in the most natural manner possible.
This matter of light is no trivial one; blindness is one of the
most frequent affections of the horse, and we have had abundant
evidence, in our own experience, that this is often caused chiefly
if not wholly by dark stables.

Lack of ventilation is not a common fault in the American
stable. On the contrary there is generally enough and to spare,
but it is often so arranged as not only to fail of its proper func-
tion, but to aggravate^ the evils which it ought to correct. Thus
in a large majority of stables the only provision made for the
entrance of fresh air is through the cracks of the siding, and
through open manure-holes, doors, and windows. This arrange-
ment allows the air to sweep through in draughts, chilling the
animals and inducing disease. To avoid chilling draughts, and
at the same time provide the steady current of air which is
essential to the removal of the exhalations given off by the
animals, is a problem which is sometimes difficult of solution.
If, however, the stable be so arranged that the horses shall stand
with their heads toward a feed-room or passage-way — and this is
by far the most convenient arrangement — the fresh air may be
admitted at the ends of this passage-way, and an upward current
established through the hay-shute, which should extend from the
feed-room upward to the top of the building, which again should
^e ventilated either by slatted windows in the gables, or by
cupolas in the roof. In a,building so constructed, if there be any
motion of the air on the outside it will produce a current through
the ventilating vmidows, which will, in turn, induce an upward
current from the lower floor; and this, passing in front of the
horses' noses, instead of across their backs and sides, will give
them a constant supply of fresh air without any injurious
draught.

BREEDmG AKD GEKERAL MAKAGEMEKT. 63

For tlie sake both of convemence and liealtlifulness a straw-
sliute should be placed in the rear of the horses, the mows
overhead being planned accordingly, and this will assist in
removing the ammoniacal vapors which are constantly rising
from the dung. These shutes, thus serving as ventilator tubes^
will not only assist in providing fresh air for the animals, but
tbey will carry off the animal exhalations which would otherwise
lodge in the hay overhead.

' The Stable Floor. — Next to light and ventilation the stable floor
claims our attention, as largely affecting both the health of the
horse and the convenience of his keeper. Undoubtedly the best
stable floor, so far as the health of the horse is concerned, is one
of earth, provided it be kept in proper condition. But, as every
practical horseman knows, this is a very difficult thing to do.
The pawing of a restless horse soon works a hole under his fore
feet, while his excrements keep the part under his hind-quarters
in a bad condition, if not also worked into holes; consequently
the earthen floor is discarded in ov^ best stables. On account of
the cheapness of lumber and its apparent cleanliness that material
has been generally used as a substitute, but it is open to several
C'bjections. The plank floor, as usually made, is too dry for the
}>est condition of the horse's feet, which naturally require a small
degree of moisture. If it be not made water tight, and it gen-
erally is not, it causes the liquid excrement to be wasted, thus
entailing a loss of a very valuable part of the manure, as well
as saturating the earth below the stable floor and producing un-
wholesome exhalations, The plank floor also affords a harbor for
vermin beneath it, and an entrance Avay for cold draughts of air;
while its short endurance renders it a very expensive floor.

In England concrete has long been used for stable floors, but it
is objectionable on account of lack of durability, being soon
broken by the pawing of restive horses.

The most satisfactory stable floors we have ever seen were those
made of paving brick, set on edge. Such a floor, carefully laid,
of good material, will last indefinitely, and, at the relative prices
of the two materials, is frequently cheaper than plank at the

64 THE HANDY HOKSE BOOK.

outset, and always cheaper when its superior durability is consid-
ered. In laying the brick floor especial care should be taken that
the foundation be thoroughly settled, as otherwise the floor will
settle unevenly, producing holes. Vermin should also be carefully
excluded by cutting a narrow trench around the outer edge to the
depth of two feet or more, partly filling this with a grout mixed
with hydraulic cement, and in this bedding the stones which form
the curbing. The floor should be laid with a shallow channel at
the rear to carry off the liquid manure, and it will be better for
the fore feet if the forward part slope downward slightly toward
the manger, thus giving the horse a chance to stand with his toes
pointing slightly downward, a position which many horses seem
glad to assume.

Whatever kind of floor be used, bedding of straw, sawdust,
leaves, etc., should be furnished in abundance, both for the sake
of cleanliness and to soften the floor to the feet. If the liquid
manure be not carried to a cistern, an additional amount of bed-
ding should be supplied as an ai)sorbent, as this ingredient of the
manure is far too valuable to be lost.

The Mayiger. — The cut on the opposite page shows a form of
manger, the description of which, and enumeration of its advan-
tages, Avill serve to show some of the errors to be guarded againsi •
in the construction of mangers in general:

This manger is three feet four inches high next the horse, three
feet nine inches under the centre rail, and three feet two inches
next the feed-room; it is two feet four inches wide from the
centre rail to the side next the horse, and one foot eight
inches from centre rail to feed-room. The alternate partitions
are cut away at the top rail, as shown, the only separation
below this point being the feed-boxes (not shown in cut),
each of which is twelve inches wide by ten inches deep, and
long enough to reach across the manger at the top, the ends
being cut to flt the slope of the sides of the manger. These
boxes are made of 2x12 plank, and are placed on the right-
hand or "off" side of each stall. A false bottom is placed in this
manger, leaving it about eighteen inches deep next the feed-room

BREEDING Al^D ©EKEBAL MAKACEMEI^T.

65

by two feet next the horse; the object of this being to reduce the
size of the manger, and thus prevent careless hands from over-
feeding with hay, and at the same time to give the horse a shallow,
broad manger, in which he can pick over his feed at leisure.
Experience has shown that in such a manger he will eat up his
food cleaner than in a narrow, deep one, in which the lower layers
become soiled with saliva and packed down so tight that,
especially if they contain tliistles or other weeds, the horse
cannot well turn them over. In this manger corn-fodder may be
fed at full length, a bundle being divided between two horses,

An Improved Manger.

while the refuse stalks may be readily cleaned out from the front
side, thus preventing the littering of the stable with them. The
feed-boxes, being placed between the stalls and under the top
rail, will prevent the horses getting their noses together and
quai-reling. If hay only is fed the partition may extend to the
bottom of the manger. The slats on the side next the horse pre-
vent his pulling his feed out on that side, while the top rail and
the width of the manger prevent his throwing it out in the feed-
room, especially as this width gives him full opportunity to pick
it over. The feed being entirely below there is no littering of
hay-seed into the eyes and mane, as when the manger is in the

66 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

form of a rack or shute, while it enables the horse to stand while
feeding in his natural position, and not with his nose thrown up,
like a giraffe, nor with his neck arched, as by the check-rein and
martingale, as with the very high mangers frequently used.
The manger being entirely open on the side next the feed-room
allows the easy introduction of hay, and also facilitates cleaning
out, as stated. In the case of a narrow feed-room this part of
the manger may be hinged, so as to shut in even with the top
rail ; and if the stable floor be a foot below the feed-room floor,
the latter may be used as the bottom of the manger.

The Stalls. — A horse-stall should never be less than five feet in
the clear in width, and five and a half feet is better. The parti-
tions between two stalls should be boarded up on both sides for
four feet, above which single boarding for three feet more will be
sufficient for most horses. The lower four feet should extend
back about seven feet from the edge of the manger, to prevent
the horses from kicking each other. The height of the stable
should not be less than eight feet for small horses, and nine for
large ones. This is a very important point, as one of the com-
monest causes of poll-evil is the striking of the head against the
beams of the upper floor. Especial care should be taken that the
stall partitions reach the floor, otherwise the horse is liable to get
his legs fast and broken.

TJie Feed-Boom and Water Supply. — In general the feeding-
room is too much contracted; often consisting of nothing more
than a narrow passage way, four to six feet wide. It will pay
well to allow space in this room for meal-bins, cutting box, mix-
nig troughs, etc., and, if the drainage can be so arranged as to
carry off all the soakage of the stables and manure heaps, the well
should also be located here. To combine convenience with safety
and profit the stable floors should be water-tight, and arranged to
conduct the liquid manure to the rear of the building, where it
should be received in cisterns, or taken up by abundant absorb-
ents; the drainage of the manure-yard should be from the rear of
the stable, and the feed-room and well should be in front of it.
If the well hQ replaced by a good cistern it will add much to the

BREEDIJS'G AJ^B GEi^RAL MAI^AGEMEi^T. 67

safety of tlie water, as it is almost impossible to prevent the con-
tamination of a well located in a barn. While it may be difficult
to trace any disease of horses to such contamination, it has been
well established that cows may convey to those who use their
milk the germs of disease gathered at their drinking places.

Feeding. — The proper feeding of a horse is an operation
requiring the exercise of a greater amount of common sense than
can be expected of any ordinary hired groom. The treatment
best adapted to the needs of the severely worked draft-horse is
very different from that i^equii'ed by the carriage-horse which is
only occasionally put in harness; while the same horse requires
different treatment, according to the amount of service demanded
of him.

For the maintenance of perfect health the working horse
requires that a portion of his food shall be of the character called
"rough-feed," and the remainder of a more nutritious kind, and
the proper balance between these two kinds of food is one which
is at times difficult to maintain.

Thus the driving horse, if he is liable to be called upon for
rapid traveling, should receive but little hay through the day, hi:.
main supply being given at his evening feed, and then as small a
quantity as may be found consistent with health — a quantity
which can only be established by careful experiment, since no
two horses will require precisely the same. This method of feed-
ing is necessary in order that his stomach and bowels may be
loaded as lightly as possible when his work is needed. The draft
horse, however, whose work is less violent than that of the
roadster, may have his hay-allowance more evenly distributed
throughout the day. Horses that are not subjected to severe
labor may be kept chiefly on hay, but the consumption of a suffi-
cient quantity to meet the ordinary demands of existence produces
a distension of the stomach and. abdomen, together with a flabbi-
ness of muscle, which renders the animal unfit for much exertion.
This condition is greatly exaggerated if the hay be replaced by
food of a less nutritive quality, as damaged hay or straw, in which
case the ratio which should exist between the nitrogenous and

68 THE HANDY HOESE BOOK.

carbonaceous elements of the food is disturbed, the latter being
greatly in excess. In order that such feeding should be economi-
cal grain should be very high, straw very cheap, and the labor
or growth of the animal a matter of no consequence.

On the other hand, the mistake is frequently made of giving
too much grain, with the result of developing a tendency to
fatten, or of disturbing the proper ratio of the food in the oppo-
site direction from that of straw-feeding — in which case much of
the grain will fail of digestion, and therefore produce no effect.

The secret of successful feeding lies in giving such a ration,
both in quantity and quality, as shall maintain the animal in a
healthy, vigorous condition, without causing it to fatten; and
this secret can only be attained by personal practice and observa-
tion, changing the food from day to day as circumstances seem
to require, until the desired mean in quantity and quality is
reached, as shown by the stationary condition of the horse. It is
evident that the quantity will still have to be changed from
season to season to suit the changes of temperature.

No one point in feeding is of more importance than regularity.
The animal, of whatever kind, that is fed at irregular hours, or
allowed to miss a meal whenever it happens to be a little incon-
venient to attend to it, v/ill show its neglect in seriously impaired
usefulness. Such management is both improvident and cruel.

Grooming. — The object of grooming or currying is not simply
the removal of mud or other external dirt, to give the horse a
better appearance, but the cleansing of the skin by the removal
of the scurf and dust which is constantly accumulating beneath
the hair, and thus clogging the pores of the skin and impairing
its function. The brush, therefore, should visit every part of the
body daily, and be vigorously applied. The neglect of careful
cleansing of the legs especially is one of the causes of scratches
or grease heel.

DEIYIN^G.

There are a few points of special importance in the manage-
ment of driving horses, which are also applicable in a less

BKEEDIKG AKD GEN^EKAL MAJ^AGKMEIS'T. 69

degree to tliose used for draft. The morning feed should he given
early, that digestion may be as far progressed as possible before
the day's work is begun; the^rst hour's work should be done at
a moderate gait, giving the horse the opportunity to finish digest-
ing his morning meal, and to unload his bowels of the accumula-
tions of the night before; the horse should not be hurried over
hills, because a rapid gait up the hill exhausts his "wind," and
thus draws upon the stores of energy needed for future service;
while the jar of going down hill rapidly is liable to injure his
front feet and shoulders. When the roads are level, however, he
may be kept at a steady jog, and this is better than to "blow"
him by a quick spurt and then allow him to go slowly to regain
his breath. It is the steady-going horse who makes the longest
trip and comes in freshest at night.

In driving the reins should be held sufficiently tight to produce
a constant, steady, but gentle pressure on the bit. Thus held the
horse will soon become so accustomed to the hand of the driver
that the smallest pressure upon either rein, given by the fingers
or by a slight twist of the Avrist, will turn him to either side as
desired, while his speed will be regulated in the same manner.
At the same time the horse should be accustomed to the voice of
his master, and especially should be trained to stop at the word,
a training which may often prevent serious accidents, in case of
unexpected disarrangement of the harness.

A horse driven with a firm rein will travel faster and farther,
and with greater ease to himself and his driver, than if the reins
are allowed to hang at his sides, while many an accident has been
caused by the horse suddenly starting or shying, and getting the
advantage of his driver before the latter could gather up his
loosely-held reins.

HORSEBACK RIDIKG.

The art of riding is one which must be learned by practice, and
few rules can be given which will be of much service. The fol-
lowing hints, however, may assist the learner in his first efforts:

The bridle for riding should be as light as possible, compatible

70 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

witli strength; there should be but a single rein, and, if martin-
gale.s are used, they should be adjusted to such a length as to
press upon the reins onl}^ when tke head is thrown very high.
For quiet horses the martingale is only a nuisance, but for very
spirited animals it is sometimes serviceable, and for those disposed
to rear it is an absolute necessity. The bit should be of the
variety known as curb, made light but strong. A snaffle is not
fit for a riding bit, in any case. The horse may go somewhat
awkwardly at first under a curb, but he will soon become accus-
tomed to it, if it is properly handled, and can thereafter be
controlled far more easily and gracefully.

The manner in which the reins are held is a very important
matter. As in driATJig, so also in riding, there should be a con-
stant pressure upon the bit — the horse ridden mth dangling reins
will be an unusually good one if he does not stumble, while if he
has any spirit he will be liable to unseat his rider by a sudden
start — nevertheless the pressure upon the rein should be of the
gentlest character, the hand acting simply as a perfect spring,
exerting the lightest possible pressure, and accommodating itself
to the motion of the animal, but ready at any time to seize the
reins with a firm grip and thus remind him that he is under
control of a master-spirit.

For pleasure-riding the saddle should have a low, flat seat; but
when riding becomes a business the high Mexican or army saddle
will be found the most comfortable. In either case the stirrup
should be of sufficient length to allow the full extension of the
leg, TNdthout requiring it to be stretched to reach it.

It is needless to say that the position of the rider should be
constantly erect; the reins should be held in the left hand, and
both hands should be held in a low and easy position.

The gaits of the riding-horse should be the canter, and some
form of the pacing or racking gaits. It is difficult to ride either
a square trotter or pacer with either ease or grace, but trotters
that possess some admixture of pacing blood may sometimes be
trained to a very pleasant riding gait. Frequently the tendency
to pace or rack is not manifested until the horse is five or six

BEEEDIKG AKD GEKEEAL MAI^AGEMEKT. 71

years of age, and is then shown under the saddle; but when a
horse begins to show a tendency to change his gait he may be
easily trained to use only his easiest gait when ridden. This
training is accomplished by riding with curb bit and martingales,
holding a tight rein, especially when it is desired to start from the
walk into a faster gait, urging the horse forward with whip or
spur, but checking him immediately, and requiring him to start
again, when he takes the wrong gait. When going down hill a
horse will naturally take such a gait as will produce the least jar
to himself, and this fact may be taken advantage of in training
him to travel for the rider's ease.

HOKSEBACK RIDIKG FOR LADIES.

To ride a good horse is one of the most exhilarating of pastimes,
as well as one of the most healthful of exercises, and there can be
no doubt that our wives and daughters would complain far less
of ill-health if carriages and railways were abolished', and their
only means of locomotion were on foot or horseback. As this
cannot be, the next best thing would be to make horseback riding
fashionable, and thus popularize a recreation to which the rosy
cheeks of our grandmothers were largely due. Happily there
seems now to be a tendency in this direction, and the sight of a
lady on horseback is less uncommon than it was a few years ago.

With regard to the bridle and its management the remarks
previously made apply equally well to the lady's outfit for riding.
The proper tension of the reins is one which ladies should
especially study, as the danger from a slack rein is for them
especially great.

The riding-habit is so much under the control of the whims of
fashion that it seems hopeless to say anything here in regard to
it. The dictates of common sense, as well as those of good taste,
would make it simply long enough to cover the feet securely.
The extremely long habits which serve as such convenient
receptacles for the spatterings of the road, are both disgusting to
the escort and dangerous to the wearer. For ladies who may

7^ THE HAI^DY HORSE BOOK.

have the energy to take long rides over mountainous roads, the
picturesque riding costume of the Sandwich Island ladies, described
by Miss Bird,* and worn by her in her hundreds of miles of
horseback riding over those islands and over the Rocky Moun-
tains, is certainly the most sensible garment, as it permits riding

Side-Saddlk.

astride. For ordinary riding, however, this position is not neces-
sary to a reasonable amount of security, since the hunting saddle,
shown in the illustration on this page, affords, in its hunting or

*"Six Months in the Sandwich Islands," and "A Lady's Life in the Rocky
Mountains/' by Miss Bird, — two of the most delightful of books of travel.

BKEEDING AOT) GEN"ERAL MANAGEMBN"T. 73

leaping horn, th^ means by wliicli the left knee may be held
down, and thus the seat kept secure. It will readily be seen, by
reference to the figure, that the man's saddle itself scarcely affords
a more secure seat than is given by this form of side-saddle, pro-
vided the girths remain intact. The following paragraph,
referring to this saddle, is quoted from Herbert's "Hints to
Horsekeepers," and was written by a lady:

"The prejudice of many American ladies, especially in the
country, against the third horn of the saddle, is purely the result
of habit. Having always been accustomed to the old style of
saddle, they experience a restraint in the first use of the leaping
horn, which suggests a dangerdus confinement of the limbs, and
they seem to fear that they could not easily disengage themselves
from it, in case of accident. This fear is groundless ; they could,
in no case, get off on the right side, and, in dismounting to the
left, the leg is simply lowered away from it, so that it can, in no
sense, be considered an obstacle to jumping off from the horse.
The mere fact that it prevents the worst of all accidents — ^being
thrown onto the left horn in case of the horse falling — ^is an un-
answerable argument in its favor, and no lady who has been
accustomed to its use would be willing to dispense with it."

The girth is a very important part of a saddle of either kind;
but it is especially necessary to the security of the side-saddle seat,
and should therefore be frequently examined to see that it shows
no sign of unsoundness, and the lady should be sure that it has
been properly tightened before mounting her horse. In this
connection it should be remembered that a girth which was
properly tight in the morning may be quite loose before night,
owing both to the stretching of the material and to the contrac-
tion of the abdomen of the horse through removal of its
contents.

The stirrup should either be furnished with a guard to prevent
the foot becoming fast in it, or should be made so small that only
the toes can enter. More serious accidents have probably resulted
from the rider being thrown and dragged by a foot fastened in
the stirrup than from all other causes incident to ladies riding,

74

THE HANDY HOESE BOOK.

and no lady should ever trust herself in a saddje if its stirrup can
by any possibility entangle her foot. Safety stirrups are now
made in such manner that the side will open as soon as the foot
is lifted from the bottom, thus preventing all danger of accident.
Such a stirrup is represented in the illustration here shown.
This stirrup is made of two separate pieces,
hinged together as shown in the cut. While
the foot is in the stirrup its pressure upon
the bottom piece c holds the part a, c, in
place, as shown by the dotted lines; but
Safety Stirrup. when the pressure is removed this part
)pens, allowing the foot to pass out at the side.

[76}

EXTERJTAL EEGIOI^S OP THE HOESE.

1. Lips.

"2. Nose.

3. Face.

4. Forehead.

5. Eyebrows.

6. Forelock.

7. Ears.

8. Lower Jaw,

9. Cheeks,

10. Nostril.

11. Poll.
ll.aThroat.

12. Parotid,

13. Neck.
IS.aMane.

14. Jugular.

15. Breast.

16. Withers.

17. Back.

18. Eibs.

19. Girth.

20. Loins.

21. Croup.

22. Tail.

23. Anour, or Dock.

24. Flanks.

25. Belly.

26. Sheath.

27. Testicles.

28. Shoulders and Arm.

29. Elbow.

30. Fore-arm.
32. Knee.

S3. Cannon, or Shank.

34. Fetlock.

35. Pastern.

36. Coronet.

37. Foot.

38. Ergot and Fetlock.

39. Haunch.

40. Thigh.

41. Stifle.

42. Buttocks.

43. Leg.

44. Hock.

46. Cannon, or Shank.

47. Fetlock Joint.

48. Ergot and Fetlock.

49. Pastern.

50. Coroneto

51. Foot.

[77]

SKELETOI^^ OF THE HORSE.

A. Head. 1.

B. Lower Jaw. 2.

C. Atlas, or first vertebra of Neck. 3.

D. A:;is, or second vertebra of Neck. 4.

E. The remaining five cervical verte- 5.

brae. 6.

F. Spinous process of back withers.

G. Dorsal and Lumbar vertebrae. 7.
H. Sacrum; base of croup.

L Coccygeal, or tail bones. 8.

J. Scapula, or shoulder blade. 9.

K. Humerus, or arm-bone. 10.

L. Eadius, or bone of fore-arm.

M. Carpal, or knee bones. 11.

N. Trapezium, or bend of knee bone. 12.

O. Metacarpal, or cannon bone. 13.

P. First Phalanx, or pastern bone.

Q. Large sesamoid bone. 14.

R. Second phalanx, or coronet bone.

S. Third phalanx, or foot bone. 15.

T. Ribs. 16.

U. Coccyx, or croup bone. 17.

V. Femur, or thigh bone.

X. Patella. 13.

Y. Tibia, or leg bone. 10

Z. Hock, or tarsal bones. 20,

a. Cannon, or metatarsal bones.

b. First phalanx, or pastern bone.

c. Large sesamoid.

d. Second phalanx, or coronet bone.

e. Third phalanx, or foot bone.

f. Superior band of cervical ligament.

Zygomatic arch.

Orbital cavity.

Nasal, or face bones.

Incisor teeth.

Molar teeth.

Scapulo-humeral, or shoulder arm

joint.
Acromion process, or spine of the

shoulder blade.
Hollow of the shoulder blade.
Cartilage of shoulder blade.
Superior tuberosity of the humer-

ous.
Olecranon, or elbow bone.
Cartilage of the ribs.
Haunch, external and internal

angle of ilium.
Sachium, posterior angle of the

ilium.
Great trochanter.
Small trochanter.
Articulation between femur and

tibia.
Superior tuberosity of tibia.
Calcaneum.
Head of the fibula.

[78]

[79]

PART III.

ANATOIVIY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

As an introduction to the chapter on diseases and their
treatment, we here offer a brief discussion of the anatomy and
physiology of the horse, confining this discussion to the more
salient points of difference between the equine and the human
organism, and referring our readers to the works on human
anatomy and physiology for general information upon such
points as are common to both horse and man.

Ai^'ATOMY AKD PHYSIOLOGY.

For convenience of classification we may consider the animal
body as made up of several svstems, each working to a certain
extent independently of the rest, but all necessary to the com-
plete organism. These are, . ( 1 ) the bony system, or skeleton,
which serves as a frame-work supporting all the other parts;
(2) the muscular system, which serves as the ropes by which the
other parts are moved; (3) the nervous system, which, including
the brain, controls all other organs; (4) the digestive system, by
which the nourishment of the body is prepared; (5) the
circulatory system, which carries this prepared nourishment to its
proper destination; (6) the excretory system, by which certain
deleterious substances are removed from the body; and, (7) the
generative system, through which the species is propagated.
Within these systems are also included the special organs of
locomotion and of sensation.

[81]

82 THE HAl^DT BORSE BOOK.

THE SKELETOiq".

The bony frame-work of the horse is composed of two hundred
and forty-seven bones, apportioned as follows:

1. Bones of the skull 10

2. Bones of the spinal column and tail, embracing : 7 cervical, 18 dorsal, 6

lumbar and 17 caudal vertebrae 48

3.|Bones of the face, jaws, etc., embracing : 18 bones in the face and lower
jaw; 40 teeth; 4 bones in each ear, and 5 bones at the base of the
tongue 71

4. Bones of the thorax, embracing: 18 bones on each side and tl^.e sternum in

the middle 37

5. Bones of the pelvis 3

6. Bones of locomotion, embracing in front: the scapula, humerus, os brachii,

8 carpal bones, 3 metacarpals, os suffraginis, os coronae, os pedis, os

naviculare, 2 ossa sesamoidese; total, 20 on each side 40

and behind :

the femur, patella, tibia, fibula, 6 tarsal bones, 3 metatarsals, os suffra-
ginis, OS coronse, os pedis, os naviculare, 2 ossa sesamoidese; total, 19 on
each side..". '. 38

The nomenclature of the various portions of the skeleton will
be comprehended by reference to the accompanying chart.

In constitution and function the various bones of the horse
differ in no essential point from those of man, except the teeth,
whose peculiarities of construction and growth are fully
considered in the section devoted to their connection with the
age of the horse. The skull of the horse, like that of man and
other animals, is composed of several pieces, joined together by
sutures, and forming a chamber which contains the brain; this
chamber is prolonged posteriorly by the narrow cavity of the
spinal column which contains the spinal cord, while the spinal
column itself is composed of numerous portions so joined together
as to give a considerable degree of flexibility, combined with far
greater strength than would be attained in a single bone.

The bones of the face and lower jaw, the ribs, and pelvic bones,
differ chiefly in form from those of man. The most notable
difference between the two skeletons in these regions is the
absence of the clavicle in the horse.

AKAtOMT AMD PHYSIOLOGY. . 83

The bones of locomotion in tlie horse offer more resemblances
to those of man, after careful investigation, than will at first be
suspected. Taking the fore limbs the identical function of the
shoulder blades will at once be perceived: it is easy to see that
the humerus in the horse bears a strong resemblance to that in
man. Next comes the radius, with its prolongation forming the
elbow; next the carpal bones, occurring in the knee of the horse,
according to the popular idea, and in the wrist of man ; next the
' metacarpals, corresponding to the five bones of the hand, and
which in the horse now number but three, viz: the large meta-
carpal or cannon bone, and the two small metacarpals or splints ;
but the researches of Marsh and others into the history of the
fossil horse have shown that the earliest forms of the horse
probably possessed five metacarpals, with the corresponding toes,
and that the one now left corresponds with the larger or middle
finger of man. From this point down the relationship between
the three bones below the fetlock, the lower one having its
horny hoof, with the three bones below the knuckle, the last one
with its horny nail, is easily perceived. In the same manner the
resemblances between bones of the hind extremities of the horse
and the lower extremities of man may be traced, thus suggesting
the query whether Gulliver s experience vdth the Houyhnhnms
was simply the creation of Swift's fertile imagination, or was the
working of that law of the transmigrationist, whereby the im-
pressions received in a pre-existent state are sometimes revived in

our minds?

*

THE MUSCLES.

In respect to constitution and general function the muscular
system of the horse differs in no important point from that of
man. In one as in the other, to attain the highest degree of
health and vigor it is necessary that the muscles be abundantly,
though not excessively nourished, and that they be regularly and
judiciously exercised. The horse confined to his stable and
highly fed will develop a soft, flaccid muscle, fit for but little real
service; while, on the other hand, excessive labor upon scant

84 THE HANDY HOESE :B00B:.

feed will cause a general weakening of the muscular fibres. The
proper mean of sufficient exercise, with just enough food, is one
difficult to attain, and yet one necessary to the highest degree of
serviceability in the animal.

THE NERYOUS SYSTEM.

In organization and function the nervous system of the horse
is the same as that of man. Being less highly organized the
horse is less liable to diseases of a purely nervous character than
man, yet he is not wholly exempt, as will be seen in the follow-
ing discussion of diseases and their treatment. In some respects
the sensory nerves of the horse are more acute than those of man,
and in others less so. Thus the sense of touch, which in man is
developed chiefly in the fingers, is most highly developed in the
horse in the lips and nose; while in the general sensitiveness to
pain from wounds, etc., the horse, in common with most dumb
animals, seems to suffer much less than man. The hearing of the
horse seems to differ but little, in domestication, from that of
man, though in the wild state it is doubtless more acute; and the
same may be said of the sense of smell. Horses seem less subject
to deafness than man, but are not entirely exempt. They evi-
dently have a well-developed sense of taste, and their vision is no
doubt in all respects similar to that of man, while it is extremely
liable to impairment.

THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.

The digestive organs of the horse differ but little in general
function from those of man. The teeth are wholly herbivorous
in their construction, instead of being herbo-carnivorous as in
man. The oesophagus has at its lower extremity a valve, which
prevents the return of matter from the stomach to the mouth,
so that it is impossible for the horse to vomit. The stomach
holds but about three gallons, and is partly divided by a con-
striction, thus showing a greater resemblance incize and form to
the human stomach on the one hand than to the large, compound

AKATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. - 85

one of the ruminants on the other. The intestines of the horse
have a total length of a little more than ninety feet, while those
of the ox are ahout one hundred and fifty feet in length, and
those of man ahout twenty-five feet. (The weight of man is
about one eighth that of the horse.) In the horse the large
intestine is about one third the length of the small; in man,
about one fifth that length.

The liver, pancreas, and spleen perform approximately the
same functions in the horse as in man, and are not particularly
liable to any special diseases.

THE CIRCULATOKY SYSTEM.

The circulatory system of the horse is constructed upon the
same general principles as that of man. The position of the
principal blood-vessels is shown in the illustration on page 91.

THE EXCRETORY SYSTEM.

The chief organs of excretion, viz: the skin, lungs, liver, and
kidneys, perform the same functions in the horse as in man,
which is the removal from the body of the deleterious substances
produced by the wear of its tissues. These substances consist
chiefly of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen; the carbon passing
away from the lungs as carbonic acid; from the liver in connec-
tion with hydrogen in certain forms of fatty matter; the nitrogen
being chiefly eliminated by the kidneys in the form of urea.

Physiologists have established the fact that the prompt removal
of these substances is even more essential to the health and life
of the mammal than regular supplies of food, since life may be
supported for a considerable period with but little food, but the
complete suppression of any of the excretory functions will
produce death in a very short time. Hence the necessity for
thoroughly understanding these functions, and the treatment
required to maintain their healthful action. Thus vigorous
exercise causes a rapid disintegration of the animal tissues, and
a consequent increase of the work to be performed by the excre-

S6 ^ THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

tory organs; if this exercise be carried to excess, stimulating tKe
skin and lungs to their utmost, and largely increasing the heat of
the body, and then this heat be suddenly lowered by exposure to
cold draughts of air in the street, or in an open stable, congestion
of the pores of the skin and membranes of the lungs results, and
they are rendered unable to properly perform their functions.
High feeding and lack of exercise also cause derangement of the
liver and kidneys, by necessitating an abnormal action of these
orofans in order to remove the accumulation of deleterious matter.
The above brief hints are merely designed to show the necessity
for a careful investigation of the nature and functions of the
excretory organs. A complete discussion of this question would
be foreign to the pui-pose of this book, since it would add nothing
to what already exists in any good treatise on human physiology.

THE GEKERATIYE SYSTEM.

The generative organs of ^the horse are thus described by
"Stonehenge":

" The male organs of generation consist of the testes and their
ducts, the vasa deferentia, the latter conveying the semen to the
urethra, or to the vesiculge seminales, which are oval bags con-
nected with the upper surfaces of the neck of the bladder. Here
the seminal fluid is stored up for use, and when wanted is
conveyed into the vagina by means of the external organ or
penis. The anatomy of the testicles is that which mainly con-
cerns the horse-master, as they are generally removed by operation.
They are contained within the scrotum, which is externally com-
posed of skin, wrinkled in the foal, but subsequently distended
by the size and weight of its contents. Beneath this is a layer
of a pale-yellowish fibrous membrane called the dartos, which
envelops the testes and forms a separation between them. A
thin coat of cellular membrane alone separates this from the
r double serous membrane, the tunica vaginalis, which almost
entirely envelops each testis, just as the pleura does the lung.
In the early stages of foetal life the testes are contained within

[88J

DIGESTIVE APPAEATUS OF THE HORSE.

1. Mouth.

2. Pharynx.

3. (Esophagus.

4. Diaphragm.

5. Spleen.

6. Stomach (left sec.)

7. Duodenum.

8. Liver — upper extremity.

9. Large colon.

10. Caecum.

11. Small intestine.

12. Floating colon.

13. Eectum.

14. Anus.

15. Left kidney and its ureter.

16. Bladder.

17. Urethra.

1893

CIRCULATORY ORGAJiTS OF THE HORSE.

1. Heart — right ventricle. •

2. Heart — ^left veutricle.

3. Heart — left auricle.

4. Pulmonary artery.

5. Pulmonary veins.

6. Anterior aorta.

7. Common carotid artery.

8. External maxillary artery.

9. Left axillary artery.

10. Dorsal artery.

11. Superior cervical artery.

12. Vertebral artery.

13. Humeral artery.

14. Radial artery.

15. Collateral of the cannon.

16. Coronary branch.

17. Posterior aorta.

18. Cardiac trunk, distributed to the

stomach.

19. Mesenteric vessels.

20. Renal artery.

21. Spermatic artery.

22. Posterior vena cava.

23. Venae portse.

24. External iliae artery.

25. Internal iliae artery.

26. Subsacral artery.

27. Femoral artery.

28. Posterior tibial artery.

29. Digital artery.

30. Veinous network of the fooi.

31. Veins of the leg.
33. Jugular vein.

[90]

[91]

AlfATOMY Al^B PHYSIOLOGY. 93

the abdomen above the peritoneum; but being attached to the
scrotum by a thin muscle (the cremaster) they are gradually
dragged downwards through the inguinal canals, and each brings
a double layer of peritoneum, which continues its connection
through life, so that fluid injected into the cavity of the tunica
vaginalis will flow into the peritoneal cavity. Hence inguinal
hernia in the horse becomes scrotal in a very short space of time,
and rarely remains confined to the former position. The testicles
with their appendages, the vesiculse seminales, form the semen
by the usual process of secretion. They are of about the size of
a duck's egg^ and besides their attachment by the reflexions of
the tunica vaginalis to the scrotum, they have also the spermatic
cord which suspends them to the inguinal canal through which
it passes. This cord it is which is divided in castration, and it is
well to ascertain its component parts. They are: 1st. The
artery which supplies the testicles with blood, and is of consider-
able size, and tortuous in its course. 2d. The artery of the cord,
small and unimportant. 3d. The veins which accompany these
arteries. 4tK. The nerves and absorbents, the division of the
former giving great pain and causing a slight shock to the system.
5 th. The vas deferens, or duct carrying the semen to the urethra,
and possessing walls of such thickness that it feels like whipcord
under the finger. These several parts are connected together by
cellular membrane, and covered by the two layers of reflected
peritoneum, namely, the tunica vaginalis and tunica vaginalis
reflexa; by the thin layer of the cremaster muscle, as well as by a
fourth investment, a continuation of the superficial fascia of the
abdomen. All these parts must be divided before the canal is
reached, for operating in castration.

" The female organs of generation are essentially the ovaries,
the uterus and its appendages forming the bed in which the
embryo is nurtured to maturity. The ovaries are two small oval
bodies, about the size of large walnuts, situated behind the kid-
neys, and having the fimbriated extremities of the fallopian tubes
hanging loosely adjacent to them. These tubes, one on each side,
terminate in the uterus, which is of a remarkable shape in the

94 THE HAKDY HOESE BOOK.

mare. It consists of a body and two liorns. The body has a
mouth, or os, which opens, into the end of the vagina, while, in
itself, it is oblong, and in the unimpregnated state is contained
entirely within the pelvis. Anteriorly it divides into two horns
(comua), which diverge toward the loins, turning upwards, and
lying under the wings of the ossa ilii. They terminate in rounded
extremities. Each cornu receives the fallopian tube of its own
side, the opening being so small as scarcely to admit a silver
probe. The vagina lies between the bladder and the rectum, and
is about eighteen inches in length; it is lined with mucous mem-
brane, and surrounded vdtli muscular fi])res, which form the
sphincter vaginse."

SPECIAL ORGANS.

The two special organs of the horse which are most liable to
disorder are the eye and the foot. The former, standing so
prominently out from his head as it does, is especially liable lO
injury from external sources, while it seems to be at the same
time peculiarly susceptible to diseases of a sympathetic nature;
while thet latter, being the locomotive organ of the animal, and
thus subjected to excessive strains and jars in carrying the heavy
body over hard roads, is so liable to injury, and yet so necessary
to the usefulness of the horse, that the familiar adage "no foot,
no horse," is no exaggeration of its importance.

THE EYE.

The most noticeable points of difference between the human
eye and that of the horse are ( 1 ) the horizontal elongation of the
pupil, which seems to be designed for the more ready admission of
light from the sides, thus extending the horizontal field of vision ;
(2) the floating appendages or curtains hanging from the upper
side of the pupil, which apparently serve to moderate the direct
rays of sunlight; and (3) the third eyelid, or band, technically
the memhrana nictitans^ the use of which is to assist in clearing

AKATOMT AKD PHYSIOLOGY.

95

tlie eye of any dust or other foreign matter wliich may get
into it.

In many forms of disease the eye soon manifests its sympathy
with the diseased condition of the body, and then this membrane
may be seen partially drawn over the eyeball. This has often
been ignorantly supposed to be the cause^ instead of the effect of
the disease; the horse has been said to have the ''haws," or
"hooks," and the membrane has been cut away, much to his
injury and discomfort.

Sometimes the brown color of the iris is replaced by white, in
which the horse is said to have a wall, or glass eye. This is not
considered any blemish, so far as the usefulness of the organ is
concerned.

THE FOOT.

The bones of the foot are, (1) the foot-bone proper, or coffin
bone, {ps ijedis); (2) the coronary bone, (os cofvnce); (3) the

A. Os pedis — foot bone.

B. Os naviculare — nut bone.

C. Os coronse — coronary bone.

D. Os suffraginis — pastern bone,

E. Point of insertion of coronary tendon.

F. Concavity to give attachment to the cartilage of

the foot.

G. Groove which receives a division of the blood-

vessels coming round from behind.

Bones of the Foot.
pastern bone, (os suffraginis); (4) the navicular, or nut 43one, {os
naviculare). These are shown in their relative position in the cuts
on this and the following page. These bones are furnished with

98

THE HAifDY HORSE BOOK.

nnmerous processes, or points of attaclinient for the tendons of
the muscles by which they are controlled, which tendons extend
upward beyond the knee and hock before they swell into muscles.
Between the tendons lie the nerves and blood-vessels which
supply the lower extremities, and the whole are' closely invested
with the outer integument, which changes in character at the
upper portion of the coffin bone from the skin and hair which

A. Coffin or foot bone.

B. Navicular or nut bone.

C. Coronary or lower pas-

tern bone.

D. Upper pastern bone.

E. One of the sesamoid

bones.

F. Cannon or shank bone.

G. Horny frog.
H. Sensitive frog.
K. Sensitive sole.

L. Horny or insensitive
sole.

M. Outer wall or crust.

N. Laminated leaves or
horny plates.

O. Sensitive laminae.

P. P. Tendon of the exten-
sor muscle of the foot
and coronary bones.

R. R. Tendon of the flexor
muscle of the coronary
and foot bones.

Section op the JFoot and Pasterns.

covers the rest of the body to a firmly built, horny material,
called the hoof.

The hoof consists of three parts : ( 1 ) the crusty which reaches
from the edge of the hairy skin to the bottom of the foot,
averaging about three inches and a half in depth by half an inch
in thickness in front, the thickness diminishing to a quarter of
an inch on the sides, and consisting of horny fibres arranged
vertically; (2) the sole^ or homy plate at the bottom of the
foot, which should be slightly concave downwards, and is fixed to
the inner edge of the crust and the outer edges of the bars, but

A2S"AT0MT AKD PHYSIOLOGY.

97

not to their lower surfaces; and (3) the frog^ whicli is the
prominent, triangular and elastic substance whicli fills the space
between the heels posteriorly, the bars on each side, and the sole
in front. This frog forms an elastic, horny cushion, lying
immediately beneath the navicular bone, and spreading out poste-
riorly on each side into a thin band which covers the bulbs of the
heels and passes around the foot at the junction of the hairy skin
and hoof, constituting what is known as the coronarij hand.
This coronary band is abundantly supplied with blood-vessels,
and in it the growth of the hoof takes place. The coronary sub-
stance extends downward between the hoof and the bone, and

A. Outer crust.

B. B. B. Coronary band.

C. Groove of the coronary cush-

ion.

D. Plates of horny laminae.

E. Upper surface of horny sole.

F. F. Bars or binders.

G. G. Fissures in which the sen-

sitive frog is imbedded.
H. Inward projection, corre-
sponding with the cleft of
the frog.

The Hoof.

terminates in thin plates or ?awm^, which are plentifully supplied
with blood-vessels, and form a secretory surface which aids the
coronary substance in forming the horn. They are continuous
at the sole and frog with similar substances, the whole serving
both for the growth of the exterior parts, and as an elastic
cushion to mitigate the jar caused by the descent of the foot upon
the ground, as they are firmly connected with the bone within as
well as with the horn without.

It will thus be seen that the pressure of the pedal bone does
not come wholly upon the sole of the foot, but is largely sup-
ported by the attachment of the laminae to the homj front and

4

98 THE HA10)Y HORSE BOOK.

sides. In some forms of disease this attachment becomes "weak-
ened, thus allowing a greater pressure upon the sole, and
producing the deformity called flat-foot.

The growth of the outer shell of the hoof takes place, as has
been said, at the upper margin, called the coronary band; in
healthy feet this growth is continuous, causing a lengthening of
the hoof similar to that of the finger nails. If the horse be
moderately used on gritty roads without shoeing the hoof will be
worn away at the bottom as fast as it receives new growth from
the top and will remain of a uniform length. If the horse be
but little used, and this only on soft ground, it may be necessary
to remove the superfluous growth by artificial means; and the
same will be the case with horses that are kept constantly shod.
In the case of the sole of the foot, however, there is seldom any
occasion for removing any portion except to trim off the ragged
edges of the horny plates of which this part is composed. One of
the most frequent errors in shoeing is to cut deeply into the
sole and frog with the buttress, thus weakening the natural
support of the coffin bone, and inducing serious lameness.
The best horse-shoers now have little or no use for the but-
tress, leveling the foot and removing its surplus growth of
crust wholly with the knife and rasp, and merely trimming the
frog and sole.

The shoe should be perfectly level on its lower face, toes and
calks being used only when necessitated by icy weather. The
face next the foot should be made concave, so that the outer
crust only will press upon its edge, since the sole requires space
for a certain amount of vertical motion, and will be injured by
pressing against the inner edge of the shoe.

Bearing in mind the natural use of the fi'Og it will readily be
seen that the horse should be so shod that the frog may receive
some pressure; if, however, the shoeing has for some time been
done in such a manner as to lift the frog wholly from the ground,
the change to a rational method should be made gradually, as the
frog loses its elasticity from disuse, and the sudden change is
liable to produce lameness.

ANATOMY Ai^D PHYSIOLOGY.

TELLIiq'G THE HOESe'S AGE BY THE TEETH.

Upon tliis subject we quote from Boericke & TafeFs " Manual
of Veterinary Practice," the following account of the dentition of
the horse, which is taken from the English work entitled "Horses
and Stables," by Colonel F. Fitzwygram. The illustrations are
re-engraved fi'om a recent article on this subject, in the Journal
of the Royal Agricultural Society, by Prof. Gr. T. Brown, of
the Veterinary Department of the Privy Council, England:

" Structural alterations take place in the teeth every year from
birth up to the sixth year; hence there can rarely be any question
as to the real age of a horse up to that date, though dealers often
try to deceive the unwary by various tricks. Such tricks are,
however, easily detected.

"After the mouth is fully completed, the age can only be
approximately determined, by the effect of wear in altering the
shape of the teeth, by the receding of the gums, and by other
such signs.

" Many circunistances, however, often contribute to modify the
effect of wear on the teeth, and also to increase or decrease the
action of time in other respects. Hence, after six years old, a
correct opinion can only be formed by those who have given to
the subject some time, thought, and trouble.

"The foal is born usually with two, sometimes with three,
temporary molars in each jaw. About twelve months old
another molar, a permanent tooth, appears, and before the com-
pletion of the second year a fifth molar, also a permanent tooth,
shows itself.

" At about two and a half years the two anterior temporary
molars are replaced by permanent teeth, and between three and
four the remaining, or third, temporary molar is similarly
replaced; and about the same time the last or sixth permanent
molar begins to appear. Thus when the mouth is completed,\
there are six permanent molars iu each jaw, or twentj-four'j
in jail

100

THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

" These structural changes afford a very good index o£ the ag©
of the horse up to the period when they are completed, namely,
four years old. The molars, however, are seldom referred to,
because their position at the back of the mouth renders their
examination inconvenient, and often very difficult. Nevertheless,
it is useful to be acquainted with the structural changes of these
teeth, in cases where there may be a doubt as to the true age, as
indicated by the incisors. After four years old, the molars are
not often taken into consideration in determining the age of the
horse.

Incisoks of Colt at Bikth.

^'We may mention, in passing, that a supplementary molar,
known as a "tro/f-^oof/^," sometimes appears in either jaw. Such
teeth seldom cause any inconvenience. If they do so, they can
easily be removed by the pincers, as they are only of a rudi-
mentary character.

''The anterior teeth, or incisors^ are six in number in each jaw,
when the mouth is complete; and in the immediate rear of these,
in males, there is usually added one very peculiar pointed tooth
on each side in each jaw, called a tusk. Though there are two

ANATOMY A2^B PHYSIOLOGY.

101

crops of incisors, jet tliere is but one of tusks. In fact, these
teeth, though* they begin to appear at about four years old, are
not usually fully developed until the last permanent incisor is
more or less up.

" For the sake of brevity we shall confine our remarks to the
lower jaw, as the structural changes which take place in the
upper are nearly similar. In passing, however, we may remark
that the upper incisors are considerably longer and larger than
.the lower.

" Te^nporary, otherwise called milk incisors, are easily distin-
guished from permanent incis-
ors by the following well-
marked signs, namely: they are
.smaller, whiter, and have more
distinct necks. They are
smooth externally, and grooved
on the inside, probably in order
to enable the foal more easily
to grip the teats of the daan.
Their fangs are small, and have
but little attachment to the
gums. The jaws are plump,
fleshy, and round, and the
teeth are arranged in some-
thing like a semi-circle.
^^ Permanent incisors, on the other hand, are
larger, broader, mder in their necks, grooved
externally and smooth internally, and more Permanent Incisor.
discolored than milk teeth. The discoloration
is due to the lodgement, in the grooves, of the juices and other
matters connected with the food. The object of the external
grooving is probably to enable the animal to get a better grip on
grass and such like food. The plumpness and circularity of the
jaw are less marked than in the younger animal, and gradually
decrease, until in old age the teeth are arranged in a nearly
straight line.

Temporary
' Incisor.

102

THE HAliJDY HOKSE BOOK.

" The FOAL is born with his teeth in a rudimentary state in the
gums. At various periods during the first ten nionths the differ-
ent temporary incisors appear. Under one year old the foal is
also clearly distinguished by a woolly tail.

" The tearli]S"g's mouth is complete with all six incisors, but
several well-marked signs distinguish his mouth from that of the
two-year-old. The teeth at this period show but little signs of
wear. The corner teeth are mere shells, having no inner walls,
and all the teeth are in close juxtpcposition.

I^cisjOks of Colt at Six Mo>ths.

' ' At TWO years old, the inner wall of the corner teeth has
grown up level with the outer wall. The centre teeth show con-
siderable signs of wear, and indeed all the teeth appear somewhat
smaller than they did in the yearling. They also stand some-
what wide apart at their necks, on account of the gradual growth
of the jaw in width.

" A few months before theee years old the horse sheds the two
centre milk teeth, which are replaced by permanent ones. Thus
the jaw contains at three years old two centre permanent teeth
and two milk teeth on each side.

" A few months before foue the horse sheds the two next milk

AKATOMY AOTD PHYSIOLOGY.

103

teeth, which are replaced by permanent. Thus the jaw now con-
tains four permanent teeth, and one milk tooth on each side."

During the fourth year the horse gets sixteen teeth, viz: four
incisors, four tusks, and eight molars. Hence it is not surprising
that horses at this age are especially delicate.

" A few months before riYE the horse sheds the two remaining
milk teeth, which are replaced by permanent. Thus the jaw is

Incisors of YearliIng Coi^t.

now furnished with six permanent .incisors, but the corner teeth
are mere shells, having no internal wall. The absence of this
wall distinguishes the five from the six year old mouth.

" A few months before six the inner wall of the corner teeth
has grown up level with the outer wall.

" The mouth is now fully complete in incisors, and no further
structural changes take place in them. As a general rule, we
may add that the upper temporary teeth fall out a little before
those in the lower jaw.

104 THE HANDY HOKSE BOOK.

" Up to six years old, therefore, inasmuch as we have structural
changes to guide us, there can seldom be any doubt as to the age
of the animal. There are, however, some well-authenticated
instances of abnormal development of the permanent incisors, but
they are rare.

'^ Thoroughbred horses date their ages from the first of January,
whilst other horses are reckoned from the first of May.
Thoroughbred mares are covered so as to throw their foals as
soon as possible after the first of January; whilst in regard to
other mares the owner does not wish to have their progeny born
before the spring grass is available for the sustenance of the dam
and her foal.

" High feeding encourages the growth of the teeth in common
with the rest of the frame. Hence thoroughbreds (independently
of their earlier date of foaling) are somewhat more forward in
their mouths than half-bred animals.

" It is a common practice among dealers to pull out the milk
teeth about to fall out next. Nature, however, does not supply
the permanent tooth much before its proper time. The absence
of a milk tooth, when its place has not been supplied by a per-
manent tooth, need not mislead any one.

" The Mark. — Hitherto we have taken no notice of the mark,
or infundibulum. We have abstained from doing so, not because
the marks in the young mouth do not afford some indication of
the age, but because fuller and more satisfactoiy evidence, up to
six years old, is afforded by the structural changes detailed above.
After six, however, we are compelled to have recourse to the in-
dications given by the marks, -and other slight, but gradual
alterations, which take place in the form of the teeth.

" A satisfactory explanation of the mark cannot, we are afraid,
be given without entering at some length into the structure and
organization of the teeth. The mark is a very peculiar hollow,
extending, when the first tooth comes up, about half an inch
down the temporary, - and rather deeper down the permanent
incisors.

"Teeth practically may be said to consist of two materials, viz:

AN" ATOMY AI^D PHYSIOLOGY.

105

enamel and dentine. Enamel, which is very hard, sharp, and
originally of pearly whiteness, covers the outside of the teeth, and
also lines the sides and bottom of the hollow or infundibulum.
Thus in the tooth, as it originally appears, there are four walls of
enamel. The remainder of the tooth consists chiefly of dentine,
a substance of considerable, but less hardness than enamel, and
more like ivory. A small quantity of crusta petrosa (cementum)
is also found on the outside.

Incisors of Two-Year-Old.

. " When an incisor first comes up the hollow affords lodgement
for the debris of the food, and the juices expressed from it, and
therefore soon looks black. As the tooth wears down the hollow
of course disappears; but the surface of the dentine immediately
below the original hollow, being a somewhat soft material, has
become stained for some distance down. Thus there is still a
black mark. With the further wear of the tooth the stained
portion of the dentine wears away, and the mark is then said to

106

THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

be out. The mark, as the reader will easily see from this descrip-
tion, is in a constantly changing condition.

" Premising that the time which the mark will take to wear
out will vary tp a greater or less degree, according to circum-
stances to be detailed hereafter, we shall now endeavor to give
some general rules for guidance.

Incisors of the Three- Year-Old.

" Between three and five years old the marks are very plain in
the permanent incisors. At six, the marks are wearing out of
the two centre teeth, which came up at three years old. They
are plain in the two next, and perfectly fresh in the two comer
teeth.

" At SEVEif the marks have disappeared from the centre teeth,
are wearing out of the two next, and are distinct and plain only
in the two corner teeth.

AKATOJaf IKD PHYSIOLOGY.

107

'•At EIGHT the marks have disappeared from all but the corner
eth, in which they are becoming indistinct.
"At NIKE the marks are not usually found in any of the
3eth.

# /' /

Incisoes of the Fotjk-Year-Ol,d.

"For about two years after the mark has disappeared in ea'.li
;ooth there may still be seen in the form of a star a trace of the
mamel which lined the bottom of the original hollow, and which
inderlies it for some depth. The star of course decreases in size
vvith the wear of the teeth. At about twelve or thirteen the last

108

O'HE HAKDT HORSie BOOK.

traces of tlie enamel liave usually disappeared even from tlie
corner teeth, but it may remain for some time longer.

" Many casual circumstances, however, cause a certain degree

,;f.. vWv,. ... /

Incisors of the Five-Year-Oi.d.

of deviation from these general rules. The time which the mark
takes to wear out will vary in different horses, according to the
hardness or otherwise of the teeth, and according to the hardness
of the food on which the animal is kept. In grass-fed horses the

AKATOMf Al^i) PHYSIOLOGY. l09

marks usually remain at least a year, and sometimes two years
longer than in those fed on hard food. Again in parrot-mouthed
horses, that is, where the upper overlaps the lower jaw, the marks
may remain for many years.

" On the other hand some horses, which have a trick of bitino^

Incisors of the Six- Year-Old.

the manger, may wear down their teeth very rapidly, and there-
fore lose their marks very early. Horses fed on salt-marshes,
where the sea-sand is washed up among the grass, or on sandy
plains or meadows, are affected by the increased friction on the
teeth caused by the sand. Occasionally a projecting tooth in the
Upper jaw may cause unusual friction on the corresponding tooth

110 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

of the lo\Yer jaw, and so may hasten the obliteration of the
mark.

" Most of these, and other causes of irregularity of wear which
might be mentioned, are at once apparent to a careful and
accurate observer, and will scarcely prevent his forming a pretty
correct opinion of the age.

"The upper incisors, as previously stated, are considerably
longer and larger than the lower, and the infundibulum is nearly
twice as deep; the marks therefore remain longer than in the
lowei teeth. We mention this in passing, lest the reader should
be misled if he should by chance refer to the indications given
by the upper teeth to corroborate or correct any opinion as to
age, about which he may be in doubt from the appearance of the
lower jaw.

" Occasionally the dentine on the side of the infundibulum
may become stained, and even black, and in such cases something
like a double mark may be observed.

" The mouth taken as a whole is broader at seven years old than
at any other period. After this it gradually narrows with age.

^''Bislwp'ing. — Marks on the incisors are occasionally simulated
by means of caustic or the hot iron, by low dealers, with the view
of deceiving the unwary. The fraud is readily detected, because,
though it is easy to make a black mark on the crowns of the
teeth, yet it is impossible to restore the wall of pearly enamel,
which, as explained above, surrounds the natural mark.

" The Fang-hole^ or Secondary Mark. — At about nine years old,
in consequence of the wearing down of the teeth, a slight trace
of the fang-hole usually appears in the centre teeth, and some-
what later in the other teeth. It is indicated by a slight
discoloration of the tooth at the above point. There is, however,
no actual hole, because with advancing years the upper part of
the original cavity has become filled up with a sort of spurious
dentine, which is more yellow than the true material, of which
the body of the tooth consists. As age increases this indication
of the fang-hole, which is sometimes called the ' secondary mark,'
becomes rather more plain. It, however, affords no reliable data

AKATOMT AJ;rD PHYSIOLOGY.

117

by whicli to judge of the age, and is only mentioned in this place
lest the reader should mistake it for the remains of the infundi-
bulum. The enamel, it will be remembered, is pearly white,
whilst the mark of the fang-hole is brownish-yellow.

" It will be seen that at about nine years the ' marks ' entirely
fail us; and, indeed, after seven or eight they can hardly be said
to afford any reliable data.

" From eight years old and upwards the best indications of the

age are given by the
gradual alterations which
take place in the shape of
the teeth from wear, and
in the closing of the
mouth.

" The teeth originally
are byroad laterally at their
upper surfaces, otherwise
called their crowns or
'tables,' and thin from
front to rear. They nar-
row gradually towards
their necks and fangs,
while they increase in
depth from front to rear.
Hence, as their upper sur-
faces wear off, the teeth be-
come narrower and deeper
year by year. In very old
horses there is often a
positive interval between the teeth, and they appear like triangu-
lar sticks in the jaw.

" The gradual effect of wear in producing this alteration is
shown in the accompanying diagram, where successive portions
of the upper surface of the tooth are represented as having been
removed by the savf, and their cross-sections are shown at the
right-hand.

Shape of the Surface of the Hokse's
Tooth at Differejst Ages.

r

112

THE HANDY HOKSE BOOK.

" The amount of wear on the upper surface of the teeth is
greater in the young mouth than it is afterwards, because in
youth the teeth meet more fairly than they do in after years.
It gradually decreases as years increase, because the teeth do not
meet so directly, but, on the contrary, project more and more
forward in something like two parallel lines. For example, a

Incisors of the Sevex-Yeak-Old.

quarter of an inch will usually be worn off the surface between
five and six years old, whilst probably not more than that
quantity will be worn off between twenty and twenty-five
years old.

"At six and up to eight years old, the teeth are all broad
laterally at their upper surfaces. Up to this time the exact year,
as the reader will recollect, is pretty well known by the marks.
At nine, when the marks fail, the alterations in the crown surface

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 113

or table come to our aid. The two centre teeth, which came up
at three, become somewhat triangular. At ten the two next
teeth show similar signs. At eleven the corner teeth have become
somewhat triangular. At twelve the triangularity has increased
in all the teeth. This alteration continues to increase in all the

Incisoes of the Eight- Year-Old.

teeth until in very old horses the depth from front to rear exceeds
the lateral width of the teeth.

"Again, as age increases, the teeth, notwithstanding they
really wear down, become apparently longer. This effect is due
to the fleshy parts of the gums receding faster than the teeth
wear down. In extreme age, however, when the gums have
receded as far as they can, the effect of wear causes the teeth to
become visibly as well as really shorter.

114

THE HAIS'DY HORSE BOOK.

" An alteration also takes place in the position or 'slope' of the
teeth as regards their closing. This is due to the effect of wear.
Owing to the curved shape of the tooth its upper portion is nearly
perpendicular, whilst the lower part lies in a more horizontal
position. Hence in youth the teeth meet directly, whilst in ex-
treme age they can scarcely be said to meet at all. Their stumps
project forward in two almost parallel lines.

liS^CISORS OF THE TEX-YEAR-OlD MAKB.

" Up to twelve years old there can scarcely be much difficulty
in forming a pretty correct judgment as to the age. After that
time it requires more time, practice, and opportunity than most
people have at disposal, to obtain the requisite knowledge.

" It would probably scarcely interest the non-professional
reader to trace very minutely the changes which take place after
twelve years old. Suffice it to say, that the gums continue year

Al^ATOMT AISD PHYSIOLOGY.

115

J year to recede, the teeth become apparently longer and realhj
arrower, and consequently the intervals between them increase,
ad they project forward more and more in a straight line.

"At about twenty-four, and in some instances a good deal
Doner, the teeth, which up to this period have apparently in-
reased in length, begin to grow visibly shorter, because the gums
re so far absorbed that they can recede no further. Hence all f ur-

INCISORS OF THE TV/ELVE-YEAR-OlD.

ler wear shows its effects by diminishing the length of the teeth.

^^ Loss of Circularity. — In the very young horse the teeth are
rranged almost in the form of a semicircle. Year by year this
3rm changes, until in old horses the teeth are arranged in some-
bing like a straight line.

" The Tusks.— In horses, as distinguished from mares, gi-eat
ssistance in determining the age is derived from the presence of

116 THE HAIiTDY HORSE BOOK.

the tusks, which are generally wanting in the latter. The tusks
usually begin to appear in a very slight degree at about three and
a half or four years old. Their sharp points then just pierce the
gums, and they continue to grow until fully developed at about
five or five and a half years old. They do not meet like other
teeth, and therefore do not suffer wear from that cause. They
suffer, however, from wear in the course of mastication, and in

IxcisoRS OF Horse (Epirus) at Nineteen.

fact undergo greater changes than any other teeth, and so form
a valuable guide as to age.

" The tusk is a very peculiar-shaped, elongated tooth. Inter-
nally it consists of dentine, and is protected on the outside only by
enamel. The enamel, however, overlaps the dentine, and hence
arises the sharp edge or hook of the newly-developed tusk, which
may be felt if the finger be brought round it from behind.

AKATOMT AKD PHTSIOLOaY.

117

"The sharpness gradually wears off. After seven it has
disappeared, and in each succeeding year the tusk becomes not
only rounder and blunter, but its upper portion wears off. It
also appears yellow, on account of the dentine becoming exposed
by reason of the enamel wearing off its exterior surface. The
tusks, unlike other teeth, do not apparently increase in length

iNCisoKS OF Horse (Kremlin) at Nineteen.*

with years, but become shorter and shorter. In fact the effect of
wear is greater on them than on other teeth, and it is also greater
than the process of the receding of the gum. In very old horses

* The two cuts illustrating the mouths of " Epirus " and " Kremlin " nre given
by Prof. Brown to show the differences in appearence which may exist in tlie
teeth of aged horses when there is no corresponding difference in years, these
horses being of the same age, although "Kremlin" would be taken to be the
older by most observers.

118 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

tlie tusk is very little above the level of the gum. Mares some-
times have four small rudimentary tusks.

" In judging of the age of the horse by the teeth, every collat-
eral circumstance requires to be taken into consideration, such as
the form of the mouth, the way in which the teeth meet and
close on each other, the food on which the animal has been kept,
any irregularity in the upper teeth which may cause increased or
diminished wear on the lower teeth, and also the habits of the
horse in the stable. The teeth of animals which bite at the rack
or manger whilst being cleaned, invariably present appearances
of wear beyond their real age.

" The body also presents many indications of the age which
may assist us in forming an accurate opinion, and sometimes may
enable us to correct an erroneous impression produced by some
abnormal appearance of the teeth. The young horse is fleshy
about the gums and head, and the hollow over the eye is shallow.
Year by year, as age increases, the gums lose their fleshiness, the
head becomes more lean ^ and the hollow over the eye deepens.
The shoulders lose much of their thickness and become finer, and
assume an appearance of greater length. The hind-quarters in
like manner lose some of their roundness, and the animal generally
gains an appearance of more breeding than he had in his younger
days. The back becomes more or less hollow, a result partly due
to the effect of weight, especially in long-backed animals, and
partly to loss of fleshiness in the muscles which run along the
spine.

''Again, as the horse becomes old, the fulness of the chin
under the mouth disappears. The inferior margins of the
branches of the bone of lower jaw also become thin. Lastly, the
general appearance of the aged horse is much influenced by the
work he has done, and the treatment he has received.

"Age must not be judged by any one sign, but by a mean
judiciously-struck between all the signs, and by a careful consid-
eration of all the collateral circumstances. It never happens
that all the signs combine together to deceive a careful and well-
informed observer.

AKATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 119

" From these pages the reader will perceive that after six years
old; that is, after the structural changes in the mouth are com-
pleted, it is impossible to lay down any single definite rule by
which the age can be ascertained. Still, with a little trouble and
attention, there is no real difficulty in acquiring a knowledge of
the horse's age up to a comparatively late period of his life."

PART IV.

A TREATISE

ON THE

DISEASES OF HORSES

BY

ALFRED TIHKLER WILSOH, Y. S.,
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

[121]

PART IV.

THE DISEASES OF HORSES.
By a. T. Wilso2^, V. S.

In the following pages it is not intended to criticise the opinion-
and modes of practice of those who have gone before us; on the
contrary, we have heartily to thank them for their labors. Our
effort shall be to simplify treatment as much as possible, to bring
it more in unison with the wants of the country in which we
live, and, above all, to save the unfortunate horse from unneces-
sary " meddlesome medication." Neither is it intended to assist
in the manufacture of " horse doctors," who are already too numer-
ous; these pages are simply intended as a guide to the intelligent
horse-owner in the hour of need, and as such it is hoped that they
will prove acceptable. In no respect are they to be considered as
a complete work on the subject, and the author's principal claim
is his long experience (more than fifty years) as a practitioner of
veterinary medicine and surgery.

OPTHALMIA.

Commencing with the horse's eyes, we will first consider the
disease commonly called moo7i blindness.

Sipnjptoms. — The lids of one or both eyes — generally but one —
are swollen and clt5sed, and the horse cannot bear the light; the
insides of the lids are red and inflamed, the eyeballs look '^ milky,"
and tears run down.

Causes. — The cause is inmost cases hereditary, but the affection
may also be produced by the irritation caused by hay-seeds, dust,
Spanish-needles, the moon and tvolf teeth (the last two being con-
sidered under the light of "moonshine.")

[123]

124 THE HAl^DY HORSE BOOK.

Treatment — We recommend thorough bathing with water
made as hot as can be borne by the hand; excluding the light by
a shade of wet woollen cloth, or by leaving the horse in the stable
during treatment. At night the outer parts around the eye may
be bathed with a lotion composed of one drachm of sulphate of
zinc, dissolved in one quart of water. The feed should be soft
bran mash, made by wetting bran with cold water in which nitre
has been dissolved, at the rate of half an ounce to a gallon of
water. The horse may have hay or cut grass, but should not be
turned out to grass. He may be worked moderately if his eyes
are shaded. This disease is very deceiving; the eye may clear up
and appear to be well, but vrill soon be as bad as ever again, and
these fluctuations mil continue until complete blindness in one
or both eyes ensues.

HOOKS.

Inflammation of the memhrana nictitans is by common folks
called hooks; and we think they are very sensible in doing so,
although we rather like a little Latin now and then, because it
looks ornamental. This membrane is the third eyelid, or washer,
referred to on page 94, whose use is to wash or clear the eyes of
foreign substances.

Symptoms. — The membrane seems considerably enlarged, is red
and inflamed, and spreads more over the eyeball than usual, not
returning to its place as in health.

Causes. — Principally cold drafts, such as those produced by
cracks in the side of the barn, open doors, etc., facing storms,
and a disordered state of the blood. Cases of lockjaw are often
mistaken for hooks.

TreaUnent. — Whoever proposes to cut out the hooks should be
treated with contempt, and, if caught in the act, should be
arrested, under the act for the prevention of cruelty to animals;
yet no mawkish sentimentality should prevent the performance
of necessary surgical operations by competent men.

The outer edges of the eye should be diligently bathed with

THE DISEASES OE HOKSES. 125

hot water, and I will here say that whenever hot-water hathing
is recommended — and that is pretty often — the water should be
as hot as can be borne by the hand, and should be diligently and
well applied. If a man thinks he has done a good job by merely
wetting the parts he is very much mistaken. The horse should
be fed on a cooling diet, such as bran mash. These bran mashes
are made by pouring boiling water over wheat bran until it is
thoroughly scalded, when it is covered until cool enough to use.
In some cases cold water is preferable.

BIG HEAD.

Osteo sarcoma is the proper name of this disease, and it is
chiefly met with in the middle and western States. Pennsylvania,
Ohio and Indiana seem to have more than their share.
^ Sympt&tns. — A swelling of the bones of the face extending
rfrom the eye to the nose, and in many cases causing great dis-
;figurement and inconvenience. The horse seems stiff in the
p'oints, w«ak and not inclined to move.

Causes. — The causes are not known, but are supposed to be the
constant use of corn for feeding purposes.

Treatment.— With, us all attempts to cure this disease have
failed or proven unsatisfactory. We have heard of cures by the
use of the cautery (red-hot iron) and also by making an incision
on the most prominent portion of the enlargement and inserting
arsenic; but how these methods are to clear the system of the
disease, or reach the fountain head, we do not understand.

LAMPAS.

Close behind the front' teeth in the upper jaw we may perceive
a sort of baggy projection of the palate, which is often higher
than the level of the teeth, and is sore and tender. This is what
is called the lampas. It is generally incident to the teething pro-
cess, but older horses frequently have the same affection.

Symptoms, — In connection with those described, the horse

128 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

refuses to eat, or attempts to do so, but drops the food from hi
mouth.

Treatment. — Feed the horse on soft feed— boiled oats, brai
mash, etc. — and in every bucketful of the water he drinks dissolve
a tablespoonful of nitre.* No burning, cutting nor other barbar
ism should be allowed.

APTHA.

This is better known under the general name of sore mouth
and should receive attention, as the horse is liable to suffer from
lack of nourishment.

Symptoms. — The horse refuses to eat, and small, puffy swelling?
are found under the tongue and around the sides of the mouth,
inside.

Causes. — Injuries from the bit, too tight checking up, feverish-
ness resulting from teething, rough corn, cuts from the sharp
edges of corn stalks and improper doctoring.

Treatment. — Grive warm, soft feed and nitre-water, and swab out
the mouth two or three times a day with a strong solution of alum.

WOLF TEETH.

Wolf teeth are incident to all young horses, and give them far
less trouble than they appear to give their owners. They will
ftrop out in due time, and do not injure the horse's eyes any more
than they do his tail. (See page 100.)

JAGGED AKD DECAYED TEETH.

When horses get old they are liable to get uneven, sharp, or
projecting teeth; these should be rasped down with a tool made
for the purpose. Decayed teeth should be extracted, but such
cases need a veterinary surgeon. The symptoms of decayed or
uneven teeth are the dropping of the food in the form of a quid,
hence the term quidder.

*As this use of uitre or saltpetre will be frequently recommended, it will
ferred to simply as nitre-water.

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 127

ADENITIS.

Tbis name, first adopted by Mr. Armitage, Y. S., of London, is
much more appropriate and intelligible for glandular inflammation
than such unmeaning terms as " horse distemper," "strangles," "colt
distemper " and " horse-ail." The disease is incident to all young
horses, and in some respects resembles the " mumps" of children.
When it appears late in the spring and in fine weather 3'Oung
horses seem to get along without difficulty, but in the early
spring, when the snow is drifting over the glassy surface of the
prairie, the poor colt, with his tail to the wind which is whistling
through his only shelter — a rail fence — surely needs our attention.

Symptoms. — Loss of appetite; gulping loudly when drinking;
coughing, with evident pain; saliva dribbling from the mouth;
nose extended as with poll-evil; swelling of the glands below the
ears (parotid) and between the jaws (maxillary), and difficulty of
breathing.

Causes. — Unknown.

Treatment — Keep tlie colt in a sheltered place (not too warm),
and if he can swallow try him with a little linseed mash,* boiled
oats, or other soft feed; give him nitre-water to drink, fastening
the water-pail in his feed-box so that he may drink at his leisure.
In mild weather the glands may be bathed with hot water, but in
cold weather it is better to rub them with a mild blister-ointment.
When the centre of the abcess beneath the jaws is soft (not be-
fore) make an opening with a sharp knife large enough to put
the thumb into, and let out the pus or matter.

CHOKIKG.

This accident is of common occurrence, and no time should be
lost in attending to it. If a veterinary surgeon can be had it is
better to give the case to him.

'^Linseed mash is made by puttiug a peck of flaxseed into a large vessel— as a
wash boiler— filling up with water, and simmering for eight to ten hours, and
when cool adding about a quart of this to six quarts of bran.

128 THE HAOT)T HORSE BOOK.

Symptoms. — The horse stands with his fore legs stretched for-
ward; he contracts the muscles of his neck with great ,force; a
ropy fluid runs from mouth and nostrils, and his look is haggard
and distressed.

Causes, — Eating too fast; pieces of corncob, etc., lodging in
the gullet; oats, bran, etc., getting into the windpipe.

Treatment. — First pour down a pint or so of raw linseed oil,
olive oil, or melted lard; feel with your fingers on the outside of
his throat for a corncob; not finding any, cut the top off your
buggy-whip and tie a piece of soft leather or sponge firmly to
the whip, dip it in lard, and insert it gently, first drawing out the"
tongue. This and manipulating with the hand sometimes suc-
ceeds ; if not, continue the oil.

CRIBBKS'G.

Cribbing is biting at the manger or other projections.

Symptoms. — The horse, when in the stable, A\dll bite or merely
push the front teeth against the feed-box or stall, at the same
time giving a little grunt. When in pasture he will do the same
against posts, fences, etc.

Causes. — Idleness, indigestion, playfulness and imitation of
other cribbers.

Treatment. — Place the horse in a box-stall lined with boards
about eight feet high, so that there shall be no projections of any
sort; give him his hay on the floor in a corner and his feed in a
large iron pot, also on the floor. When out keep him checked
up or away from projecting woodwork of any kind, and remember
that "eternal vigilance" is the remedy for a cribbing horse.

WIND SUCKINa.

Wind sucking is merely a form of cribbing.

Symptoms. — The horse stands with his nose bent inward, and
nibbles with his lips, as if trjdng to catch a straw. He seems to
imbibe air, but this is doubtful. Horses having the habit are

The diseases oe horses. 129

subject to flatulent colic, but whether indigestion causes wind-
sucking, or vice versa^ is a question as yet unsettled.

Causes. — Same as those of cribbing.

Treatment. — A leather strap about two inches wide may be
buckled around the throat as tight as the horse can bear without
danger of choking; this will prevent him from bending his neck.
The strap need only be worn in the stable, unless the horse in-
dulges the habit while in harness.

poll-eyil.

Symptoms. — A few inches behind the horse's ears, and on one
or both sides of his neck, an enlargement of considerable size
appears; the horse extends his nose, and his neck becomes stiff.

Causes.^This affection is frequently caused by blows or by
bruises, received by striking the head against the beams over-
head, the edge of the feed-box, or the top of a low doorway, or by
pulling at the halter. It is also sometimes due to hereditary
scrofulous taint.

Treatment. — The -diligent application of hot water several times
a day, and an hour each time, will often scatter the swelling, if
attended to in time; but if this opportunity be allowed to pass
the abcess becomes a fistula, and sinuses form. When this is the
case a veterinary surgeon should be consulted immediately, as the
fistula will require to be freely opened, and a removal of the
sinuses will be necessary to complete cure.

COUGH.

A cough is frequently found in connection with other diseases,
and we must endeavor to trace it to its source.

Causes.— Amon^ the causes of coughing are lung fever, pleurisy,
bronchitis, consumption, hydrothorax, epizootic,* worms, heaves,
sore throat, damp stables, musty hay, shedding the hair, changes
of weather, indigestion, noxious gases, sudden cooling after over-
heating, etc., etc.
5

130 THE HAI^^DY HOESE BOOK.

Treatment. — The horse should be kept quietly in the stable,
and fed on boiled oats, linseed mash, etc. The kidneys may be
stimulated with nitre-water.

SORE THROAT.

This disease is often the forerunner of others of a very serious
character, and the horse-owner is advised to pay attention to it
in time.

Symptoms. — When the horse lowers his head to drink he jerks
it up again quickly, as if the water was hot, and makes a cluck-
ing noise at the same time. He smells of his food and seems
hungry, but does not venture to swallow.

Causes. — Changes of weather, exposure to storms, shedding the
coat, etc.

Treatment. — Hot-water bathing, judiciously applied, the throat
being well dried by rubbing with a dry cloth after each bathing,
and kept covered between times with woollen cloth, is good. A
mixture of equal parts of aqua ammonia and raw linseed oil may
be gently rubbed around the throat, and a piece of flannel fastened
around. The food should be boiled gruel, made thin enough to
either eat or drink. No hay or other rough feed is needed until
the horse begins to nibble.

LARYNGITIS.

This is an inflammation of the larynx, and the larynx is at the
top of the trachea or windpipe. (In the figure on' page 88 the
trachea is seen lying beneath the oesophagus, and the larynx lies
immediately under the pharynx.) The progress of the disease
is rapid and alarming, and its result often fatal.

Symptoms. — If sore throat has been neglected or wrongly
treated, we find the horse is getting worse, and the case soon
assumes a strongly marked character; the breathing is attended
with a loud, snoring noise, and eventually becomes so difficult that
the horse seems about to fall; as the disease progresses the horse

THE DISEASES OF HOESES. 131

breathes with a whistling sound, like the escape from a steam-
valve; he stamps with his fore feet, and finally reels and falls
dead of suffocation.

Causes. — The causes are the same as those that originate sore
throat.

Treatment— No medical treatment will avail after the disease
has reached the stage of heavy breathing described. The only
remedy is the operation of tracheotomy, and therefore a veterinary
surgeon should be procured as quickly as possible.

YEKTIGO.

Symptoms. — Sometimes when a horse is being driven he shakes
his head and hangs back, or turns to one side, or acts as if there
were something in his ear. If he be allowed to stop and rest, the
trouble may pass away, but if he be kept going he will soon
stagger again, and probably tumble over, when he may lie like a
drunken man, or plunge violently until he regains his feet, and
then go off as if nothing had happened. During the attack he
seems quite unconscioms.

Causes. — These are various, including high feeding, idleness
followed by sudden exertion, tight collars, checking too high, hot
or ''muggy " weather, and hard driving on a full stomach.

Treatment. — Get the horse out of the harness and let him alone
until thoroughly rested.

PHKEKETIS.

This is inflammation of the brain, and in its worst stages is
frightful to look upon, and the horse cannot be approached with-
out great danger.

Sy7nptoms. — The first thing noticed may be the refusal to eat;
the horse appears sleepy, and leans his forehead against the front
of his stall as if he had a bad headache; he staggers when mov-
ing, and looks so drowsy that he is said to have s/eep?/ staggers.
After some time he will start suddenly, as if frightened, and will

132 THE HA2^DY HORSE BOOK.

rear and snort and nicker, and plunge around in the most fearful
manner. He is then said to have the mad staggers.

Causes. — Too much grain or hay; too much fat; too much
working on a full stomach.

Treatment. — The administration of medicine while the horse is
in his frenzy is manifestly impossible. He should be turned into
a large open lot and let alone.

SOFTEISriKG or THE BRAIl^-.

Softening of the brain is a very serious matter, and the horse
should be disposed of at once. Trust no lady with him. Cases
of this disease are by no means uncommon. They are called
dummies by the horse jockeys.

Symptoms. — In young horses this disease is frequently mistaken
for awkwardness. The horse will sometimes suddenly stop, and
try to knock his head against something; if wanted to turn he
will go straight ahead, regardless of all tugging at the bit; when
he stops he will stand stock still, exactly as his feet happen to be
at the moment; he may bear to one sic\e, or run up against a
fence or building, in spite of all the driver can do; in the stable
he may get across the stall, or get his feet in the manger, or get
entangled in the halter, and cut his heels or break his neck (a
consummation devoutly to be wished!)

Causes. — Not always known, but these symptoms sometimes
follow sunstroke.

Treatment. — None of any service, and the animal is worthless.

CEREBRO SPIi^AL MENINGITIS.

Within the last thirty years this disease has appeared at various
times in the United States, and has made fearful havoc in the
large cities. It is a disease of the brain and spinal cord.

Symptoms. — In most cases this disease seems to come on slowly.
Perhaps for several days the horse may seem weak and uneasy in
his hind legs, tender along the backbone, and inclined to stagger

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 133

when turning. After a while he gets down and lies quiet and
exhausted, or struggles occasionally. He grinds his teeth and is
very nervous.

Causes. — The causes of this disease are not well understood.
It is helieved to be epizootic, and is communicable from one horse
to another.

Treatynent. — We know of none better than good care. Give
nitre-water, and let the horse drink all he wants. Bathe along
the spine with whiskey and water, equal parts, gently rubbed in.

TETAISTJS.

This disease is better known as lockjaw. It is a disease of the
nervous system, and, like other diseases of the same class, is fatal
in its effects and distressing to look upon.

Symptoms. — The first symptom likely to attract attention is
that the horse seems stiff, as if he were foundered; he extends
his nose, as if he had poll-evil; his eyes seem sunk in his head,
and if you raise the head the '' washer " in the corner of the eye
will slip half-way over the eyeball, and then the '• doctors " say
he has the "hooks." This symptom is a sure guide. His ears
stand up as if they were made of sheet iron; his tail quivers and
stands out; he turns around stiffly; he cannot lie down, but may
fall down, and if he does he will fall like a wooden table, and it
is likely to be his last fall.

Causes. — Running nails into the feet is the most frequent
cause, but kicks, blows, bites, runaway accidents occasionally
cause this disease, and we sometimes ascribe it to a " cold."

Treatment. — In the treatment we must use judgment and
common sense. The entire nervous system seems to be strung
.up to its highest tension, and when the horse is approached, even
quietly, he seems to be afraid. The rustle of the straw, even,
will alarm him, and he will jump backwards at the mgst trivial
motion. To tranquilize the system, then, is the main point.
Place him in some building secluded from noises and other ani-
mals; fa3te» a bucketful of cold oatmeal gruel in his manger,

134 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

and give some grass or wetted hay, if his jaws are not entirely-
closed. The sympathy of outsiders strongly inclines them to
doctor him for something, but quiet attendance once a day is all
that is really necessary.

EA3IES.

This is canine madness, better known as hydrophobia, and,
like most other diseases of the brain, is both distressing to con-
template and dangerous.

Symptoms. — The first symptoms generally appear from two to
six weeks after the inception of the disease. The horse has a
wild look; he screams, nickers and bites, and snaps at anything
within reach, and has strange twitchings about the lips. He
strains to pass excrement, both liquid and solid, and is dangerous
to approach.

Causes. — The bite of a mad dog, generally, but the bite of any
other rabid animal will produce it.

Treatment. — A bullet, administered without delay.

CKAMP.

This is of very common occurrence, and may show itself in
various ways, all sufficiently alarming. We remember going six-
teen miles in pouring rain, at midnight, to see a horse of great
value with his stifle out. While the owner was gone for a light
we gave the horse a smart rap with a broom handle, and when
the light came the horse was cured.

Symptoms. — The trouble most frequently occurs in the hind
legs, in the stifle joint especially. It sometimes comes on sud-
denly in turning or moving the horse, and a sudden scare will
sometimes affect a cure. Cramp of the whole body frequently
occurs in lockjaw.

Causes. — A spasmodic action of the muscles, due to various
causes, and aggravated by too long confinement in the stable
without exercise.

THE DISEASES OE HOESES. 135

Treatment— -'None of any use, except close attention to diet
and exercise.

SUITSTROKEL

Horses, fat horses especially, are frequently sunstruck, some-
times falling suddenly, at others giving warning.

Sympoms.—The gradual approach of sunstroke is indicated by
the lagging of the horse at his work; he disregards the word or
whip; soon stops entirely; holds down his head, pants, and stag-
gers; when this occurs the harness should be immediately re-
moved, and the horse led to a shady place.

Treatment. — It is not necessary to rush around in an excited
manner, for the horse wants a little time to rally. Whether
he is standing or lying down, let him alone for a while; then
pour cold water on the top of his head and along his back. It
will be also well to pour quietly into his mouth a mixture of two
ounces of either sulphuric or nitric ether and a quart of cold
water.

PAKALYSIS.

Symptoms . — The horse is sometimes found in the stable unable
to rise to his feet, and this occurs generally in the morning. If
you look around you may see some signs of a "scrimmage," such
as broken woodwork, buckets knocked over, etc. The horse is
often found stretched out his full length, and apparently taking
things philosophically, but you will find that he has not the
power to rise. If the horse is on his feet, or working, when first
noticed he will seem fidgetty, will look around toward his hind
parts, which will appear weak, he will knuckle over at the pas-
tern joint, will sweat profusely, and finally fall, when he will
probably remain quiet, except with his fore legs.

Causes. — Indigestion, injuries to the spine, hard pulling, severe
exertion after long idleness, and high feeding.

Treatment. — If in winter, have the horse placed in a roomy box
stall, or on a barn floor, well bedded, and protect his head with
bundles of straw. If in summer, he may be left in a grass-lot.

136 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

He should be turned over twice a day; his feed should be bran
and oats, with wetted hay or fresh grass and plenty of water.
At the beginning of the attack the bladder should be emptied
with a catheter; the spine maybe bathed with whiskey and water,
and ten drops of the tincture of nux-vomica, mixed in half a pint
of water, may be given every day.

AZOTURIA.

This is a disease of the system generally, but is characterized
by very dark urine, and occurs most frequently in mares during
heat.

Symptoms. — An attack of this kind is generally sudden, and
often occurs while at work. The horse sweats profusely, knuckles
over at the hind pastern joints, and soon falls. He is flat on
his side, stretching out his hind legs and head, and soon shows
that he is utterly unable to rise on his feet, except, perhaps, that
he may rise on his fore feet. The breathing is often quick and
distressed, and the muscles of the hind-quarters are swollen and
quite hard to the touch. It is a disease which very much puzzles
the owner, for the animal may lie apparently easy, after the first
day, and will eat and drink almost as usual; but it has no power
to rise, nor to stand, if lifted to its feet. One fore-leg is generally
kept in motion.

Causes. — Although this disease is usually attributed to sexual
heat, we have had a great number of cases among geldings, and
we have observed that it very often occurs after the horse has
baen for some time idle and is suddenly put to work, especially
when corn has been liberally fed.

Treatment. — The catheter should first be used to empty the
bladder, which gives great relief at once. The urine will be found
to be of a very dark color, similar to strong coffee. Some have
supposed this color to be due to blood, but that is a mistake. The
next thing is to give a full quart of raw linseed oil, with two
ounces of spirits of turpentine mixed and shaken up in it. Next
give an injection of warm water — say six quarts — containing a

THE DISEASES OP HORSES, 137

pint of linseed oil, or an ounce of barbadoes aloes, or half a
pound of bar soap. The borse should be kept well bedded, and
should be turned over once or twice a day.

CATAREH.

Catarrh, when accompanied by a clear discharge from the
nostrils, is ordinarily called ''cold in the head."

Symptoms. — The eyes seem tender and watery; there may be a
slight discharge from the nose, and there may be a slight cough;
the horse seems dull and stupid, does not care to eat, and has not
the least disposition to play.

Causes. — Sudden changes of temperature; exposure to wet and
cold; change from country to city; changing the coat, etc.;
traveling on the cars, and especially too sudden cooling after
active exercise.

Treatment. — The horse should be kept in a comfortable but
well ventilated stable; the action of the skin should be stimulated
by vigorous currying, and he should be put to no labor until well.
His food should be boiled oats and linseed mash, with nitre-water,
or water containing linseed tea (a quart to the pail of water) for
drink.

KASAL GLEET.

All discharges from the nose, in horses, should be regarded
with suspicion, for they are sometimes the beginnings of serious
diseases.

Symptoms. — A discharge from the nose which has existed for
some time and become chronic in character, especially if tinged
with bloody streaks and accompanied with matter or pus, indicates
the presence of this disease.* The lining membrane of the nose
assumes a brick-red color, and the horse loses flesh.

CaM5e5.^Confirmed catarrh; insufficiency or poor quality of
food; general neglect.

Treatment. — Eemove the causes; feed liberally and keep well
groomed; keep the nostrils well sponged out, and mix in his food

138 THE HAH^DY HOKSE BOOK.

once a day a level tablespoonful of sulphate of iron (copperas)
or sulphate of copper (blue vitriol.)

GLAKDEKS.

Glanders frequently succeeds nasal gleet, and the casual observ-
er sees no particular change; examination, however, shows that,
although not always perceptible, the destructive force has steadily
progressed, and, whether the disease has succeeded nasal gleet, or
has been communicated by inoculation, the characteristics of
glanders soon become sufficiently marked, at least for the ex-
perienced eye. If a horse is supposed to have glanders the owner
should lose no time in having him examined by a veterinary
surgeon; for the risk of handling a glandered horse is about as
great as sauntering through a powder-mill with a lighted cigar in
your mouth. Feeding, cleaning, working, or handling him in
any way is done at the risk of your life. As an instance in point,
some years ago I met a man driving a team of good farm horses,
and stopped him to make some inquiries. While talking to him
I noticed that both horses had a discharge from the nose, and, on
close scrutiny, discovered that they were glandered. I tried to
explain the case and warn the driver, but he was a German and
could not clearly understand me, and merely laughed and shrugged
his shoulders. He was a stout, florid, healthy looking man. In
about three weeks afterward I learned that he was dead, and the
report from three physicians was that he died in a loathsome
condition from glanders.

Symptoms. — The early symptoms are like those of nasal gleet,
but after a while the discharge becomes stinking, or it may be
mixed up like glycerine, blood and matter, with no smell. Look-
ing up the nostril we may see round ulcers, here and there, on the
division or septum of the nose. These, however, are not always
present. Between the jaws, on the inside of the jaw-bones, a
little back of the centre, we may find a hard knot, about half the
size of a hickory nut, which seems stuck to the bone. This, if
the horse is poor and wasted-looking, and the knot on the same

THE DISEASES OE HOKSES. 139

side as the discharge, settles the verdict. In chronic cases of
glanders the horse is often fat and sleek, and able to work, and
these cases are most liable to deceive the unwary.

Causes. — Contagion, cold, wet, filth, neglect.

Treatment. — In the hands of a good surgeon, and under
favorable surroundings, it is possible to cure glanders; but to
those for whom this treatise is written we would say, don't
attempt it, but administer a bullet without delay.

Glanders is transmissible to men only through abrasions of the
skin, but a pin scratch is sufficient inlet for the admission of the
poison, hence the danger of handling horses affected with this
disease.

PARCY.

Farcy is very nearly akin to glanders, both in origin and ter-
mination. Many horses that are attacked in a mild way, and
properly cared for, recover; but it is a disease that requires close
watching.

Sympt07ns. — In mild cases we may perhaps first notice round,
hard blotches, or tumors, coming on the inside of the thighs and
along the neck. They often resemble blood-warts, so called;
this form is popularly called button farcy . If this is not checked
the legs and sometimes other parts may become enormously swollen ;
foul smelling ulcers appear, and there is a stinking discharge
from the swollen nose.

Causes. — The same as those of glanders.

Treattnent. — In mild cases the horse should be well fed and
cared for, with the same treatment recommended for nasal gleet.
In severer cases, a bullet.

PURPURA HEMORRHAGICA.

This is a malignant epidemic fever that is often found as a
sequel to other diseases.

Symptcytns. — Whoever has once seen a bad cajse of purpura will

140 THE HAJTDY HORSE BOOK.

not easily forget it. In severe cases the horse resembles an ele-
phant, and hence the disease is sometimes called elephantiasis.
The nose is bulged out, and bloody water flows from it and from
the mouth; the lips and the insides of the nostrils have blotches
resembling raisins, and the legs are swelled to an enormous size,
but the swelling seems to stop abruptly before reaching the
shoulder or stifle. The horse stands constantly in one place, and
seems better one day and as bad as ever the next.

Causes. — Various. The disease often occurs after an attack of
influenza, or any other debilitating disease, and is aggravated by
the surroundings, or by changes of weather. The indications of
blood poisoning are prominent.

Treatment. — The patient should be made as clean and comfort-
able as possible ; his food should be gruel, boiled oats and linseed
mash; an injection of warm soapsuds, containing three or four
pints of raw linseed oil, should be given, and repeated two or
three times if constipation is persistent. Give half an ounce of
pulverized chlorate of potash in a pint of oatmeal gruel or in the
drinking water twice a day, and give nitre-water for drink, as
before recommended.

AiniCOR.

*^ This is a disease which is not very common, but we have met
with a number of cases, which, in many instances, have man-
ifested very alarming symptoms.

Symptoms. — A large swelling appears on the breast, and ex-
tends backwards under the belly, sometimes as far as the sheath,
making the horse very sore and stiff. The disease occurs most
frequently in colts or young horses, and sometimes while at
pasture.

Causes. — Disordered condition of the blood, occasioned by hot
weather, exposure to wet, over-feeding, etc.

Treatment. — Remove the cause, adopt a moderate and cooling
diet; give nitre- water for drink; foment the breast daily with hot
water, and if an abcess should appear open it freely.

THE DISEASES OF SOESES. 141

AN"ASAECA.

This disease is also a form of dropsy wliicli is manifested ex-
ternally, and is sometimes called water farcy. It is, however, an
entirely different disease.

Symptoms. — External swellings having a puffy appearance on
the lips, chest, belly, sheath, legs, etc., which are increased by
idleness, and disappear with exercise.

Causes. — Idleness, want of exercise, high feeding, etc.

Treatment. — Give plenty of exercise, regular and moderate
feeding on grass or soft feed, and if this is not sufficient give
nitre-water for drink. Sometimes this disease is referable to a
weakened condition from former disease, when more liberal feed-
ing becx)mes necessary, and a teaspoonful of pulverized copperas
may be given once each day with benefit.

LTMPHAN-GITIS.

This common disease is an old acquaintance with a new name
— big-leg, weed, shot o' grease, planet-struck, milk-leg, etc., are
among its popular appellations. It is quite time we had a refor-
mation.

Symptmns. — When the owner goes to his stable in the morn-
ing and finds one of his horses that was all right the night before,
now with a hind leg swelled as large as a small churn, the swell-
ing reaching from the foot to the groin, that is lymphangitis.

Causes. — Too much corn.

Treatment. — Bran-mash mixed with nitre-water for feed, and
a daily drench for three days of fifteen drops of the German tinc-
ture of aconite, given in a soda-water bottle full of water. Give
no grain until recovered.

DEOPSY.

Under the name of dropsy we will include swellings beneath
the chest and belly, swelled legs and sheath, yellow water, etc.

142 THE HANDY HORSE SOOK.

Symptoms. — Diffused swellings in different places, sometimes
soft, and sometimes more like dough in consistency, so that when
pressed with the finger they retain the impress for a short time,
accompanied with general debility and weakness.

Causes. — Various: cold and wet, filth, neglect and bad manage-
ment, weakened condition resulting from some other disease. It
most frequently occurs in old horses, and also follows foaling,
checked perspiration, diseased liver, etc., etc.

Treatment. — The treatment should be directed to building up
the system. Let it be done by ''doctoring" and ''dieting."
Give at the noon feed three quarts each of oats and bran, and
shake over it one day a heaping teaspoonf ul of pulverized copperas,
and the next day the same quantity of pulverized nitre, and so
on alternately for a month or six weeks. Wet the feed slightly.
For swelled legs and sheath exercise is wanted.

DEBILITY.

Debility may be either permanent or temporary. It is gen-
erally the result of some previous disease, such as influenza,
pneumonia, pleurisy, etc., and needs careful attention.

Symptoms. — The symptoms are plain enough ; the patient man-
ifests no spirit nor ambition, and is generally poor looking and
weak.

Causes. — Hereditary taint, cold, dampness, filth, neglect, and
other diseases.

Treatment. — Good feeding and care. It is certainly the height
of absurdity to bleed or physic away the small amount of strength
that the animal may have left.

GREASE HEEL.

In its early stages this disease is called scratches and cracked
heels. It has always been attributed to filth and neglect, but we
have found it frequently occurring among horses that were ap-
parently well cared for in every way.

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 143

cSymptoms. — In tlie early stages heat and redness of the skin
around the heels are noticeable; a little later, tenderness and
slight cracks may be seen, and eventually the swelling, redness,
cracks and inflammation extend above the fetlock, or perhaps
half-way up the leg, and the hair covering the parts stands out
like the bristles of a brush.

Causes. — Disordered state of the blood, over-feeding, feeding
on damaged hay, washing the legs and leaving them to dry in a
draft, etc., etc.

TreaUnent. — Make a strong bag, just wide enough to draw over
the foot and long enough to more than cover the fetlock. Put
this on at night, tie at the top of the hoof, and fill up with
flaxseed meal poultice and tie again above the fetlock; in the
morning wash off with warm water, and apply a mixture of one
ounce of sulphate of zinc in a pint of glycerine, first dissolving
the sulphate in a Kttle warm water.

FISTULA.

A swelling on the top of the shoulder or ivithers which termi-
nates in a running sore.

Symptoms. — A sore swelling, just in front of where the saddle
comes, and often producing lameness.

Oawses.— Bruises from badly fitting saddles or harness, or from
rolling; bites of other horses, blows, etc.

Treatmmt — When the swelling first appears bathe with hot
water three or four times a day; this may disperse it, and save a
great deal of trouble. If neglected at this time matter and sinu-
ses will form, and the case should then be given to a veterinary
surgeon.

SHOULDER SPRATS'.

Symptoms. — The horse is disinclined to move, drags his toe on
the ground without raising his foot, and the shoulder is generally
sore and tender. Stepping over a log will decide it.

144 THE HAiq^DY HORSE BOOK.

Causes. — Slipping sideways, especially in muddy weather or on
ice; rolling in the stall; slips or falls in running or playing.

Treatment. — The most essential part of the treatment is abso-
lute rest in the stable. If there is much swelling and inflamma-
tion, hot water bathing should be diligently employed. A mixture
of vinegar, whiskey and water may be used in bathing.

CAPPED ELBOW.

The point of the shoulder, on the back part, is commonly
called the elbow; uncommonly, the olecranon. It is liable to in-
jury from the heel of the shoe when the horse is lying down.

Symptoms. — ^At the point designated a round swelling of con-
siderable size appears, which is hot and tender, and is sometimes
called a shoe-hoil. The sympathetic inflammation is sometimes
quite extensive, and is followed by a hard, callous tumor.

Causes. — Injury from the heel of the shoe.

Treatment. — In the early stage the diligent application of hot
water, three or four times a day, an hour each time, will some-
times be sufiicient; but after it becomes callous a seton may be
passed through it, or, what is better, the tumor may be dissected
out by a competent veterinary surgeon.

SPEEDY CUT.

This is a dangerous accident of frequent occurrence. Horses
that lift their legs high in trotting are very apt to strike the op-
posite leg just below the knee, and the sudden pain is so excessive
that they drop as if they were shot.

Symptoms. — A swelling is seen just below the knee on the in-
side, and the horse flinches when it is pressed upon. There may,
or may not be a small scar, showing where the edge of the foot
or shoe has struck. The accident usually occurs when speeding,
and especially in turning.

Causes. — These may be carelessness, malformation, excitement,
sudden start from being struck with the whip, etc., etc.

THE DISEASES OF HOESES. 145

Treatment. — Bathe diligently with hot water until all inflam-
mation has subsided. At night apply tincture of arnica. Care
must be taken that neither hoof nor shoe project too far inwards.
The shoe should be beveled and rounded inside.

BROKEK Kl^EES.

Slight cases of broken knees arc not of much importance; but
severe cases claim our diligent attention. In case of the joint
being exposed death frequently results.

Symptoms. — In some instances the hair only is torn off, leaving
a white patch. In other cases the roots of the hair are destroyed,
and in still more severe cases the joint is exposed, and the joint
oil (synovia) escapes.

Causes. — Falls on the road, due to carelessness, tender feet,
corns, and navicular disease, and generally happening in descend-
ing hills, or when traveling on stony gi'ound.

Treatment. — In the first case, bathe with warm water, and apply
at night equal parts of tincture of arnica and water. In the
second case, use the compound tincture of benzoin during the
day, and a poultice of linseed meal at night. In the third case,
dust the wound two or three times a day by means of a dredge-
box with a mixture of pulverized charcoal, slaked lime and wheat
flour, and keep the horse from moving as much as possible.

SPRAIif OF THE BACK SIKEWS.

The back sinews are those which extend from the horse's knee
down to the foot. The sinew passes through a sheath, and its
injury by sprain is very painful.

Symptoms. — The horse is in great pain, and cannot put his
foot down flat, but rests it on the toe. The back part of the leg
is swollen, hot and tender, and the leg is quite round.

Causes. — Slipping backwards very suddenly; hard pulling;
getting cast in the stable, or violent efforts of any kind.

Treatment. — Absolute and long continued rest in the stable, no

140 THE lIAl<iDX HOESE BOOK.

going out for any purpose ; hot water bathing, often and diligent-
ly applied; whiskey and water, equal parts, may be sponged on
gently at night, and a high-heeled shoe should be placed on the
foot to relieve the tension. If there is much fever, three ten-
drop doses of the German tincture of aconite, mixed in a soda-
water bottle full of water, may be given during the first forty-
eight hours.

RUPTURE OF THE SUSPEN'SORY LIGAMEN^T.

This very serious and painful accident is, happily, not common;
but when a case is once seen it will not readily be forgotten.

Symptoms. — In giving the symptoms I will describe a case that
came under my notice a few years ago. A gentleman came for
me in an excited manner, and I immediately responded. The
patient, a fine five-year-old mare, was standing in the middle of a
large stable floor, with her front toes turned upward, and the
weight of her body resting on the fetlocks; she was thus trying
to steady herself from falling, while the sweat was pouring from
her in streams, indicating the greatest agony. I at once had a
deep straw bed made under her, and the poor animal dropped
upon it. I then went to my office for some requisites, but upon
returning after half an hour's absence, found two men busy
rubbing tKe mare's belly with mustard and vinegar, they having
already drenched her for hots ! This was done with the full ap-
proval of the owner, and is an example of the too common lack
of common sense in the treatment of horses.

Causes. — These are, in many cases, unaccountable. The acci-
dent frequently occurs to race-horses and hunters, but rarely
happens during moderate action. The above case, however, oc-
curred after a quiet drive of four miles.

Treatment. — As the horse will remain down for some time he
must be turned over occasionally to prevent chafing. He should
be fed on soft feed, and should have nitre-water for drink. The
legs should be kept moist and cool by bandages of flannel satu-
rated with a mixture of equal parts of whiskey, vinegar ajid

THE Diseases of horses. 147

water. Hot water bathing may well be resorted to while the
swellbig and tenderness exist. Long rest and quietude are very
essential. Three or four ten-drop doses of the German tincture
of aconite should be given during the first forty-eight hours.

KEN^G-BOIOJ.

Ring-bone is an exostosis, or bony tumor, affectrag either the
upper or lower pastern bone, but generally occurring at the
coronet, or upper edge of the hoof.

Symptoms, — ^A swelling, attended with heat, and frequently
with lameness, at the point affected.

Causes. — Hereditary taiat; sprains of the coffin-joiat, con-
cussion, etc.

Treatment. — The cure of ring-bones and spavins has for many
a day been the harvest-field of quackery, and it is time that
horse-owners should be a little better posted on the subject. It
is evident that when this bony tumor has once been formed the
diseased parts can never be restored to their original integrity;
restoration to usefulness, arresting the further progress of the
disease, and freeing the horse from lameness, is all that can be
looked for, and this is th.e construction that should be put upon
the word cure. This restoration can often be effected by simple
hot water bathing, if applied diligently when the disease first ap-
pears ; but if this opportunity is lost the disease proceeds to its
natural termination, the joints are " welded " together and become
perfectly immovable; lameness is succeeded by simple stiffness,
and the horse is cured. Blistering applications of various kinds
are useful in accelerating the natural process and putting a stop
to lameness.

LAMTNITIS. .

This disease of the horse's foot is better known by the name of
founder. It consists in inflammation of the tendons, muscles,
laminae, etc., of the feet. It is generally confined to the fore
feet.

148 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

Sympto7ns. — At the onset of the disease the horse stands stiffly
in one place; his. tail quivers; his flanks heave; he sweats pro-
fusely; seems to wish to lie down, but does not know how to go
about it, and is evidently in great pain. If forced to move he
will in desperation catch up his hind legs suddenly and walk off
rapidly. If the horse succeeds in lying down he will manifest
less pain, but his feet, both around the crust and at the sole, will
be found very tender and sensitive, with more or less heat and
inflammation around the pastern, and especially at the coronet.

Causes. — Long and hard drives or other overwork; plethora;
sudden chills, as from driving into cold water when in. a state of
perspiration; over-eating or drinking, etc., etc. It is also the
sequel of other diseases.

Treatment. — In the beginning of the attack, when the horse is
feverish and excited, give him twenty drops of the German tinc-
ture of aconite in a soda-water bottle nearly filled wdth water.
Two more doses of ten drops each may be given at intervals of
two hours. Grive him a good, soft bed; bathe his feet with hot
water, and wrap them in woollen cloths wrung out of water as
hot as can be borne; cover with a dry cloth, and leave the cloths
on. Give soft feed only, and all the nitre-water he will drink.

NAVICULAR DISEASE.

This is a disease of the horse's fore feet, and is the cause of a
great deal of worry to the owner, who fails to understand why or
where the horse is lame.

Symptoms. — The horse attracts our notice by the stumpy way
in which he sets down one or both fore feet. He stumbles, even
on level ground, and his shoes are found worn and thin at the toe.
The muscles of his breast begin io shrink, and then he is said to
be chest foundered. His legs and feet fail to show any blemishes;
the owner is puzzled and disgusted, and in this state of mind is
very likely to doctor him for the hots. The horse suddenly seems
to get well, and may continue free from lameness for a few days
or weeks, when he suddenly becomes as lame as ever. Then some

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 149

one suggests that the horse is '' sweenied," and, on examination,
the skin is found sticking fast to the shoulder, and this settles
the matter once more; the owner rejoices that he has at last dis-
covered the source of the trouble,. and forthwith a silver quarter
dollar, or a piece of leather, is inserted beneath the skin, and at
the end of a week or two all is well again. After a while, how-
ever, the old trouble returns, and again the horse is subjected to
blisters, setons, and any or all of the liniments in vogue, or the
tissue beneath the skin may be inflated by the blow-pipe or
quill, and the rounded appearance once more makes the owner
think that his troubles are at an end when, lo! at the end of a
week or two, the horse is again in statu quo. All this waste of
time and vexation of spirit has resulted from ''doctoring" the
horse's leg at the wrong end!

Causes. — Concussion, especially in horses with short pasterns;
long drives on hard roads ; sudden action after long inac-
tion, etc.

Treatment. — Give the case to a veterinary surgeon, or take off
the shoes and turn the horse out for a year or more.

THRUSH.

Thrush is a disease of the frog of either the front or hind foot,
and, although it seldom causes lameness, it should never be neg-
lected.

Symptoms. — On lifting the horse's foot a f Oul odor is perceived,
which comes from the cleft of the frog; a dirty discharge also
emanates from the same source.

Causes. — This disease is generally to be attributed to too much
moisture, either in or out of the stable. A filthy barn-yard is a
first-rate place to breed it. It often results from standing on
floors saturated with urine and filth. Coarse, fleshy horses are
most liable to it.

Treatment.— Put the horse in a clean, dry stall; stuff into the
cleft of the frog at night a piece of tow, upon which has been
spread a mixture of equal parts of tar, lard, and pulverized blue

150 THE HA^nTDY horse BOOK.

vitriol (sulphate of copper), this stuffing to be taken out when
the horse goes to work.

CAlfKER.

This is an advanced stage of the preceding disease. It occurs
generally in the hind feet, and is very difficult to cure. It is
sometimes called running thrush, in its first stages.

Symptoms. — A very foul-smelling discharge comes from the
cleft of the frog; this being neglected the disease gradually
spreads beneath the sole of the foot, and sometimes causes a sep-"
aration of the whole of the sole from its attachments.

Causes. — Hereditary taint and bad management.

Treatment. — First give a dry stall. If corn has been used for
feed, change to oats for a while. Take a piece of cotton batting,
double it, and cut it to fit the inside of the shoes. This should
be kept damp with a mixture of one drachm of chromic acid in a
quart or more of water. It may be kept in place by pieces of
hoop-iron fastened across the foot between the shoe and the hoof.-
It should be renewed two or three times a week.

QUITTOR.

Quittor is a fistula of the foot, occurring in the coronet, and
generally inside. It may become a very troublesome affair if
neglected.

Symptoms. — The horse becomes very lame, and on examining the
foot a small running sore is found in the coronet, which is very
sensitive to pressure.

Causes. — Bruises, treads, pricks in shoeing, neglected corns,
gravel, etc., etc.

Treatment. — Cut the hair away from the opening, cleanse it
with warm water, and by means of a syringe having a small
nozzle inject or rinse it out three times a day with a mixture of
corrosive sublimate, one drachm, alcohol, one ounce, Goulard's
extract, one half drachm. This should be prepared by a druggist.

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 151

A rubber syringe is the best. If gravel is the cause, free vent
must be given below.

CORNS.

What are called corns, in the horse, are small, soft spots, gener-
ally of a reddish hue, situated inside of the heel, between the bars
of the hoof and the crust or quarters. Compression upon these
spots seems to cause great pain to the animal.

Symptoms. — Lameness, which disappears when the corns are
pared down so that the shoe does not press upon them, but reap-
pears with the growth of the sole.

Causes. — I am not aware that unshod horses ever have corns;
there may be some exceptions, but I think the rule holds good;
we have, therefore, to conclude that shoeing is the cause of corns,
and probably of other diseases as well. Shoeing may be said to
be a necessary evil, the general idea being that all horses must be
shod. From this idea I dissent. I believe that if horses were
worked without shoes from colthood, they would be able to stand
the grinding and wear of gravelled roads, or even the rough pave-
ments of cities. " Custom is second" nature."

For the last five years I have driven an unshod mare. When
purchased, she was the subject of navicular disease, and for two
years I tried several different kinds of sh-oes with but little benefit.
I then concluded to see what unassisted nature would do, and so
turned the mare out for a year, rounding off the edges of the
hoof occasionally with the file. The frog assumed its natural
proportions, the heels expanded, and the whole foot was very
much improved, and has given no trouble since. Let it be dis-
tinctly understood, however, that it will not do to take off your
horse's shoes and then drive him the next day without shoes.
Nature must have time to accommodate herself to circumstances;
her operations are slow and deliberate. Neither will it answer to
turn into a soft marshy pasture, as the feet must be gradually
accustomed to traveling on hard, rough ground.

If we examine the feet of other domestic animals we shaU find

152 . THE HAN"DY HORSE BOOK.

that they are provided with soft, elastic cushions, which largely
prevent the jarring of the upper parts of the body in traveling.
In the unshod colt the frog serves the same purpose, but the
blacksmith considers it a part of his business to cut away this
cushion, thus throwing the whole weight of the animal upon the
comparatively unyielding crust; more than this, the shoes are
usually left on so long that the walls of the crust are drawn to-
gether, thus pinching the foot and giving sufficient cause for the
formation of corns.

After what has been said it may be asked, " Can we do without
having our horses shod? " To this I answer. No; it is a necessary
evil, and we must make the best of it; but I am of the opinion
th^t one half the horses in common use, the world over, need no
shoes. Horses hauling heavy loads in cities or on very hilly
roads, or where much backing is required, or sudden pulls in
slippery places, and under other special circumstances, call for
shoeing; but horses kept for driving, for business or pleasure;
horses on farms, or those whose work is moderate any where, re-
quire no shoeing. A little care is needed to keep the outer rim
of the hoof rounded off with the file (not rasp), and to keep it
elastic and tough.

Treatment. — All kinds of remedies have been used for the cure
of corns, but I have none to recommmend, except to take off the
horse's shoes, have the rims of the hoofs rounded off with the
file, and let him run free for a year. He will be all right then,
but if you wish to have the corns back again, put on shoes,

SAND-CRACK.

Horses sometimes have a perpendicular crack or split on the
inside of the frOnt hoof, or on the front of the hind foot, which
is called a sand-crack or toe-crack. This is sometimes but an
inch in length, and at other times extends to the coronet. If the
crack be deep, it is liable to be attended with considerable lameness.

Causes. — Blows on the inside of the front hoof, which is its
weakest portion, or hard pulling in case of toe-crack. .

THE DISEASES OP HORSES. 153

Treatment — This used to be a very troublesome affair, but
recently a particular kind of forceps and clamp have been in-
vented which effectually closes the crack until it grows out.
These instruments may be obtained of Rejoiders & Co., 303
Fourth avenue, New York city.

IKPLUENZA.

This disease is now generally known under the names of epizo-
otic, catarrhal fever, and pinkeye. It has afforded some excellent
lessons to intelligent horse-owners, and some convincing proof of
the triumph of common sense over quackery. Horses that were
bled, physicked, blistered and rowelled, died; horses that had to
swallow the various " conundrums " and specifics in vogue at the
time had a narrow escape; those that were intrusted to nature
and to simple remedies did well.

Symptoms. — The horse is dull and stupid; lacks appetite; has a
soft cough; his legs are somewhat swelled; he does not lie down
much; the insides of his eyelids are of a yellowish-red color;
there may be a slight discharge from the nose; prostration and
debility are marked characteristics, and recovery is generally slow.

Causes. — Not known.

Treatment. — If some kind-hearted old woman had been made
commander-in-chief during the visitation of the epizootic, it
would have been a good thing. When she saw the poor horse
could not eat she would have boiled or soaked his oats or corn;
seeing his legs were swelled she would have ordered them rubbed
with goose-grease; she would have kept him comfortable, and
would not have allowed him to work until he was quite well.
Although a " doctor," I cannot suggest any improvement.

BRONCHITIS.

This is inflammation of the bronchial tubes, generally extend-
ing up along the windpipe, and is rather a common disease, and
attended with considerable danger.

154 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

Symptoms. — The most prominent symptom is the cough, which
is loud and hoarse, and comes on in spells; the breathing is in-
creased— sometimes very much; the horse hangs his head; his
mouth dribbles, and he is generally thirsty; as the disease pro-
gresses there will be considerable discharge from the nostrils.

Causes. — Facing storms; cold, wet weather; chills from stand-
ing long uncovered, or from standing in cold .drafts.

Treatment. — Give soft food, linseed mash and nitre-water; keep
the horse comfortable, and keep the nostrils clean with a sponge
and tepid water.

Pi^UMOmA.

This is inflammation of the lungs, and is commonly known as
lung fever. It is a very serious disease, and requires our careful
and diligent attention. Young, fat, full-blooded horses are the
most frequent victims. Why some are attacked and others not,
under the same circumstances, is a mystery.

Symptoms. — The disease usually begins with a shivering, for
which no cause is apparent (as on a hot day); the shivering fit is
followed by dullness; the horse stands with his head down; his
legs and ears are cold; the breathing becomes short; he looks
around at his side, but does not lie down; he seems afraid to
cough, and a reddish looking discharge may come from his nose;
his nostrils expand as if he had been running rapidly; he straddles
with his fore legs, as if to balance himself; his ears droop, and at
last he reels over and drops dead. The duration of the disease is
six or seven days.

Treatment. — I am inclined to the belief, based upon repeated
observation, that in these cases " the first blow wins the battle."
As soon, therefore, as any shivering is observed for which no
reason can be assigned, give ten drops of the German tincture of
aconite in a soda-water bottle nearly full of water. Give of
this five doses, two hours apart, reducing the quantity by one
drop at each dose. After that give nitre-water for drink; rub
his legs frequently; keep his body comfortably warm, and give
plenty of fresh air.

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 155

PLEURISY.

This is inflammation of the membrane which lines the chest,
and also covers the lungs, on one or both sides.

Symptoms. — The symptoms differ from those of pneumonia,
chiefly in there being a tenderness to the touch in the side and
flanks in the case of pleurisy, which is not so noticeable in
pneumonia. The pulse is full in pleurisy, but weak in pneu-
monia. The interior of the nostrils is fiery red in pneumonia,
but of nearly normal color in pleurisy

Treatment. — Woollen cloths should be wrung out of hot water
and applied to the sides and chest, the application being repeated
until relief becomes evident, then the skin should be thoroughly
dried and the horse blanketed. In other respects treat as for
pneumonia.

HEAYES.

Most horsemen recognize a stong resemblance between heaves
and asthma.

Symptmos. — A peculiar jerking of the flanks in breathing,
which seems to abate after the horse has traveled a mile or two.
It is generally accompanied by a suppressed, consumptive cough.

Cause. — Indigestion.

Treatment. — The treatment of the heavey horse is suggested by
the cause given. Don't let him stand all day grinding corn-
stalks, nor clover hay, nor don't let him drink three or four
buckets of water at one time, and then put him to work. Run
up two or three flights of stairs directly after you have eaten your
dinner and you vsdll know how it i& yourself. Feed more grain
and less hay, and give only one bucketful of water at a time, and
not more than three or four during the twenty-four hours.

SPASMODIC COLIC.

I believe that more horses die of colic than of any other disease;
and yet it is lightly spoken of, and most horse owners seem to

156 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

think that " anybody can cure the colic." It is, however, a very
serious and fatal disease.

Symptoms. — The horse apparently feels a sudden, sharp pain in
his bowels; he looks around at the place where he thinks it is.
Another pain comes, and he kicks at his belly. Another, and it
cramps him so severely that it compels him to drop down, where
he rolls and knocks himself about fearfully. He is not swollen,
but rather gaunted in severe cases. He sweats profusely.

Causes. — In this kind of colic, cramps in the bowels may orig-
inate in constipation, in sudden chills, in drinking cold water when
too hot, or from driving into water when hot. Constant feeding
on the same kind of food and a predisposition to the disease, may
also be mentioned.

Treatimnt. — Give the horse a large, open lot to roll in; give, as
soon as opportunity affords, twenty drops of the German tincture
of aconite in a pint of water; follow with an injection of a buck-
etful of blood- warm water containing a handful of salt. If relief
does not immediately follow, give, in half an hour, ten drops of
the aconite, and the same dose in another half hour. Should no
improvement be seen, give, in another half hour, two ounces of
laudanum, mixed in a pint of raw linseed oil. The injections
should be continued frequently.

FLATULENT COLIC.

Symptoms. — The horse is more or less inflated with gas; so
much so, m severe cases, that he seems ready to bursi. If on his
feet, he stretches his nose forward, trying to get all the air he can,
and either stands still or moves around in a circle. If he lies
down it is only for a moment, as he cannot bear the pressure.
He sweats profusely.

Causes. — The causes are chiefly working the horse directly
after feeding and watering, especially if he is a greedy feeder;
feeding constantly on corn; frequent watering in hot weather;
giving green corn, brewer's grains, etc.

Treatment, — Where there is every reason to think that the

THE DISEASES OF HOKSES. 157

stomacli and abdomen are distended to their utmost capacity, the
propriety of giving medicines of any kind has always seemed
doubtful. Injections, that are such a great help in other cases,
appear useless here. Cold water, put on with woollen cloths, and
exercising n^oderately, seem the most rational treatment. We are
expected, however, to do something, right or wrong, and I will
refer the reader to the following time-honored cures : Whiskey,
sweet milk and molasses; whiskey and pepper; vinegar and sal-
eratus; indigo, whiskey and laudanum; mackerel brine, whiskey
and sweet spirits of nitre; hen's dung, vinegar and baking powder;
spirits turpentine and laudanum; chicken's inwards; ash lye;
pumpkin-seed tea; sage tea, etc., etc. For external applications
we have mustard and vinegar, fence rails, coal oil, broom handles
and charms.

Ein:EKiTis.

This is acute inflammation of the bowels, and is a very formid-
able disease. The ordinary observer sees no difference between
it and spasmodic colic, but there is an important difference.

Symptoms. — Enteritis is generally gradual in its approach; the
horse seems feverish and the ears and legs are cold; the belly is
tender, and the horse manifests pain when you press on it; the
pain continues, and the horse gets weak quickly; he stamps and
paws the ground with his fore feet, breathes quickly, sweats in
spots, and has a haggard, distressed look. In colic, motion and
friction of the parts afford relief, in inflammation it aggravates
the pain; colic has intermissions; in inflammation the symptoms
are continuous.

Causes. — The same as those of coKc. Inflammation is often a
sequel to colic.

Treatment. — First give twenty drops of the German tincture of
aconite, as previously directed; next an injection of warm water
and salt. In twenty minutes another dose of ten drops of aconite.
If there is no improvement within half an hour, give two ounces
of laudanum in a pint of warm milk, or in hall a pint of raw liix-

158 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

seed oil mixed in half a pint of lime water. Fomentations of hot
water are very useful.

CONSTIPATION.

Constipation in horses is quite a serious matter, and should not
be neglected. It is the original cause of many diseases, and the
consequence of others.

Symptoms. — Scantiness of excrement, accompanied by straining,
and sometimes by twinges of colic.

Treatment. — Change the food to bran mash, cut grass or clover,"
or other soft food, until the stools become reasonably soft. In
urgent cases the use of injections of warm soapsuds, raw linseed
oil, or warm water and salt, is far better than the giving of any
strong purgatives, since these are generally followed by a reaction
which only aggravates the disease.

DIARRHOEA.

This disease is often simply an effort of nature to get rid of
something injurious.

Symptoms. — Frequent expulsion from the bowels of fluid or
half fluid discharges, resulting in weakness and prostration, loss
of appetite, etc.

Causes. — Disease of the liver, worms, drinking too much
water, eating heartily of new corn or hay, poisonous plants,
over-fatigue, etc.

Treatment. — In the early stages of the disease it may often be
checked by changing the feed; if this proves ineffectual, give a
quart of raw linseed oil and two ounces of tincture of opium. If
no improvement is seen within a day or two, give a quart of flour
gruel, containing two ounces of pulverized chalk and two ounces
of laudanum. These large doses are to be given with a soda-water
or tin bottle, a little at a time, the horse's head being simply held
up gently, not hoisted to a beam with ropes.

THE DISEASES OF HOESES. 159

BOTS.

When horses are seized with the colic the owner and his neigh-
bors, or some over-smart doctor^ frequently think '' the bots " are
working on him; and it is far safer for the bots to work on
him than the doctor, for they wont hurt him, but the doctor
might.

Symptoms. — None reliable.

Causes. — The bot-fly.

Treatment. — Should be for colic. The larvae of the bot-fly,
which are found in the stomach of the horse at certain seasons,
are perfectly harmless. They live there for about eight months
and then vacate the premises; and all the wonderful stories of
their eating holes in or through the coats of the stomach are
absurd. They might possibly do harm when very numerous, by
interfering with the action of the glands of the coats of the
stomach, but not otherwise.

WOKMS.

The stomach and bowels of the horse are liable to be infested
with worms of different kinds, and sometimes in large num-
bers.

Symptoms. — The horse is generally poor and hide-bound ; he
has a staring coat ; is subject to slight colic ; and beneath his tail
may be seen a slight putty like discharge. He is generally weak
and listless, and often pot-bellied.

Causes. — Constant feeding on coarse food; poverty; neglect;
filth.

Treatment. — Feed very liberally on good, rich food, sound oats
or corn; give water regularly three times a day, but only one buck-
etful each time; three times a week give a tablespoonful of finely
pulverized copperas in a quart of meal. Feed no musty fodder
of any sort.

160 THE HAKDY HORSE BOOK.

NEPHRITIS.

Inflammation of the kidneys, according to the popular belief, is
a very common disease, but this belief is quite erroneous. Colic,
paralysis, lumbago, lung fever, sprains and even spavin are often
taken to be ^' trouble in the water works."

Symptoms. — There is one marked symptom which will guide
the attentive observer; the horse is stiff in his movements, and
straddles out sideways — not backwards — with his hind legs; he is
disinclined to move or to lie down; he passes urine in small,
quantities; the urine is sometimes bloody and always dark colored;
he shows pain in turning around, and looks anxiously at his flanks.

Causes. — Cold, wet, filthy stables; large quantities of rough or
damaged fodder; cold drafts; drinking too much water at one
time; exposure in stormy weather, and general bad management.

Treatment, — Remove the patient to more comfortable quarters,
and remember that good nursing is half doctoring. If he seems
distressed, feverish, and breathes rapidly, give ten drops of the
German tincture of aconite; and this dose may be repeated four
times, at intervals of four hours. His food should be boiled oats
mixed with bran, and a little sweet hay. A quart or more of
linseed tea should be added to every bucketful of water given.

CYSTITIS.

Inflammation of the bladder, like that of the kidneys, is not so
common a disease as is generally supposed.

Symptoms, — The horse is feverish and restless, with loss of
appetite, and occasional colicky pains. There is great difficulty
in passing the urine, and the quantity passed is small. There is
tenderness over the loins, and the horse looks backward frequently.
His hind legs tremble, and are straddled wide apart.

Causes. — The most frequent cause is a morbid desire to doctor
horses for urinary diseases which have no existence, consequently
the organs are kept in an irritable state, and it takes but little to

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 161

start an inflammation. The practice of feeding salt and ashes
results in much injury, and should be abolished; I am well aware
that this doctrine will receive the " cold shoulder," but facts are
stubborn things, and I hope that unprejudiced men will try the
experiment of feeding no salt. It should be remembered that
horses can be taught bad habits as well as their masters. We all
know how nice and particular horses are with reference to any-
thing greasy, but I have seen a three-year-old colt, in a butcher's
shop, eating a raw beefsteak, with as much relish as a bull dog.
They can also acquire the habit of chewing tobacco, and drinking
beer and whiskey.

Treatment. — When the fever is high and the horse seems in
pain three doses of the German tincture of aconite (ten drops
each) may be given at intervals of one hour; woollen cloths,
wrung out of hot water; should be kept across the loins until the
horse is well-steamed; if the legs are cold they should be well
rubbed; a quart of linseed tea should be given in every bucketful
of water drank, and the food should be bran mash. By intro-
ducing the greased arm into the rectum, and gently pressing the
bladder backwards, some urine may be evacuated, which will give
relief. The bladder is beneath the bowel, and can be easily felt,
if full. An injection of warm water and oil or melted lard will
do good service.

STRAJS^GURT.

This is difficult or painful passing of the urine, which may arise
from various causes.

Symptoms.- — The symptoms are much the same as in inflam-
mation of the kidneys. The disease is mostly seen in connection
with colic, lockjaw, staggers, palsy of the bladder, constipation,
foul sheath, stricture of the urethra, or sores and dirt on the
penis, etc.

Treatment. — The treatment should first have reference to the
cause. The free use of linseed tea, and frequent injections of
blood-warm water, containin^^ either Belladonna or opium (tinc-

6

162 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

ture), three or four ounces in a bucketful of water, a quart to be
given at each injection, and spreading of cloths wrung out of hot
water over the loins, are often beneficial. Two or three ten-drop
doses of the German tincture of aconite may be given at intervals
of an hour.

DIABETES.

This disease is characterized by excessive discharge of urine and
great thii'st. A horse afiected with it soon runs down in con-
dition, and it often lays the foundation for other diseases.

Sijmjytoms. — The horse gradually loses flesh and strength; the
appetite begins to fail, or is depraved; he is inclined to lick the
walls of the stable, wagon-wheels, or anything convenient; the
urine is clear, like spring water, and the stall is constantly
saturated.

Causes. — Excessive use of salt; damaged hay; the sequence of
other diseases.

Treatment — Good feed and good care.

JAUNDICE.

Diseases of the liver are not very common in horses. The cases
which occur are chiefly found in the southern states. Excepting
jaundice, they are rather difficult of diagnosis for the general
reader.

Sj/nijyfoms. — The horse has a dull, heavy look; the whites of the
eyes have a yellow appearance, and in severe cases this yellowish
tinge is seen in every place where the skin is not covered with
hair; the dung-balls are small, hard and black, showing consti-
pation, and the appetite is very delicate.

Causes. — Idleness, or want of sufficient exercise, with constant
feeding on rich food, and confinement to dark stables. The
disease is generally found in cities.

Treatment. — Take of epsom salts, Glauber's salts and common
salt, each one pound; essence of ginger one ounce; mix in a
Ion of warm water, and give a pint morning and night until

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 163

the bowels seem moderately affected; change the food to bran
mash or cut grass.

HEPATITIS.

This is inflammation of the liver, and is not a very common
disease, except among over-fed, pampered horses.

Symptoms. — Listlessness of manner; dullness of the eye; dainty
appetite; constipation; and as the disease progresses the insides
of the mouth and eyelids become yellow, or else whiter than
common.

Causes. — Idleness; too much grain; dark stables, etc.

Treatment.— Change the above conditions gradually; feed mod-
erately on soft food — especially grass; if this is not obtainable,
give wet hay and bran mash. ISTitre-water may be given for
drink for a week or two.

PALPITATION^ OF THE HEART.

This disease is better known as thumps^ and is sometimes mis-
taken for spasms of the diaphragm^ and vice versa. The distinc-
tion is practically of no importance.'

Symptoms. — The horse seems agitated, as if alanned at the
violent beating of the heart ; that organ seems to bang against the
inside of the ribs, and can be heard for quite a distance. The
disease is of most frequent occurrence in horses of a nervous
temperament.

Causes. — ^High feeding; more frequently long journeys; hard
pulling; rapid driving after idleness; rapid or long continued
exertion in warm weather.

Treatment. — Simply give rest and quietude until the horse is
quite recovered.

KHEUMATISM.

Symptoms. — Yery much the same twistings and gruntings —
except the swearing — that are manifested m the human patient.

164 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

Sometimes there are swellings, sometimes not. The shifting
character of the disease is the same as in man.

Causes. — Changes of weather; damp beds; heredity; the sequence
of other diseases; old age, etc.

Treatment. — Salicylic acid has been highly recommended of
late; I cannot say much for or against it. Coal oil is handier.
Give two tablespoonf uls, once a day, mixed in oatmeal gnxe) and
rub the affected parts with the same.

HIP LAMEEfTESS.

Injuries to the hip from sprains, bruises, or serious falls on ice
or slippery pavements, or from fracture of the ilium, are known
under the name of hip sweeny.

Symptoms. — The horse is very lame behind, and, if compelled
to go faster, hops and drags the leg along, touching 'the toe to
the ground as he goes. The muscles of the haunch are shrunken
(atrophied), and the horse's condition betokens pain.

Causes. — ^Heavy and severe falls; slipping on ice, or on uneven,
muddy ground; backing heavy loads, and various accidents.

Treatment. — Long continued rest in a box-stall or small en-
closure, and the daily rubbing of the affected parts with whiskey,
vinegar and water, in equal parts.

STIFLE LAMENESS.

Lameness in the stifle is not uncommon, but a great many
mistakes are made with regard to it. Sprains of the fetlock and
nail in the foot are often the real causes.

Symptoms. — The lameness is sometimes considerable, and the
heat around the joint will always be a sure guide, while tender-
ness on pressure is additional proof. If the patella or stifle-bone
has been dislocated it will be seen protruding on the outside of
the thigh, and must be pressed back into its place by the hand,
an assistant holding up and pulling forward the leg at the same
time.

Causes. — Accidents.

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 165

Treatment. — Where the stifle-bone has been put out and
returned to its place, the horse's head should be tied up, so that
he cannot lie down, and left so for fifteen days or more; and* the
joint should be bathed twice a day with whiskey, vinegar and water,
equal parts. Should the bone not have been displaced the head
need not be tied up.

HOCK LAMEN"ESS.

The hock-joint is frequently called the gambrel-joint, and is
far more often the seat of lameness than is generally supposed.
In some cases the whole joint seeqis perfectly clear of all signs
from which we might suspect lameness. This is called occult
hock lameness.

Sympoms. — The horse is very lame, and stands with his toe
only touching the ground. When made to walk he does so with
great difficulty, letting his toe to the ground only for an instant.
The hock having been examined and no swelling nor heat being
perceived, the horse is supposed to be stifled or strained in the
kidneys. Sometimes the lameness is accompanied with enlarged
hock (synovitis), when the horse continually moves his foot up
and down, and is evidently in great pain.

Cause. — Not known.

Treattnent. — Long rest in a box-stall or small enclosure, with
daily bathing for a month with whiskey, vinegar and water,
equal parts.

BOITE SPAVIIf.

This is a disease of the bones of the hock-joint, and is accom-
panied, in its early stages, with lameness, more or less severe. *

Symptoms. — Lameness on first leaving the stable, wliich disap-
pears as the horse becomes warmed up with his work, but reap-
pears when he starts again after a rest. There may be nothing
to be seen to indicate the exact locality of the lameness; the whole
surface of the joint may be smooth, and manifest no undue

166 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

heat. In a short time, however, a hard lump appears under the
joint, and the cause of the trouble is manifest.

Causes. — Heredity; overwork when young; accidents, etc.

Treatment. — First, in my estimation, is the actual cautery with
the red-hot iron. Long experience has forced me to this conclu-
sion. The idea of its ci-uelty is not well founded, for it should be
remembered that the pain of the operation is but of short dura-
tion, but its benefits are permanent, while it cuts short the pain
incident to the deposit of the bony matter which forms the spavin,
and is in all respects the quickest, most humane and most efficient
remedy. Blistering applications of some kinds do good service,
but such also cause pain, sometimes of long duration. Long
continued rest, say six or eight months, without any interference
whatever, will often allow nature to bring about a cure.

BOG SPAVIN.

This disease is sometimes known as blood spavin, and is one of
the diseases incident to the hock joint. It generally occurs in
young horses.

Symptmis. — A puffy swelling appears in front of the hock,
which is generally prominent, and elastic to pressure, and is not
often accompanied by lameness. A slight degree of heat is ob-
servable. The swelling may become so large as to be an eyesore.

Causes. — Working too young; accidents, etc.

Treatment. — Long continued rest, with bathing with whiskey,
vinegar aud water, may give relief; but blistering applications, or
the hot iron cautery produce the best results.

THOROUCtHPIN.

What is termed a thoroughpin frequently accompanies bog
spa-sdn. They are both of similar character, being enlarged bursse
or receptacles for holding the synovial fluid or joint oil.

Symptoms. — On examining the hock-joint a prominence about
the size of a half dollar is seen on each side. These apparently
extend clear through the joint, hence the name.

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 167

Causes. — Overwork; accidents, etc.

Tre-atment. — The cautery is the only effectual cure. It should
only be applied by a competent veterinary surgeon.

CURB.

Five or six inches below and behind the point of the hock, we
sometimes find an enlargement which is best seen by viewing the
leg sideways. It often attains a large size. ,

Symptoms. — More or less lameness accompanies the inception
of curb. Heat, swelling, tenderness, and an inclination to step
on the toe are also observable. These, with the bulging out of
the part, leava no doubt of the cause of the lameness.

Causes. — Rearing, slipping, overwork when young, hard pull-
ing, etc.

Treatment. — If the horse has been shod, the shoe on the lame
foot should be replaced vrith one having calkins an inch higher
than the other; constanb bathing with whiskey, vinegar and water
will be beneficial in the first stages, but if the part becomes callous
a mild blister, applied once or twice at intervals of two weeks, may
be necessary.

CAPPED HOCK.

A tumor on the point of the hock, seldom accompanied with
lameness, but often with considerable swelling, and liable to result
in permanent blemish.

Catises:— Bruises from lying down in the stall; kicking; blows
from whifile-trees, etc.

Treatment. — At the first appearance of the tumor, hot water
bathing during the day, and rubbing with whiskey and vinegar
at night, will be beneficial. Should the tumor become hard and
of largft size, it should be blistered three or four times at intervals
of a week or ten days.

168 THE ha:si>y horse book.

STRINGHALT.

This name is given to a peculiar motion of the hind legs which
is pretty well known. The horse afflicted with it is considered
unsound.

Sym2)tom!^. — A sudden catching up of the hind leg, generally
shown when first starting; but the horse may have gone several
miles before the owner notices that the leg is being suddenly
jerked up in . a singular manner. In* old chronic cases this
jerking is so severe that the horse strikes his belly with his foot
and injures himself. It is frequently the best horses that are so
affected. .

Cause. — Not known.

TreaUnent. — Useless.

MANGE.

Symptoms. — Constant rubbing against the stall, manger, or
other objects, resulting in grinding off the mane and tail, and
sometimes the skin as well.

Cause. — The burrowing beneath the skin of a very minute
parasitic insect.

Treatment. — On a fine day wash the horse from head to foot
with hot soapsuds, applied with a good brush; blanket until dry.
Then rub every itching place with a mixture of fish oil, one quart;
tar, two ounces; spirits turpentine, two ounces; and sulphur, one
pound. Repeat at the end of a week or ten days.

, * LICE.

Symptoms. — Severe rubbing, and the visible presence of the
insects under the hair.

Causes. — Poverty and neglect; allowing hens to roost in the
stable, etc.

Treat^rmit. — Turn out the chickens ; whitewash the stable ; and

THE DISEASES OF HOESES. 169

at intervals of a week give tlie horse a good wasliing all over with
a tea made by boiling two pounds of quassia chips in a wash-
boilerful of water. Repeat if necessary, and feed liberally.

SUKFEIT.

Symptoms. — An eruption, which manifests itself in long-shaped,
elastic lumps, more or less diffused over the whole body, but most
abundant down each side of the neck. The general health does
not seem to be affected.

Causes. — Uncertain. Probably indigestion.

Treatment. — None necessary.

WARTS.

Warts are found on all parts of the body, and are sometimes
very unsightly, besides interfering every much with the horse's
comfort. Sometimes the wart gets knocked off, and bleeds to an
alarming extent.

Causes. — A peculiar condition of the skin, which seems natural
to some horses.

Treatment. — For flat warts, twist a piece of cotton round a
stick so as to make a small swab; with this rub chromic acid well
into the wart. In a day or two a leathery scab will form and drop
off, or it may be picked off and the operation repeated until the
surface is level. If the wart has a reck, tie a strong thread
tightly around it, and in two days another, and so on until the
wart drops off, then proceed as above.

HERIfiA OR RUPTURE.

This is a rupture of the membrane lining the abdomen and
containing the intestines, which permits them to protrude between
this membrane and the skin, forming large, soft swellings.
this rupture occurs at the side of the belly or flank (as in case of
injury from hooking or kicking), it is called ventral hernia; if at

170 THE HANDY HORSE BOOK.

the navel, as in young colts, it is umbilical hernia; if by the side
of the testicles it is scrotal hernia.

Causes. — In' addition to the causes mentioned above, hereditary
tendency may be mentioned.

Treatment. — As a rule no notice need be taken of umbilical
hernia, as it generally disappears before the third year. The cure
of other forms should be entrusted only to a competent veterinary
surgeon.

ABORTION.

Abortion happens occasionally among fat or over-fed mares,
and also among those subjected to extreme neglect.

Symptoms. — The first symptoms are usually a sudden filling
up of the udder with a rather gwollen appearance of the genitals,
and the escape of a small quantity of reddish fluid. The mare
seems languid and uneasy, and without appetite

Causes. — Various. Over-exertion during the latter part of
pregnancy; accidents, kicks, and eating poisonous plants.

Treatment. — The mare should be kept alone in a quiet place.
No medicine is needed, but her food should be of a cooling kind,
such as cut grass or clover, bran mash, etc., and sufficient time
should be allowed for recovery.

WOUKDS OR BRUISES.

Wounds may be divided into three classes : The simple incised
wound made by a sharp cutting instrument; the lacerated and
bruised wound, and the punctured wound.

Treatment. — Cuts with sharp instruments on any of the fleshy
parts of the body need only to be closed with interrupted sutures,
if the cut be deep, and then to have the skin beneath the wound
kept clean. The surface of the wound should never be washed.
Lacerated wounds, having ragged edges or loose flaps of skin,
should have the same treatment.

Punctured wounds, such as those made with shot, pitchforks,
or nails, should be bathed with wai'm water, probed for the ex-

THE DISEASES OF HORSES. 171

traction of foreign substances, and then syringed with a mixture of
equal parts of raw linseed oil and spirits of turpentine.

Bruises need hot water bathing by day, and bathing with tinc-
ture of arnica, mixed with cold water, at night.

BURNS A]SD SCALDS.

After the animal is tenderly cleaned off, get a bucket half full
of raw linseed oil, and fill up with lime water. Mix it well to-
gethei and paint the wound thoroughly with a whitewash brush.
Another whitewashing may be needed the next day. Give soft
feed, and cover with a linen cover without surcingle.

ABCESS TUMORS.

Symjjtoms. — In an abcess the swelling is hard and painful at
first, but. becomes soft and elastic after a while, when it is ripe.
Tumors are generally hard and cool.

Causes. — Various. Abcesses, such as poll-evil and fistula, gen-
erally arise from bruises. Tumors, such as wens, seem to come
on without apparent cause.

Treatment. — As a rule, abcesses, when matter has formed and
they become quite ''ripe,'' should be freely opened so as to allow
all the pus to escape. Hard or indolent tumors should be dis-
sected out. A mixture of raw linseed oil and spirits of turpentine
in equal parts may be injected into the cavities.

GALLS AND CHAFES.

Treatment. — Discard poorly fitting harness of all descriptions,
and when the harness is taken off sponge the shoulders and under
the saddle, etc., before the skin gets cool, with strong salt water.
If large, soft tumors arise on the shoulders, they must be freely
opened from top to bottom and the fluid let out. Don't let them
close too soon.

172 THE HANDY H0R8E BOOK.

ATROPHY OR SWEENY.

This is a wasting away of the muscles, which is known by the
name of sweeny when appearing on the shoulder, or hip-sweeny
when on the hip.

Symptoms. — There may or may not be lameness. I have seen
the most aggravated cases of sweeny in both shoulders, vdthout
any lameness. The skin sticks tightly over the shoulder-blade,
so that it can scarcely be lifted; the leg is generally slender and
the foot contracted.

Causes, — Contracted feet, or other lameness; leaning inwards
in double harness, or working anywhere where the pressure is
unequal.

Treatment. — Turn the horse to pasture wdthout shoes, and rub
the affected part once a day with a mixture of whiskey, one pint;
cayenne pepper one ounce.

/

HIDEBOUS^D.

This in itself is not a disease, but a symptom of some disease
which should be sought for.

Symptoms. — The horse has the appearance of despondency; his
hide clings to his ribs, and he is generally unthrifty.

Causes. — Various.

Treatment. — Should you be able to find an honest veterinary
surgeon give the case to him. If not, change the feed, and give
plenty of it and regular work with good grooming.

LOSS OF APPETITE.

From the stand-point of common sense the horse has greatly
the advantage of his master — ^he wont eat when he is sick, although
he may be subjected to the same temptations, and urged to take
something nice.

THE DISEASES OF HOBSES. 178

Causes. — This should be investigated. It may be broken teeth;
sore mouth or tongue; injuries from the bit; lampas, etc., or it
may be due to actual disease.

Treatment. — Remove the cause, if possible.

INDIGESTIOI^.

Symptoms. — Abnormal appetite, shown by eating litter, lick-
ing, etc.; rough coat; hidebound; listlessness, etc.

Causes. — Constant feeding on the same food; over-feeding, etc.

Treatment. — Rest on good pasture is the best treatment. If
this is impracticable, give greater variety in the food, and give
every night for a month in bran mash a tablespoonful of the
following mixture: carbonate of soda, four ounces; gentian, four
ounces; pulverized nitre, four ounces; pepsin, one and one half
ounces.

' FOOD AK^D DRnilK.

All green food, in season, is much the best for sick horses.
When it cannot be had, boiled oats is a good substitute. A peck
of oats is put into a wash-boiler filled with water and allowed to
simmer four or five hours. When cool, a quart of this mixed
with a quart of bran makes a small feed. Bran mash is made
by pouring boiling water upon the bran, stirring it thoroughly,
and allowing it to stand covered till cool. Two or three quarts
make a small feed. Seasoned hay is made by placing two or three
pounds of nice, sweet hay on the floor, sprinkling it with salt
water, and letting it soak an hour or two. Linseed tea is made by
putting half a peck of flax seed into a wash-boiler, filling up
with water, and simmering slowly until reduced nearly one half.
A quart of this mucilage may be added to a bucketful of water for
a drink, or to half a bucket of bran for a feed; use it without salt.
Carrots are most excellent, given raw if the horse will eat them.
Oat meal gruel is both food and drink.

174 THE HAXDY HORSE BOOK.

ADMINISTERING MEDICINE.

The common method of administering medicine to horses is often
attended with serious consequences. It should be borne in mind
that the hor^e is by nature adapted to take his food and drinli
from the surface of the earth; if you raise his head much beyond
the horizontal position he swallows with difficulty, and if it is
forced still higher the fluid escapes into the windpipe, and thence
into the chest, from which there is no escape for it. A tin bottle
holding a quart, and having the neck made smooth with solder,
is a good thing for the giving of oil, salts, etc.; a strong soda-
water bottle is a good article for the giving of small doses. The
head should not bo elevated any higher than necessary, and no
ropes nor beams are needed. Give only a mouthful at a time,
and let him swallow that before you give another. Be careful
that you don't force him to cough while his head is raised.

A FEW WORDS TO THE READER.

Suppose your wife or child, or any dear friend, was suddenly
taken sick with any serious or dangerous disease, would you send
for the blacksmith to prescribe for them? The answer would be
an indignant, No ! Then how can you think of sending for him, or
some one of similar knowledge, to prescribe for your horse ? The
one animal has two hundred and forty-two bones, the other two
hundred and forty-eight, and the other portions of their wonder-
ful and mysterious structures are almost the same. Even those
who devote a lifetime to the study of medicine are constrained to
acknowledge that they know very little; how, then, can it be
possible for those who have never made any study of this science
to prescribe intelligently? If, then, you cannot procure a veter-
inary physician to prescribe for your sick horse, call on your
family physician. If he is no " horse doctor," then trust to
nature and your own good sense.

SYMPTOMATIC INDEX TO PART IV.

Abdomen, Bloating of— Flatulent Colic.
" Pain in— Colic, Enteritis.

Appetite, Depraved — Diabetes.

Biting at Manger— Cribbing, Wind-Suck-
ing.

Breast, Swelling of — Anticor.

" Shrinking of — Navicular Disease.

Breathing, Difficult— Laryngitis, Bron-
chitis, Pneumonia, etc.

Coronet, Swelling of— Klngbone, Lamin-
initis, Quittor.

Eyelids, Inflamed— Opthalmia, Influenza.

Eyelid, Third, Prominence of— Hooks,
Lockjaw.

Eyes, Weakness of— Catarrh, Opthalmia.

Feet, Foul Odor From— Thrush, Canker.

Feet and Legs, Lameness in — Laminitis,
Navicular Disease, Corns, Spavin, Curb.

Food, Refusal of— Lampas, Aptha, Sore
Throat, etc., etc.

Food, Dropping of — Decayed Teeth.

Frenzy— Phrenitis, Rabies.

Gulping When Drinking — Adenitis, Sore
Throat.

Gums and Palate, Swelling of— Lampas.

Head, Swelling at Top of — Poll-evil.

Hoofs, Cracking of— Sand-crack.

Knee, Swelling of— Speedy-cut, Broken-
knees.

Legs, Fore, Stretching Forward— Lam-
initis, Choking.

Legs, Fore, Straddling With— Pneu-
monia.

Legs, Hind, Weakness of— Cerebro Spinal
Meningitis, Paralysis, Azoturia.

Legs, Hind, Jerking op— Stringhalt.

Legs, Hind, Straddling With— Nephritis,
Strangury.

Legs, Hind, Swelling of— Lymphangitis,
Scratches.

Legs, Hind, Tumors on— Farcy.

Nose, Extending — Adenitis, Poll-evil, Lock-
jaw.

Nose, Discharge From— Catarrh, Nasal
Gleet, Glanders, Farcy, Influenza, Pneu-
monia.

Nose, Swelling of— Catarrh, Elephantiasis,
Gleet, etc.

Nose, Ulcers in— Glanders.

Puffy Swellings— Anasarca, Surfeit, Dropsy,
Hernia, etc.

Rolling — Spasmodic Colic.

Rubbing in the Stall— Mange, Lice.

Saliva, Dribbling of— Adenitis, Choking.

Shoulder, Swelling on Point of— Capped
Elbow.

Shoulder, Shrinking of— Sweeny.

Staggering — Phrenitis, Vertigo.

Stiffness— Lockjaw, Laminitis, Nephritis,
Rheumatism, etc.

Stifle, Twitcehng of— Stifle Lameness,
Cramp.

STtTMBLiNG — Navicular Disease.

Toes, Front, Dragging — Navicular Disease,
Shoulder Sprain, Sprain of Back Sinews.

Toes, Front, Turning Upward— Rupture
of Suspensory Ligament.

Toes, Hind, Dragging— Hip Lameness,
Hock Lameness.

Tongue, Swellings Under— Aptha.

Urine, Dark Colored or Scanty— Nephri-
tis, Cystitis, Strangury, etc.

Withers, Swelling of— Fistula.

[175]

GENERAL INDEX.

PAGE.

Abcess 171

Abdallah 17, 59

Aburtion 170

Adenitis 127

jidministering Medicine 174

Age, as Shown by the Teeth 99

Age, as Shown by the Body 118

Agriculture, First Use of Horse in 28

Anasarca 141

Anatomy of the Horse 81

Anatomy of the Foot 95

Anticor 140

Appetite, Loss of 172

Aptha 126

Ass, the 5

Atavism 45

Atrophy, or Sweeny 172

Azoturia .,. 136

Bellfounder. 18

Big-Head ,. 125

Big-Leg 141

Bighoping 110

Bladder, Inflammation of 160

Bog Spavin 166

Bone Spavin 165

Bots 159

Boulonnaise Horse 28

Bowels, Inflammation of 157

Brain, Inflammation of 131

" Softening of 132

Breeding, Principles of 43-59

Broken Knees 145

Bronchitis 153

Burns and Scalds.. 171

Byerly Turk, the 11

Canadian Norman Horse 31

Canker 150

Capped Elbow 144

" Hock 167

Catarrh 137

Cerebro Spinal Meningitis 182

Chafes 171

Chest Founder 148

PAGE.

Choking 127

Circulatory System, the 85, 91

Cleveland Bays 34

Clydesdales 33-35

Cohc, Flatulent 156

" Spasmodic 155

Colts, Care of 55

" Weaning of 55, 58

" Raising by Hand 57

Constipation 158

Corns 151

Cough 129

Cracked Heels 142

Cramp 134

Cribbing 128

Cross-Breeding 46

Curb 167

Cystitis 160

Darley Arabian, the 11

Dauw 5

Debility 142

Diabetes 162

Diarrhoea 158

Digestive System, the 84, 88

Diseases of Horses 123

Distemper 127

Draft Horse, English 34, 38, 41

" " French 28, 29

" " Scotch 33, 35

Driving 68

Dropsy 141

** of the Breast 140

Dummies 132

Eclipse 59

Elephantiasis 140

English Cart-Horse 38, 41

Enteritis 157

Eohippus 5

Excretory System, the „ 85

External Regions of the Horse 76, 77

Eye, the 94

Fanghole, the 110

Farcy 139

[177]

178

GENERAL INDEX.

PAGE.

Farcy, Water 141

Feeding 67

Feed-Rooms 66

Fistula 143

Flemish Horse, the 28

Floors of Stables 63

Foaling, Assistance in 54

" Signs of 54

Food and Drink 173

Foot, Bones of the 95

Fossil Horse 5-8

Founder 147

Galls or Chafes 171

Generative System, the 86

Gestation, Period of 53

Glanders 137

Glaucer 34

Gleet, Nasal 137

Godolphin Arabian, the 11

Goldsmith Maid 17, 25, 59

Grease Heel 142

Grooming 68

Hambletonian 17, 59

Heaves 155

Hepatitis 163

Heredity ; 43

Hernia, or Rupture 169

Hidebound 172

Hip Lameness : 164

History, Early, of the Horse... 5, 7

Hock Lameness 165

Hoof, Anatomy of the 96

Hooks 124

Horseback Riding 69

" " for Ladies : 71

Impregnation, Influence of First 47

Improvement of Breeds, Earliest 9

In-Breeding 45

Indigestion 173

Inflammation of the Bladder 160

" " Bowels 157

" " Brain 131

" " Kidneys 160

" Liver 163

«' •' MembrauaNictitans 124

Influenza 153

Infundibulum 104

Interbreeding of Species of Equus 6

Ifclesman 35

Jaundice -.... 162

Kidneys, Inflammation of 160

King of the Valley 41

Laminitis 147

PAGE.

Larapas 125

Laryngitis 130

Lexington 59

Lice 168

Light in Stables 61

Linseed Mash 127

Lockjaw _ 133

Lymphangitis 141

Mambrtno 14

Mange , 168

Mangers 64

Mare in Foal, Treatment of 51

Markham Arabian, the --^ 11

Mark, the 104

" the Secondary 110

MaudS ' 18, 19

Membrana Nlctitans, Inflammatioii of 124

Messenger 14

Milk-Leg 141

Moon Blindness 123

Morgan Horse the 48

Muscles, the 83

Narragansett Pacers ..... 18

Navicular Disease 148

Nephritis 160

Nervous System, the 84

Nitre-Water 126

i Norman Horse, the 28-32

Old Louis Napoleon 29

Opthalmia 123

Orloff" Trotters 14, 23

♦ " peed and Color of 24, 26

Osteo Sarcomt ....■ 125

I Pacer Pilot. .■...• 18

! Pacers, Na.ragansett 18

Pacing R:.;ords 20

j Palpitat ,n of the Heart 163

I Paralysis 135

I Pedigree 44

j Peroheron Horse, the 28

Phrenitis 131

Pleurisy 155

Pneumonia 154

Poll-Evil 129

Prepotency 46

Purpura Hsemorrhagica 139

Quagga 5

Quidder 126

Quittor 150

Rabies..... 134

Rheumatism 163

Ringbone 147

Rupture, at Hernia 169

GElfERAL IN"DEX.

179

PAGE.

Rupture of the Suspensory Ligaments.... 146

Rysdyk's Hambletonian 17, 59

Sand-Crack 152

Scalds or Burns 171

Scratches 142

Sex, Controlling the 50

Shire Horse, the 38

Shoe-Boil 144

Shoeing.. .„ 98

ShotO'Grease 141

Shoulder Sprain 143

Side-Saddle, Safety 72

" Stirrup 73, 74

Sire, Choice of 49

Skeleton of the Horse 78, 79, 82

Smuggler 18

Sore Mouth '. 126

Sore Throat 130

Spasmodic Colic 155

Spavin 165, 166

Speed of American and Russian Trotters.. 25

Speedy-Cut 144

Sprain of the Back Sinews 145

Stable Management 61

Stables, Floors of 63

" Lighting 61

" Ventilating 62

" Water Supply of 66

Staggers 131

Stifle Lameness 164

Strangles 127

Strangury 161

Stringhalt 168

Stud-Book, Commencement of 12

Suffolk Punch, the 37

Sunstroke 135

PAGE.

Surfeit i69

Suspensory Ligament, Rupture of 146

Sweeny 172

Teeth, Anatomy of , 99

" Decayed 126

" Wolf , 100, 126

Tetanus 133

Thompson's Black Horse 34

Thorndale 15

Thoroughbred, Origin of the 11

" Significance of Term 12

" Colorand Shape of 13

" Value of 13, 21, 22

Thoroughpin I66

Thrush 149

Thumps 163

Training ; 60

Trotters Norfolk 14

Orloff. 14, 23

Trotting Association of Buffalo, Records of 26

Trotting Horse, Origin of 14, 15

" " Usefulness of 19

Trotting in Harness, Fastest Records 20

Tumors 171

Tusks, the 115

Urine, Dark 136

Ventilation of Stables 61

Vertigo 131

Warts 169

Water Farcy 143

Weed 141

Wind-Sucking 128

Wolf Teeth 100, 126

Worms 159

Wounds and Bruises 170

Zebra, the 5

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