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MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

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MODERN
HORSE MANAGEMENT

BY

Major REGINALD S. ^IMMIS, D.S.O.

ROYAL CANADIAN DRAGOONS

Author of "Notes on Horsemanship." etc.. etc.
Member of the HunteiV Improvement Society, Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, Arab Hone Society, etc.

Introduction by
Major-General F. L. LESSARD, G.B.

Preface by
The late Prof. ALFRED SAVIGEAR

(Formerly Chief Ridinf Instructor to R.M. College. R.H.A., Staff College and 17th Lancer*)

466 PHOTOGRAPHS, PLANS AND DRAWINGS

CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED

LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO & MELBOURNE

' ai. O vJ

T5r

THIS BOOK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED

BY

THE AUTHOR

TO

General H.R.H. PRINCE CHRISTIAN OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN

K.G., G.C.V.O., A.D.C., etc.

FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE HUNTERS IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY

(Who was so largely responsible for the good work done by that Society)

PREFACE

BY PROFESSOR ALFRED SAVIGEAR

IN placing this book before the public the author is placing much information of
great value to the horseman and horse owner, and is very greatly helping the lot of
our friend the horse. It is for this latter reason that the author has compiled the
work.

I am extremely pleased to find that an old pupil of mine has given up the time
and study necessary to produce such a book.

Chapters III., IV., V., and VII. are of particular interest to me. So is Chapter
XIII. ; in fact, it was the subject in this chapter that brought the author and myself
together. I thoroughly endorse every word he says in the chapters on cruelty.

I strongly advise riders to read the author's notes on riding. Were it not for
his ability and practical and calm methods adopted in riding young horses I would
never have allowed him to ride so many of my young horses and to assist me in
other ways in my school at Earl's Court. When under my tuition he was always
looking for advice. May I emphasise the three important qualifications that a horse-
man should possess, and which fact the author strongly impresses upon his readers
—good hands, good seat, and a perfect control of temper when working with horses ?

The Press has rightly acknowledged the author as an authority on horse matters,
and I was delighted to read that he had lectured with such success in many large
cities, including H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught among his hearers. His remarks
on training are mostly common-sense ones, and the result of minute study and
practical experience.

My advice to conceited riders : clear your mind of conceit — dismiss the idea
that you excel everyone else. Practice on sound principles makes perfect ; but on
false principles confirms mischievous habits.

To the student who has studied until the type has almost melted before his eyes,
regardless of the lamentable state of his health, I strongly advise that he take the
prescription of the old family physician —healthy horse exercise. But, as in every-
thing else, riding must be taught by one who can ride, and who can teach. The
average groom who teaches riding knows little about it. Do not despise the school,

vii

viii PREFACE

I have had fifty-six years' experience in it and across country. Why do the French,
Belgian, and Russian horsemen beat us at Olympia ? Because they study the sub-
ject and make use of the school, whilst we are apt to think that we have nothing
to learn.

Money spent on horses is well spent, and is always better than half the money
spent on a doctor's bill. There is no finer health-giving exercise in the world. No
one who has the opportunity to take it can ever say, " Oh, what can I do to-day ? "

ALFRED SAVIGEAR.

EARL'S COUKT, S.W.

CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER I

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

Aims and Scope of the Work — Acknowledgments .1

CHAPTER II

HISTORY OF THE HORSE

Earliest Knowledge of the Horse — Biblical References — Classical References — The Horse at the Time
of the Roman Invasion — At the Time of the Conquest — In More Modern Times — Various Breeds
Considered — The Horse in Geology — Etymology of the Horse — Geological Position of the Horse —
The Equine Machine Described ............ 4

CHAPTER III

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE HORSE

The Horse's Mind — The Horse's Memory — Outward Signs — Superiority of Man — Obedience — Re-
actions— Caresses — Associations — Punishment — Fear — Principles of Training — Circus Horses —
Cruelty of Horse Dealers 11

CHAPTER IV

FOODS AND FEEDING — EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

Introductory — The Digestive Organs — Composition and Values of Foods — Appetite — Watering — Con-
ditioning Horses — Conditioning Foods and Powders — Exercise — Lending Horses — Horses in
Camp — Transport — Swimming Horses .......... 27

CHAPTER V

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

Theory of Grooming the Skin — Hair — Exfoliation of Skin and Hair — Winter Care of Horse — Testing
Proper Grooming — Grooming Requisites — Care of Legs — Clothing — Bedding — Sanitation in the
Stable — Care of Feet — Foot Dressing — Clipping — When to Trim Horses — Banging and Thinning
the Tail — Hogging — Regrowing Manes — Plaiting Manes and Tails — Mane and Tail Diseases and
their Treatment — Causes of Rubbing Tails . .48

ix

x CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER VI

DRIVING AND HARNESS

Draught : Theory and Practice — Whiffle Trees — Poles — Loads — Overloading — Driving — Whips — Reins
— Hints on Tandem and Four-in-Hand Driving — Runaways — Notes on Treatment of Pullers —
Teaching Horse to allow Rein to be placed under Tail — Types of Harmless Horses — Types of
Vehicles — Anatomy of Shoulders — Collars — Sore Shoulders — Harness — Cruppers — Harnessing-
up — Harness Injuries — Bridles — Blinkers — Bits — Halters — Training Gear — Care of Harness . 63

CHAPTER VII

RIDING AND SADDLES

Anatomy of Horse's Back — Backs — Pressure — Saddling — Saddles — Fitting Saddlery — Saddle Blanket —
Girths — Saddling-up — Sore Backs : Prevention and Cure — Cure of Galls — Seats — Hands — Treat-
ment of Refusers — Spurs — On Ladies Riding Astride — Paces — Conformation of Saddle Horse —
Curb Bits— Port — Curb Chains — Martingales — Cold Bits 76

CHAPTER VIII

STABLE CONSTRUCTION AND THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

Circulatory System — Respiratory System — Ventilators — Stable Impurities — Horse Urine — Light —
Roof — Walls — Doors and Windows — Coach-houses — Drainage — Damp — Sanitation — Heating —
Precautions against Fire — Improvements to Old Stables — Stalls and Boxes — Mangers — Water
Troughs— The Loft— Tying up Horses— Slings 91

CHAPTER IX

SURGICAL DISEASES, LAMENESS, TEETH AND CONFORMATION

Lameness — Structure of Bone — Histology of Bone — Sprains — External Applications for Sprains — Ex-
ternal Counter-irritants — Blistering — Firing — Massaging — Diet when Suffering from Sprains —
Throwing a Horse for Operation — Detection of Lameness — Surgical Ailments : Sprains of Liga-
ments, Joints and Tendons, and their Symptoms and Treatment — Splint — Bone Spavin — Ringbone
— Sidebone — Sore Shins — Navicular Disease — Quittor — Bog Spavin — Thoroughpin — Enlarge-
ments caused by Serous Effusion — Capped Hock — Capped Elbow — Contusions and Bruises —
Brushing — Speedy Cut — Over-reach — Broken Knees — Open Joints — Fistulous Withers — Burns-
Frost Bites — Snake Bites and Stings — Lightning and Electric Shocks — Fractures — Dislocations
— Stable Vices — The Horse's Teeth — How to Examine Teeth — Table of Incisors — Age of Horses —
Photographing Horses— Conformation of the Horse — Structural Examination — Colour — Natural
Marks 100

CHAPTER X

PHARMACOPOEIA AND USES OF MEDICINES

The Theory of Medicine — Notes on the Use of Drugs — Methods of Administering Drugs — Hypodermic
Injections — Use of Trocar and Cannula — Passing the Catheter — Poultices — Dosage — Pharma-
copoeia— Strength of Drugs — Useful Compounds to keep in Stock — Incompatability of Drugs —
Poisons and their Antidotes — Apparatus Kept in a Veterinary Pharmacy — Use of Purgatives —
Table of Weights and Measures — Glossary and Therapeutical Classification of Drugs . . . 123

CONTENTS xi

PACK

CHAPTER XI

GENERAL DISEASES : ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS

Temperature, Pulse and Respiration — The Membrana Nictitans — Tracheotomy — Diseases of the
Alimentary Canal — Liver, Spleen and Peritoneum — Heart — Blood Vessels — Blood — Eye — Skin —
Respiratory Tract — Genital Organs — Notes on Parturition 141

CHAPTER XII

ANATOMY AND USE OF THE HORSE5 S TAIL

Anatomy of the Coccygeal Region — The Panniculus Carnosus — Flies — Mosquitoes — Spread of Disease
by Flies— Other Uses of the Tail — Fly Nets — Fly Whisks — Fly Papers — Nicking Tails — Dividing
Depressor Muscles — Straightening " Kinked " Tails ........ 161

CHAPTER XIII

THE CRIME OF DOCKING HORSES' TAILS

The Use of the Tail — Operation of Docking — After-Effects of Docking — Cruelty of Docking — Excuses
for Docking — Cleanliness Excuse — Excuse that Docking Strengthens Hindquarters — Safety in
Driving Excuse — Four Important Points — Smartness Excuse — Neatness Excuse — The Hackney
— Prevention — Summary 166

CHAPTER XIV

OPINIONS OF EMINENT MEN, BOOKS AND THE PRESS ON DOCKING

Rarity of Docking in Russia — Cruelty of Docking — Docking Unnecessary — The Indecency of Docking

Mares — Defencelessness of a Docked Horse against Flies ....... 178

CHAPTER XV

HUMANE EDUCATION— THE LAW

The Law — The Law in other Countries — Decrepit Horse Traffic — The Penal Code of California — Legisla-
tion in Great Britain 183

CHAPTER XVI

ON ANAESTHETICS AND ANAESTHESIA— HUMANE DESTRUCTION

The Nervous System — Description of Nervous Tissue — History of Anaesthetics — Use of Anaesthetics —
Choice of Anaesthetics — Use of Morphine — Anaesthetising Dogs — The Animal Anaesthetics Act —
Local Anaesthetics — Local Anaesthesia by Freezing — Use of Ether Spray — Anaesthesia by Local
Injections — Humane Destruction ........... 188

CHAPTER XVII

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND THE THEORY OF DISEASE

Theory and Prevention of Disease — Contagious Diseases — Bacteria — Methods of Admission into the
System — How Pathogenic Microbes produce Disease — How the System fights against Microbes —
i

xil CONTENTS

MM
Immunity from Disease — Bacterial Vaccines — Other Means of Destroying Disease Microbes —

Antiseptics and how used — Aseptic Treatment of Wounds — Aseptic Surgery — Notes on the
Prevention of Human Disease . . . 196

CHAPTER XVIII

ON SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET

Structure of the Foot — Mechanism of the Foot — Principles of Shoeing — Rasping — Paring — Conformation
of the Foot — Nails — Clips — Removing Shoes — Calkins — Tips — Feathering — Roughing — Common
Faults in Shoeing — Pricks — Presses or Binds — Forge and Shoeing Tools — Faulty Feet — Diseases
of the Hoof 211

CHAPTER XIX

THE USE AND ABUSE OF BEARING-REINS

American Overhead Check-rein — Side Bearing-rein — Good Work of the London Anti-Bearing-rein Associa-
tion— The Hame Rein — Mechanics of the Bearing-rein — Opinions of Experts and the Press on the
Bearing-rein . ... 221

LIST OF PLATES

PLATE:

" GALLJNULE " .

PAGE

1. Landseer's " Favourites " : " Les deux
amis," " The Mourners " . -4

2. The Arab in Art: "A Battle on the
Desert," "A Halt in the Oasis" . 5

3. Napoleon and Washington on their Chargers 8

4. The Arab : " Horses Frightened by Light-
ning," " Somo Sierra, 30th November,
1808" 9

5. Meissonier's " 1814 " .12

6. Hunter, " Walnut." Coaching Stallion,

" Beaston Prince .... 13

7. English Thoroughbreds : " Diamond Jubi-
lee," " Cyllene " 16

8. Thoroughbred, " Sysonby." " An Ara-
bian Outpost" . . 17

9. " Dan Patch," World's Record Pacer.
"Lou Dillon," Trotter at Speed . . 20

10. Jackson and Lee on their Chargers.

" An Arab," by Schreyer ... 21

11. The Horse in Art : " The Meet," " The

Imperial Courier " .... 24

12. Hunter, " Partridge II." " Pretty Polly " 25

13. " Gallinule " and " Admiration," " Pretty
Polly's" Parents 28

14. The Duke of Connaught in Sleigh. Stand-
ard-bred Stallion, " Stephen L." Thor-
oughbred, " Taslett " . . . .29

15. English Thoroughbreds : " Bend Or,"

" Spearmint " 32

16. Thoroughbred Horses : " Berrill," " Right-
ful ".. ... 33

17. Hunter Sire, " Spook." Hunter Mare,

" Gold Leaf " 36

18. Standard-bred Stallion, " Bird Peter."
Arab Stallion, " Shahwan " . . .37

19. Standard-breds : " Cecilian Jay," "Lord
Bryson," " Joe Patchen," " Majestic."
Thoroughbreds : " Joan of Arc," " Per-
simmon " . . . . .40

Frontispiece

PLATE PAGE

20. Thoroughbred Stallion, "Veronese."

Standard-bred Stallion, "TheMoking" . 41

21. Polo Ponies : " Grey Light," " White
Wings" 44

22. Thigh-straps for Blanket; Keeping Mane
Dressed; Methods of Brushing the Mane
and Tail ; Putting on Hayes' Bandages ;
Yorkshire Boot ..... 45

23. The King at Marlborough House. Types

of Loincloths, Blankets and Sheets , 48

24. Curry Combs. Loincloth and Robe.
Bandaging Tail 49

25. Thoroughbred, " Cicero." Trotting Mare,

" Bergamot." Patent Fy-net Attachment 52

26. Types of Tail-plaiting : Light Horses . 53

27. Types of Tail-plaiting : Heavy Horses and
Hunters ...... 56

28. Types of Banged Tails : Duke of Con-

naught's Carriage and Four ... 57

29. Types of Banged Tails (i.e. Undocked) . 60

30. Types of Tail-plaiting : Heavy Horses . 61

31. Diagrams of Shoulder (Anatomy) ; Collars ;
Halters; Picketing .... 64

32. Diagrams of the Theory of Draught. . 64

33. Driving Bits. Methods of Holding Reins

for Single, Pair, Tandem or Four-in-hand 64

34. Types of Modern Tandem and Four-in-
hand 64

35. Draught and Harness Illustrations . 66

36. Driving and Harnessing to the Vehicle . 67

37. A Modern Carriage and Pair . . 68

38. Types of Harness. Six-in-hand Driving.
Pacing Mare, " Ruby R." ... 68

39. Types of Canadian Vehicles ... 68

40. U.S. President's Four-in-hand. World's

Ice Record Holder, " The Eel " . .68

41. American Trotters : " Peter the Great,"

" Ed. Winter " 70

42. Types of Harness, with Names of Parts . 71

xiii

XIV

LIST OF PLATES

PLATH PAQE

43. The Horse in Action : Mr. Winan's " Bonny
View," " Majestic " . . .72

44. Trotting Horses : " Gipsy B.," " Princell,"

"Lake Erie" . . . . .72

45. Canadian Carriages and Pairs . . 72

46. Cleveland Bays : " Josephine," " Haw-
thorn Beauty " 72

47. Types of Heavy Carriage Horses . . 74

48. Canadian-bred Carriage Horses. Hackney
Stallion, " Peter Shales " . .74

49. Commercial Horses, Canadian Bred . 74

50. Types of Commercial Horses . . 74

51. London Van Horses ; Types of Tail-
plaiting 76

52. Canadian-bred Van Horses : Greys . 76

53. Commercial Trap Horses ... 76

54. British Isle Ponies .... 76

55. Toronto Fire Brigade Horses . . 78

56. Toronto Fire Brigade Horses. . . 78

57. Types of Commercial Horses ... 78

58. Equestrian Statue of " Caligula," showing

the Natural Seat 78

59. Officers' Chargers 80

60. American Cavalry Horses ... 80

61. Sleigh and Pair. Polo Pony, " Maystar " 80

62. Modern Polo Ponies. " Energy " . .80

63. The Lady's Seat : Astride Saddle . . 82

64. Hunters 82

65. A Study in Horses by Mr. Harry Payne 82

66. The Lady's Seat : Side Saddle . . 82

67. Champion Hunters : " Forensic," " Bar-
ometer " 84

68. Champion Hunters : " Monarch," " Busby " 84

69. Anatomy of the Back and Limbs . . 84

70. Diagrams Illustrating the Theory of Saddle
Fitting 84

71. The Circulatory System. Bitting Dia-
grams ....... 86

72. Riding Bits. Methods of Holding the
Reins 86

73. Jumping. Swimming Horses. The Side
Saddle . . .... 86

74. Types of Saddles and Saddle Horses,, . 86

75. Tracks of Horses' Feet at Different Paces . 88

76. Ladies' Hunters 88

77. Hunters, " Grey Man " ... 88

78. King George V. and his Favourite Charger.

The Outer Layer of Muscles of the Horse . 88

79. Canadian-bred Army Horses ... 90

PLATE PAOB

80. Cavalry Horses 91

81. Champion Grey Perch erons ... 92

82. The External Regions of the Horse. . 93

83. Earl Harrington on Polo Pony. Grey

Percherons ...... 94

84. Design for Modern Thirty-two-horse Stable 95

85. Design for an Outdoor Summer Stable for
Permament Camps .... 96

86. Designs for Manger, Stalls, Wall and
Stable Fittings ... .96

87. Designs for Ventilating Arrangements,
Drainage and Ship Sling ... 96

88. Interior of a Modern Stable ... 96

89. Stables. Palace Horse Car ... 98

90. Types of Canadian-bred Horses . . 99

91. Jumping a Stone Wall. A Good Type of
Van Horse ... .100

92. English-bred Arabs . . . .101

93. Types of Arabs. King Edward VII.'s

"Persimmon" ... .102

94. The English Coach Horse : " Rillington

Sensation," " Woodland Briar " . 103

95. Conformation of the Hock, Curbs, Spavins,
Capped Hocks, Windgalls . . .104

96. Conformation of the Cannon and Foot,
Splint, Ring-bone and Sidebones . . 105

97. Conformation of the Limbs . . . 108

98. Conformation of the Fore-limbs and Back 109

99. Conformation of the Hock and Hind-limbs 112

100. Diagrams of the Correct Conformation of

the Horse. The Suspensory Ligament . 113

101. The Tendon and Ligaments of the Four
Limbs .... .116

102. How to Tell the Age of a Horse by the

Incisor Teeth 116

103. How to Tell the Age by the Angle of

Incidence. Cross-section through Molar
Jaw 116

104. Flies and Fly-protection . . . 116

105. Hackneys : " King's Proctor," " Hop-
wood Clematis," " Roan's Queen." Shire,

" Midlands Squire " . . .160

106. The Anatomy of the Tail . . .161

107. "How Would He Like It?" a Picture
Parable by Philip R. Goodwin . . 164

108. Life Sketches, showing the Beauty of the
Undocked Tail . . .164

109. The Art of the " Docking Advocate,"
with Suggestions ..... 164

110. Three Famous Hackneys : Docked and
Undocked . . 164

LIST OF PLATES

PLATE

111. Examples of Docked and Undocked
Horses .168

112. Champion Saddle Horse, "Korosko."
Hackney, " Admirable Crichton " . . 169

113. Hackneys : " Beckingham Lady Grace,"

" Lady Beckingham " . . . .170

114. The Folly of Tail-docking . . .171

115. Shire, " Rickford Coming King." Hack-
ney, " Hawsker Rosina." Standard-bred,

" Peter the Great " ... 172

116. Some Beautiful Toronto Carriages and
Pairs 173

117. Long Tails and Plaited Tails . . 174

118. " Docking " Points. " Talke Wildfire " . 175

119. Four-in-hand Driving. The Length of the
Natural Dock 176

120. Four-in-hand Driving. Re-docking . 177

121. " The Rein Excuse." Four-in-hand and
Tandem 180

122. Mr. Walter Winan's Horses. Major
Brooke's " Betty " . . . .181

123. Percheron Stallion, " Frank J." Clydes-
dale Stallion, " Bonnie Buchlyvie " . 184

124. Work of the S.P.C.A 185

125. Examples of Humane Education . . 188

126. Champion Percherons : " Marquis " . 189

127. Champion Suffolks : " Sudbourne Lassie,"

" Sudbourne Redcup " . . . .192

PLATE PA0B

128. Champion Suffolks : " Sudbourne Lord,"

" Sudbourne Beaumonde " . . . 193

129. Champion Suffolks : " Saturn," " Sud-
bourne Arabi " 196

130. Champion Clydesdale, " Royal Guest."
Champion Percheron, " Thor " . . 197

131. World-Champion Clydesdale, " Baron

O'Buchlyvie." Suffolk Punch, " Easton
Duke" .... .200

132. Types of Heavy Draught Horses . . 201

133. Percheron-bred Horses .... 204

134. Heavy Draught Horses . . . .205

135. Suffolk Stallion, " Sudbourne Peter."
Farming in Scotland .... 208

136. Heavy Draught Teams . . . .209

137. The Nerves of the Limbs. Jugular Vein.
Submaxillary Artery. The Brain . . 212

138. Points of Injection for Hypodermic Needle.
How to Shoot a Horse. Position of Jugular
Vein. A Sound Foot. Winter Shoe. . 213

139. Diagrams of the Foot, Shoes and Nails . 216

140. Percheron, " Marjorie." The Unbeaten
Clydesdale, "The Dunure " . 217

141. The Bearing-rein, Mechanics of . . 220

142. Bearing-reins. The Free Neck . . 221

143. The Hame Rein 224

144. Thoroughbred, " Wildfowler." King
George V. and the Duke of Connaught
Riding in Hyde Park . . . .225

INTRODUCTION

I HAVE read with a great deal of interest the proof sheets of " Modern Horse Manage-
ment," which have been sent to me before printing.

I sincerely congratulate the author upon the perseverance and hard work which
enabled him to compile this book. It must be a great source of pleasure for him
to know that the book will be useful, not only to his brother officers, but also to
all those who own or care for horses.

I am very proud indeed to see that an officer of my old regiment has established
the fact that with study and persistent work one can acquire that knowledge in horse-
manship and horsemastership that the author has shown himself to possess in

writing this book.

F. L. LESSARD,

MAJOR-GENERAL, COMMANDING 2ND DIVISION
(late commanding Royal Canadian Dragoons).
TORONTO.

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER I

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

1. IN placing this book before the horse-loving
public, I take the liberty of hoping that the
horse, so long called the friend of man, will
benefit. For more than five years I have been
asked by many of my friends and others who
have been good enough to read my articles in
farm, horse and other periodicals, and who have
attended my lectures on the horse, to publish a
book. For a long time I hesitated to do this,
though I had accumulated copious notes, both
mentally and in writing, of the habits of the
horse and the right and wrong ways of caring
for him and teaching him.

It is from these notes that I have compiled
many of my chapters. All through I have aimed
at brevity ; particularly have I done so in
Chapters IX., X. and XI.

I have at the last moment tried to bring
everything as much up to date as possible, but,
on account of my limited time, I feel that there
is even yet much left out.

I have compiled Chapter II. from several
histories, the classics and various articles. I
am indebted to Mr. Basil Tozer (author of " The
Horse in History") for much valuable informa-
tion. Chapter III. has been compiled from notes
taken while actually training horses during the
past ten years. Most of the points brought out
are purely common-sense ones, but, unfortun-
ately for the horse, too many horsemen possess
so little horse sense, and, what is more, they
never take advice — never hear someone else's
opinion and compare it with their own. A
horseman is one who is always open to advice
and who is always learning. It is a very regret-
table fact that so many Englishmen are such
poor horsemen. The cause of this is our conceit,
our unwillingness to learn. We ride more than
any other nation ; but mere riding does not
signify any knowledge of horsemanship. The
exhibitions of bad riding and the large number
of untrained horses in the hunting field are
sufficient to prove this. I have laid down no
theory that I have not proved to be correct with
all classes and ages of horses. But where the

average horseman fails is in not having perfect
patience and complete control over his own
temper while handling horses. I have dealt
with the correct principles of feeding and water-
ing in Chapter IV., showing how absurd some of
the old ideas really are. I have purposely gone
into the physiological reasons, because unless
one knows why such and such a thing should be
done it often will not be done.

In Chapter V. I have gone into physiology for
the same reason. I have discussed at some length
the subject of tail plaiting, for which I have
photographed a large number of plaited tails.

In Chapters VI. and VII. I have pointed out
many of the common faults practised by horse-
men to-day, giving in each case practical reasons,
considering them always from the horse's point
of view.

I owe very much to my late riding-master,
Professor Alfred Savigear, who, it must be
remembered, entered the British army in 1855,
and was the prime promoter of what is now the
Royal Naval and Military Tournament. He was
one of those who revised Baucher's system of
horse training, using his many good points, but
eliminating his radically wrong ones. I am also
indebted to my late instructor, Sergt.-Major
Broadley (1st D.G.), who was the British army
champion in mounted sports some six years ago.
I show numerous types of horses and vehicles.

In Chapter IX. I deal with anatomical diseases,
in Chapter XI. diseases of organs, and in Chapter
XVIII. diseases of the foot. These chapters
have been compiled from my notes taken while
studying at the Ontario Veterinary College and
Toronto University and while practising in
Western Canada. They have been made as
up to date as possible by studying the latest
veterinary journals. In most cases I give the
treatment that I have found to be the most
successful ; but, as I advise in these chapters,
it is dangerous for an amateur to play with a
sick horse or with drugs.

I feel that the condensed pharmacopoeia,
giving the uses and doses of drugs, with tables

2

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

of antidotes and weights and measures, will be
useful to many horse owners. Chapter X. is con-
cluded with an extensive glossary of terms for
the benefit of those who are not familiar with
them. In Chapter XII. I have dealt in detail
with the use of the horse's tail. I have con-
sidered the subject of flies and mosquitoes, list-
ing the names of many of these pests. The
chapter is concluded with notes on minor
operations.

2. In Chapters XIII. and XIX. I have dealt
in detail with the commonest forms of cruelty
to animals. One might ask why it is necessary
to write at such length on such a subject in
such an enlightened age. The reasons, I think,
are clearly set forth in Chapters XIII. and
XIX. The fashion of docking horses is one that,
thank God, is receiving much attention now.
I commenced writing on this subject in the
English and American Press nine years ago, at
the time Prince Christian spoke so strongly.

The Times truly said not long since : " The
long tail is now considered preferable." To any
real lover of Nature I believe it always was ; but
until a short while ago the cowardly "horse-
doper" had it all his own way. Inexperienced
owners purchased such horses because they
knew no better. Now that horse shows are set-
ting the example of humanity (except in the
case of the Hackney, Shire and Clyde), we see a
wonderful change. The modern horse show was
inaugurated to encourage horsemanship and
this it should really do, while steadily discoun-
tenancing all brutality.

In Canada and the States the type of delivery
horse is rapidly improving, as shown in many
of the plates, and is often much ahead of many
of the English horses ; but the private carriage
horse in Canada is far behind the times. We
see few of the good type of carriage horse, of
which examples are illustrated, and it has only
been during the past few years that we have
seen these better horses in New York.

The proprietors of "Reducine," in an excel-
lent little pamphlet on the horse, show a striking
picture of a "swell," with eyeglass, etc., driving
a tightly checked horse, with tail stuck up like a
hat-peg, in a high dog-cart. Below it are the
words, "Which has the most brains?"

Cruelty is becoming more and more sup-
pressed. Ignorant cruelty is checked by the law,
but the law at present has very little hold over
wanton cruelty and needs much amending. It
is clear, from the numerous letters I have re-
ceived from noted horsemen and others on both
sides of the Atlantic, that the general opinion
is strongly against cruel fashions.

The Times, in a leading article on cruelty,
discussed at length the public sentiment that is
growing against cruelty on the stage. A recent
music-hall " turn " was removed by public
request. It says : " An animal on the stage is to

some extent a personality on the stage, and the
modern sentiment that condemns its treatment
as an ingenious but somewhat fatuous automa-
ton is not without justification." As it rightly
argued, people now realise that a dumb animal
should not be treated in a way that is unnatural
to it.

3. Then another change is taking place. The
Times continues : " The notion of what con-
stitutes a smart appearance is undergoing a
change. Animals are becoming more and more
emancipated from the fetters of human, often
feminine, fastidiousness. The important fact is
that such a change implies the adoption of a
more rational attitude towards animals in
general ; a preference for what is natural over
what is artificial."

The Times concludes: "It is only now that
we are beginning to look upon humbler animals
in a new light." But, I add, how much there is
still to be done !

Since writing Chapter XIII. serious steps have
been taken by that famous horseman, Mr.
Walter Winans. May his good work be re-
warded ! Although he may have some enemies,
as most reformers have, his many friends must
be ever increasing. But what does it matter if
he has no friends in the world : is he not stand-
ing up for a dumb creature of God's creation
that has no say in the matter?

The veterinary profession of late has done
much to help the good cause, but it is very
necessary that this profession be closely allied
to all humane societies. These must work hand
in hand to produce really permanent results. I
feel greatly indebted to the Royal Veterinary
College and to Doctors Rutherford and Torrens,
of Ottawa, the late and present Veterinary
Directors-General of the Dominion.

The subject of humane education and the law
is dealt with in Chapter XV., in which I have
also quoted from different writers.

In Chapter XIV. and the latter part of Chapter
XIX. I have quoted from the opinions of various
people, the Press, and books on docking, bear-
ing-reins, etc.

Well knowing how shocking it is that little
use is made of anaesthetics by those who have
to operate on dumb animals, I have dealt with
the subject rather in detail in Chapter XVI.,
much of it being compiled from my notes while
using anaesthetics.

In Chapter XVII., for the benefit of the
scientific mind, I have gone rather deeply into
bacteriology, as the subject is replete with
interest and importance. Most of the chapter
is compiled from my notes while studying the
subject under Professor Amyott, of Toronto
University.

I have felt it my duty to add some notes on
the prevention of human disease.

In Chapter XVIII. I have pointed out in detail

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

3

the terrible blunders the modern farrier makes
in the forge, giving the reasons and the correct
methods, and a brief description of the anatomy
of the foot.

4. My illustrations, I feel, will appeal to the
true lover of the horse. They are conspicuous
for the absence of the mutilated type, except in
a few instances. I feel that a study of them
will cause most people to appreciate the beauty
of the horse as Nature made him.

I have gone to enormous expense and trouble
in procuring many of these photographs. I am
extremely indebted to many horse lovers for the
help they have given me, without which it
would have been impossible to procure many
of my photographs.

5. I beg to offer my sincerest thanks to Major-
General Lessard, C.B., and my squadron com-
mander, Major D. D. Young, for much help ; to
Captain J. A. Campbell, C.A.V.C., Toronto, for
so kindly revising Chapters IX. and XI., and
for some valuable additions ; to Dr. T. C. Evans,
of Ottawa, for furnishing me with some valuable
bacteriological information. I also wish to
thank most sincerely the following for kind
assistance : Lieut.-Colonel Wm. Hendrie, Major
Joseph Kilgour, Major-General Sir Wm. Otter,
Mr. Walter Winans, Earl Grey (former Governor-
General of Canada), Sir Henry Pellatt, Senator
Kirchhoffer, Colonel H. T. Allen (U.S. Cavalry),
Mr. N. J. Holmes, D.V.S., the Hon. Geo. Saville,
Mr. Darrach, the Hon. S. N. Parent, Major Eaton,
R.C.H.A., Thos. Tilling, Limited, Sir Edmund
Osier, Lieut.-Colonel Hall, Mr. W. U. Pitfield,

Captain A. McMillan, D.S.O., R.C.D., Squadron
Sergt.-Major James, R.C.D., Mr. F. Bernard,
Mr. P. C. L. Harris, Mr. G. A. Parsons, the Pro-
prietors of the Toronto Sunday World, Buffalo
Horse World, New York Spur, Cavalry Journal,
Sporting and Dramatic News, The Graphic,
Canadian Farm, Irish Field, Farm Life, Our
Dumb Animals, Sphere and Taller, Sketch, and
my sister and twin brother. I also thank Messrs.
Andre and Sleigh for the extra trouble taken in
the production of most of these cuts.

Hearty thanks are due to the many friends
who kindly sent me photographs and allowed
their horses to be photographed, as acknow-
ledged under each plate. I am also much
indebted to Farrier-Sergt. Hogan, R.C.D., for
assistance in taking many of the photographs ;
to Mr. Bailey, of the Galbraith Photo Company,
Toronto, for taking such pains in finishing
several hundred photographs at very short
notice ; to Mr. Redpath, of Chas. Potter,
Limited, and Messrs. Pringle and Booth, Toronto,
for special pains taken with many of my photo-
graphs ; and to the Misses Swanton and Carr
for working so hard in preparing my manuscript
for the printers.

Since writing the above I have learnt of the
sad death of my sincere friend and riding-master,
Alfred Savigear. The horse has lost a great
friend.

R. S. T.

STANLEY BARRACKS,

TORONTO.

CHAPTER II

HISTORY OF THE HORSE

6. BEFORE entering upon the subject of the
horse's character and habits, it will be as well
to give a brief history of the horse as far back
as it can be traced. The native country of the
horse is not certainly known.

Some writers are of the opinion that horses
were used in chariots 3,000 years before Christ,
but no reliable information can be obtained on
this point.

The gravestones of the Mycenean period show
sculpture reliefs of pair horses and chariots, the
approximate date of some of these being
1500 B.C. According to Basil Tozer, the Libyan
women of Asia Minor rode horses astride as
early as 1800 B.C., and pairs were also driven in
chariots.

7. About the year 1740 B.C. horses were
probably first used in Egypt. The Book of
Genesis states that wagons (probably drawn by
horses) were used at the time famine devastated
Canaan, but that horses were not then common
enough to be used as pack animals, because
the corn was laden on asses. Soon after this,
however, horses became common, and cavalry
formed a considerable portion of the Egyptian
army. The Bible tells us that, about 1650 B.C.,
the horse was commonly used by the Egyptians ;
horsemen and chariots existed at this time. One
hundred and fifty years after this, as we learn
from the Book of Exodus, the horsemen were the
principal strength of the Egyptian army. Horse
races and chariot races were instituted in the
Olympic Games in 1450 B.C.

8. Virgil mentions that King Erichthonius,
some time before the year 1400 B.C., was the first
to drive a four-in-hand. It is clear from the
accounts in the Bible that the first animals to be
domesticated were the ox, the sheep, the goat
and the ass, and that the horse was not domesti-
cated until later.

In 1000 B.C. dark bay horses were used by
the Libyans in Asia Minor, and later many of
this colour were imported into Asia Minor.
From Homer we also gather that bronze bits
were used 1000 years B.C. ; previous to this bone,
horn and copper bits had been used. Ancient
reliefs show us that men rode at times without
saddle or bit. Homer tells us many facts of
interest about four-in-hand chariots and expert
riding in 900 B.C. in the "Iliad." Horsemanship

had evidently become quite an art in Homer's
time.

9. About 900 B.C. horse cloths were used by the
Assyrians to sit on, but not until 400 years later
did the Greeks and Macedonians use cloths for
this purpose. Herodotus eays that about 600 B.C.
the Greeks learned much from the Libyans, that
at this time the Libyans rode astride, and drove
pairs as well as four abreast. He also tells us
that white horses existed in those days. About
650 B.C. riding horses were raced ; at this time
cavalry were not much used in war. About
400 B.C. the Celts had become good riders and
possessed a good cavalry. The reason cavalry
were not used in the early days was partly due
to the fact that the warrior, when on horse-
back, was unable to carry his heavy shield.
Herodotus tells us that the horses of this period
were to a great extent small and possessed a
long shaggy coat ; 300 to 400 B.C. the Gauls of
Northern Italy were a race of good horsemen.

10. Xenophon tells us, more than 350 years
before Christ, that jointed bits were used, and
that as early as 600 B.C. the art of bitting had
reached an advanced stage. Several centuries
before Christ horses were taught to dance to
music. Homer asserts that Thracian horses
were of the finest for riding and chariot work,
although riding was not resorted to much in
those days. The horses around this date were
mostly dappled or of a golden colour, and
Achilles' steeds (so history tells us) had very
heavy manes.

11. Greek scholars will remember the inter-
esting story Plutarch relates of young Alexander
the Great, about 330 B.C., when he displayed
before his father, King Philip of Macedonia, his
extraordinary knowledge of horses and his com-
mon sense. He had, no doubt, studied the writings
of the famous horseman, Xenophon, who prob-
ably wrote his work on horses about 350 B.C.,
but he was a born horseman and one of the
first natural horsemen that history tells us of.
King Philip had a young, nervous horse brought
before him, but on account of its apparently
ferocious behaviour ordered it to be sent away
as unmanageable. Thereupon young Alexander
stood out before the mass and declared that he
could ride the horse. He was laughed at for
his behaviour and severely reprimanded by the

PLATE 1

THE HORSE IN ART
a, Landseer's " Favourites." b, " Les deux amis." c, " The Mourners."

PLATE 2

THE ARAB IN ART
a, "A Battle on the Desert." b, "A Halt in the Oasis." By Schreyer

CHAP. Il]

HISTORY OF THE HORSE

King. But after repeated appeals he was allowed
to try, the penalty for failure being forfeiture of
a large sum of money. Alexander had noticed
that the horse (like so many modern so-called
vicious horses) was so frightened that he even
shied at his own shadow, and was not vicious.
The youth turned the horse facing the sun, so
that he could not see his own shadow, and
after caressing the horse for several minutes
drew himself upon his back, and after several
minutes of patience was able to make the
horse walk and finally trot in front of his
amazed audience. Plutarch tells us that King
Philip was so overcome by his son's wonderful
horsemanship that he wept, and stood up and
said that his whole kingdom was not too much
for such a lad. This horse was given to
Alexander, and was called Bucephalus. Alex-
ander could do anything with the horse, but
his groom could not. The horse carried the
great warrior through countless battles, and
eventually was killed in action.

From inscriptions on vases lately discovered
in the ancient tombs of the Scythians, who lived
on the steppes of Southern Russia, it is evident
that in those days (400-300 B.C.) both men and
women rode astride on saddle cloths, without
saddles or stirrups. The horses were small
(about 14 hands) and well made. Spurs were
not used. A single rein bridle was used, with
a bit something like a bridoon.

12. About fifty years later, Thucydides tells
us that the horses in war became lame through
not being shod. At this period, and until the
Christian era, horses were represented on coins.
It is clear that professional horse trainers and
horse doctors existed three or four centuries B.C.
Xenophon gives us a great deal of valuable
information throughout his works ; much good
could be gained by the modern horseman if he
were to read Xenophon's words on the horse.
Tozer reminds us that Xenophon understood the
horse, and was certainly not an advocate of
shortening the horse's tail and of cutting off its
mane. This great Grecian horseman explains
the uses of these appendages. Docking horses
was probably not heard of in his time. Up to
that date proper saddles and stirrups were not
used ; riders mounted from either side by
springing on to the horse's back.

13. Xenophon instructed young Greek horse-
men in riding about 400 B.C. The Romans pos-
sessed a fair number of cavalry, mounted on
beautiful horses, in 280 B.C. when they fought the
Persians. At this time the horrible practice of
offering live horses for sacrifice to the gods was
not uncommon. We cannot obtain much in-
formation about the horse during the three
hundred and fifty years following the death of
Xenophon, which took place in 359 B.C., though
Virgil furnishes some details concerning the
animal. About 250 B.C. the famous Buddhist

Emperor of India, Asoka, founded probably the
first animal hospital in the world. He was a
great humanitarian, and gave vast sums of
money towards bettering the treatment of horses
and other animals. His hospital was free. A
writer not long ago compared the work of Asoka
to the humane work of to-day, and concluded
by remarking that, when one considered the
cruelty that the modern horse show (and some
dog shows, too) is in great part responsible for,
the progress made in the last 2,000 years has
not been notable.

14. It is clear that the Greeks used spurs ;
these spurs had no rowels, but possessed a sharp
spike. Xenophon and Horace both remind us
of the importance of a horse's possessing good
hoofs. The Romans at the time of Cassar did
not use shoes, but covered the feet with a leather
sock which had a metal base. In the British
Museum is a statue of Caligula on horseback
(about A.D. 37) which shows him sitting bare-
back with a correct seat, like the best of hunting
seats to-day. (See P. 58.)

In 55 B.C., when Julius Caesar invaded Britain
for the first time, cavalry were becoming more
common. Caesar was also met in battle by a
great number of mounted knights, showing that
horses were ridden for war purposes in Britain
at this period. At the time of the invasion by
Julius Caesar, history tells us that the English
breed of horse must have been extremely power-
ful and active, and that many were taken back
to the Roman Empire, where they were highly
valued. At that period the English breeds were
crossed with the horses brought in by the
Romans from Italy, Gaul and Spain.

15. Just prior to the commencement of the
Christian era we read of white and of black
horses in chariots, with long and curly manes
and tails ; the black horses were probably of
Spanish or Gaulish blood. Caesar, a few years
B.C., and Tacitus, about A.D. 50, both refer to
the race of Iceni, who practised chariot racing
and lived in the central parts of England. The
first riding race on record in England probably
took place about 200 years after this.

Afterwards English mares were crossed with
Arabian stallions. It is doubtful whether trie
modern thoroughbred comes from the Darley
Arabian or the Godolphin Arabian. Queen
Boadicea, who led the Iceni against the Romans,
was a clever horsewoman and was devoted to
her horses. Pliny is supposed to have written
a book on the horse, but this book is said to
have been destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius,
A.D. 79, when the city of Pompeii was buried.

16. In the first century A.D. Calpurnius and
Columella mention the horse. In the third
century A.D. Oppian and Nemesian speak of the
horse, and in the following century Apsyrtus,
Pelagonius and Palladicea give us information
of interest.

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Towards the end of the fourth century the
Romans commenced to use saddles. This was
about the time that the Roman soldiers returned
to their own country from Britain (A.D. 410).
Record is made that the Roman horses suffered
from sore backs due to these chair-shaped
saddles. In A.D. 400 200 Cappadocian horses
were sent by the Roman Emperor as the most
acceptable present he could offer a powerful
Prince of Arabia, showing that horses were
not common in Arabia; and as late as A.D. 700
thousands of camels and sheep were mentioned
amongst bits of plunder, but no mention was
made of horses. When Mahomet attacked
Koreish, near Mecca, he had but two horses.
Previous to this ancient history mentions that
presents of horses were sent from Egypt to
Arabia. It is clear, therefore, that the horses
of Arabia, and probably of the south-eastern
parts of Europe, were derived from Egypt, but
whether they were bred in Egypt or brought
there from the south-western regions of Asia,
or from the interior or northern coasts of Africa,
cannot be clearly determined.

17. It is interesting to note that ancient
sculptures, such as those on the ruins of Perse-
polis, show that the horse was driven in chariots
and used probably for pack work before he was
ridden. This is strange, as one would think
that the tendency would be to sit astride a horse
before going to the task of making a wheeled
vehicle.

Reliefs in museums show that when the horse
was first ridden no saddle was used, and that
the horsemen rode with a seat very similar to
the modern hunting-seat — that is, with the knee
bent. (See P. 58.)

Berenger tells us that the first record of
proper horse shoeing dates about A.D. 460, at
the time of Childeric. Within a century of this
horse-shoeing had become quite common. About
then the Swedes had become fine horsemen and
possessed beautiful horses. About this time the
Arabs are supposed to have commenced horse
breeding in a systematic way. About A.D. 610
Mahomet encouraged horse breeding. At this
time stirrups became common. About A.D. 630
the English are said to have commenced using
saddles. In the eighth century saddle horses
became common. Horse racing was popular in
France for running horses (galloping) in the
ninth century A.D.

18. It is interesting to note that even in those
days the frauds met amongst horse breeders and
hiremen were only too common, and many
instances are recorded of brutality practised on
horses. The methods of recording such brutali-
ties prove clearly how little attention was paid
to the sufferings of the dumb animal. (See
Chapter XIV.)

We now reach the period of the Norman
Conquest (1066). At this time the general

development of the horse in many countries was
encouraged, and into England a number of fine
stallions were imported from Spain. Previous
to this we find that the English breed received
another cross about the time of Alfred the Great
(A.D. 871-901), when German running horses
were imported.

A great improvement in our cross breeds
followed the Conquest of William I. He brought
with him Norman cavalry horses of the best type.
Fine Spanish horses were also introduced.

Subsequently Crusaders brought many useful
horses from the Eastern countries. In later
history we find that King John (1199-1216)
imported a hundred stallions of fine breed from
Flanders. These were agricultural horses.

Edward II. (1307-1327) imported war horses
from Lombardy. Horse-breeding was again
given encouragement when Henry III. (1216-
1272) came to the throne, and this King was
very fond of horses ; he took much interest in
proper breeding.

19. Edward III. (1327-1377) encouraged horse
breeding. At this period quite an interest was
being taken in the turf and also in the chase
(hunt). Edward III. purchased a great number
of foreign horses, which he brought to England.
History, nevertheless, tells us that during his
reign, at the battle of Crecy (1346), there was a
great shortage of horses for the British troops.

Richard II. (1377-1399) was a horseman and
encouraged horse-breeding. One of his horses
in particular he is said to have loved like a son ;
this was Roan Barbary, to which Shakespeare
refers in Richard 11. Horse-racing is supposed
to have commenced properly during this reign.

Edward III. imported many fine Spanish
horses. He was devoted to turf sports, and prob-
ably kept racehorses of his own. Richard II.
is recorded as having done much to improve the
breed of the English horse.

Henry VII. (1485-1509) and Henry VIII.
(1509-1547) also, so history tells us, did much
to improve the breeding of the English horse.
Cardinal Wolsey, in the reigns of Henry VII.
and Henry VIII., who was a fine horseman and
horsemaster, did much to encourage horse-
breeding and horsemanship. When Henry VIII.
commenced his long reign another great impulse
was given to horse-breeding in England. Henry
was a keen sportsman, and spent his money
freely upon the bettering of the horses of the
country. He owned many famous Barbs and
other racehorses, and was also a lover of the
chase.

20. Queen Elizabeth was a lover of the turf
and was very fond of horses ; she was a good
horsewoman and rode considerably. During her
reign a great advance was made in turf-racing,
and consequently in breeding thoroughbred
stock ; many new races were run.

James I. (1603-1625), who is supposed to have

II]

HISTORY OF THE HORSE

founded Newmarket, also encouraged horse-
racing and breeding. At the close of James's
reign horse-racing had become so generally
popular that it was denounced by public
speakers and clergymen as being the beginning
of the ruination of the country. It is strange
that a great many of the fast turf horses first
bred at Newmarket were bred from some of the
Spanish Armada horses. About 1640 horseman-
ship in England was greatly benefited by the
Duke of Newcastle, who was a high authority
on riding and horsemastership. Soon after this
date he published a valuable book on equitation.
(See P. 74c.) The Duke was called a fearless
and a finished horseman.

21. It was not until the close of the reign of
James I. that horse-racing was run on definite
lines under fixed rules. Charles I. was an
ardent lover of turf sports ; Charles II. followed
no less keenly. Up till the end of Queen Anne
the Arabian had not received much notice, but
at this time Mr. Darley, fighting against much
prejudice, introduced the Arabian into England,
and gradually the unequalled beauty, speed and
strength of the Arabian (sometimes known in
those days as the Darley Arabian) became
recognised.

During the reign of the two Charleses (Charles
I., 1625-1649, Charles II., 1660-1685) horses in-
creased in value. Charles II. was an exception-
ally good horseman, and is said to have been
most humane in the manner in which he treated
his horses.

While writing I have before me some of Van
Dyck's and Landseer's paintings of the horses
of the period of the Charleses and Jameses, and
cannot but think, when I compare these superb-
looking creatures of Nature's handiwork with
some of the disfigured animals we see at times
on the road and in the show ring, that the
advancement of civilisation has caused a
deterioration in the methods in which our equine
friend is treated.

About that period stage coaches were intro-
duced and became commonly used. This caused
an increase in the breeding of heavy coach
horses, as the coaches were very heavy and the
roads very bad.

22. During the eleven years of the Common-
wealth of Oliver Cromwell (1649-1660) the turf
and hunting suffered a tremendous setback,
for although Cromwell, great cavalry leader as
he was, encouraged the breeding of the mag-
nificent chargers ridden in those days, he for-
bade the continuance of either horse-racing or
hunting.

Following this came the accession of Charles
II., and horse-racing was resumed. Horseman-
ship in general was encouraged by the King,
who was an accomplished horseman.

George III. (1760-1820) was a keen horseman,
and encouraged driving and other forms of

equine sport. It was George III. who so openly
condemned the practice of cropping horses' ears
and of docking their tails, " unbecoming the
ignorance and cruelty of savages." The King
forbade all the horses in his army from being
thus disfigured and ill-treated, and various steps
were taken to abolish these practices by law ;
but the ultra-fashionable horse-dealer got his
way, and although, thank God, the former
practice has become extinct, the latter is quite
common still, as a peep into the modern Hackney
or Shire horse show will convince us.

It is truly said that the introduction into
England of the Arabian horse has been respons-
ible not only for the beautiful English thorough-
bred, but also for the present strength, endur-
ance and activity of our roadster, coach horse
and hunter.

The horse is not a native of prairie land or
plains, but comes from the forest.

23. The American horses are mostly either
from the French or from the English. The
Canadian breed is found chiefly in Canada and
the Northern States, and is supposed to be
of French descent. Many of the celebrated
American trotters come from this breed. The
Conestoga breed, from Pennsylvania, is a long-
legged, light-bodied horse, used chiefly for light
carriage work. The Virginian and Kentucky
breeds originate from the English breed. The
Percheron is a most excellent breed of draught
horse, and, except for his small feet, is far
superior to many other breeds.

English and Scotch breeds are very numerous
in number, such as the Suffolk, Cleveland Bay,
Shire, Clydesdale, Hunter, the old Northamp-
tonshire, Hackney, Dartmoor, Shetland, Exmoor
and the New Forest, and the Irish, Highland,
Galloway and Welsh pony breeds.

24. Troops of wild horses were found on the
plains of Great Tartary and in several parts of
South America, but these were very unlikely of
an original race. They were probably descend-
ants of those who had escaped from the slavery
of men, who had brought them into those
countries. The Tartary horses were supposed
to be descended from those that were turned
loose at the siege of Azoph in 1657 for want of
forage.

The manner in which these wild herds
protect themselves is interesting. They move
about and live in huge troops of as many as
10,000 horses. All the mares and foals are kept
in the centre. There is one leader, whom all the
others implicitly obey and trust. He is the first
to face all danger in case of attack. Travellers
found that it was dangerous to approach on
horseback, because some of the troop would
advance close to the saddle horse and try their
utmost to call him to join them. In many in-
stances the saddled horse would succeed in
ridding itself of its master and saddle, and with a

8

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

wild yell would join the troop — free for ever. In
some instances the horses of Tartary were not so
friendly to domesticated horses ; they would
even attack them with their teeth and kill them.
These Tartary horses, when captured by man,
were found to be most docile.

At the beginning of the last century troops of
wild horses were found in the central parts of
Africa, in the Island of San Domingo, in the
deserts of Arabia and in other parts of the
world, but these horses did not equal domesti-
cated horses in form, strength or even speed.

25. When we consider that Egypt is a country
that is not favourable to horse-breeding, we
cannot help wonderng whether the horses
which the Bible and ancient history tell us came
from Egypt were actually bred there. It is only
reasonable to suppose, as stated above, that they
originally came from the interior or northern
coasts of Africa. At any rate, there is no doubt
that Africa was the first continent to produce
the horse.

The head of all the African horses is the
Barb, from Barbary, Morocco, Fez and Tripoli ;
remarkable for his fine and graceful action, his
height seldom exceeding 14.1 hands. The most
celebrated racehorses trace their descent from
African Barb mares. The Arab is inferior in
form to the Barb, but has better spirit, speed
and countenance. The Spanish horse is mostly
descended from the Barb.

The kingdom of Dongola and the neighbour-
ing districts between Egypt and Abyssinia pro-
duce another breed known as the Dongola ; he
is a much larger horse, 16 hands or more in
height, with a much snorter body than either
the Arabian or our modern thoroughbred. They
were imported into Europe early in the nine-
teenth century, but were of little value.

26. Going farther East, we come to the
Arabian. About seventy years ago wild horses
were still seen in the deserts of Arabia. These
horses were extremely swift, and some of them
were hunted by the Bedouins for food. Although
in the seventh century Arabia had no horses of
value, the horses which it had — as the Cappa-
docian and others — were so carefully cared for
and bred that in 600 years (i.e. the thirteenth
century) they had produced one of the finest
horses in the world — the true Arab. This horse
is divided into three breeds : the Attechi, an
inferior breed ; the Kadischi, a half-breed ; and
the Kochlani, whose genealogy in some cases, it
is claimed, could be traced back for 2,000 years.
In fact, people kept the tables of these wonder-
ful steeds with greater care than they kept the
tables of their own relations. The Bedouin
Arabs had been chiefly responsible for the breed-
ing of the Kochlani Arab horse. It has always
been with great difficulty that an Arab mare
has been purchased, but exported Arab stallions
have been quite common. The female was

always the better animal, and genealogies were
always reckoned on the female side.

27. The finest part of the Arab horse, without
doubt, is his head, and he is always well-balanced
in appearance, because he has a magnificent tail,
which he carries extremely well. The broad,
square forehead, short, fine muzzle, small ears
and prominent, bright eyes are the characteris-
tics of an Arab's head. His shoulders are ideal,
although he is a little narrow in the chest, but
there is ample lung space behind the shoulders.
The Arab seldom exceeds 14.2 hands. The leg
is small, flat and wiry, and he is capable of per-
forming marvellous feats. His temper and
docility are his characteristics, no less than his
speed and his courage. Bishop Heber, in his
"Journeys Through the Upper Provinces of
India," states that " he is not the fiery, dashing
animal I had supposed, but has almost as much
attachment and coaxing ways as a dog." This
is due to the manner in which these horses were
brought up from their birth — as one of the
children — so different from the harsh way the
majority of so-called horsemen of to-day bring
up their young horses.

28. Still pursuing our way Eastward, we
come to the Indian horses. There are several
Indian breeds, the most important being the
Toorky, originally from Persia, a beautiful and
docile animal, with splendid spirit and action.
The other breeds are: the Iranee, the patient
and strong Cozahee, the speedy and beautiful
Mojinniss, and, lastly, the Tazsee, a breed not
beautiful in form, but extremely comfortable to
ride. Going still farther East, we come to the
Chinese horse ; this animal is small and weedy,
ill-formed, and without much spirit.

Returning Westward, we come back to the
Persian horse, which is said to be very like the
Arab, but has less power of endurance. This
breed is much older than that of the Arab.
Alexander the Great is said to have considered
no gift finer than that of a Persian horse. Their
height is about equal to that of an Arab.

29. The Turkoman breed that comes from
South Tartary (north-east of the Caspian Sea)
constitutes a pure and valuable breed. For
service they excel the Persian. They stand from
15 to 16 hands, and are swift and inexhaustible.
However, their head is usually too large, legs
inclined to be long, and barrel small. The
horses from the other parts of Tartary (i.e. the
plains of Central Asia and European Russia) are
small and badly made, but have the extra-
ordinary power of travelling tremendous and
rapid journeys on comparatively little food.

The Turkish horses are descended chiefly
from the Arab. They have assisted in improv-
ing, in the past, English breeds. Their body is
inclined to be long.

30. The Italian horse has sadly degenerated
from what it was several centuries ago. The

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HISTORY OF THE HORSE

9

old breed, known as the Neapolitan, was par-
ticularly suitable for carriage work on account
of its size and stateliness.

The Spanish horse has always been of the
best, and owes its excellence to the Barbary
blood brought over by the Moors.

The German horse is large, heavy and slow.
Many of the modern German horses have
originated from Holstein.

The French horse is of various breeds. The
best are those from Limousin and Normandy,
but the modern French horse is much crossed
with English breeds.

Flemish and Dutch horses form a great part
of the ancestors of our draught horses, their
breeds being strong, large and beautifully
formed.

The Swedish and Norwegian horses are
small, speedy, high-spirited and well-formed.
Finland breeds are even smaller.

The Iceland horse is small, strong and swift,
and is very probably descended from the
Norwegian.

31. It is a regrettable fact that the climate
of the North American continent is not suited
to produce fine horses for any length of time.
Before European horses were imported into
Canada and the United States, the horses of these
countries were small and often of a weedy type,
although, centuries ago, derived from the finest
breeds of large and well-formed horses.

Horse-breeding in these countries is only
successful with a certain admixture of European
blood every now and then. On the other hand,
the English climate is absolutely ideal for horse-
breeding. The cobby breed of horse (see P. 29)
could be produced for ever without introducing
other blood.

It will be remembered how soon the Cana-
dian and the United States horses collapsed in
the South African war. Very few of the Cana-
dian horses exported to England are of the same
build and stamina as the English horse.

The Argentine horses, that had been fed on
alfalfa (sainfoin) previous to leaving their native
land, collapsed at once when fed on oats in
South Africa. The best horses that were sent to
South Africa were the London 'bus horse and the
Kirghiz pony (from South Russia). The former
(similar to those in P. 29rf, e, /) were in the best
of condition, and very readily adapted them-
selves to their new country, the latter lasting
equally as well.

The Horse in Geology

32. The earliest trace of the ancestors of the
horse shows us a small animal of about 16 in.
in height. He is known as the Palaeotherium,
and had a hoof on each side of the main one,
nearly as big as the latter. All three of the hoofs
touch the ground. The next tribe was the Pala-

c

photherium, which had smaller hoofs on each
side of the centre one. Next was the Anchi-
therium, which had much smaller hoofs on each
side.

Then came the Hipparion, whose side hoofs
were hidden in the leg close to the main hoof.
Lastly came the horse. How great a time elapsed
between these various ancestors it is impossible
to state. Suffice it to say that the Hipparion was
probably the several millionth great-grandfather
to the horse. The Hipparion was found in the
Pliocene and Miocene periods of geological time.
The most recent period is the Post-pliocene,
which is subdivided into the Glacial and the
newer recent epochs. To give an idea of the age
of the Hipparion (so geology tells us), to say
nothing of its three ancestors mentioned above
and others previous to these, it must be noted
that the whole of the written history, from early
Egyptian, Babylonian and other Bible records
to the present day, forms a small part of the
latter half of the recent epoch.

Prof. J. Cossar Ewart, speaking at the Vic-
toria and Albert Museum (British museum) a
few years ago, said that it was impossible to fix
the ancestors of the horse. He believed that the
horse descended from many lines. The Paleon-
tological Section of the New York Museum has
six stages of the evolution of the horse, all of
which were collected from the rock beds of the
State of Montana (West U.S.A.) by Professor
Wortmann.

Etymology of the Horse

33. The horse is supposed to have derived its
name equus, in the Latin tongue, or hippos, in
the Greek tongue, from its swiftness, equus
meaning swift.

Zoological Position of the Horse

34. The position that the horse holds in the
universe is worthy of note.

The horse belongs to the animal kingdom, the
Chordata Phylum (form), the Vertebrata Sub-
Phylum, and to the Craniata division of this
Phylum.

He belongs to the Mammalia class, the Theria
sub-class, and the Eutheria division of this sub-
class; and to the Ungulata order (hoofed or
nailed), the Perissodactyla sub-order (odd
number of digits, the Equidae family, the Equus
genus, and the Caballus species. Varieties of the
species are very numerous.

The Equine Machine

35. Let us first consider what the equine
machine is. It is a complicated mass of power-
ful and less powerful muscles which connect to
bony levers (limbs, etc.), and have the power of

10

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, ii

moving these levers, which in turn are connected
to a powerful framework of bone. Now these
muscles must receive vitality, or else they (or,
rather, the cells of which they are composed)
will die. This vitality is supplied by various
organs ; these are placed within and protected
by this framework, which forms an origin for
most of the main muscles. Hence the frame-
work (known as the carcass) has a twofold
function. All the cells in the bones, as well as
those in the muscles, have to be supplied with
vitality, i.e. food. In fact, all the tendons, liga-
ments and other tissues have to be similarly
supplied. This cell food is part of the blood,
or, rather, is carried by the blood and distri-
buted throughout the machine. The blood
receives its food by means of various organs that
abstract certain chemical products from various
animal, vegetable and mineral compounds,
which constitute what we call food.

These organs receive this food, grind it up,
convert it chemically into other chemical com-
pounds, and pass it on to the blood and lymph,
which flow in the arteries and lymph-vessels
respectively. The solids not required are passed
out. The liquids in the blood not required are
collected by the kidneys and passed out.

Some of the liquids and solids required are
collected from the blood by the liver and stored

up ; the remainder is distributed by the blood
to the cells of the machine.

36. Another necessary food is oxygen. This
is collected by the lungs from the air and carried
by the blood and distributed to the various cells
of the body. The whole of this machine has to
be regulated. This is done by a marvellous
telegraphic system, known as the nervous system,
partly involuntary and partly voluntary in
action. The involuntary part regulates the vital
mechanism. These telegraphic circuits are con-
nected to sub-offices, known as the spinal cord.
The whole of these sub-offices are, again, con-
trolled by a central station known as the brain.

Besides its mechanical movements, this
machine is given senses, controlled directly by
the brain. The central office is strongly pro-
tected in a bony case. The whole frame and all
the levers are surrounded by a fatty cushion
(unless the animal is very thin), and outside this
by connective tissue, and finally by a thick skin,
from which grows a hairy coat.

So we may realise that the horse consists of
a living machine controlled by a brain — a mind ;
and we must always bear in our own mind that
the horse's mind (like our own) requires to be,
and, in fact, must be, if any success is demanded,
developed before it will be able to command the
machine over which it rules. (See Chapter III.)

CHAPTER III

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE HORSE

The Horse's Mind

37. REALISING fully that the horse's mind is the
first part of the horse to which our attention
must be directed if we wish to train him to any
degree, let us consider a few points on this
subject.

Anatomically, the horse's brain is propor-
tionately very much smaller than ours, whilst
his spinal cord is proportionately much larger.
This fact is made quite clear when we see what
little effect an overdose of alcohol has on the
horse's brain (especially a horse of less than
normal intelligence), and what a strong effect
it has on the spinal cord, stimulating all the
motor nerve centres of the animal. The most
developed portion of the nervous system is
always acted upon by alcohol.

38. The horse is born, as we are, ignorant,
and therefore has to be educated ; but he has a
natural gift of instinct of which we have very
little. In wild horses (i.e. horses born and
brought up away from civilisation) this natural
instinct is very well developed, whilst in the
highest-bred horse it is comparatively slightly
developed. The horse possesses similar senses
of hearing, smell and taste to those of men,
those of hearing, smelling and tasting being
particularly well developed. Unfortunately, the
sense of seeing is often far from good in the
horse, but this is usually due to his being
kept in a dark stable. I think that the infant
foal probably has, in most cases, good sight.
The sense of feeling is, of course, well developed,
but not as well as ours ; particularly is this not
the case on the surface of the body, as our skin
is far more fully supplied per unit area with
sensory nerves. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that the horse varies a great deal in the
manner in which he shows evidence of pain, as
well as in the extent to which he actually feels
it ; some horses will bear an enormous amount
of excruciating pain. Intense fear is probably
responsible for the absence of motion or reaction.

39. The sense of hearing is very acute in
almost every horse — in fact, so acute in some
horses that shouting or other loud noises are
responsible for strange actions, which actions
are usually put down to the horse's stupidity or
high spirits, and the poor animal is punished
for that which he cannot help. The firing of

guns and rifles has a most disturbing effect on
some horses, which is supposed to produce a
painful feeling in the ear or brain. The remedy
for this is to place cotton wool in the ears. The
same effect, in a milder degree, is responsible for
many horses becoming what is commonly known
as "gun shy."

The senses of smelling and tasting are very
acute (particularly in wild horses), as it is these
senses that guide the horse in choosing food
and water and also in determining whether he
knows an object and whether certain objects
cause him fear or not. I might remark here
that the horse's muzzle is to him what our fingers
are to us, the soft pad at the end of the muzzle
being fully supplied with tactile hairs and
nerves. For this reason the horse apparently
smells all new objects ; although he smells most
of them as well, the chief reason for placing his
muzzle so near to them is generally to feel them.

40. The mind of the horse varies in quality
very considerably, and while I fully realise that
the poorer-bred, badly educated horse more
resembles the ass, I refer in this chapter, in con-
sidering his character, to the better-bred horse
— the horse whose mental power is considerably
developed.

The horse has an extraordinary memory, a
great imagination, and a limited amount of
intelligence. This last, of course, does not in
any horse reach the high development that it
has reached in the more intelligent dog. James
Fillis, who was looked upon as the greatest
horse-trainer of the last decade, stated that he
believed the horse was not intelligent, and in
his writings gives a few examples to prove his
theory. I do not agree with Fillis, and I do not
think his examples are clear enough to convince
one of his theory. I think that before man can
really understand the horse's intelligence he has
to possess an exceptional sympathy with the
horse, which sympathy I do not think Fillis
possessed, judging from the manner in which
he lays down his views in more than one place.

41. It is quite clear to me that the horse
possesses intelligence. It is by his intelligence
that he studies the means of opposing what he
is asked to do ; that he awaits his opportunity
to attack the person whom he dislikes the
moment this person's eye is directed elsewhere ;

12

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

that he respects his trainer when kind to him,
and reasons that if he obeys his trainer he is
not punished ; that if he hurries home at meal
hour he will get his meal quicker ; that he can
free himself of pain by throwing the rider who
is abusing him ; that by coming over backwards,
when he is in anger, he can injure his rider.
It is also by his intelligence that he knows
when his rider is afraid on approaching a
difficult jump, and, in consequence, hesitates
himself to take the jump. When he is un-
educated, his intelligence is very slight, but it
increases as he becomes educated.

If a horse who baulks is tied for several hours
alone at the spot where he baulks, the next time
he is driven past this spot he has sufficient intel-
ligence to go past, because he anticipates the
consequences. That clever horseman, Count
Martinengo Caesaresco, tells us of how a baulk-
ing horse will move forward the moment straw
placed beneath him is lighted, if he has had
previous experience with fire that had not been
underneath him. This is due to intelligence.
Caesaresco says : " The more intelligence and
memory a horse possesses the better he will be
able to learn, remember and execute what he is
taught."

Fillis also declares that a horse has no love
for man, and gives examples. I have had several
horses that I claim have had a love for me
irrespective of feeding, because I have experi-
mented by not feeding them myself nor giving
them any tit-bits. I think it is clear that the
majority of horses have no love for man, except
the kind of love towards the man that feeds
them. I remember a two-year-old colt that
appeared always to be very fond of me, and yet
I never fed him. I left him for several months,
and upon quietly entering the stable one day,
not at his feeding hour, he took no notice of
the sound until he saw who it was, when he
whinnied and made quite a fuss until I went
up to him.

42. A great many of the horse's actions are
caused through his instincts of fear and self-
preservation (the latter being well developed in
wild horses) and his instincts of his own needs
(feeding, etc.).

As stated above, the horse has an extra-
ordinary imagination — he magnifies everything
— and this causes him to be very susceptible to
fear ; but this has its advantages, as it is one
of the reasons of our being able to train him.
He is extremely observant of minute details, and
things which would make little impression on
our minds will perhaps make a great impres-
sion upon his, so that it is often difficult to
discover what has caused a horse fear.

43. Another most peculiar characteristic of
the horse is his intense excitability to motion
upon the slightest provocation. His excitability
to motion is the chief reason of his being the

valuable animal that he is ; it is the basis on
which his training is founded, and on
which we are able to make him imagine that
we are superior in strength to him. A writer
declared that a horse cared for him only because
he fed him. I do not think that this man had
any true sympathy for the horse, and the horse
knew it. On the other hand, a dog will often
make a great friend of anyone who feeds it ; in
fact, few dogs will refuse food, whilst I have
owned and known of several horses that would
not feed at all from a stranger. I knew of one
horse that would not eat his feed if it had been
placed in the manger until he had been assured
by his master that the food was all right. I
expect he would have eaten it, however, if he
had been left for any length of time. A horse,
no doubt, likes to see his groom come in at feed-
hour, and shows pleasure by giving a neigh, but
a horse that is really fond of his master will
utter a little whinny whenever it sees him. I
have found this to be the case with a number
of intelligent horses. True affection between
man and horse is rare.

44. The character of the horse depends, as in
human beings, greatly on his parents, but it
is also influenced to a marked degree by his
trainer. I claim that the intelligent horse
develops the character and habits of his master,
in some cases to a marked degree, and there is
absolutely no doubt that one can, by careful
observation, judge the type of man that has been
attending or training a certain horse. The horse
acquires the kind or cruel ways of his master ;
he acquires his master's temper and his charac-
ter in general. This, of course, will be more
marked in the case of an intelligent horse and
an exceptionally sympathetic and intelligent
master. In this latter case the horse has a strong
love for his master. Instances in the past have
been evident : masters have been injured, and
their horses have refused to leave them ; a
drunken master has fallen off his horse, and the
latter has stood by him for hours, without food,
watching over him. Instances are not un-
common of horses behaving in a most marvellous
manner when their masters have been in peril ;
and how soon the young horse realises he is not
going to be hurt when first handled by a modern
and intelligent horse-trainer — a " wild " horse
may give in within five minutes of being caught.
The ordinary horse-breaker has quite a different
method of subduing : he causes the horse to
become frightened ; hence his powers of educat-
ing a horse are very limited and often only
temporary.

45. Caesaresco evidently considers that horses
are naturally vicious. I do not believe that they
are naturally vicious, but that they may have a
predisposition to become so through having
parents that have been made vicious, and then
they may easily succumb to this habit. Almost

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Photos : G. H. Parsons, Alsager, Cheshire

Ill]

PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING

13

any horse may be made vicious if an ignorant
person is in charge of him. Mere teasing may
make a horse vicious. A wild horse is not
vicious, although he sometimes attacks man ;
this is done merely from fear — in self-preserva-
tion. With the worst type of Australian or
Western American " outlaw " there has never
been any proof of viciousness, but ample proof
of intense fear ; and, as we shall see later on,
fear will cause a horse to behave in a very
strange way. I have seen many so-called vicious
horses, and have had the pleasure of riding
some of them in the great North-West, but
nothing was more evident to my mind than the
intense fear exhibited by these horses. This is
only natural when, from the moment they see
human life, they are shouted at, hit, roped,
spurred, and everything else is done to them
calculated to frighten them. I think these so-
called horse-breakers are most unreasonable if
they honestly think that a horse so treated will
be anything but intensely frightened.

46. The horse notices things in minute detail,
and on account of his extraordinary memory he
is able to remember them on future occasions.
If these things have pleasant associations con-
nected with them he will, the next time he sees
them, expect pleasant things to happen to him
again. If, on the other hand, when he first saw
them he was punished or in any other way hurt,
he would associate the pain or fear produced
with the object, and the next time he saw the
object he would expect a similar treatment ;
consequently, the sight of the object would cause
fear, and might cause him to refuse to go
near it.

For this reason one of the fundamental
reasons of successful horse-training is that the
young horse must never be punished because he
shies at an object or shows fear. The punish-
ment will leave a bad association connected with
that object, and the next time he sees that object
he will behave worse instead of better.

47. The horse usually pays attention to one
thing at a time, and therefore much can be done
if the trainer keeps his eye on the horse's eye
and prevents the animal from looking about for
other objects. It has been said that a horse takes
no notice of our facial expressions, but only
watches our hand and leg movements. I cannot
agree on this point, because I have experimented
on many occasions. I remember a thoroughbred
that understood by my face whether I was angry
or pleased, and by smiling I could make a dis-
tinct impression upon her, which, unless she
was feeling particularly high-spirited, told her
that I was pleased with what she had just done.

A horse is always looking for its own
pleasure — for things that will cause it pleasure,
and therefore it likes everything that is asso-
ciated with pleasure. Uniike man, it is not
always looking for work. A horse does not

work for the sake of working ; he seeks pleasure
instinctively. He does not understand our looks
to the same extent as does an intelligent dog
that watches our face all the time. But an
angry horse is calmed by our gaze, whilst an
angry dog is usually made worse. Horses act
differently in certain ways ; some horses act
very strangely and inconsistently on some days.
This is due to a brain affection, to excessive
high spirits, or to great fear.

48. The horse takes great notice of our voice ;
he can understand a most extraordinary amount
by our speech. He can detect the difference in
tones, but not in words, because different words
expressed in the same tone produce the same
effect. When we say different things to a horse
we use different tones of speech, and these tones
he rapidly commits to memory. A sharp tone is
used when we are angry, a slow, soft tone when
we are pleased, etc. A horse's sense of detecting
sounds, as already mentioned, is very acute, and
therefore he should always be spoken to quietly.
I can always do more with a young horse that
has never been handled by the average groom,
who shouts as if the horse were deaf, because it
can understand me better when I talk as if I
were talking to a friend in a quiet room. A
horse can hear one's voice when one talks in a
quiet whisper, and one should get into this way
of talking to horses, as it shows greater know-
ledge of horsemanship. The voice should not
be used too much with a trained horse. I will
explain later on how aids and indications are
taught to him in conjunction with words, and
how the voice will eventually be dispensed with,
except in case of fear, when the voice is of the
utmost value. The horse then loves to hear
one's voice, unless his fear is extremely great.

In training, however, as will be explained
later, the voice is of the utmost use. The degree
to which a horse will understand the voice will,
of course, depend on his intelligence. The
better he is bred the better will be his intelli-
gence.

A wicked horse that is well-bred is a very
dangerous animal, as he will be clever enough
to know when to get us off our guard and how
to cause us harm ; our voice, our indications and
our punishments may not have the slightest
effect upon him. Of course, a bad- or high-
spirited horse, when first brought in from the
pasture, has lost a great deal of his bad quali-
ties or spirits, as the case may be, so allowance
must be made for this.

49. I remember reading of a striking example
of intelligence recorded in the Winnipeg Free
Press. Mr. Begley, of Glendale, Manitoba, has a
mare that goes to the pump and fills the trough
with the greatest of ease, using her lips to work
the handle of the pump up and down. When
the valve of the pump has "caught," she uses
her teeth to compete with the extra weight of

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

the water. The Press stated : " As fast as she
pumped, the cattle around would drink up the
water ; but she would continue until every one
had had enough, when she would fill the trough,
have her drink, and go away contented. When
we arrived on the scene she stopped and pawed
at the ground, and looked at us as if to say,
'Please do this for me.' There have been a
number of examples of horse-sense, but this is
the most impressive that we have come across."

The Horse's Memory

50. The horse's memory is most extraordi-
nary, and it is upon this faculty that we base
his education. In no way is the existence of his
extraordinary memory so clearly evident as in
the manner in which he notices fresh objects.
I have taken a horse along a certain street for
the first time ; the horse, knowing it to be a
strange street, has not shied at anything, yet in
taking him along the same street two months
afterwards he has shied and shown fear at a
house, and even a box placed on the side of the
street which was not there before. There were
similar boxes in other places on the first day,
but he took no notice of them.

Again, I took a horse along a road and
around a bend where there was a heap of old
machinery, at which the horse shied. Two
months afterwards, on going along the same
road, when this horse approached this corner,
he hesitated and held up his head and prepared
to shy — but the machinery was gone.

However far you take an intelligent horse
through various streets of a strange city, he will
always know, saving in exceptional cases, when
he turns his head towards home. If one take
a horse over miles of strange prairie land,
making turning after turning, and let him
loose, he will find his way back to his home.
This is due to a peculiar natural instinct for
direction and his wonderful memory.

51. If a horse has once been cruelly ill-
treated by a man, he will never forget that man.
I know of a stallion which was shamefully
mutilated by a man ; five years later he met this
man when he was at liberty, and, but for a
stunning blow on the horse's head from an
assistant, this man would have been killed — and
would have got his deserts. As it was, he was
badly mauled.

If a horse has experienced fear, or has been
hurt by an object, he remembers it and seeks
to escape from it the next time he sees it. If
this fear is great, and he is afterwards forced
to approach the object, his fear is only in-
creased ; if, however, he is taken slowly up to
it by gentle encouragement, day after day, his
growing familiarity with the sensation produced
will diminish his objection.

52. The faculty of horses being able to realise

which side they are on in war is an example
of the wonderful instinct the horse possesses.
I believe this is also due to his memory and to
a certain power of reasoning. History tells us
of various instances where the horse has refused
to allow one of the enemy to mount him, and
where he has returned riderless to his own lines
after having been lost and having passed
through a number of the enemy's lines. The
following is an excellent example of this
faculty: A Scotsman, Major MacDonald, having
killed an English officer in battle (1745), took
possession of his horse. The horse, in spite of
the efforts of his rider,' galloped back to the
English lines and reached the head of his own
regiment, to the place in which he had been
accustomed to moving. Macdonald was then
captured.

58. The horse is generally sociable, like most
men, and this trait can be turned to good
account, for he will follow another horse into
the water, approach near to a motor-car if an-
other horse is between him and the car. In
some horses the affection for man is greater than
that for the horse, and the presence of a man
in front will produce a wonderful effect. Some
horses hate all other horses, and try to kick and
bite at them whenever they get an opportunity.

I remember one horse that showed its affec-
tion very strongly. For some weeks it was
turned out in the pasture-field, and on several
occasions while I was walking and talking near
the field the horse would recognise my voice
and come over to the fence and put its head
over. I never fed this horse in the field.

Some horses are very proud and like to
attract attention. It is a well-known fact that
many horses will never make a good perform-
ance unless before a large audience. A horse
neighs to attract attention ; he likes being
noticed and being made much of. He shows
envy if another horse is fed or made much of
while he is neglected. This may cause him to
feel hatred towards the other horse. Jealousy
in an entire horse is generally more marked.

54. Some horses are obstinate, but as a rule
this obstinacy is due to bad early training and
to excessive exuberance of spirits. Obstinacy is
less common amongst well-bred horses generally.

A horse is usually courageous unless he has
been ruined by bad training ; cases are known
where horses have fought wild beasts, such as
lions and tigers, in self-defence.

There is no reason why the entire horse
should not be as docile as a mare or gelding,
provided he is brought up with suitable sur-
roundings. The Arab entire that is brought up
almost as one of the family is perfectly docile,
and usually constitutes the Arab's saddle horse.

The horse has a disposition to copy what
he sees. For instance, an idea comes to him to
gallop when he sees other horses galloping, or

Ill]

PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING

15

to roll when he sees other horses rolling, etc.
This is of much use in training young horses.

The horse becomes irritated, and perhaps
angry, if we do not please him, so we must
always aim at pleasing him whilst keeping him
obedient to our desires.

The horse's character varies to a great extent,
and although much can be learnt about a horse
by an external examination of his conformation
and qualities, we must ride him and know him
for some days before we can judge his character.

He may be good, bold, subject to fear, or bad.
The various factors that constitute his character
might be summed up as follows : the degree of
sensibility, as of fear, obstinacy ; willingness to
surrender to man ; viciousness ; the sensation of
touch, as tickling by the spurs ; the quality of
his will ; the sensitiveness of his mouth to the
rein and his flanks to the leg ; and the degree
of excitability to motion.

Outward Signs

55. Having considered the inward character
of the horse, let us briefly consider how his
various characteristics are made evident to the
observant onlooker by outward signs.

The ears are a faithful index to the man.
The horse pricks his ears forward when he is
looking at an object intently, and when he is
afraid of something, and generally immediately
before jumping an object, etc. He depresses his
ears backwards when he is feeling in a bad
temper, when approached by another horse or
by a man to whom he objects, and when some-
thing is causing a tickling sensation, etc. He
turns them backwards, or turns one back only,
to receive sounds, as the voice of his rider or
driver. For this reason a highly strung horse
will often go along with one ear forward and
the other back, or he may continually move his
ears to and fro, in expectation of sounds.

56. A quiet eye shows that the horse is quiet,
and a lively eye shows the opposite. A restless
eye indicates that the horse is uncertain, and is
looking out for his opportunity to resist, so we
must beware of such a horse. These horses, as
a rule, by continually looking to one side, show
an abnormal amount of the white of the eye.
Turbid eyes show that the horse is afraid.

A horse neighs when he is alone and sees
company in the distance, or when left alone by
other horses. A mare sometimes neighs when
alone merely because she feels high-spirited. A
horse may neigh at seeing its stable, its groom,
its feed, or its master. A horse grunts or groans
from pain ; he may grunt from fear. He snorts
from fear or from anger, or when smelling an
objectionable odour. He raises his upper lip and
nose when he objects to an odour or a taste.

57. Swishing the tail is common with some
mares who are of an irritable disposition. This

is generally brought on and then encouraged by
bad riders continually using their legs or by bad
drivers continually jerking the reins or chirrup-
ing with their mouths. A bad driver with bad
"hands" is often responsible for a horse trying
to relieve its sore mouth by attempting to grab
the reins with its tail. (For the cure of such
trouble, see Chapter VI.) Swishing the tail may
be the result of excitement, obstinacy, bladder
trouble or temper.

A tail held high is generally the sign of good
breeding, but a horse may carry it exceptionally
high when excited or when in fear. He de-
presses his tail sometimes when in fear — par-
ticularly when he is expecting the whip, and
instinctively at all times to protect his quarters.
A depressed tail may be a sign of sluggishness
or of poor breeding, or it may mean that the
horse is fatigued or cold.

A staring coat means ill-health or excessive
cold. Trembling, as a rule, means great fear,
and is really distinct from shivering, which may
be the result of cold or of the action of certain
drugs, as eserine.

Superiority of Man

58. The horse does not instinctively believe
man to be superior. In the first place he prob-
ably thinks nothing about it ; but, if he does con-
sider the matter, he thinks that he himself is
superior, and tries to resist man. If our oppo-
sition fails, he learns his superiority ; therefore,
if we are trying to stop him from doing an act
and discover that we cannot stop him, we must
let him do it, and by this let him think that we
are not trying to stop him. Our superior power
is only imaginary, and it is due to the horse's
great imagination that we are able to deceive
him as to which of us is superior in strength.
No one should suggest for one moment that we
can control the horse by pure strength ; we
could not stop a runaway horse by pulling with
a leather rein if he knew that he was superior
to man in strength.

If a horse starts to run back, it would be
foolish to try to hold him by the rein, and there-
fore we must allow him to run back ; he will
thus think that we want him to do so. If, how-
ever, we tried to stop him, he would discover that
he could oppose our efforts, and thus learn his
superiority of strength. If we cause him to run
farther back after he has stopped, we shall make
a better impression on him and make him
dislike running back.

Our first object is, therefore, to show the
horse our apparent superiority, and to do this
we use our superior intelligence against his
inferior. Our principle is to prevent him doing
what he wants to do and to make him do what
we want him to do, little by little, caressing
him whenever he obeys, and punishing him

16

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

slightly whenever he disobeys. As in a child,
nearly all disobedient acts are those done
through the child being able to do what he was
asked not to do ; so in the horse, this is the
chief cause of disobedience. Therefore, we must
be most careful to see he does not do what he
wants to do and what we do not want him to do.

59. Want of exercise, and therefore excessive
exuberance of spirits, may cause him to become
refractory, and may allow him to think that he
is superior to man. A horse may learn his
superiority over man by being badly used by a
groom, when he may be driven to act in self-
defence. A timid horse will not act in self-
defence ; this is the type of horse that the
coward chooses to abuse. A spirited horse
detests the very sight of a coward : this is the
type of man that is responsible for so many bad
horses ; he is always a bully. A horse, when
he acts in this manner in self-defence, will find
that the cowardly groom ceases to abuse him ;
in fact, he will find that, by attacking, he be-
comes the victor — hence the knowledge of his
superiority is gained.

Obedience

60. A horse should not be allowed to do an
act that shows disobedience. Fortunately, he
readily acknowledges obedience. A well-trained
horse is next to a well-trained dog ; the latter
is the most obedient animal we have. Love
must be gained before obedience is taught ;
without the former — affection for its trainer— the
horse will never be made really obedient. The
stronger the horse physically, and the better his
feeding, the greater must be his obedience. To
obtain a high degree of obedience, the horse
must have a good disposition. Such a horse
likes obedience ; it pleases him to please us, be-
cause it is one of his instincts to seek pleasure,
and by pleasing us he receives caresses and tit-
bits which associate pleasure in his mind.

61. We obtain obedience from the horse by
means of love and fear. By means of love alone
he would be tempted to obey his own impulses ;
by both we persuade him to obey us. Physical
force may be adopted to cause physical
obedience, but it really only increases fear, pro-
ducing obedience as long as the physical force
exists and perhaps for a very short time after-
wards. This method of training a horse would
be a sure way of spoiling him.

The whole secret of imparting love and fear
in the right proportions to a horse is a know-
ledge of how to do it, which, I claim, is an
acquisition gained by few. The knowledge of
successful horse-training is a very rare gift, and
the inspiration of obtaining obedience from the
equine pupil is the most difficult duty of the
master. It is useless to try to obtain obedience
until we have obtained love and the horse's con-

fidence, because before we can obtain confidence
we shall have to resort to a certain amount of
punishment in order to inspire fear. If we
inflict punishment before we have gained his
confidence, we shall cause him to hate us, to try
to flee from us ; he will misunderstand the
punishment, and think we are doing him harm.
In extreme cases punishment may have to be
given before confidence is gained, but only a
trainer of wide experience will know when this
is necessary.

All acts that make the horse do what we
want him to do and prevent him from doing
what we do not want him to do tend to teach
him obedience. If a horse wants to turn down
one road, and we prevent him, we teach him
our superiority ; but if we are unable to, and
he goes on, he learns that he can satisfy his
wants by disobeying us, and thus learns his
superiority of strength. As was said before, it
will be better to let him go than to try to resist
but eventually to give in.

62. Obedience may be temporarily obtained
by his greater power of self-preservation, which
is an instinct, but even this will be uncommon
in well-trained horses.

It must always be borne in mind that
physical pain may cause a horse to be dis-
obedient, or it may even compel him to be
obedient. For example, I was teaching a horse
the " reining-back " lesson. I had taught him
this on foot for several days, and he obeyed
well, but whenever I mounted him he refused
to step back, however much I collected him. I
dismounted and examined his hocks, and found
a painful curb on his near hock ; this was the
cause of his apparent disobedience. My extra
weight had so increased the pain that he refused
to perform the act that I wanted him to do.

The only successful way to teach obedience
is to be helped by an assistant, and to resort to
the use of the cavesson and a strong leading-
rein ; the trainer himself must be on foot. The
horse will be led about and coaxed to do certain
things, and punished slightly at first for distinct
acts of disobedience. It must always be quite
plain before punishing that the horse under-
stands exactly what you require of him. Most
apparent disobedience is caused through the
trainer asking him to do something that he (the
horse) does not understand.

63. The horse very quickly picks up what we
teach him if he is taught the right way. In
many cases he is considered slow at learning,
when the cause of this apparent slowness is in
reality due to the master not knowing the correct
methods of teaching.

Lessons must be short, and repeated often, in
order not to strain or tire the muscles, etc.
Training must never be hurried, as hurrying
may cause serious physical harm, besides prob-
ably spoiling the horse's disposition.

PLATE 7

ENGLISH THOROUGHBREDS
a, "Diamond Jubilee," Derby Winner, 1900. b, " Cyllene." Photos: G. H. Parsons

PLATE 8

V

THE HORSE IN ART

a, "Sysonby." Thoroughbred. By Gean Smith, Copyright: Taber-Prang Art Co., Springfield, Mass, b, "An Arabian

Outpost." By Schreyer

PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING

m]

Reactions

64. When a horse is disobedient he makes a
reaction. Now, we can physically prevent a
horse making many reactions by placing his
body in a position in which he cannot make
the preparatory motion. But to stop a horse
attacking his rider or his groom is far more
difficult, as the horse knows his superiority. In
the first instance he probably attacked the man,
and found that the man became afraid and also,
perhaps, ceased to ill-treat him ; hence the horse
continued to attack to avoid ill-treatment. This
attacking soon becomes a habit; the horse is
very susceptible to acquiring habits. Later he
probably attacks without any reason.

The cure of this fault or habit (if it has
become one) requires kindness and no punish-
ment ; then the horse will learn that he is not
going to be ill-treated. He must also be placed
in a position in which he cannot attack, he will
then learn man's superiority. If he attacks we
must show him that his attacks do not harm
us ; he must also be shown that we are appar-
ently superior to him in other ways. Many re-
actions are caused by the horse doing something
to try to avoid pain or irritation ; for example, a
rider may be hurting a horse's mouth, the horse
bucks or perhaps throws the rider, the latter
ceases to hurt the horse ; the next time his mouth
is hurt he does the same, because he associates
this behaviour with relief from the pain, and
this reaction becomes a vice. Again, a horse may
attempt to refuse to do something asked of him,
and through the ignorance or the weak methods
of the trainer, the horse succeeds ; he then learns
that he need not do this act, and reacts next
time.

If a horse on being whipped or spurred is
able to raise his croup or to rear up and the rider
ceases to abuse him, the horse learns that he can
do these things, and that by doing them he
causes the pain to cease. Hence reactions are
very often due to the horse not being taught
proper obedience. A kicker may be produced
through the same method. A horse kicks
through fear, we will suppose, of his cruel
groom ; the groom ceases to ill-treat him, so he
kicks next time he is ill-treated.

65. A timid rider may also cause reactions in
a horse ; he applies certain aids with the leg, and
the horse objects and reacts ; the rider not being
capable of preventing the horse from reacting
ceases to apply the aids ; he thus gives way to
the horse and causes him to react the next time
these aids are applied.

Other reasons for causing reactions in a horse
are using too much and too severe punishment,
thereby causing him to look upon you as his
enemy, against whom he will instinctively fight ;
excessive exuberance of spirits, which may cause
him to disobey your requests ; advancing his
education too rapidly, and thereby asking him to

17

do what he cannot do physically, on account of
his body not being sufficiently prepared. We
cannot expect the man who has only been in a
gymnasium for a week to perform a long-arm
balance on the bars, nor can we expect a recruit
after one week in the riding-school to vault
into the saddle of a galloping horse ; then why
on earth do so-called horse-trainers expect to
develop the equine frame and muscles in a week
when it takes months? If the horse is not pre-
pared, he evinces pain and therefore reacts.
Hence we see that our ignorance is really re-
sponsible for all reactions in a horse.

66. The time required to make a horse give
up bad habits depends on the length of time that
those habits have existed and upon the horse's
character. It must be remembered that punish-
ment, saving in exceptional cases, will make
matters worse ; he must be prevented by physical
means from doing these things and be caressed,
so that he will see that by not trying he is
caressed. If a horse has acquired a habit, such
as that of shying, which shows no viciousness,
then physically to force him to approach the ob-
ject at which he has shied and before which he
was probably beaten or spurred, would make
him much worse. He should be placed under
the same circumstances again and caressed ; this
must be repeated until he learns to take no ap-
parent notice of the object.

Every young colt when first brought into the
school must be treated with great kindness, and
for a considerable time little reactions should be
overlooked ; our principle being, as stated be-
fore, first to gain the animal's confidence, and
this will never be gained if we commence by
punishing him and making him think that we
are his enemy. A thoroughbred horse requires
much more careful handling than a common-
bred horse.

Caresses

67. Kind treatment causes a horse to do well,
because thereby he expects to be well treated. In
countries like Arabia the horse is looked up to
by everybody, because they love the horse. The
horse is of greater value to its owner if he is a
friend to him, therefore at all times the owner
should treat his horse with the utmost justice.

The horse is particularly susceptible to re-
ceiving and appreciating caresses unless he is
very frightened or in a bad temper. The best
place to pat a horse is on his neck ; the patting
must not be done hard enough to hurt the horse
and yet not soft enough to tickle him. The
horse likes being stroked or rubbed better than
being patted, as this more resembles the way
his mother licked him on the neck and around
the head when he was a foal. The best place to
rub a horse is on the top of the head, unless he
has been damaged in this part; some horses

18

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

seem to prefer being rubbed just above the
eyes.

If a horse does not show pleasure at being
caressed it means that he is either frightened or
in a bad temper, and he must therefore not be
trusted for a while. Caressing is a most valu-
able aid to our being able to gain a horse's will
and affection ; therefore in training him its full
use must never be forgotten. It must also be
remembered that it can be overdone, and that
a horse can easily be spoiled. He should be
treated like a child — kindly but strictly.

Associations

68. The horse associates objects that he sees,
and acts that he performs, with either pleasant
or unpleasant things. Remembering the horse's
wonderful memory, our aim must be to try to
associate objects and actions with pleasant sensa-
tions. This is the secret of successful horse-
training.

A horse in passing a motor-car shows a little
fear and is whipped or spurred ; he associates this
pain with the car, and not with the fool behind
him, and the next time he passes a car he expects
the pain and shies worse than before. In such
a case he should have been caressed and shown
that only pleasant things could arise from the
presence of the motor.

If a horse, while jumping, is jerked in the
mouth, he associates this pain with the jump and
not with the bad rider on his back ; he thus is
made to dislike jumping, and will try to refuse
next time. Similarly, if he is shouted at or
whipped when doing his best he will be encour-
aged next time not to do his best. Associations
of pain may cause fear as well as hatred, as
was explained in the case of the motor-car.

69. A horse that is being made a kicker by
ill-treatment associates being left alone with his
kicking. I remember a horse of the Royal
Horse Guards which had a red ribbon tied in its
tail ; he was supposed to be very savage, and no
one except his groom ever went up to him. The
sight of the ribbon caused everyone who passed
to keep at a distance. This horse soon learnt
that everyone was afraid of him, that he was
superior to them ; and whenever anyone ap-
proached near to him he would kick. He dis-
liked all men except the one who fed him. In
his early days he had associated his kicking with
being left alone by man, eventually he hated all
men, and the more he saw them avoid him the
more he thought he was conqueror of man. One
day I walked right up to this horse without
taking any notice of him, and stood behind him
and smacked him casually on the croup ; the
groom thought that I was mad, as the red ribbon
was apparent enough. But the horse thought
that I was his superior, he saw that I was not
afraid of him ; I took him by surprise and he

allowed me to do anything. Had I been foolish
enough to approach him slowly as if he were a
man-eating lion and shown him my fear, of
course he would have kicked me, and I should
have deserved it. The reader will notice that in
this case I approached right up to the horse's
hocks before halting, because had he kicked at
me his hocks would have only lifted me ; on the
other hand, had I stood a few feet away the
metal-shod ends of his legs, which act like levers,
would have caught me and probably done con-
siderable damage. Whenever a horse kicks at a
man standing behind him, the latter should ap-
proach quite close to him unless he wishes to
feel the horse's shoes. In this instance this horse
should have been put into a stall and so held
that he could not kick, and caressed by all the
men of his stable until he became friendly with
them. The ribbon, which was the cause of most
of the trouble, could then have been dispensed
with.

70. A horse will associate things entirely
foreign ; for instance, I was bridling a well-bred
horse one day in a low-roofed stable ; I lifted my
hand carelessly in front of his eyes and he threw
up his head suddenly from fear. His forehead
hit the roof and got quite a bad cut. For weeks
afterwards it took me ten minutes to bridle that
horse ; he associated the intense pain with the
bridling. I could not convince him that he
had himself caused the pain by throwing up his
head.

In bridling and harnessing horses, especially
in putting on the crupper, care must be taken
not to abuse the horse in any way, because if
he is abused he will only be more troublesome
next time. He will associate receiving the bit
into his mouth or the crupper under his tail with
the pain, and will object next time to open his
mouth, or will depress his tail tightly. Abuse
will never do good ; extreme patience and kind-
ness are required from the first.

Punishment

71. Santa Paulina, three centuries ago, when
speaking of horses, said, " Prevention is better
than cure " ; this is a golden rule that horse-
trainers must never forget. It must not be for-
gotten either that tru,st must be obtained before
punishment (unless inevitable) is given. Above
all things, a horse must never be punished while
its trainer is in a bad temper. The trainer had
far better put the horse in the stable for an hour
and have a quiet smoke himself. A threat should
be given before real punishment is resorted to,
and then the punishment should be given mildly
at first. The best method of punishing a horse
is to stand at his shoulder and not to be in the
saddle ; and to use a riding-whip on his back, if
saddled, behind the saddle. The trainer must
never stand in front of a horse while punishing

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PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING

19

him, and never hit a horse on the shoulder while
riding him if he is required to advance ; he
should be whipped behind the girth.

I deal with whips and spurs in Chapter VII.

Impunity is an inducement to crime, so a
wilful crime must never be let pass. It is a
difficult matter to determine at times whether
the horse does not understand our request or
whether he is wilfully disobeying ; the former is
the more common. Horses vary very much as
to the degree of punishment that should be given
them. A high-spirited horse has often to be
punished early, sometimes almost from the be-
ginning of his schooling, whilst a timid horse is
entirely discouraged by punishment.

72. The theory of punishment is that, if a
horse refuses to do a thing he has to do, he is
punished, and thus learns to avoid the pain pro-
duced by doing what he is asked to do ; and still
more, he is caressed for doing it. Further, the
association of pleasure or of displeasure must
immediately follow the action that is, or is not,
asked of him. A late punishment will be taken
as an ill-treatment and will spoil him. If a horse
cannot be punished on the spot he must not be
punished afterwards, as he will not be able to
associate this punishment with his misconduct.
A horse should also be caressed a short time
after he has been punished, because an impres-
sion must not be left on his mind that we are at
enmity with him ; he must therefore never be
nagged at, above all things. So a few minutes
should only be allowed to pass between a pun-
ishment and a caress to show him that we are
his best friend.

In some cases the punishment should be in-
flicted while the disobedient act is being com-
mitted, for example, while the horse's hind
quarters are in the air when he is in the act of
kicking ; in which case he should be struck
underneath with the whip. He learns then that
he is whipped if he kicks. At other times he
should never be whipped underneath, particu-
larly between the thighs.

73. Punishment should be as rare as possible.
The horse will soon understand that he is
caressed whenever he obeys ; bearing this in
mind, the rare infliction of punishment is of
great value. A previously ill-treated horse may
behave badly ; he should not be punished, but
allowed to see that he will not be hurt, that we
are his friend. Punishment in such a case,
until he thoroughly understands us, will make
him worse.

A horse must never be punished when in fear,
because punishment increases fear, it can never
diminish it. The horse regards anything asso-
ciated with a punishment as the cause of the
punishment ; therefore he shies when he sees an
object that he shied at before and was punished,
thinking that he will experience pain again by
approaching the object.

When a horse is doing his best he must never
be punished, although it is not uncommon to see
livery- and cab-drivers thrashing their horses
when they are doing their best ; this is enough to
cause a horse to lose heart, because he might
well associate the punishment with the work he
is doing. So, when a baulking horse starts he
must never be punished, or else he may think
he is being punished for starting.

74. The horse's skin varies in thickness, so
that certain parts feel pain more readily than
other parts. The skin on his legs, for instance,
is quite thick, in order to protect them while
going through thorn bushes. He is very sensi-
tive inside the thighs, on the flanks, beneath the
abdomen, and behind the shoulders.

Bearing in mind that punishment increases
fear, it must be remembered that the existence
of fear of punishment is responsible for our
being able to make a horse obedient.

Fear

75. Fear in horses is contagious, and is very
peculiar in its degree and causes. It will cause
a horse to do very strange things. The horse is
very susceptible to fear, which is inconvenient ;
although, as stated above, its existence is the
secret of our being able to master him. Fear
causes a horse to be careful not to fall down, to
be careful not to place his foot into a rabbit hole,
not to go into puddles and so on, and therefore
increases his usefulness and safety. Fear natur-
ally causes a horse to understand the whip
actions.

The horse being very prone to fear, it is
better if he has never been ill-treated. Fear re-
peated increases in intensity, therefore at all
times we must aim at preventing fear as much
as possible. Ordinary horses are more danger-
ous when in fear than thoroughbred ones, but a
very timid horse is most dangerous, because he
may fall down or take his rider into great
danger ; such a horse is better dismounted and
led. The presence of a rider upon a horse's back
tends materially to diminish fear, especially if
he knows his rider and has affection for him.

Fear is really a belief of danger, and varies
with the momentary state of the horse's mind.
Mares are generally more prone to fear. Defec-
tive sight, which is not uncommon, due to dark
stables, causes much fear, especially when a
horse is first brought out into the light. The
horse shies at new objects because they frighten
him. He fears noises, smells, and being touched
suddenly. He should be able to see the object
that he is afraid of, and for this reason blinkers
often increase fear.

76. A horse is more susceptible to fear when
at speed ; fear causes a horse often to run away,
and when at speed the fear increases, hence it
is so difficult to stop the runaway horse. A run-

20

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

away, when he does stop and realises that he is
abandoned, feels great fear. All horses when in
fear like company, and even the voice of a master
will cause much comfort. A horse when in fear
should not be worked, and kind treatment alone
should be resorted to. Fear may be so great as
to cause trembling, and sometimes a rider can
feel the heart pulsations from his seat in the
saddle when the horse is in great fear. Horse
dealers who are up to almost any trick in order
to get a good price for a horse, frighten the
horse in order to make him go well and show
himself off and perhaps forget any little pain
causing lameness.

Practically in all cases of fear there will be
a preliminary sign given by the horse, which
sign should be detected by all good horsemen,
so that they will know that the horse is becoming
frightened.

77. The signs of fear are : intently looking or
listening in a certain direction, shown by the
horse holding his head high, ears pricked, and
by his standing, as it were, upon his toes ; mov-
ing his ears to and fro or bending his head and
neck in the direction of the object; shying from
the object ; stopping or reducing the pace, and,
perhaps, rearing. An object advancing towards
him in front might cause him to rear. Other
signs are grunting, snorting, depressing the tail,
raising the tail high, and, if intense, trembling.

Before we can prevent fear in a horse we
must gain his confidence and then his obedience.
Two young horses should not be driven together,
because the fear of one increases that of the
other. In the first place, the horse should be
taught in an enclosed school, where his attention
can be held, then led around streets, and finally
ridden. During the leading, the cavesson is used
with the help of one or two assistants.

78. The means of preventing fear are: caress-
ing the horse and placing oneself between it and
the object causing the fear ; patience ; obedience ;
the company of another horse ; and the use of
voice-sounds. The presence of another horse is
of great value in causing a frightened horse to
follow through a gate, to go into water, etc.

Principles of Training

79. I do not intend giving here in detail the
methods of training the horse, but merely to give
a few words on the principles that should be
strictly adhered to in training this noble animal,
more with the idea of saving him from the
terrible abuse to which he is generally subjected.
In the past many wonderful horse-breakers,
using the term in its truest sense, have given per-
formances before the public ; these so-called
horse-trainers have based their principles upon
the idea of subduing their pupils by brute force,
by exhaustion, and by fear. A horse that has
been broken by being subdued will never be the

same animal as one that has been educated and
trained on modern lines. Their object was to
break the horse's will and to overcome his
physical power ; these two qualifications are
absolutely essential in the horse ; but when these
are not present the horse's value is incalculably
decreased.

80. The principles of modern horse-training are
to retain all the fine qualities that the horse pos-
sesses and to educate him, and to control, govern,
direct and manage him by skill, knowledge, tact,
patience and self-control. There are few men in
the world who are competent to handle and
educate a horse, because so few make any effort
to know the horse as he should be known. A
horse-trainer should know his own weak points,
because any display of weakness of character
will quickly be picked up by the equine pupil.
He must have perfect control over himself and
have wonderful patience ; he must have pluck,
and be quiet and gentle yet firm. He must also
know how to display his apparent superiority
of strength before the horses by not asking that
horse to do anything that he cannot prevent him
from reacting against. He must know just how
to combat the horse's strength, without resorting
to any cruelty. It must also be remembered that
no two horses are alike, therefore it is foolish
and brutal to punish one horse because he does
not learn his work as quickly as another.
Gentleness must always exist. Because we have
the power of brutally ill-treating a horse, it is
all the more necessary that we should take every
precaution to educate him by humane methods
only. Humane methods are really the only per-
manent and successful ones, because our prin-
ciple is to gain confidence and obedience, to
dissipate fear, and then to train the horse
mentally and physically.

81. "Wild" horses require much kindness to
commence with in order to gain love and respect
and to lose fear. A very little slip while train-
ing a "wild" horse may cause loss of confidence.
The whole secret of gaining success in training
horses to any really permanent and advanced
degree is to understand the horse's nature, to
remember that he is not naturally vicious or
wild. In training the so-called wild horse, i.e.
one that has been born and bred away from
human life, as on the prairie, the above fact
must be borne in mind all the more. It was not
until Professors McGillivray and Skuthorp and a
few others showed their wonderful methods to
the public that horse-owners would believe that
these horses could be trained by absolute kind-
ness from the very first.

Rarey, Sample, Hyland, Leightwark and
Galvayn, great as they were in their horse-break-
ing methods, resorted to the principle of subdu-
ing the horse first of all ; hence their success
never reached the stage to which that of McGil-
livray and Skuthorp reached. These modem

PLATE 9

THE HARNESS HORSE

a. The Pacer. "Dan Patch," the Holder of the World's Record, I mile in 1 min. 56 sees. Copyright: Taber-Prang
Art Co., Springfield, Mass. Courtesy: International Stock Food Co., Minneapolis, Minn., the Owners of "Dan Patch."
Painted by Gean Smith, b. The Trotter, "Lou Dillon," At Speed. Painted by Gean Smith. Copyright: Taber-Prang

Art Co.

PLATE 10

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PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING

21

methods are now adopted by all successful horse-
trainers who live in the parts where these
" wild " horses still exist. Professor Beery,
under whose valuable instruction I was for some
time, has shown marvellous skill in the manner
in which he has trained so-called vicious horses,
basing his principles upon those of kindness
from the first. (See story of Alexander the
Great, Sec. 11.)

Unfortunately for the horse, many cruel
horse-breakers have shown apparent success in
the past, and thus cruel methods have been fol-
lowed by others. We should remember the old
saying : " There is none so cruel as the coward
who has attained success." It is to abolish this
brutal method of horse-training that I have de-
voted part of this book to the humane training
of our four-footed friends. Everyone who has
had much experience with Western Canadian
horses knows well how soon a subdued horse
gives in when put to a test afterwards ; and how
the horse that has been trained by kindness will
never give in until physically obliged to. Why
is this? Because the former's heart has been
once broken, and a horse's heart if once broken
is always broken. Such a horse is quite a dif-
ferent animal from his brother that has been
scientifically and humanely trained. These
remarks do not so much apply to the better-bred
horse, or to the horse born and bred amidst
civilisation, although the principle of using
gentleness from the first is seldom adopted by
the average horse-breaker.

82. While a horse is being trained he must be
given good food and his rations must be in-
creased. The old idea of keeping a horse quiet
and free from reaction is wrong, it does not tend
to assist in educating our horse ; we must please
him and associate his training with nice things.
A full stomach tends to make a horse contented ;
it prevents him from always thinking about the
next meal, and thus allows us to hold his atten-
tion. If the horse is high-spirited he must be
exercised, unmounted, before the daily training
is commenced.

The best method of exercising a horse is to
lunge him with the cavesson and lunging-rein,
using a lunging-whip to keep him in his place ;
the whip should be used as an indicator, and not
as a means of punishment, for we must gain his
love and confidence before we resort to any form
of punishment. Little reactions at first should
therefore be overlooked. Idleness is the root of
all evil. Want of exercise causes an overstock
of energy that irritates horses ; this will tend to
cause reactions, tend to cause him to wish to
kick, buck, rear, bite, and eventually to convince
him of his superiority over man. Thus it is of
the utmost importance not to attempt to ask an
untrained horse to be obedient if he is in high
spirits.

83. The lunging-rein and cavesson are of the

utmost use in teaching a horse, because with
them we control the horse's head, which is the
centre of his mechanism, and our object is to
start at his head. It is also practically im-
possible to react when being lunged around in
a circle, because he cannot go out, he cannot
stop or turn in, because he will be shown the
whip ; therefore he must go forward, and he
soon learns his first lesson of obedience, and
associates going forward with caresses whilst he
associates reactions with the sight of the whip.
With some horses that are not at all timid and
that show a little obstinacy, it will be necessary
to use the whip if they react while being lunged ;
merely showing the whip will probably have no
effect. With such horses there is little risk of
losing their love and confidence if we adopt the
above method. Want of exercise induces a
horse to take more notice of things which cause
a little fear, and thus we are unable to get his
proper attention.

So we must gain the pupil's attention and
have his confidence and obedience before we can
commence physically to train him. In asking
him to do any act, associations of pleasure must
immediately follow his obedience, and associa-
tions of displeasure must immediately follow his
disobedience. But before asking him to per-
form any act we must be quite sure that he is
physically able to perform the act. Thus our
whole system of training must be to develop,
stage by stage, his various muscles, etc., and
thus prepare his body so that he feels no incon-
venience in performing these acts, because if he
were to he would probably offer opposition.
Absence of gradation causes opposition.

84. After the horse has done a good deed he
should be rested as well as caressed, because it
eases his mind. Lessons must be short and re-
peated to avoid any risks of tiring muscles and
ligaments, and also of upsetting his temper. The
school is of the greatest use in training young
horses ; but a horse that has been trained only
in a school becomes cramped in his actions.
Hence a young horse requires to be taken across
country before his education can be considered
complete. His freedom of action may also be
hampered if his training is done at the halt
instead of while moving forward. We must at
all cost prevent him from performing acts which
are disobedient ; for instance, we must not ask
him to stand still if we are not able to make him
do so, nor must we ask him to lead by the halter
if we are not able to make him follow us by
means of encouragement from behind, and so on.
In the former case if he had his own way he
would discover that he could walk about
wherever and whenever he liked ; in the latter
case, that he need not be led, and might even
object to being tied up in his stall by the halter.
So our method would be to use the cavesson and
leading-reins, with an assistant, and a whip to

22

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

cause him to follow. We must never tie him
up with a rope that he can break. If he dis-
covers that he cannot break the rope when
he first tries he will probably not try again,
unless he is terribly frightened. Horses of dif-
ferent dispositions require modifications in their
methods of training. A horse that has a good
will and a good disposition is easy to train ;
whilst a timid horse will not have sufficient
spirit. Horses vary so much in their disposi-
tions that a great deal of common sense and tact
is necessary for success in horse-training.

85. The early portion of a horse's training
should be done dismounted, because when the
trainer is by the horse's head he is able to con-
trol him more readily, to dissipate fear and to
caress him more easily. A timid horse should
not be mounted nearly as soon as a horse of good
will. The horse should always be alone, as the
presence of other horses will distract his atten-
tion. By being on foot the trainer is able to
prevent reactions which he would be unable to
prevent if he were in the saddle, providing the
horse is untrained. As a horse is very sus-
ceptible to being excited by motion, the trainer,
if in the saddle, may perhaps cause his mount
to run away by feeling too heavily on the rein
or leg and thus upsetting the horse. In teaching
the horse to perform any act, our principle is
to give rise to ideas we desire in him. We can
do this by setting an example, e.g. asking him
to follow another horse or a man, to jump after
another horse, to follow another horse into the
water, etc. The idea of doing these things is
given to him and he does them. Or we may let
him see objects, see our movements, or feel cer-
tain aids which will call forth these required
ideas in him. At the same time we must pre-
vent ideas arising in him that would cause him
to do things against our wish ; for instance,
if he passes a motor-car and shies at it, he
gets the idea that he need not pass close to it,
and the next time he passes a car he tries to keep
away from it.

In teaching a horse to perform actions we
must give him indications that he can under-
stand, things suited to give rise to the actions we
require. He will thus associate certain indica-
tions or aids with certain movements, and in
time, on account of marvellous memory, we shall
have only to give the slightest indication of what
we require and he will perform the act. Thus
there is a great difference between riding a
trained horse and riding an untrained horse ;
the former knows exactly what is required
the moment we commence to apply an aid,
however badly we may apply it ; in fact, he
probably knows what we are going to ask
by our subconscious preliminary movements.
Thus we see a well-trained horse performing
acts before an indifferent rider has really applied
any indications.

86. The same associations should always be
used to indicate the same actions ; and the
horse's body must never be asked to do what it
has not been prepared for. Hence the great im-
portance of gradation in training a horse. The
voice is of great use in training, and will be
used in conjunction with aids and indications
from the very beginning. The horse will thus
associate different sounds with different move-
ments. The same word (i.e. sound) is always
used with the same action. The word "Whoa"
is to be used when the horse is required to stop,
and in time he can be made to stop upon this
word being used. "Whoa" should never be
used when quietening a horse or approaching
him in his stall, as he is already standing still ;
but some other sound should be used. If he is
already standing and he is told to stop, what can
he be expected to do? With ordinary saddle
and harness horses, after the horse is fairly well
trained, the voice is dispensed with and aids and
indications only used ; this is also done with
high-school horses, but with circus horses the
voice is often used afterwards alone, and in this
way the so-called "talking" horse is produced.
As a matter of fact, the horse does not under-
stand words, but only tones. A circus horse
associates by long practice a certain sound with
a certain action, and upon hearing this sound
he performs the action because thereby he knows
he will be caressed. The voice should always
be used in a soothing manner when a horse is
frightened, and if the horse is very timid the
rider should dismount and go to his head. The
leading of another horse between the object that
the horse is afraid of and himself is a good way
to accustom him to the object ; a man whom he
knows well and whom he is fond of will often
serve the same purpose.

87. Music can be used to assist in training
horses with wonderful effect. Horses love music
as a rule, but some are afraid until they become
used to it, as they fear it will cause them harm.
Horses' ears are very acute, and they generally
like soft music better than noisy drums. Horses
are taught to trot, canter or gallop to various
tunes, and upon hearing these tunes afterwards
they will often break into the step suited for
that particular tune. I remember the colonel of
a cavalry regiment objecting to having any more
remounts take part in musical rides, because
whenever many of his horses heard the sounds
of " Bonnie Dundee " they would break into a
slow canter in spite of the riders' attempts to
prevent them.

The horse must not be expected to do things
that are against his nature. Thus, if he will not
stand alone he must not be punished ; no horse
will stand still alone for any length of time. In
teaching him to stand alone we should try for a
quarter of an hour a day for several days, by
having his head held by assistants with ropes

Ill]

PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING

23

attached to the cavesson ; and later by replacing
the rope with strong black thread which he will
not be able to, see very easily. The trainer will
move farther and farther away, but will ad-
vance and check him the moment he attempts to
move. He should be caressed whenever he
stands for a few minutes. Punishment should
not be resorted to until this training has been
tried for a week and the horse still reacts.

88. Whatever we ask the horse to do we
must first cause an idea to be produced in him
by means of an aid or indication that will sug-
gest this action ; on performing the action we
must caress the animal and thus show pur ap-
proval of what he has done, and he will then
associate our aid or indication with the act he
performs. In giving a drench to a horse he must
not be tied up by the head and have his throat
pinched and face smacked, as is often done,
because he will associate the sight of a drenching
bottle with unpleasant things. If he is treated
kindly and given a tit-bit afterwards he will like
the sight of a drenching bottle and take the
drench readily, knowing that something nice is
to follow. The same principle is to be followed
in picking up a horse's foot ; if he is shouted at
or kicked because he will not readily lift the
foot, or because he will not keep it still, he will
be worse next time. He will associate any lift
of his foot with the bad treatment, and natur-
ally object to having it lifted. Had he been
spoken to quietly in the first place he would
probably not object to lift his foot. I find by
this method that a horse of ordinary intelligence
can be taught in two or three days to pick up all
his four feet in turn by merely rubbing the hand
lightly down the near fore ; his memory telling
him to raise them in the right order. I re-
member one horse that I had trained refusing to
pick up one of her hind feet to a fresh groom
until he had attended to the fore feet.

89. It is a good thing to use soft padded
bandages on the forelegs of the young horse in
order to save the flexor tendons and to minimise
the risk of producing splints. After the horse
has been given the same indications day after
day and performed respectively the same actions
he becomes almost a machine, which requires
only the slightest indication to start it in per-
forming these actions. Thus in asking him to
canter on a slight circle in his earlier training
we feel both reins, the outer the stronger, and
close both legs, shifting our weight slightly
inwards ; stronger feeling is made with the outer
leg in order to make him strike off with the
inner leg. It may be necessary to turn his head
momentarily outwards to make him strike off
correctly, immediately afterwards turning it in
the direction he is going. He thus learns that he
is to lead with the inward leg. After a while,
however, we can make him do this by merely
shifting our weight and closing our legs. If the

horse is taught various acts one after the other,
always in the same order, he will remember
them, and upon being given the indication for
the first act he will go through the whole of the
performance. It is upon this principle that the
circus horse performs his acts.

If a horse refuses to take the bit into his
mouth, his mouth must be partly opened by
placing one's fingers in between the bars of the
mouth ; and he must be caressed upon opening
his mouth. On no account must the bit be
forced into his mouth, because he will associate
being bitted with pain — but many grooms cannot
understand this. I have spent many weeks in
making a bit-shy horse take the bit nicely, but
it is always worth the pains taken. A horse will
open his mouth for the bit as willingly as a child
for sweetmeats once he has learnt that he will
not be hurt.

In catching a loose horse, chasing after him
will only excite him to motion, so we must re-
main quiet and approach him only when his
attention is attracted elsewhere, remaining still
directly his attention is directed on us. If a
horse is running away he should not be chased,
but be cut off if possible by making a detour
around and thus getting ahead of him. This,
as a rule, cannot be done on foot.

90. A horse which has become bad through
ill-treatment requires to be very carefully
handled for a long time ; he must never be
teased. Teasing ruins any horse. A horse that
has once been spoilt will be suspicious of further
ill-treatment ; he must be shown that no one will
harm him and that we are his friend. Such a
horse will have to be very sparingly punished
until his affection and confidence are gained.
Some writers say that it is not worth while
training a bad horse ; they say that we do not
take criminals and educate them into high posi-
tions. True, but this is scarcely analogous to the
horse. A bad horse, unless he has been ill-used
for a long time, can be made into a good one if
taken over by a competent horse-trainer.

It has often been stated that the most suc-
cessful horse-trainers have a hypnotic influence
over their subjects. I do not believe this, nor
that they have a mesmeric effect over horses.
I do believe, though, that the most successful
horse-trainers fascinate their pupils very con-
siderably ; the horse is not able to concentrate its
mind sufficiently to be mesmerised or hypnotised.
I was fortunate in having a long conversation
on this subject with the hypnotist, Professor
McEwen. He told me that he had experimented
on horses without result.

Circus Horses

91. A few words on the general principles
adopted in training circus horses and on the
cruel methods sometimes used to make stage

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

horses perform will be of use here. A few
examples will suffice to show the cruel methods
that are sometimes adopted. Any fool can make
a horse do certain acts by the means mentioned
below, so there is no credit due either to the man
or to the horse. In many cases the man de-
serves to be treated in a similar manner. My
motto in training horses, or in doing anything
else with them, is " Never do to your horse what
you would not have done to yourself." If all
horse-owners went on these lines good horse-
men would be more common. These perform-
ances, which require no cleverness on the part
of the trainer, and no study by the horse, but
which astonish and amuse the public, because
they are ignorant of the means employed, are
not so commonly witnessed as they have been
in the past ; this is due to the work of the
S.P.C.A. and other humane organisations and to
the police ; it is also due to the horse being better
understood by certain trainers, who are there-
fore able to educate the horse and thus make him
perform the same things in an intelligent manner
without ill-using him.

The cruel methods adopted are such as these :
A noble rider comes home in distress at meeting
misfortune, and his horse is supposed to share
his master's grief. When offered oats he puts
his muzzle into the basket, but withdraws it
with a negative shake of the head, much to the
astonishment of the audience, who are not aware
that the poor horse has run his muzzle against
a number of pins in the bottom of the basket.

A horse who loses his master in one of the
acts refuses to eat during the rest of the per-
formance. He is supposed to be mourning, but
in reality the food offered him is soaked in a
drug that possesses a disagreeable odour. Similar
means are used by the mountebank to cause his
horse to go through its daily performance. Too
often the mountebank is a charlatan, because far
greater skill than that which he possesses is re-
quired to train a horse. He usually poses as
superior to school riders and has the gift of talk-
ing much ; he thus makes the audience believe
what he says. He is clever at one thing, and
that is in deceiving the public.

92. We will now consider briefly the pro-
perly educated performing horse, known as " the
horse at liberty." In the past, during many
centuries, a certain number of horse-trainers
existed who were able to educate the horse to an
advanced degree, and until about two centuries
ago these trainers were considered as magicians
or sorcerers. Stories are told of these trainers
being burnt alive or otherwise punished, on ac-
count of the public becoming afraid of their
apparent power over the horse.

A Neapolitan, named Pietro, had a little horse
called Mauraco, whose naturally good disposi-
tion he turned to account; this little animal
would perform some very clever tricks that his

master taught him. After some years when
passing through Aries he caused such astonish-
ment that he was taken for a sorcerer. Pietro
and Mauraco were both burnt alive in the public
market-place. A horse mentioned by Shake-
speare, called Morocco, that was owned by a
trainer named Bankes, was also burnt because
of superstition. The principles of training laid
down in the earlier portion of this chapter should
be carefully adhered to in training a horse for
public performances, i.e. to perform at liberty in
the circus and, finally, perhaps, on the open
stage. In teaching a horse the numerous little
tricks we must watch him very carefully to see
whether he really understands our wishes,
whether he is becoming wearied, and whether
he is physically able to do what we ask of him.
When he refuses to obey, our difficulty lies in
being able to discover whether he does so from
obstinacy, from ill-temper, or from ignorance of
our wishes ; in the last case, of course, it would
be our own fault. An enclosed circus is the best
place in which to teach a " horse at liberty " ;
the man is near to the horse, and can easily cor-
rect his faults. The horse should have had
several weeks with the cavesson previous to this,
in order that the trainer may gain his confidence
and love, and to teach the horse obedience. Once
the horse has become thus thoroughly obedient
he can be taken into the circus ring. He will
now be free of the cavesson and lunge, but the
circus boards will keep him in the circle ; the
radius of this circle should be the same length
as the lunging-rein. We keep him near the
boards by the same means as we kept the lung-
ing-rein taut.

Later he will be taught to turn in and to come
up to the trainer ; at first the lunging-rein and
the voice will be used for this, which can after-
wards be replaced by a thick black thread that
he will not easily be able to see. He will be
given a tit-bit upon coming up to the trainer.
Thus he will associate our voice-sound with
turning in towards us and receiving a piece of
sugar. After he has been taught a few little
tricks like the above, he may be made to trot,
walk and canter with a roller and side-reins on.
Each time he is made to trot, the word " Trot "
must be said slowly and the whip raised to a
certain position. Another sound and position of
the whip will be used when he is made to canter.
The whip will be held in the hand away from
the direction in which the horse is moving, so
that he cannot see it very readily. He will thus
associate these sounds and movements of the
trainer's hand with the various actions, and after
a while will perform these acts merely upon the
sound being used with the movement, and later
by the movement alone, or by the sound alone.
He can thus be taught many other acts, such as
halting, turning right-about, left-about, etc.
Great patience is required and incessant kind

PLATE 11

4tt "The Meet." The English Hunting Field in the Early Victorian Era. />, "The Imperial Courier," by Schreyer

PLATE 12

a, Hunter Mare "Partridge II.," First, Royal Show. 1912. b, "Pretty Polly," the Famous Winner o[ the Oaks, etc.

Photos : G. H. Parsons

Ill]

PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING

25

treatment. If the horse has been made obedient
in the first place there will be little fear of re-
action, so there will be little need of punish-
ment ; a little may have to be used at times when
he becomes lazy or disinterested, to remind him
who is master. But he must never be nagged
at, and, as we have said, should always be
caressed a short time after the punishment.

93. In the earlier stages of all these per-
formances the horse's education is assisted by
the trainer going through the same action with
his own body and limbs ; e.g. when the horse
is asked to walk the trainer should walk, when
asked to trot the trainer should run, when asked
to turn about the trainer should do the same,
and so on. The horse always watches the move-
ments of his trainer very intently.

It is absolutely necessary that the circus
should be enclosed to prevent the horse's atten-
tion being distracted, as his whole attention must
be concentrated upon his trainer. He will thus
notice slight movements made by the trainer ;
therefore the trainer must be most careful not to
make movements that the horse may read as
signals, unless they are meant as such. The
horse's eye is so keen in observing his master's
signals that, when his training is well advanced,
the trainer can signal to the horse to perform
all kinds of acts by signals that the audience
will be unable to detect. It must be remem-
bered that careful gradation is necessary in train-
ing the mind as well as the body. A lesson
should never be allowed to weary a horse and
make him thus dislike his work. If he is too
fresh at the beginning of the lesson, he must be
exercised before the lesson is continued. It is
very easy to spoil a horse by asking him to obey
one's signals when he is too fresh.

94. The principle of training a horse to hold,
and afterwards to pick up, a handkerchief is
simple : A white handkerchief soaked in sugar
solution, or whatever the horse is fond of, is
offered to him. A finger is passed into his
mouth to cause him to open it and the handker-
chief is placed inside ; the thumb and forefinger
are then used to keep the lips closed ; should he
drop it he will be spoken to severely and made
to take hold of it again. Upon tasting the sugar
the horse will probably like to keep hold of the
handkerchief ; every time the horse drops the
handkerchief he will be spoken to severely, but
caressed whenever he holds it for any length of
time. While teaching these actions words of
command will also be used, so that eventually
the horse will take hold of the handkerchief upon
being told to. Similarly signs will be given.
The tricks which can be taught to a horse upon
these principles, i.e. giving signals with the
body, hands or whip, and at the same time utter-
ing commands, are very many, and are particu-
larly pleasing to the public, because they think
the horse understands the words. The horse

E

pays more attention to the trainer's movements
than he does to the voice. Thus a horse is taught
to pick up blocks of wood, to stop, to paw the
ground, to nod his head affirmatively or nega-
tively, to count, etc., upon certain signals from
his trainer. In this way he answers " yes " or
"no" to questions, counts the time by pawing
the ground, stops at a certain letter block and
picks it up, thus spelling words, etc.

95. After a while the horse will learn to
carry on the various actions consecutively in the
right order, because he will every day be asked
to perform them in the same order. A horse
that will stop at a given signal can thus be told
to point out the lady in the black hat in the front
row, and so on. The best method to teach the
horse to stop as above is to use a black strong
thread attached to a bridle, and when it is de-
sired to stop him to pull on to the thread, to say
" Whoa ! " and to make a certain slight move-
ment with the arm and whip, say, towards his
forelegs ; later the thread will be dispensed with,
and then the voice, the act being performed
merely by the signal. A thread will also be
used in leading the horse to a row of letters when
teaching him to spell. Whenever he obeys he
will be caressed and shown that he has done
right; he will thus associate the act with the
caresses and tit-bits.

96. In days of old it was thought that
peculiar-smelling oil had a peculiar effect upon
horses, and that horse-trainers could do wonder-
ful things with horses by the use of these strong-
smelling oils. There is no doubt that good re-
sults were never obtained from the use of these
oils.

The things we see circus horses perform ap-
pear marvellous to those who do not understand
how they are done ; and circus-horse owners
have kept up this idea of marvellous power by
keeping their methods secret. I have gone into
the methods of training circus horses rather
fully in order to show that a horse can be edu-
cated only by kindness ; that the methods adopted
by all modern horse-trainers are humane ones,
punishment being resorted to only when wilful
disobedience is quite evident. The training of
the horse is very like that of a child, except that,
as stated before, the uneducated horse has very
little intelligence, but an ample amount of
instinct, whilst the uneducated child has very
little instinct but a certain amount of intel-
ligence.

97. Before leaving this subject I must re-
mind animal lovers that the means adopted in
training other performing animals are often very
cruel, and I have been surprised and disgusted
to see that some dogs have been trained by cruel
methods. Such dogs, however, perform in a
different manner from those trained by kind
methods, and observant animal trainers can
easily detect these animals on the stage. The

26

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, in

inferior trainer uses at times cruel methods that
the good trainer has no need to use. With the
horse, no cruel methods will bring results worth
speaking of ; punishment in the right place,
given while the trainer's temper is under perfect
control, is not cruelty. The trainer on the stage
who adopts cruel methods, or who has animals
which show signs of cruel treatment, gives him-
self away as being an incapable man in his
profession. (See Sees. 2 and 3.)

Cruelty of Horse Dealers

98. This subject is discussed in Chapters XIII.
and XV. Until our laws are very much im-
proved, so long will horse dealers continue to
torture and drug horses in order to deceive the
public and to benefit their own pockets. I am
most thankful to say that many of these wretched
human parasites have had their businesses
ruined through the advent of the motor — they
may be trying their tricks upon the public with
motor-cars, but even if they are, they will not be
torturing dumb animals which have no defence.

Some horse dealers will do almost anything
to a horse to prevent him from showing signs of
lameness, or from showing bad tricks, or to
make him appear high-spirited. Drugs are used
to ease pain and to make a horse feel fresh ;
over-feeding on soft feed and want of exercise
are resorted to to keep the horse fat and to
make him feel fresh. Nerves are cut to hide
lameness, and, worst of all, a sound foot may
be injured in order to make the horse go
apparently sound on the unsound foot, i.e. by
having both legs injured he cannot favour
one leg.

I think the greatest enemy that the horse has
is the horse dealer. What horse dealer will not
mutilate the horse to any degree merely to suit
a prevailing fashion or the foolish fancies of an
ignoramus who wishes to buy a horse? All
horse dealers' stables should be open to public
inspection by the police and humane societies
at all times ; so should most large stables. For
the horse's sake, the quicker the motor takes his
place for commercial and showy purposes the
better.

CHAPTER IV

FOODS AND FEEDING— EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

99. EVERY owner of a horse has quite a respon-
sibility upon his shoulders — that of seeing that
the animal is properly fed and cared for. The
modern law has a considerable check upon
owners of horses, but very often, through want
of knowledge rather than through cruelty, the
horse that works so hard for us is put to much
inconvenience and even suffering. For this
reason I wish to point out to the ordinary horse
owner the ways of feeding and caring for the
horse in the stable and on the road. The correct
regulation of the feeding of the horse is far more
difficult to control than is commonly thought.
As a rule the feed is thrown into the horse's
manger day after day without any consideration
being taken as to whether the horse is being
over-fed, under-fed, or wrongly fed. The horse
was created for motion, and he requires it ; and
the amount of motion he gets will proportion-
ately affect the amount of food he should receive
as well as the kind of food.

100. After good food and rest, a deficiency of
exercise brings the horse to a state of nervous-
ness, a state which varies according to his dis-
position. This nervousness, which is usually
shown in the form of excitement, is due to
excessive exuberance of spirits. This excitability
may even be intense when the horse is lame.
A lame horse, who has been fed well while
standing idle for a week, if taken out for gentle
exercise, may apparently forget his lameness
and prance about, causing himself much injury.
Hence, a horse must be given various quantities
and qualities of food according to the work he
does. During the sixteenth century the common
way of causing fractious horses to become sub-
dued was to starve them. We read that Henry
VII. ordered a horse he was to ride in a public
procession to be starved for twenty-four hours
previously, because, as he was a bad horseman,
he was afraid to ride the horse otherwise.
Of course, no civilised person would think of
doing this now ; soft food and hay alone
would be sufficient to produce the required
effect.

101. All horses in one stable should be fed
at the same time, because unfed horses are liable
to become restive and to learn objectionable
habits, as pawing, biting at the manger, etc.
The horse should be fed at regular hours, if

possible. Irregular feeding causes the horse to
look unfit. When anyone approaches the horse
in its stall he should speak to the horse, or
otherwise a nervous animal is liable to kick
upon being suddenly surprised. He should say,
" Steady, boy ! " or something similar to this, but
not " Whoa ! " because the horse is already
standing still. On no account must the horse
be shouted at, unless he is preparing to kick,
and then a sharp word will generally stop him.
In using the pitchfork in the stall, care should
be taken to let the horse know what is being
done, else, on suddenly seeing the fork under its
hind legs, it may kick out, and perhaps injure
itself on the prongs.

102. I strongly object to overhead mangers,
because with these the dust and seeds get into
the horse's eyes, mane and ears. It is far safer
to put the hay into the manger with the hands,
and not with the fork ; if the fork is used, great
care must be exercised. Care should be taken
never to throw anything up in front of the
horse's head — as one's hand, for example.
Grooms should immediately report to their
master should they accidentally injure their
horses— by pricking them with a fork, for in-
stance. By hiding such things serious trouble
may result, instances of which are not uncom-
mon. If, however, an accident is reported at
once, nothing serious will ensue, and the master
will be able to trust his groom in the future. It
is dishonest to hide anything like this, and a
dishonest man is not fit to look after a horse.
Laziness is responsible for a great number of
neglected horses ; the common excuse, " It has
always been done," should never be accepted. A
good horsemaster is one who would not have
done to his horse what he would not have done
to himself.

The Digestive Organs

103. Before entering into the subject of what
is the best food and what are the best methods
of using the food, we will briefly consider what
the animal frame is composed of, what foods are
composed of, and the manner in which the
animal system obtains its nourishment from
these foodstuffs.

Health is the ordinary condition of the body,

28

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

i.e. the body with all its organs working
normally — a very rare state of affairs. Disease
is an abnormal state. The horse in its wild state
is less liable to disease than the one that is
brought into unnatural surroundings ; hence, it
is necessary for us to allow the horse to live in
as natural a state as possible. Of course, before
the horse was domesticated he was the victim of
disease, and Nature's law always has been
"the survival of the fittest." In zoology we
learn that this law exists in every state of animal
life. Nature has no pity on the weakling.

A horse, on account of its love of company,
generally keeps better if in a stable with other
horses.

104. The animal body consists of water,
nitrogenous matter, carbo-hydrates, fat, and
certain acids and mineral matter. These com-
pounds are formed from various chemical
elements, the commonest of which are oxygen,
hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, phos-
phorus, sodium, potassium and sulphur ; other
less common chemicals found in the animal body
are chlorine, silicon, iron, magnesium, iodine,
lithium, fluorine, and occasionally copper, man-
ganese and lead. Water forms about three-
fifths of the entire weight of the animal body.
This varies under different conditions and
decreases as age increases. The mineral sub-
stances, which are formed of salts and acids,
consist of about one-twentieth of the weight of
the body, and are chiefly found in the bones ;
a little is found in the muscles and blood. The
water, salts and inorganic acids (as hydrochloric)
are known as inorganic substances. The re-
mainder are known as organic, and are divided
into nitrogenous, which consist of protein,
albuminoids and simple nitrogenous bodies ;
and non-nitrogenous, which consist of fats,
carbo-hydrates and simple organic bodies, as
acids, lactic acid being the commonest.

The most important organic substances are
protein, carbo-hydrates and fat. Now, the whole
animal system (which includes every living
creature in the animal kingdom) is composed of
minute cells. These cells vary approximately in
size from i-300th to i-3,000th of an inch in
diameter. The cell consists of protoplasm, a
nucleus and a centrosome. Animal matter
grows by the continued duplication of cells, i.e.
each cell splits into two, and then each of these
grows to the original size of the cell before it
is split, and so on. The centrosome is the
portion of the cell that is responsible for this
dividing. The nucleus controls the division and
also the supply of food to the cell. The proto-
plasm forms the greater part of the cell, and
consists of protein (or proteid) and water. Thus
we see that protein is the most important sub-
stance in the animal body ; none of the
phenomena of life occurs without its presence.
Protein is a very complex material, consisting

of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur,
phosphorus, etc. There are several kinds of
protein, which vary considerably in their com-
position. Plants are made of cells which are
very similar to the animal cell. (See Chapter
XVII.)

In order to maintain vital existence in the
animal body we must keep the cells alive, and
this is done by supplying them with food ; this
food is the blood. The blood and lymph collect
the good portions of food lying in the intestines,
this being done by a process known as osmosis,
i.e. the element passing directly through the
cells of the intestines into the blood and lymph
vessels. This food is carried all over the sys-
tem. Impurities are again collected by the
blood from the system and deposited in the
kidneys, which are filters. Some of the food
carried by the blood is left in the liver in the
form of glycogen, which is given out again
whenever the body requires extra nourishment.

105. We must now consider what process the
food that the horse eats goes through from the
time it enters the mouth until the time it lies
in the intestines awaiting absorption into the
blood. The alimentary canal consists of a long
tube of muscles, lined with mucous membrane,
extending from the lips to the extremity. It con-
sists of the mouth, pharynx, oesophagus (gullet),
stomach, small intestines, caecum (three feet),
large intestine or colon (twelve feet), floating
colon (ten feet), and rectum (two feet). The
small intestines consist of the duodenum (two
feet), jejunum (thirty feet), and ileum (forty
feet). Various glands pour juices into this canal
that digest the food. These glands are partly
large ones, as the salivary glands, liver and
pancreas, and partly small ones, as those
situated in the walls of the stomach and intes-
tines. The large ones secrete ptyalin and other
salivary juices, bile, pancreatin, etc., whilst the
small ones secrete mucus, hydrochloric acid,
pepsin, etc. Food, on being taken into the
mouth by the horse (known as prehension),
which he does by means of his lips, is passed
on by the tongue, and masticated by the teeth.
During the process of mastication the fluid from
the sub-maxillary glands causes a chemical
change to take place in the composition of the
food, whilst the fluid from the parotid gland
(which is affected in strangles, or mumps)
moistens the food. All this is necessary before
the food is swallowed. The chief chemical
change is the formation of sugars from the
starches. Hence the importance of a thorough
inspection of the horse's teeth every six months
to ensure perfect mastication. (See Chapter IX.)
The process of mixing the food with the saliva
is known as insalivation. Next comes degluti-
tion (swallowing). The gullet is kept oiled by
the mucous glands, which allow the food to pass
down easily. The food is then mixed with the

PLATE 13

PRETTY POLLY'S PARENTS
O, " Gallinule," Sire, b, "Admiration" (and Foal), Dam. Photos: G. H. Parsons, Alsager, Cheshire

PLATE 14

.m

a, H.R.H. the' Duke of Connaught (Governor-General of Canada) in the Grounds of Rideau Hall, Ottawa.
Reproduced by permission. Photo by Mr. G. W. Wise. /», "Stephen L.," Champion Standard-bred Stallion, owned by .T
Mr. W. Wilson, Brandon, Manitoba. c. Thoroughbred, "Tasleti." Copyright Photo: Sport and General, d. Canadian-
bred Buggy Hor.e. e, English Carriage Horse. Courtesy: Rev. G. Perkes, Limpsfield, Surrey. Photos, />, </, e, by

the Author

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

29

gastric juices in the stomach, forming chyme
(known as chymiflcation). Then it is passed on
to the small intestines, where it is mixed with
the intestinal juices, forming chyle (known as
chylification). Then absorption takes place,
and, finally, we arrive at the defaecation of the
unabsorbed portions of the food.

Composition of Food

106. A healthy and suitable food must possess
the following properties : (1) The proper amount
and proportion of the various proximate
principles ; (2) those adapted to climate, age of
animal, and work done by him ; (3) the proxi-
mate principles must be contained in a digestible
form. For instance, beans and peas contain a
higher percentage of protein than meat, but are
not so suitable for human use, as they are
less digestible, much passing off unused. The
nutritive value of a diet depends chiefly
upon the amount of carbon and nitrogen that it
contains.

During exercise an enormous amount of
carbon is secreted by the lungs in the form of
carbon dioxide ; a certain portion of nitrogen is
also secreted in the form of urea in the urine.
Other impurities are secreted by the perspiratory
glands of the skin. It has been found that the
carbon secreted in one day is ten times greater
than the nitrogen, therefore we must feed the
animal in these proportions. Protein contains
three and a half times as much carbon as
nitrogen, so the extra carbon required will be
derived from the fats and carbo-hydrates. As a
rule, vegetable food contains an excess of carbo-
hydrates (as sugar and starch).

107. With human food, cooking serves very
many important purposes, so with horses cook-
ing some of the food has its advantages. Cook-
ing vegetable foods destroys parasites and breaks
up the starch grains, bursting the cellulose, and
allowing the digestive juices to come in contact
more readily with the granulose and thus form
the sugars. Vegetable foodstuffs contain water,
nitrogenous matter, soluble carbo-hydrates, fat,
wood fibre and ash.

The various elements of the different foods
are classed as follows : flesh-making, fat — heat-
making (starch, sugar, and fat), bone-making,
wood fibre, and water.

The chief soluble carbo-hydrates consist of

ordinary starch (C6H1005), grape sugar (C6HiaOa),

nd cane sugar (GjjH^On). When saliva is

ixed with starch, as already stated, sugar is

1 rmed ; the chemical reaction is :

Starch + Saliva = Grape sugar
= C6H1206

H20

The following table gives the percentage com-
position of the grains, roots, hay and grasses
most commonly used :

Flesh-
producing 1

Fat— heat-
producing

Bone-
producing \

1

<c.

1

t,

V

1

Starch
& Sugar

Fat

Oats

11-3

57-3

5-4

3-0

10-0

13-0

Maize

10-3

70-4

5-0

1-5

2-2

10-6

Barley

10-6

65-5

2-1

2-5

5-0

14-3

Rye

11-5

69-5

1-7

2-0

1-9

13-4

Wheat

11-7

69-3

2-0

1-8

1-8

13-4

Beans

25-4

48-5

1-5

3-2

7-1

14-3

Peas

22-5

53-7

1-6

2-8

5-4

14-0

Linseed

20-5

19-6

37-0

3-4

7-2

12-3

Bran

14-1

56-0

3-7

5-8

7-2

13-2

Carrots

1-2

9-3

0-2

1-0

1-3

87-0

Potatoes . .

2-1

20-7

0-2

0-9

1-1

75-0

Rice

7-3

78-3

0-6

0-6

0-4

12-8

Clover hay .

13-6

36-2

2-6

6-3

25-0

16-3

Meadow hay

9-2

42-9

2-5

6-5

25-2

13-7

Lucerne

(Alfalfa)

4-5

9-2

0-8

2-0

9-5

74-0

Green grass

4-0

11-5

0-9

2-4

5-9

75-3

Wheat straw

3-3

39-4

1-3

5-3

37-1

13-6

Oat straw . .

4-0

37-0

2-0

5-7

36-8

14-5

Barley straw

3-5

39-1

1-5

5-7

36-0

14-2

Bean straw .

12-0

31-8

1-3

6-3

30-6

18-0

Pea straw . .

7-5

29-3

2-1

4-1

42-4

14-6

108. The digestibility of some of the above
foods is approximately as follows :

Carrots and maize

Bran

Barley and beans

Oats ..

Wheat straw . .

Meadow hay . .

95 per cent.

93

84

75

50

43 to 61

Vhe saliva gives up its water and causes it to
')ine with the starch.

It is interesting to note that the parotid sali-
vary gland of the horse is very large, and prob-
ably has become so since he has been domesti-
cated and fed on dry oats.

The suitability of food cannot be conveniently
measured chemically, so we must find out its
value by observing the effects upon the horse.
A wholesome food is not necessarily a suitable
one. The state of the faeces is a valuable guide.
Fortunately in health the horse's dung is not con-
stipated like that of a dog, nor fluid like that of
horned cattle ; it is moderately soft, fairly well
formed and brittle, light in colour (never dark),
moderately damp and free from odour and slime.
If loose and unformed it indicates that the food
is unsuitable, that it has produced either irrita-
tion or a purgative effect. Other foods will
cause a slow action of bowels or greater absorp-
tion of fluid, and thus cause the faeces to become
hard. The longer the waste matter is left in the

80

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

intestines the greater will be the chance of the
poisonous portions being absorbed into the
system. Meat is a valuable food in that it is the
most concentrated and most easily assimilable of
nitrogenous foods. Horses are not generally fed
on meat, although they have been in the past, as
during the siege of Metz, when it was rolled
with bran. I remember a horse in the British
cavalry that would eat hot meat and vegetables
without any hesitation.

109. Oats. — Oats have been found to be the
most suitable for working horses ; they contain
a higher percentage of woody fibre and not too
much starch and sugar. The wholesomeness of
a horse food consists chiefly in its correct per-
centage of wood fibre and nitrogenous material.
Woody fibre, although indigestible in itself, aids
in the digestion of the nutritive parts of the food.
By not containing too much nitrogen it has a less
poisonous effect than highly nitrogenous food.
The greatest amount of nourishment can be ob-
tained by horses from oats with the least chance
of upsetting the digestive system.

The Characteristics of Oats. — As oats are so
commonly used and as it is so important that
horse owners should know good from bad oats,
it is advisable to give in detail their character-
istics. Good oats are plump, short, round, hard,
dry, floury if bitten, without odour, with colour
either pale yellow, or almost white or black ; a
deep yellow indicates kiln-dried oats. Good oats
should smell slightly sweet and should rattle if
shaken in one's hand. The kernels should bulge
slightly through the husks. The fatter the kernel
is the heavier will be the weight of a bushel ;
good oats should be of uniform size. They are
beardless or nearly so ; beards decrease the
weight of oats. New oats are soft, and horses
deteriorate if fed on them. New oats are also
heavier because they contain more water, so they
may be sold by dishonest dealers as good old
oats. Oats of the previous year are the best.

Oats vary in weight from 25 to 50 pounds per
bushel. An average weight is from 32 to 40
pounds. In weighing oats the measure should
be filled from a sack, and the surplus immedi-
ately " struck " from the top with a round stick ;
no shaking is to be allowed. The measure
should be placed on the scales before it is filled.
Good oats should be cleaned ; therefore they
should be shaken to determine if there is any
dust in them. White oats are more nutritious,
as they have less husk than black oats. English
oats are generally the best from the point of view
of nutriment.

110. Defects in Oats. — The worst oats are
longer, thinner, more irregular in shape, heavily
bearded, darker in colour, stronger in odour. If
squeezed in the hand they will feel soft and
spongy, chiefly due to the beards. Oats that
have become damp (through the leaky hold of a
ship) become heated and sometimes commence

to steam. They will have a darker colour and a
peculiar acrid smell ; these are called foxy oats.
In order to hide this they are sometimes kiln-
dried, which gets rid of the foxy odour, restores
hardness, but turns the colour still darker
(almost brown). To get rid of this dark colour
they are sometimes bleached with sulphur ; in
which case the sulphur can be tasted if the oats
are crushed in the mouth. Kiln-drying good oats
that have only become a little damp does no
harm and saves them.

Inferior oats with long beards are sometimes
"clipped" by passing them through a machine.
Mustiness and mouldiness, due to damp harvest
or damp stowage, is generally detected by a
musty smell ; if mouldy, the mould will probably
be detectable upon close examination. Oats that
have commenced to sprout are of no value for
feeding purposes. Rats may taint oats to such
an extent that horses will not eat them. If a
horse will not eat his oats, great care must be
taken that some good oats are given to it before
it is treated for sickness, as it may not be sick.

111. Feeding Oats. — The daily ration of oats
for a horse about fifteen and a half hands high
is about ten pounds, which should be increased
to twelve or fifteen with hard work. The cavalry
allowance is insufficient if horses are doing very
hard work. Horses at rest require only from
four to six pounds a day, if at rest for any length
of time perhaps as little as two pounds a day.
These last should, of course, be fed on bran
mashes, with a small amount of oats added.
Unless crushed, oats should never be fed alone to
a horse, but should be given mixed with cut-up
hay (chaff) or bran. Chaff is cheap, as the
ordinary hay can be cut up daily by a chaff-
cutting machine, which can be purchased for
about three pounds (fifteen dollars). Its cost,
if treble this, would soon repay itself. Cutting
up hay is the best way to prevent the horse from
wasting it. Three or four gallon measures of
chaff with each feed of oats are not too much.
At any rate, one gallon should be added to every
gallon of oats. Chaff improves if kept in bulk
for some time, and is better if damped before it
is fed, because the dust affects the nostrils.
Heavy draught horses doing hard work are given
as much as forty pounds of oats a day. This
shows that oats can be fed in large quantities to
hard-working horses without any harm, at the
same time keeping them in hard condition.

112. Crushed Oats. — With any horse crushed
oats are an advantage over uncrushed oats, but
with old horses, and those that feed hurriedly,
through greed or fear of their neighbour robbing
them, crushed oats are of the utmost value.
Normally a horse can grind up oats very well
with its molar teeth ; but, of course, if oats are
already crushed the juices will have greater
access to the kernels, and therefore digestion will
be more perfect. Oats should not be crushed

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

31

flat, but the kernels merely split ; too much
crushing will lose some of the flour. Crushing
is more essential with hard, small, foreign oats
than with the English and Canadian oats, which
are the best oats we get. Oats can also be
steamed or boiled.

Every horse should have a hot feed in the
form of boiled oats or a mash on Saturday night,
or on the night previous to his day of rest or his
easiest day.

113. Measuring Oats. — Oats as a rule are sold
in small quantities by the bushel ; in large, by
the quarter or by the load. A bushel is taken at
a fixed weight ; thirty-five pounds in some coun-
tries, forty in others, and so on. The total
weight of oats is obtained, then, if this weight
is divided by the thirty-five or the forty, as the
case may be, the quotient gives the number of
bushels that the purchaser has to pay for. Thus
if the oats are lighter than thirty-five to the
bushel the purchaser will really get more bushels
than he pays for.

Dry measure (by which oats are measured) :

4 gills =
2 pints
4 quarts
2 gallons
4 pecks or 8 gals. =
4 bushels
8 bushels or 2 sacks =
5 quarters
2 weys =

1 pint
1 quart
1 gallon
1 peck
1 bushel
1 sack
1 quarter
1 load or wey
1 last.

The grain bushel must be "struck" so that its
top is level with the sides of the measure. The
standard bushel contains 2,218-192 cubic inches
(or nearly 2,218},). It measures 19£ inches in
diameter, and 8J inches in depth.

114. Maize. — Maize is called corn on the
American continent and mealies in South Africa.
It is unsuitable for young stock on account of its
high percentage of minerals, but it is an excellent
food for hard-working horses. Maize should be
dry, bright in colour, hard, free from dirt, have
a sweet taste if crushed in the teeth, and have no
distinct odour. Maize is bought by the quarter,
and weighs sixty pounds to the bushel. The
best variety of maize is the North American corn,
which is almost triangular in shape, large and
rather flat. It is eaten enormously by human
beings. It soon deteriorates if kept in bulk, and
if allowed to become at all damp is very liable
to become heated. When heated, maize is
darker, softer, and has a peculiar pungent odour.
It may also become musty or mouldy.

Maize as a rule is fed mixed with other grains.
If fed alone it should be mixed with chaff ; it is
sometimes fed on the cob. It is more important
to crush maize than oats, as the former is much
harder. As maize takes a long time to digest,
water must not be given in any quantity for

nearly two hours after feeding it. Maize may
be soaked for several hours, which will assist
greedy horses, or horses with bad teeth. The
daily ration of maize if fed alone is the same as
that of oats.

The daily ration of the London Road Gar
Company, for their omnibus horses, was : Maize,
16 Ib. ; oats, 1£ Ib. ; peas, l£ Ib. ; hay (chopped),
12 Ib., making a total weight of 31 Ib. of food
per diem.

115. Barley. — Barley is not generally fed in
England, but is fed a great deal in some coun-
tries. It should be plump, short, hard, with a
thin wrinkled husk, of a pale golden colour and
without a distinct odour. It is sold by the
quarter, at fifty-four pounds to the bushel. On
account of the indigestibility of the husk, barley
should be fed crushed, parched or boiled. It
requires far more power to crush barley than
oats. Barley is parched by throwing a little
together with a little sand (heated to almost red
heat) and stirring until it is seen that the husks
are split. The sand is then sifted off with a fine
mesh sieve. This sand, of course, can be re-
heated and used again.

116. Rye. — Rye is a poor food for horses, and
is therefore unsuitable if fed alone. It is fed in
some countries coarsely ground and cooked. It
rapidly ferments after cooking. Small quantities
may even cause diarrhoea. Ergot fungus is very
often found amongst rye.

117. Wheat. — Wheat is a useful food if nothing
better can be obtained. It can be fed crushed,
or parched, or mixed with other grain or chaff.
It is not easily masticated if fed whole alone. It
must be dry to be easily digested. It has been
fed whole up to seven pounds per day with good
results. The flour of wheat is often fed with
splendid results.

118. Beans. — Beans and peas are the most
nutritious form of grain fed to horses, as they
contain a very high percentage of flesh-produc-
ing elements. They are therefore very " heat-
ing," and can only be used when horses are
doing hard work or being exposed to severe cold,
and then four pounds a day can be given quite
safely. Horses turned out to pasture in winter
can be fed six to eight pounds a day. Under
ordinary conditions only one pound should be
given to horses.

Beans should be hard and dry, light brown in
colour and sweet to the taste. They are sold at
sixty- four pounds to the bushel. English beans
are the best, and are smaller, rounder, plumper,
and thinner skinned. Beans less than a year old
are indigestible, and if very old become deterior-
ated and dark in colour. Heavy horses doing
hard work should not be fed over five pounds a
day. Beans should be split on account of their
tough husks. Good beans must be free from
weevil.

Peas. — The same remarks apply to peas as to

32

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

beans, concerning the feeding of them. Peas
must be light in colour, hard and sound. They
are liable to become wet at harvest, whereupon
they become darker in colour.

119. Linseed. — Linseed is one of the most
valuable conditioning foods we have ; it contains
a high percentage of fat-producing elements.
Linseed cake is excellent for horses ; it is made
of residue linseed from which the oil has been
expressed. Linseed grains must be plump and
well filled, free from dirt and bright in colour.
The extremely tough husk of linseed prevents it
from being fed whole ; it is therefore ground or
boiled. Even when ground, very little of the
husk is digested.

Boiled linseed is made by boiling the whole
grain slowly for six to twelve hours, with re-
peated stirring ; or the whole grain may be
soaked in cold water for twenty-four hours. In
both cases a jelly will be formed which horses
readily eat, and which is an excellent food for
fattening purposes. Half a pound a day is suffi-
cient for an ordinary-sized horse. Linseed cake
may be given broken up in the manger, about
half a pound a day.

120. Linseed mash is made by boiling one and
a half pounds of linseed in water for eight hours,
not very thick in consistency ; two pounds of
bran and one ounce of common salt are then
added and stirred in. The whole is covered and
allowed to cool sufficiently so that it can be
eaten. Linseed oil, given two ounces a day in
the food, is an excellent substitute for linseed.

Linseed tea is particularly good for soothing
mucous membranes and the urinary organs. It
is made by boiling one pound of linseed in one
gallon of water and allowing it to simmer for
twelve hours. About a teacupful should be
poured on the food at night.

121. Bran. — Bran, which is the husk of wheat
after the kernel has been ground to flour, owes
its nutritive value to the amount of flour left
with it. Therefore bran from modern mills has
not much nourishment ; it is, however, useful,
as it increases bulk and regulates the action of
the bowels and prevents horses from bolting
their food. It is an excellent food if given in the
form of a hot mash to a sick horse. Bran is also
advantageously used when mixed with heating
foods, such as beans and peas. With most horses
dry bran tends to cause slight constipation, whilst
bran mashes are laxative in their action.

A bran mash is made by scalding two or three
pounds of bran in a bucket of water, adding one
ounce of common salt, covering and allowing it
to stand until cool enough to eat. A mash must
be stirred with a clean stick, and not with one's
hand ; cleanliness is of the utmost importance in
feeding as in all other stable duties. Bran must
be quite dry (moisture will immediately make it
sour and lumpy), sweet, flaky, free from lumps
and of a yellowish-red colour ; the colour varies

considerably according to the wheat. The hand,
if plunged in and drawn out, should be covered
considerably with flour ; and if the bran is
chewed it should not feel gritty nor taste sour.
Sand may have been added to increase its
weight ; to test for this some of the bran should
be thrown into a glass jug of water — any sand
present will sink to the bottom.

122. Carrots. — Both red and white carrots are
liked by all horses, and should be fed, especially
in the spring ; about one to two pounds a day in
lieu of some roots. Carrots should be mashed
or cut lengthways, never crossways, as they may
cause choking.

Other Roots. — Potatoes are used considerably
in Ireland. They should be cooked before use, as
raw potatoes are indigestible. If used to them,
horses can do hard work on boiled potatoes.

Turnips and other roots can be boiled into a
mash or chopped up into small pieces and mixed
with the rest of the feed. These pieces must
never be more than an inch in diameter. Turnip
mashes are commonly used in England on farms.

123. Rice. — Unhusked rice is fed considerably
in India, but the husks are very indigestible to
animals who are not accustomed to them. If
crushed or boiled it makes a fairly good food ; it
should be fed in larger quantities than oats.
Without the husk rice is unsuitable to horses,
because it does not contain any woody fibre.

124. Sugar. — Until lately the value of sugar
has not been sufficiently realised, but now sugar
is very commonly used in England with excellent
results, under the name of molassine, which is
composed of refuse sugar and peat moss.
Molasses is also fed with good results in South
Africa and India. Some of the horses in the
long-distance rides in Europe have been fed
entirely on molasses. Raw sugar should not be
fed except as an occasional tit-bit, because it up-
sets the system. But a considerable amount of
sugar-cane or treacle can be added to the food.
Sugar is sustaining and fattening, and especially
suitable during exposure to hardship or cold.

125. Oatmeal. — Oatmeal gruel is an excellent
food to give a horse after a good day's work.
Gruels may be made of other meals, such as
maize or bean meal, and should be quite liquid
in consistency. Warm gruel is made by pouring
warm water on a little oatmeal in a bucket, stir-
ring, covering and allowing to cool sufficiently.
Then one ounce of common salt should be added.
A cold gruel can be made by stirring a few hand-
fuls of the meal into a bucket of water.

Compressed rations are issued on active ser-
vice and consist of various mixtures. They
should be well broken up and damped before
use. Grain is often steamed, which generally
means being soaked for an hour or so in hot
water ; this is good for sick horses or those that
are off their feed.

126. Rock Salt. — The horse's food contains

PLATE 15

THE ENGLISH THOROUGHBRED
a, "Bend Or." b, "Spearmint." Copyright Photos: W. A. Rouch, Strand, London

PLATE 16

Tld.

THOROUGHBRED HORSES

a, " Berrill." b, " Rightful." Owned by Mr. W. Wilson. Copyright Photos : Sport and General, Essex Street, Strand,

London

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

33

already a great amount of salt, so that without
extra salt some horses keep in excellent condi-
tion. But the addition of salt or the use of rock
salt placed in lumps in the manger certainly in-
creases the horse's thirst and adds generally to
his tone. All horses are fond of salt, and its use
increases the power of the blood to resist disease,
salt being an antiseptic. Rock salt should be
stored in small lumps in perfectly dry places ; a
cold place will do no harm as long as it is dry.
A damp and warm place will cause it to crumble.
Salt (sodium chloride) of any kind assists diges-
tion and tends to get rid of worms.

Crushed oats, bran and other foods are often
mixed together and called " chop." Chop is very
useful for feeding from the nosebag, but it
should not be bought ready mixed, as it is a very
common practice for dishonest dealers to add
inferior foods.

127. Cleaning Grain. — Grain, especially oats,
has very often to be cleaned by being screened,
to rid it from dust, small stones, nail heads (from
ships' holds), etc. Screening machines can be
bought at reasonable prices.

128. Green Food. — The addition of a certain
amount of green food to the daily ration is of
great value to the horse in spring and summer.
It must not be given in large quantities sud-
denly, nor in large quantities to a hard-working
horse. A few pounds partly mixed with the hay
and partly chopped with the feed are excellent,
and horses like it. Green food is laxative, and
if fed in large quantities will make the horse too
soft in condition. It may produce diarrhoea or
even colic. Great care must be taken in using
it. A horse should never be given grass that has
been cut from a damp field, until it has been
allowed to dry. A horse fed entirely on green
food should have about forty pounds a day. Ten
pounds is sufficient for an ordinary working
horse, which should be given in lieu of some
of the hay and oats. Horses must never be
allowed to gorge themselves on green food ; they
will try to do so if they are given the oppor-
tunity.

129. Grazing.— Grazing is most beneficial to
any horse, but especially is it so for the hard-
working horse that is fed so much on hard grain.
Horses enjoy it immensely, and derive the utmost
benefit from even a few minutes' grazing a day.
No opportunity should ever be lost by riders or
drivers to allow their horses to nibble at the
grass along the side of the road. Such oppor-
tunities occur almost hourly to the soldier in the
field, and cavalrymen are always taught to graze
their horses at every opportunity. A few mouth-
fuls quench a horse's thirst and perhaps appetite
for a while, and will never do any harm unless
the horse is very heated and the grass is covered
with frost, when it is dangerous. Horses that are
heated or that have just been doing hard work
should not be allowed to graze on wet grass.

This may not harm some horses, but there is a
risk of flatulent colic or even enteritis setting in.
Grazing in the same way as feeding green fodder
keeps the horse's bowels in good condition and
assists in maintaining good health. Well-cared-
for horses should get half an hour's grazing every
day in the spring.

130. Pasture. — All horses should, if possible,
be turned out to pasture for two weeks every
year. The summer is the best time for this, but
I do not recommend that a bobtail horse should
be turned out during the fly season. Pasture is
also most necessary for horses with sore feet, or
for those who are recovering from a splint,
spavin or other injury (see Chapter IX.). Great
care must be taken that there is a plentiful supply
of water in the field ; also that there is no barbed
wire in reach of the horses. The state of the
pasture must be given careful consideration.
Horses are too often put into scanty pastures ;
besides this being cruel, the horse does not
benefit, but probably comes in worse than when
he went out. Weeds and rushes and bad grasses,
however plentiful, are worse than useless.
Horses, while at pasture for only a few weeks,
and if taken from hard work and put back to
hard work afterwards, can be kept in fair con-
dition by being fed on four to six pounds of oats
a day, half in the morning and half at night.
The heating effect of the grain is counteracted by
the grass. If pasture is not good, oats must be
fed at least once a day.

131. Hay. — Hay varies so greatly in its quality
that it is necessary that horse owners should
have considerable knowledge of what is bad, in-
different or good hay. The value and quality of
hay vary according to the grasses and herbage
that it is composed of, the time of year it was
cut, the manner in which it was saved, and the
soil on which it was grown ; the last is the
most important factor that affects the value and
quality of hay. Hay is composed of dry grasses
and herbage, etc., that have been allowed to
mature in a stack. Herbage consists of the
plants that are not true grasses. Since the intro-
duction of modern farm drainage and irrigation,
practically all hay is " meadow hay," i.e. that
grown on land suitably drained or irrigated, as
the case may be, and used for hay, year after
year. Grass that is gathered from very damp
districts is distinguished by the presence of water
grasses, rushes and sedges, forming what is
known as water-meadow hay ; all the grasses in
it are coarse, as a rule.

Hay that is grown from seed sown as a rota-
tion crop is spoken of as " ley " hay, and may be
cut for two or three years in succession, after
which the land will be used again for grain,
roots, etc. Ley hay is known as artificial, hard
or seed hay. Hay that is largely composed of
clover is called clover hay. Meadow hay is dis-
tinguished by its fineness and by the large variety

34

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

of grasses, and by the pleasant aroma. It is
greener, because it is usually more quickly
saved, for it is composed of finer grasses which
take less time to dry. Seed hay is harder
and contains a small variety of grasses, which
are larger; it often contains much clover and
other herbage.

Good hay, whatever kind it may be, is of a
greenish-brown colour, not yellow or dark
brown. If cut when wet it looks bleached and
becomes mow-burnt. It should be moderately
hard, well saved, and about one year old. The
odour should be sweet, flowering heads should
be abundant, and the grasses should lie flat and
not confused.

Horses doing hard work do not require much
herbage, but a little is a good thing. Good hay
is crisp to the feel and sweet to the taste ; each
specimen of grass should be good. The quality
of the hay for feeding purposes greatly depends
on the kinds of grass which yield it.

132. Hay should be composed of mostly good
grasses, few indifferent, and no bad or useless
grasses. Old hay is from six to eighteen months
old ; before and after this hay is not good. New
hay, which, in the trade, is that sold before
September 29 (Michaelmas Day), strictly speak-
ing, is that which is sold within six months of
its being cut. It is softer, less crisp, has more
colour, tastes sweeter and smells stronger. It is
more bulky and heavier, because it contains
more moisture. The flower-heads of new hay
are not faded, and the herbage and weeds are not
blackened as in old hay. New hay does not cut
up so solidly into trusses as does old hay. The
hand plunged deeply into new hay detects a
warm feeling. One-year-old hay should preserve
most of its colour.

One truss new (young) hay = 60 pounds
One truss old hay = 56 pounds.

The hay should be cut when it is flowering: if
cut before, nutriment is in the stalk ; if cut after-
wards, nutriment is in the seed. If the farmer,
however, wishes to help his land he may allow
some of the seed to fall before cutting, but, of
course, the hay will be of less value. This is
distinguishable by the absence of flower-heads
and seed. As soon as the seed has fallen the
stems become woody.

133. Great care should be taken in saving the
hay, by which is meant the manner in which it
is dried, carried and stacked. The usual way is
to rake it into windrows by horserakes, and then
to put it into cocks. In Alberta the hay is stacked
on the same day that it is cut, but in England
it generally lies untouched for a day, in rows
for another day, and then if there is no rain
may be cocked and carted the third day. This
greatly depends on the dryness of the season
and on the amount of sun and wind. The
quicker it can be got in the better it will be.

Rain destroys hay by washing out much of its
nutriment, which is shown by the colour being
washed out. A large number of trees in a field
decreases the value of hay on account of the in-
creased amount of leaves that will be in the hay,
and also by the amount of nourishment that will
be taken up by the trees from the soil. Gleaned
ground will contain less weeds.

Dust is always plentiful in old hay ; but it
will be much increased if the hay is of great age,
if the hay was weathered while being made, or if
the soil on which it was grown was very dusty.
Over-exposure to sun will increase the amount of
dust. If hay is stacked too soon, i.e. before the
juicy stems of the grasses are sufficiently dried,
fermentation (heating) sets in and the stack may
become mow-burnt or even fired. If it is only
slightly mow-burnt it can be fed to horses with-
out danger — in fact, they like it ; if, however, it is
much mow-burnt it will tend to cause diabetes
mellitus, while some horses will refuse it. On
the other hand, hay that is internally dry, but
that has become wet through rain or dew, if
stacked when damp may become musty or even
mouldy. Musty hay is an inferior food ; some
horses, however, will eat it. It may be dark
brown or a bright yellow, with a bitter taste and
an unpleasant odour. If mouldy, white patches
will be visible ; such is unfit for fodder. A good
truss may become mouldy if exposed to damp.

134. The sweet smell which lasts for several
months in hay, and which is known as its
"nose," is chiefly due to the odour of sweet
vernal, which is the chief aromatic grass in hay.
To examine hay it should be carefully looked at
to ensure uniformity of colour. It should be
noted whether it is free from dust and weeds,
and whether it is much mow-burnt. Several
trusses should be opened right through. Cana-
dian baled hay is sold a great deal on English
and other markets. It generally contains a great
deal of timothy, but is always very dusty. Ex-
posure to air will destroy the musty odour. It
should be well shaken and sprinkled with water,
or, better still, with brine or lime-water, before
being fed.

135. Hay Grasses. — The chief grasses and
plants are divided into useful and useless
grasses. The useful grasses are rye grass,
meadow and tall fescue, foxtail, timothy (cats-
tail), crested dogstail, cocksfoot, sweet vernal,
rough- and smooth-stalk meadow grass and
yellow-oat grass. Meadow soft grass is as good
as a tonic.

The useless grasses are barren fescue, the
bents, false oat, wavy mountain hair-grass, field
brome, sheep's fescue, slender foxtail, darnel,
tufted hair-grass, ribbon grass, quaking grass,
rib plantain, reed sweet-grass, couch grass,
barren brome, rattle and wall barley (squirrel-
tail).

Some common weeds are blackhead, coltsfoot,

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

35

silver weed, sedges and rushes, dandelions,
buttercups, marguerites, nettles, etc.

Herbage consists of clover, trefoil, vetch, sain-
foin and alfalfa, or lucerne.

136. Clover hay makes excellent food for
horses that are not doing very hard work. It is
a change, and horses like it. Any hay containing
a fair amount of clover is increased in value.
There are several varieties of clover. At present
farmers are unable to grow clover in Western
Canada, but the Experimental Farms have got
a special hardened variety, and it is hoped that
in a few years they will be able to put it on the
market. This variety withstands the severe
winters of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

137. Lucerne (called alfalfa in North America)
is a most valuable green food ; it is most
nutritious, and several crops can be cut off the
same roots in the same season. It is practically
perennial, and is a tall, green plant with a small
purple flower. It roots deeply, and can, there-
fore, be grown on dry soils, such as those in
India. It does best in countries with hot sum-
mers. It is brittle, and consequently dusty,
which is a drawback.

Sainfoin makes an excellent hay. The plant
is large, coarse-stemmed, thin-leaved, with a
pinkish flower. It is specially suitable for
heavy horses. Its coarseness of stalk does not
lower its value unless the stalk is tough. It is
very nutritious and is liked by horses. Two
crops a year may be cut, but the plant is only
biennial. It is usually cut for hay before it
flowers.

Appetite

138. The appetite is a fairly good indicator
of the kind and amount of food required by the
system. The reliability of this indicator is much
increased when the horse is at hard work. In
nature the horse is not idle, nor does he eat
threshed oats, so that for this reason the appetite
of a hard-working horse, fed on such palatable
foods, will over-indicate the amount of food
required. When the system requires nourish-
ment, which means an empty stomach and small
intestinal tract, it excites the nervous system and
produces a sensation of hunger (appetite).
Experiment has shown that this sensation ceases
if food is artificially introduced into these empty
organs through the rectum, or through an arti-
ficial opening which may have to be made in
certain diseases of the throat, etc. This sensa-
tion is also produced by external impressions,
e.g. by the sense of smell, taste, feeling, seeing
and hearing. The stimulus, whatever it may be,
excites the whole digestive apparatus and pre-
pares it for the reception of food.

When a horse is sick or much fatigued, it
would do no good, but considerable harm, to
stimulate this sensation by showing him oats

or other palatable foods, as his system will
require all its energy to throw off the illness
without exerting itself in this other direction.
Hence, a very easily digestible mash or gruel
should be given, which would not excite the
appetite too much. Severe work lowers the
activity of the appetite and digestion, and is seen
in racehorses that are over-trained.

To force a horse which is off its feed to eat
and to give it stimulants will do harm. He
should be given plenty of water and a little
green feed or a mash. Only a very little at a
time should be given, and repeated when neces-
sary ; the digestive organs will thus be able to
recuperate.

139. As the appetite under the conditions of
civilisation will over-indicate the amount of food
required, we must make horses eat slowly.
When a horse is hungry he eats, but to eat as
long as he is hungry will probably mean to
over-eat, because it takes time for the stomach
and intestines, when sufficiently supplied, to
communicate this fact to the nervous system,
and thence to the nerves that cause the sensa-
tion of appetite. Thus, when he thinks he has
had enough, he has really had too much, and
every particle taken in excess will do no good,
but harm ; this risk will be lessened if the
animal eats slowly. The same principle applies
to ourselves.

140. Cleaning Mangers. — Great care must be
taken before every meal to see that the manger
is absolutely clean and that it contains no sour
odour. Before a horse is taken out it should
be ascertained whether he has finished his last
meal. The crevices and corners of the manger
are usually neglected by grooms, and soon
become sour, causing a dainty horse to lose its
appetite. A dirty manger is a sure sign of bad
horsekeeping.

141. A horse requires bulk. However high
may be the nutrient properties of concentrated
foods, without bulk they will never cause a horse
to be in good condition. A horse of the stamp
of the cavalry troop horse, doing moderate work,
requires twenty-five to thirty pounds of food a
day. About half of this should be oats, the
remainder hay ; two pounds of the hay should
be cut up into chaff, and mixed with the oats.
The digestive system can scarcely consume too
many oats a day if the horse is working hard,
but if oats are given alone, i.e. without being
mixed with chaff or bran, it will not be able to
consume sufficient, as a great deal of the oats
will pass unconsumed. Hence the importance
of adding bulk to the oats ration. A heavy
draught horse should have as much as three
times the above quantity of oats and nearly
double the hay.

The best method of feeding horses is to give
only a handful of hay in the morning, with about
one-third of the oats ; to repeat this amount

36

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

of oats at noon, with a large armful of hay ; to
give the same amount of hay at night, with the
remainder of the oats, and to give the remainder
of the hay last thing at night. This allows the
horse the whole night to munch his hay quietly.
If the oat ration is very large, four feeds should
be given a day, i.e. one late at night. Heavy
draught horses usually get three feeds a day of
one and a half gallons, which is over half a
bushel a day.

142. The principle adopted in feeding horses
is to water before feeding, and not for at least
an hour after feeding oats or two hours after
rice. Grain or wet green food must not be fed
-when the horse is exhausted or overheated.
The horse should be fed often and in small
quantities. He must not be worked hard or fast
for an hour after feeding grain. Very fast work,
as racing, should not be allowed for two hours
after feeding grain. We must feed a horse on
such food, in such a manner, and in such a
quantity as will keep him in health and fitness
for the work required of him. No opportunity
should be lost for grazing a horse or allowing
him to pick at suitable food.

In commercial stables hay is often chopped
up with the grain, forming " chop," which is
fed almost continuously throughout the day, no
long hay being given. This is done with
London cab horses. If we study the very small
stomach of the horse, and the fact that his
digestive fluids flow continuously (he has no gall
bladder as we have), and take into account his
natural methods of feeding, we shall realise
fully that this method of feeding continually is
the right one for horses, but not for ourselves.
The horse has been known to graze for twenty-
two out of twenty-four hours when undisturbed.
The horse is better if his stomach is always
partly filled, because, as stated above, his
digestion is continuous, so I must emphasise
strongly the importance of horses being fed
frequently and in small quantities. The system
of putting large rations before a horse is most
wasteful, but the horse will seldom waste small
rations. Overhead hay racks are most objection-
able. Hay should be put into the rack by hand,
and not with the pitchfork. Four pounds of
oats, with a couple of handfuls of chaff, is the
maximum that a horse about 15.2 hands should
be given at one feed. Oats weighing thirty-two
pounds to a bushel would weigh four pounds to
the gallon ; good oats, of course, would weigh
a little more than this. If the stomach is
overloaded, it will become distended, the food
will ferment, and gases will be given off. Gas-
tritis, or even rupture of the stomach, may
result. With thin horses it is even more import-
ant to give small feeds, repeated often.

143. The reason hard or fast work should not
be allowed for an hour or two after a meal,
according to the meal and form of work, is

because the stomach and bowels will be dis-
tended with food and gases. These will press
against the diaphragm and lungs, and hinder
the free action of the latter, and may cause them
to become choked with blood ; or, vice versa,
the expansion of the lungs may rupture the
stomach or intestines.

With increased work increased grain must be
given. A heavy horse doing slow work can be
given a large amount of bulky food, as its lungs
are not so much required, and he may be worked
half an hour after being fed. Racehorses only
get about seven pounds of hay a day, and get as
much as fifteen to twenty pounds of oats. Dealers
feed their horses well on hay and bran to keep
them fat — fatness covers up a multitude of evils.
Hay can always be fed to a hot or tired horse,
unless he is very fatigued, when a hot mash or
gruel should be given, with a little salt added.

144. Exhausting work has a weakening effect
on the digestive system, hence we must not allow
the horse to eat grain when exhausted or heated,
because the blood is at the surface of the body
or in the tired muscles away from the stomach
and intestines. A horse must never be hurried
over its feeding. If he has not time to finish his
usual feed, he must be given less, and fed the
remainder when he has time. If he misses one
meal, he must not be given double at the next
meal on any account, but be given an extra meal
late at night.

Horses are usually allowed one hour for
meals, but one hour and a half should be allowed
for the midday meal. While he is eating his
hay he can be rubbed down, but while feeding
oats he should be left alone.

While digestion is going on rapidly a large
supply of blood is in the blood-vessels of the
viscera, and therefore we should not call upon
any muscles to do work ; in order to work they
require an extra blood supply.

The greatest care must be exercised in feed-
ing horses. The theory of feeding must be
understood, and this must be combined with
the closest observation. In no equine matter is
there more ignorance displayed than in that of
feeding. Hot feeds and hot drinks should be
given on the horse's idle days, and always one
night a week. Hot gruel should be given after
a hard day's work, and the legs massaged and
bandaged.

145. Special Cases of Feeding. — If the addi-
tion of bran or chaff will not prevent a horse
from bolting food, a large manger may be used,
with the feed thinly spread all over it ; large,
smooth stones may be put in the manger ; the
manger may be divided into partitions by cross-
bars, or, better still, the manger may be cast
with a series of cups in the bottom about five
inches in diameter and two inches in depth, each
cup approximately fitting the horse's mouth.
Whole grain in the manure is a sure sign of

PLATE 17

Tnt,.

a. Gold Medal Hunter Sire "Spook." Courtesy : "Weekly Irish Times." b. Champion Hunter
Broo.1 Mare " Gold Leaf." Photo : G. H. Parsons, Alsager. Cheshire

PLATE 18

a, Standard-bred Stallion " B.rd Peter" (58275), Son of "Peter the Great.' b, Arab Stallion
"Shahwan," imported from Arabia. Courtesy of Owner. Both owned by Mr. J. A. P. Ramsdell,

Newburg, N.Y.

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

37

greedy feeding or bad teeth. Horses that suffer
from looseness or diarrhoea while at work are
not generally affected by changing the food. The
cause is a nervous affection generally, the result
of the absorbing power of the intestines becom-
ing temporarily paralysed, or, at any rate,
checked, allowing the fluid to pass into the
rectum. This affection is chiefly in the floating
colon.

Horses that have been troubled with fever in
the feet, probably due to over-feeding and want
of exercise, must be regularly exercised and care-
fully fed, with only a small ration of grain ;
beans and peas must not be fed, as they are too
heating. Horses with broken wind should have
their hay wetted with lime-water or brine,
and should be given food free from dust. They
must not be worked for a long period after
feeding.

146. Feeding after Foaling. — After foaling,
the mare has to eat sufficient food to feed herself
and her offspring. This must, therefore, be
borne in mind. For several weeks after foaling,
the feed should consist of crushed oats, with
boiled oats at night. She should be given little
quantities often, as much as she will eat. Later
on she can be given uncrushed oats. It will do
no harm to allow the foal to nibble at its
mother's oats if it wants to. Linseed meal
should be added to the mare's feed.

147. Nosebags. — Nosebags, when properly
cleaned and properly fitted, and made with air-
holes, are very useful articles for the horse to
feed from if it is inconvenient for him to be
placed in his stable. A box on a stand, however,
is more comfortable and more sanitary. The
nosebag must be kept thoroughly cleaned, and
must be strapped up higher as the contents
become less. If possible, a box or other support
should be given to the horse to rest his nose-
bag on. I cannot do better than quote from the
Buffalo Horse World : " For a moment put your-
self in the position of a horse forced to feed out
of some of our nosebags. His head is encased in
a close-fitting, wholly unventilated, foul and
heavy attachment in the shape of a bag. Though
his lips are very flexible and constructed so that
his mouth can perform some of the functions of
our hands, the horse cannot reach his food. He
is compelled to toss the bag upwards so that the
last of his feed may come within reach, and the
grains get into his nostrils and cause great
annoyance. With his breathing hindered and
his nostrils clogged, he is in far more pain and
distress than a horse that gets a cut from the
whip."

148. Causes of Thinness. — When a horse
living under ordinary conditions is found to be
thin or emaciated, a careful investigation must
be made at once. The following points must be
ascertained :

Does he get his feed? Is he fed regularly?

Is he watered sufficiently and regularly? Does
he bolt his food? Do other horses steal his oats?
Do his teeth trouble him? (There may be pieces
of wood wedged in between his molars.) Is his
tongue sore? Has he worms? And is his urine
all right? Great care must be taken that he
really gets his feed, and that it is not being
systematically stolen by the groom. A horse, if
in reach of another feed, must be racked up on
the upper chain until the other horses have
finished their oats.

Under-feeding is, I fear, only too common in
poor districts. The chief culprits in Canada are
the Jewish population. The S.P.C.A. have much
work before them in this line. Any man who
would under-feed a horse should be put in prison
and starved himself.

149. Stowage of Forage. — Oats should ba
stored in small bins lined with zinc, in the loft.
These bins must be in dry places. (See Chapter
VIII.) When oats are used in large quantities,
large bins with wooden floors, ten to fifteen feet
square, are made in the loft, the oats being
shovelled out when required ; but, if possible,
they should be metal-lined. Every precaution
should be taken to keep rats and mice away.
Unthreshed oats should be kept in a stack,
thatched with straw. Hay keeps best in the
stack, with a good straw-thatched roof.

Watering

150. Without water a horse will live only a
day or two, but he will live much longer with-
out food. He must be watered at least three
times a day, but, as his large intestines are very
large, unlike his stomach, he can take in a large
supply of water at a time. He should be watered
last thing at night, say at 9 p.m., especially
in hot weather. He should always be watered
before a meal, as the water will be required to
assist in the digestion of the grain, etc., besides
quenching his thirst. The amount of water
required varies very much. In hot weather, with
hard work, he may require fifteen gallons a day,
whilst in cold weather, when idle, he may only
drink a bucketful (four gallons). Eight to ten
gallons a day is an average all the year round.
The Government allowance on service, where
there is a scarcity of water, is ten gallons, but,
as a rule, a horse is allowed as much as he
wants. A horse will drink as much as from four
to six gallons at a time when thirsty. I knew of
one horse (15.2 hands) drinking ten gallons at
once.

Horses must never be watered for one hour or
one hour and a half after feeding grain (two
hours after rice). If water is allowed to pour
through the stomach en route to the caecum and
colon, it will wash the undigested grain into the
small intestines, where the grain will lie and
ferment and cause colic. Horses, while grazing,

38

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

especially in cool weather, need only drink twice
a day.

It seldom hurts a horse to water him when
hot or directly after hot work ; cavalry horses
are watered in this way, and keep far better for
it. Even ice-cold water seldom does any harm
on such an occasion. It is wrong to take the
chill off water unless the horse is feverish. If
a horse is watered when very hot or tired, he
must be walked for ten minutes afterwards to
prevent his internal organs cooling down too
suddenly ; then he will do far better than if not
watered until cool. The horse must never be
hurried while watering. One that is used to a
bucket often drinks slowly from a trough or
stream, so he must be allowed plenty of time ;
five minutes is sufficient.

151. Reaction is readjustment of a disturb-
ance, and healthy reaction causes increased func-
tional activity. But if the disturbance is too
violent or prolonged it will not become re-
adjusted, and, for example, a chill may result.
The greater the functional activity before the dis-
turbance or shock the more easily will the system
be able to readjust itself ; hence, the sooner we
water a horse after he returns from work, the
better will he be able to stand the shock. But if
the horse is very hot or fatigued, as stated above,
he must not be allowed to stand for ten or fifteen
minutes after being watered. If he is sent
straight back into the stable the system will cool
down too suddenly, i.e. the blood will be driven
from the intestines to the extremities (the legs),
and he will become foundered. This is the cause
of horses becoming foundered that have been
watered on return from work. The groom says
that the watering caused the harm ; but far
from it, the water was necessary to assist the
functional activities of the body. It is the stand-
ing still after the watering that does the harm.
As explained farther on, cold water is necessary
for a heated horse.

Horses must never be trotted to or from
watering, and working horses should be walked
for half a mile after drinking at the fountain,
unless they have drunk only a little. Horses on
the march should be watered as often as possible.
The first time the horse raises his head from the
trough is no sign that he has finished ; he is
probably getting his breath. Horses should not
be watered with bits in their mouths. When
they are ridden bareback to water, a watering
snaffle should be used, which is an ordinary
snaffle with a small mouthpiece. Foremen and
others in charge of horses should see that horses
are not hurried away before they have had their
fill ; a horse cannot take too much water.

152. Watering buckets must always be clean,
and should be scoured out once a week with boil-
ing water. If watering troughs are used they
must be high enough from the ground to prevent
horses pawing their feet over the edge, and there

must be no sharp edges. They should be either
painted iron or zinc-lined, and must be well
scrubbed out at least once a week. They should
be long and wide, eight to ten inches in depth,
and the inlet must be sufficiently large. There
should be a plug or tap in the bottom. A horse
should be allowed a space of about four feet in
width while watering. I fully realise that
glanders and other diseases may be spread by
public watering troughs ; but while one in a
hundred thousand horses may get a disease from
a public trough, to abolish them would be to
cause one hundred thousand to suffer from
thirst.

If we take such extreme precautions we must
never allow horses to get near to one another on
the street or put a horse into a livery stable, be-
cause a glandered horse might spread infection
by sneezing. To take such extreme precautions
is impossible, and so it would be foolish to
abolish the public drinking troughs.

Nevertheless, all public troughs should have a
free stream of water running through all the
time, and the best plan is to water from the
driver's own bucket ; and for this purpose all
public drinking troughs should have two or three
taps for filling private buckets. The surplus
must be thrown down the drain and not into the
trough.

153. In 1903 there were 1,945 cases of glanders
in the City of London, in 1910 there were 594,
and in 1911 about 400. Yet during these latter
years the number of public troughs in use was
double that in use in 1903. Half a million horses
drank daily at these troughs ; the consumption
during 1910 was estimated at over 81,000,000
gallons. An anti-germ individual-cup drinking
fountain for horses has been placed on the
American market by the H. F. Jenks Company,
of Pawtucket, R.I. I can highly recommend the
adoption of this cup by city authorities. A new
reinforced concrete sanitary drinking fountain is
also made by the Sanitary Fountain Company,
Kansas City, Mo., U.S.

154. Water. — Good water is not by any means
the clearest. Horses as a rule prefer cloudy
water in a ditch to the clear spring water, be-
cause the former is softer. As a rule horses
prefer soft water to hard water, but the best
horse-breeding districts are those on limestone,
and the water in these districts is generally fairly
hard. Good water must be fresh, pure, tasteless,
clean, aerated, fairly clear, colourless, fairly soft,
and odourless.

Bad water very seldom does a horse much
harm, because as a rule he will refuse water that
is harmful. Very bad water can be filtered
through a sand bed, or cinders, or charcoal.
Hard water undoubtedly causes a derangement of
the horse's intestinal canal ; horses watered much
on hard water often have harsh, staring coats,
which will rapidly become normal if the water is

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

changed to soft water. Horses have been known
to become quite ill on hard water. The best way
to soften hard water is to add a little lime water
(calcium hydrate).

The source of the water supply should always
be investigated, as the water may come from a
poisonous district or possess a great number of
disease-producing micro-organisms .

155. The Theory of Watering. — Water is
always required to nourish the system. When
water has been in the system for a short while
it has performed its function and is passed out
by the lungs, kidneys, skin, and by the udder
in recently-delivered mares, and by other ex-
cretory organs. On a hot day a hard-working •
horse passes out three or four times more water
through the lungs and skin than through the
kidneys.

Water is necessary to keep down the ab-
normal rise of temperature in the body that is
produced by work ; hence warm water should
not be given to horses. The temperature of the
horse is kept down to normal by perspiration ;
water is necessary to cause perspiration. The
coat, when damp with perspiration, becomes
cooled down by the moisture evaporating. This
cools down the internal temperature of the body.
As work produces heat, work without increased
supply of water will upset the horse's system.
A heated or over-tired horse can be watered,
provided it is not left standing for fifteen minutes
or more afterwards. If left standing he is very
liable to become foundered. If walked about the
horse is far better for being watered, because he
will cool down much more rapidly and his
system will become normal in a much shorter
time. Water quenches the thirst.

Water is a valuable factor in aiding excretion
of impurities from the system. This is especially
necessary in cases of rheumatism, etc. ; hence
horses subject to rheumatism must be given
plenty of water and lots of salt to increase the
thirst. Water also mechanically aids the in-
testines in getting rid of useless residue.

156. The ideal way of watering is to have a
continuous flow of water in front of the horse's
manger. A horse will never drink more than
a few swallows at a time if this is done, and this
will never cause any harm. Practice has proved
that under this method horses do best. They
must, of course, have rock salt before them all
the time. Horses that are not used to being
watered when hot, and those that are going out
on hard work, may be given half a dozen
swallows ; water must not be given for one or
two hours before fast work, as all the space
possible is required for the lungs to work in.

It is always best to water a horse after hard
work ; it cools him down internally and helps
him to recuperate his energy more rapidly.
Horses, if not allowed water before them, must
be watered regularly. Regularity in watering is

as essential as it is in feeding and exercise, and
is the secret of good horsekeeping.

157. Water passes down the gullet (oeso-
phagus) into the stomach, which in the horse
is extremely small and scarcely absorbs any
water at all ; it then passes out through the
small intestines, and what is not required passes
into the caecum, which holds 6 to 8 gallons. Most
of the water that the horse drinks passes into
this intestine. Some of it passes still farther
into the large colon, which holds 16 to 18 gallons.
Only a little is needed at a time by the absorbing
intestines, so that most of the water drunk by
a horse at a good drink is stored in the caecum
until required. The caecum lies on the right side
of the horse.

158. Conditioning Horses. — Young horses re-
quire very careful attention when first brought
to work. Great care must be taken that they
do not lose their flesh and bloom, which, if once
lost through bad feeding, irregular feeding or
irregular work, is only regained with much diffi-
culty. A very steady gradation in the amount
of work and in giving hard feed is of the utmost
importance. About one-third of an ordinary
hard-feed ration is sufficient to start a young
horse with. The exercise given him will, of
course, be very light for several weeks, depend-
ing on his condition and legs. After a few weeks
he may be put on half rations, or even a little
more, proper notice being taken of the manner
in which the food acts upon him, his dung
and urine being watched carefully. Heating
food, as beans and peas, is not good for young
horses, but is good for old horses that require
heat to keep up their condition. An old horse
requires much more food proportionately to keep
in condition. His teeth must always be taken
into consideration.

Blood, power and good looks without con-
dition are of little value to a horse that is re-
quired to do strenuous work, e.g. the horse on
service or the hunter. By condition we merely
mean a body well covered with flesh that is hard,
a hard and firm neck, a glossy and silky coat, a
bright eye, fresh looks, a good appetite, a good
digestion, normal dung and urine, plenty of
spirits, no running up light towards the flanks
like a greyhound, and capability for doing
long and continuous work. (See P. 16, 18, 20,
41.)

It should be remembered that a horse's urine,
unlike most animals', is normally cloudy. Con-
dition must not be confounded with fatness,
which is distinguished by a certain flabbiness
and a distended abdomen. In ref erring lo con-
dition in ordinary horses we do not refer to the
high pitch of condition that is so essential in
the racehorse. The racehorse is trained to a
high nervous state, with not an ounce of weight
on him that could be dispensed with (see P. 156);
he is trained to this temporary high state by

40

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

unnatural means, and as a rule it cannot last
long. This state is maintained by excessive feed-
ing on heat-producing food, excessive grooming
and hand massaging, and excessive training. A
reaction is very liable to set in unless a racehorse
is untrained very gradually. Old racehorses are
seldom any good for work.

159. Then, again, the dealer's " condition "
is another kind ; he aims at fatness, not fitness.
This means flabby and fattened muscles ; in fact,
the horse's whole system is in a bad, loose con-
dition, and he soon becomes fatigued by a little
work. He is kept idle, so that on being taken
into the ring for a few minutes he prances about
and shows much energy, and the would-be horse-
man thinks he has a bargain. Next day he takes
the horse for a run across country, and after a
mile his horse is "done up."

As stated in Chapter III., the dealer in the
ring or show-yard prevents a horse from shying
by keeping its attention turned towards him and
his assistants, by keeping it always on the
"jump," by showing it the whip, and by keep-
ing it on soft feed and other food calculated to
keep it fat.

On account of want of exercise, and through
fear of the whip, etc., the horse appears
animated. He takes little notice of things he
would normally shy at, and prances about
as long as the whip and arms of the assistants
around are continually in motion. He associates
these movements with previous cuts from the
whip, and pays great attention to them through
fear. My advice to purchasers of horses is to
beware of the horse dealer.

160. The only method of obtaining condition
is to give the right amount of the best kind of
the right food, judiciously combined with the
right amount of healthy exercise continued over
a long period, which is more easily said than
done. Added to this is the great importance
of punctuality in feeding and the appreciation
of each horse's habits and peculiarities. For this
reason it is of the utmost importance that one
man should feed a horse all the time.

It is of the utmost importance to ascertain
if the horse is on its feed before taking it out
for exercise, and also that the manger is abso-
lutely clean before each feeding hour. The
sooner horse owners realise that conditioning is
not an easy matter the sooner will they be in
possession of horses that are able to do the work
required of them. It takes at least six months
to get a soft horse into condition for steeple-
chasing or flat racing; it may take a year.
Every few weeks the food, grooming and exer-
cise are increased very gradually. These must
be decreased immediately the slightest sign of too
rapid advancement is discovered. It requires
much time to transform a really fat horse, and
still longer to transform a horse that is much run
down through neglect. Asking poor horses or

soft horses to do hard work is the surest way
to get lameness and disease, and is the surest
sign of bad horsemastership.

161. When once condition has been gained,
then hard work will do no harm ; falls and
minor accidents will probably be withstood by
the body which is ready to stand strains and
shocks. The tissues of an unconditioned horse
will not stand strains, and so we often find that
breakdowns are the result of the horse being in
bad condition.

When a horse is in a hard state hard work
makes his condition better ; in fact, without hard
work condition will begin to go. For this reason
well-conditioned horses, if left idle for a few
days and then given hard work, often fall sick.
Lymphangitis and azoturia are common ailments
from this cause. A horse in good condition
should not be given more than a day's rest, and
on this day his hard feed must be cut down very
considerably. A soft feed should be given the
night before the day of rest, which also has the
beneficial effect of clearing his system. If such
a horse is not required the second day he should
be given at least one hour's good walking exer-
cise. There is nothing like a good walk for keep-
ing up condition.

When a well-conditioned horse has been idle
for some days on reduced rations, his work must
commence gradually again ; sudden work may
cause much harm. (See "Azoturia, Sec. 572.)

The worst, yet perhaps the commonest, form
of ignorance displayed in this matter is that of
allowing a horse to be left in all the week, prob-
ably on full rations, and on Saturday and
Sunday to give it three or four hours' hard work.
One sees this displayed almost every week — no
wonder so many good horses are physically
injured. This applies to private-owned horses,
and especially saddle horses.

162. Conditioning should be cumulative ; an
hour's walking exercise every day is not nearly
sufficient to keep a horse in good condition.
Private-owned horses suffer far more from want
of exercise and over-feeding than over-exercise
and want of feeding.

Contractors must be carefully watched by
owners of horses to see that they supply forage
up to the contract standard. Neglect of this pre-
caution is the cause of much waste of money
and many horses being improperly fed. The
weight must also be ascertained to see that it
is up to contract.

I condemn nearly all the stock condition
foods on the market ; most of those that I have
had any experience with do little good. They
contain in many cases about 80 per cent, oxide
of antimony (black antimony), which does a
horse more harm than good. For condition
powders, etc., see Section 163.

A small teaspoonful of saltpetre (pot. nit.}
once a week in the feed will keep a horse's

PLATE 19

a, Standard-bred Stallion "Cecilian Jay" (43505), owned by Messrs. Coxe and McGregor, Brandon, Man. b. Saddle
Horse, property of Mr. F. G. Haines, Royal West End Riding School, London. c. Thoroughbred Mare " Joan of
Arc," owned by Mr. W. U. Pitfield, Brandon. d. Standard-bred Stallion " Lord Bryson," Champion Two-year-old, owned
by Mr. J. Storey, Vancouver, B.C. e, "Majestic," owned by Mr. J. Darrach, Dayton, Ohio. /, Standard-bred Stallion "Joe
Patchen," Sire of "Dan Patch." Courtesy of Owner, Mr. W. K. Dickerson, Goshen, N.Y. g, A Rajah's Arab Charger. Photo:
Mr. I. A. Timmis. h. Thoroughbred Stallion "Persimmon," owned by the late King Edward. Courtesy: "Canadian

Sportsman." Photos a, C, it, I by the Author

PLATE 20

a, Champion Thoroughbred Stallion "Veronese." Photo: G. H. Parsons, b. Champion Slandard-
bred Stallion "The Moking " (45128). Courtesy: Mr. B. L. Rose, Fairbury, 111.

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

41

kidneys, and therefore blood, in good order.
Overfeeding saltpetre (nitre) will result in serious
injury to the heart, etc., of many horses. Any
salt of potassium given in large amounts is a
poison ; toxic doses cause death by gastritis and
enteritis and arrest of the circulation. It must
not be given in inflammatory conditions of the
intestinal tract, kidneys or bladder.

163. Condition Food and Powders. — A good
condition food for Saturday night, to be given
at the evening meal, is made as follows : Take
a bucket of bran, about four ounces of liquorice,
and one pound of linseed (ground) ; pour on
enough boiling water to make a pudding, stir
well, cover, and feed when cool enough.

Two ounces of linseed oil on the feed every
night is excellent for gaining condition and im-
proving the coat. A teacupful of ground linseed
will do as well.

A very good condition powder is as follows :

Flowers of sulphur ... 2 oz.

Nitre £ oz.

Gentian root i oz.

Fenugreek 2 oz.

Oil of linseed 1 oz.

Mix and make into powder ; give one tea-
spoonful (half an ounce) on damped feed twice
a day. Vary dose according to the size of horse.
Another good powder is :

Nitre

Sulphate of iron

Gentian root

\ oz.

2 oz.

3 oz.

Give two teaspoonfuls at night in feed.

Fowler's solution of arsenic may be given for
a week in one drachm (teaspoonful) doses at
night ; it should not be given for a longer period,
as it has a cumulative poisoning effect on the
liver. The effects of arsenic poisoning cannot,
as a rule, be got out of the system. After a rest
of two weeks it may be given again for another
week, followed by another two weeks' rest.

164. It must be clearly borne in mind that
condition in horses prevents to a very great
extent the possibility of galling from ill-fitting
saddlery and harness and from bad riding.

Every working horse should be given one
whole day's rest once a week. The London
General Omnibus Company used never to work
their horses seven days a week, and there is
no doubt that the horses of this company were
in better condition than those of many other
companies. If horses have to work on Sunday
they must have a day's rest in the week. Every
horse-owning firm could arrange this, and it is
their duty to do eo if they study economy and
humanity.

It is very essential to attend to the special
feeding of horses on their day of rest. They
should receive a hot mash the previous night

and be given smaller rations on the holiday.
If their usual feed is kept up, on the following
day the not uncommon Monday morning ills, as
azoturia, lymphangitis, etc., may result. These
diseases are a sure sign of neglect or ignorance.
Overfeeding in this case is as cruel as under-
feeding.

165. Exercise. — Work is that which a horse
performs as demanded by man, and may be
more than is good for his health. Exercise is
that which he performs for the purpose of keep-
ing in good health and for developing his natural
powers. Hence work may be continued until it
produces fatigue, but exercise should never be
carried to this extent.

The common fault with grooms is to give too
little rather than too much exercise. A horse in
good condition requires two hours' good walking
exercise a day. Exercise is needed to maintain
the balance between bodily waste and bodily
repair.

The muscles alone are not affected by exercise,
but every organ and portion of the whole body
is stimulated in its function, and hence induces
a greater blood supply to that part. Secretions
and excretions of every kind are increased ;
poisons are quickly eliminated by increased
secretions of the lungs and skin. With fast work
a horse may lose five times as much water
through its skin and lungs than it does when at
rest. This produces health by removing im-
purities from the system. Hence during hard
work and hot weather we must give the horse
all the water it will drink, not only to satisfy
its thirst, but to keep it in good condition. The
same applies to human beings.

Exercise increases the bodily temperature,
and, as explained above, cold water is necessary
to keep the temperature down. If hard work is
given without water the skin becomes unnatural,
hard and dry, but upon water being given soon
becomes damp. As long as exercise is continued
there is no danger of chill from cold water being
given ; founder, colic, and other troubles result
from hot and tired horses being watered and
then left standing, perhaps only for a few
minutes. Exercise, as stated before, causes pro-
duction of heat ; food also causes a production
of heat chemically ; so that when horses are
turned out in cold weather, or when doing slow
work in cold weather, they require more food to
keep up the internal temperature of their bodies.
This food should be of a heating nature, such
as beans. (See Sec. 118.)

166. Want of exercise predisposes a horse's
tendons, muscles and ligaments to receiving in-
juries. Lymphangitis, founder and azoturia are
generally the result of irregular exercise and un-
suitable feeding. A horse is meant to be at work,
and standing idle in the stable is unnatural to
him. Exercise places these muscles, etc., in the
best state to resist strains, besides being re-

42

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

sponsible for development of new muscle tissue,
which is produced partly by new muscle fibres
being formed and partly by the enlargement of
those already present.

No portion of the muscular system can con-
tinue at exercise indefinitely, because the energy
it loses while at work is greater than the energy
it receives from the blood ; hence rest is essential.
Even the heart rests between each beat ; the
period of rest in the heart muscles is about twice
as long as the period of work for each ventricle
in turn. Rest is necessary to allow the muscle
to regain lost energy ; it has also been proved
that it eliminates poisons from the system. In
fact, fatigue is the result of the formation of
poisons in the system.

167. Breathlessness is due to the blood be-
coming overloaded with carbon dioxide, the
lungs not being able to excrete it quickly enough.
The excess of carbon dioxide is produced by the
increased action of the lungs.

Halliburton says that the poison produced in
the blood by fatigue is sarco-lactic acid (GaH603).
Whatever the poison may be, the best method of
removing it is the use of plenty of drinking
water. Hence the advantage of watering horses
the last thing at night ; this applies also to
human beings.

Every person should drink a tumbler of cold
water before retiring to bed. Nature has made
animals feel thirsty when the system requires
water. The best method of removing the poison
in the blood produced by fatigue is to give
sodium salicylate ; about half an ounce given in
the feed at night will do the horse a great deal
more good than giving the usual aloes ball.
When a horse is in bad condition, before Being
put to work it should be given this salt for four
or five days, omitting the dose the day previous
to work.

When a horse is fatigued his whole system
is fatigued, and therefore his digestive powers
will be weakened ; hence he must be fed on
more easily digested food and on a lesser quan-
tity than usual.

As in feeding, the essentials in exercising are
punctuality and appreciation of the horse's habits
and individual peculiarities. Great care must be
taken that it is ascertained that the horse is not
off its feed before it is taken out to exercise.

168. Good food, as oats, stimulates the horse
to become excitable to motion ; now motion is
necessary for the development of the muscles of
a young horse, hence the advantage of feeding
him at pasture with a little oats every morn-
ing. Old horses at rest at pasture do not require
oats for this purpose, but may require it if the
pasture is very poor. If the horse is unable to
be exercised he should have his legs well hand-
rubbed for at least ten minutes to each leg. The
leg should also be similarly rubbed if swollen
from standing too long or from overwork. The

more fresh air the horse gets and the more he is
allowed to live as his ancestors did, the healthier
will he be. As said above, the horse requires at
least two hours' walking exercise a day ; but if
he can have three or even four hours, all the
better ; this time is better when divided into
two periods. Fresh air is essential for good
health.

The harder work a horse does the more must
we try to stimulate the secretions and excretions
of poisons ; this is most easily and safely done by
stimulating the skin secretions, which is best
achieved by resorting to much good grooming.
The more work a horse does the more grooming
he should get ; this does not mean that an idle
horse should not be groomed, because grooming
is essential to keep him healthy.

169. It is best to bandage a horse's legs while
being exercised if the ground is hard. Cotton-
wool-lined bandages are the best. It has been
proved that in order to keep up a horse's speed he
must not be allowed to be idle at all ; horses that
have been on the race track or turf year after year
have made some wonderful records at ages of
fifteen years or more, whilst those that have been
idle for a few years and then raced again have
entirely lost their former speed. It is not, how-
ever, necessary to keep the horse at fast work
all the time. Racehorses are given several hours
of slow work every day, and only one or two
sprints a day, and during certain times of the
year no fast work at all.

170. No good, but much harm, will result
from trying to hurry a horse at exercise with the
false idea that going over more ground will do
him more good. On the contrary a walk, and
then a little trot, and then more walking, etc.,
is the best thing. Hurried exercise will make
him thin, tucked up, and perhaps irritable in
temper. Exercise should be varied in its form,
and different routes should be taken daily. It
should be broken up with halts and short graz-
ing moments, when the man must dismount and
the girths should be slackened.

Nervous and excitable horses often perspire
abnormally ; such horses should be carefully
ridden by experienced grooms. Everything
should be done to prevent this nervous perspir-
ing, as it weakens the horse very much. The
example of a well-behaved animal by its side is
of great use. The amount a horse perspires
while at exercise depends greatly on the weather
and humidity of the atmosphere, and horses vary
considerably ; but generally the sweat of a
healthy horse is thin and only slightly oily, and
dries quickly, with less liability of a fresh sweat
breaking out. That of a soft, unconditioned
horse is thick, oily and lathery, which dries
only slowly and frequently breaks out again.

171. Modern long-distance rides have shown
that a horse lasts longer if cantered instead of
trotted, as is usually done. The rate of the

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

43

canter should not exceed eight to nine miles an
hour ; cantering is the natural gait of the horse.
On hard roads, however, cantering throws more
work upon the horse's legs than slow trotting.

The following trip of thirty-two miles I made
on hard roads with a 16.2 hands thoroughbred
horse in good condition in the summer, when
there was no mud to soften the surface, and
where there was little grass on the sides of the
roads to canter upon. My horse had been having
eight to ten miles' exercise a day at a steady walk
and trot, and fed on ten pounds of oats and
twelve pounds of hay a day. My trip away from
home for sixteen miles was as follows. I started
after lunch.

1.25 to 1.30 walk,

1.30 to 1.40 trot,

1.40 to 1.45 walk,

1.45 to 2.0 trot, finish with a mile canter on
side of road.

2.0 to 2.7 walk,

2.7 to 2.18 trot,

2.18 to 2.23 halt, dismounted, fed grass on
side of road, walked
horse, dismounted, for
two minutes.

2.25 to 2.35 trot,

2.35 to 2.40 walk,

2.40 to 2.55 trot (walked down two hills ;
dismounted on one of
these, the other was
slight).

2.55 to 3.0 walk,

3.0 to 3.15 trot (mostly),

3.15 to 3.20 walk,

3.20 to 3.25 trot,

3.25 to 3.30 walk.

Arrived at destination, watered, and fed hay.
After half an hour fed grain, one gallon of oats
with two handfuls of chaff well mixed together.
Started home again 5.30. Arrived home 8.0 ;
slower pace than that of going. Horse in first-
class condition. Next day in like condition, he
was walked for one hour. Legs were kept
bandaged all the morning. The rate going away
from home was about eight miles an hour,
which is too fast for an average horse if kept
up. Coming home it was six and a half miles
an hour.

172. Lending Horses. — Lending horses is all
very well in the case of an owner who takes
little interest in his horses and who does not care
how much they are spoilt ; but it is risky unless
one is absolutely sure that the horse is being
lent to a very competent person who will treat
the animal as carefully as the owner would.
People should know better than to ask their
friends for the loan of a horse. It is quite
another thing to be offered a horse on loan.
Shakespeare tells us that " Loan oft loses both
itself and friend ; and borrowing dulls the edge
of husbandry."

It is not selfish to refuse to lend a horse ; on
the contrary it shows knowledge of horseman-
ship and consideration for the horse. The wise
horseman would rather hire a horse for his
friend than lend one of his own, unless he knew
the capabilities of his friend were as good as his
own. One ride by a bad rider may cause harm
to a horse that will require weeks to undo.

173. Care of Horses on the March. — Under
this heading I include military riding and
draught horses on manoeuvres or on a campaign,
hacks, hunters or carriage horses in civil life,
commercial draught horses, farm horses, and
every type of horse at work.

There are a lot of men handling horses who
should never be allowed to touch them. The
Buffalo Horse World says : " They yell at their
horses, strike them, swear at them, and other-
wise abuse them. Gentleness, kindness and
quietness are prime requisites in a teamster if
he would get most work out of his horses."

Before a horse is asked to make a long march
he must be in condition. Cavalry horses on the
march walk at the rate of three and a half miles
an hour and trot at seven miles an hour, in-
cluding short halts. The rate of a march, with
combined walk and trot, is five miles an hour.

The ordinary walk for a horse is three and a
half to four miles an hour ; trot, eight miles ;
canter, nine miles ; gallop, twelve to fifteen, and
up to thirty or over on the turf. A distance of
twenty to twenty-five miles per day is a good
march for horses day after day, and for this they
must be in good condition. Horses must be
allowed to go their own rate, and not be con-
tinually checked by slower-moving bodies in
front. Uniformity of pace, and not a jerky pace,
is most essential to prevent tiring of horses.

A pace which is neither too fast nor too slow
is essential. Lolling about in the saddle is
strictly forbidden, and a sure sign of bad riding
and horsemanship. A tired horse, if led for a
day or part of a day, will recuperate wonder-
fully.

Before a march or a long ride is taken, special
care must be given to ascertain that all saddlery,
harness and bridles fit properly, and that horses
have no galls or other ailments ; also that they
are not in any way off their feed. Their shoes
must be particularly looked at. An ordinary
horse on macadam roads will go 200 to 300 miles
on a pair of shoes, but some draught horses will
wear out their hind shoes in 150 miles.

Riding horses must be allowed to move on
the side of the road whenever possible. Riders
and drivers (when on horses) must get off and
walk down all hills and up steep hills. They
should also walk for a quarter of an hour in
every hour, if a long march is being taken, to
rest both man and horse. Soft ground should
never be overlooked. Halts must be made fre-
quently ; a halt every half-hour for five or ten

44

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

minutes is advisable, and one for a quarter of
an hour every two hours. A short halt should
be made fifteen minutes after starting to tighten
up girths and see to the correct fitting of harness
and saddlery, etc. At every halt the rider should
dismount and loosen his girths, if on a long
march. Every opportunity should be taken at
all times to allow the horse to drink and graze,
never forgetting that the horse has a very small
stomach.

174. At every halt the horse's feet should be
examined for loss of or loose shoes, stones in the
shoe, etc. Dusty roads should be avoided, and
soft roads are always preferable to hard mac-
adam roads. If the dust is bad, horses must not
be allowed to follow closely behind each other,
because, if they do, they will be inhaling a
great deal of dust.

Bits, of course, must be removed if horses
are given a full drink or when fed grain or hay.
If possible, it is best to avoid public troughs, and
to use a clean bucket from a tap. If on active
service, horses must always be watered and fed
when a chance offers itself, as later there may
be a scarcity of forage, grass or water. The
horse's stomach being small (one to two gallons),
it must be remembered that he should be fed in
small quantities, and, as his digestion is con-
tinuous (there being no gall bladder to store the
bile from the liver), he should be fed as often
as possible.

175. On long marches compressed foods may
have to be carried, but unless bulky food, as
hay or grass, is given as well, horses will never
do well on such rations. Horses can be fed
grain from a box or more conveniently from a
nosebag. Care should be taken to adjust a nose-
bag properly. At first it must not be too tightly
buckled up, and later, as the horse eats its con-
tents, it must be buckled up higher. A box or
log on which to rest the nosebag is very con-
venient for the horse. Cavalry horses can be
cooled down very quickly while coming home
if they are made to move in column of sections
(fours), with ten or more feet distance, and ex-
tended as much as the width of the road will
allow. In crossing a field or common, each
section can extend to ten yards interval with
much benefit. Cavalry and artillery riders and
drivers are usually too severe with their horses
in the earlier part of the day, on service or on
manoeuvres, and by noon their horses are
fatigued : a sign of bad horsemanship and lack
of common sense.

176. Everything should be done to keep up a
horse's spirits on a long trip. I remember, on
the trail in Alberta, how I used to whistle or
sing while going along alone with my horse. I
am sure it used to keep up his spirits — because
he had not a good ear, possibly. The horse likes
company and being spoken to.

When a horse returns from a long trip or

from work, as little time as possible should be
lost in getting to work on him. In South Africa
the Australian horsemen made themselves con-
spicuous by the way they would attend to their
horses before themselves. Upon arriving home,
girths should be loosened, harness removed, and
the legs well rubbed down. This increases the
circulation in the legs, which is, naturally,
weakest at a point farthest from the heart.
The legs must be rubbed up, against the coat
and in the direction of the flow of blood in
the veins ; the back must be rubbed against
the coat.

On return from work, a horse must be
thoroughly groomed. A saddle should never be
removed directly, because, after the rider has
removed his weight, time must be allowed for
the small superficial blood-vessels under the
saddle to refill gradually. If this is neglected,
these vessels may become ruptured and cause
lumps to come up on the back. A great fault in
riding a long distance is to ride with stirrups
too long, and thereby cause great fatigue to the
horse.

A man should not leave his horse, on return
from a hard day, to go and refresh himself until
he has properly cared for his horse. The old
saying, "What is not inspected is neglected," is
worth remembering, and applies very much to a
horse at work.

177. Every opportunity should be taken to
relieve pack animals of their weight. The pack
should be taken off the saddle and the girth
loosened whenever possible. The maximum
weight for a mule, including the pack saddle, is
160 pounds. No part of the pack must touch the
animal, especially over the spine (vertebral
column). The weight must be evenly divided
on both sides, and not too far forward nor back.
It must be entirely taken on the side-bars and
arches of the saddle, the former resting on the
top portion of the animal's ribs. A mule shows
signs of pain very often by twitching his lipe
and shows fatigue by drooping his ears.

It should always be borne in mind that
Nature imposes limits on the strength of a horse,
which if exceeded will seriously endanger the
animal ; horses are not machines, and this fact
must never be forgotten. Every care should
always be taken to economise horseflesh, and
only when a crisis arises should the horse be
asked to perform abnormal work.

Because a man is a good rider it does not
follow that he is a good horseman ; successful
horsemanship is a rare art, and should at least
be studied by every lover of horses. In no case
is it so important as in that of a cavalry leader
on service, the whole efficiency of his arm
depending on his knowledge of horsemanship.
The results of the appalling examples of horse-
manship during the South African war are well
known, when over a third of a million horses

PLATE 21

a, Welsh Polo Pony "Grey Light," Champion Polo Pony of Europe, 1910. b. Champion Polo Pony
Stallion "White Wings.' Photos: G. H. Parsons

a. Blanket with Thigh-straps on. b, Patent Hood for Keeping the Mane in a Neat Condition, c, Correct Method of Brushing

the Mane, d. Brushing the Tail, Lock by Lock, e, Hayes' Pressure Bandages (partly on). /, Complete, g, Yorkshire

Boot (putty on and turned down complete). Photos by the Author

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

45

died or were killed. The best way to encourage
soldiers to look after their horses well is to give
them the same horse all the time, and offer little
prizes for the best-kept horse.

Grooms should always be encouraged by
being praised for good work and reprimanded
for bad, and so on. A feeling of proprietorship
must be inculcated in the groom or cavalryman,
as thereby he will take great interest in his four-
footed friend. Nothing destroys this most
essential spirit more than the feeling that horses
can easily be replaced.

178. If not fresh from the stable, a horse will
stand a great amount of exposure to cold ; there-
fore it is essential that, before he is to be exposed,
he should be gradually acclimatised.

Horses cannot, however, stand heat in the
same way. Summer heat will very soon make a
horse sick, or even cause his sudden death. If
horses are in poor condition, or are not given
sufficient water, fever will set in, and become
worse and worse ; at nights their temperature
will drop generally, nearly to normal, and rise
again on exposure in the daytime. Hence, the
being kept in a cool stable, quiet and well cared
for, will generally cure such cases, with the
assistance of a little medicine. The symptoms
are not always easy to diagnose, as the horse's
appetite does not, as a rule, show much change.
(See "Sunstroke," Sec. «15.)

179. Horses in Camp. — Wherever possible,
horses should be placed in billet (i.e. in a stable)
when on service or on a long march ; thereby
they will get better rest and be fit for more work
the next day. If a horse has to be picketed, he
must be secured in a way in which he will be
less likely to cause harm to himself ; next to
this his own comfort must be considered. His
hind and fore feet should be on the same level.
If many horses are picketed together, they should
have one hind leg shackled to a heel peg to
prevent them from kicking one another. The
shackle must be above the fetlock, and on no
account below it. If space admits, they should
be secured with a strong head-collar and rope to
a stout post driven well into the ground, the best
form being one with a ring in the top, so that,
however much the horse twists around the post,
he will not shorten his rope, as he would if tied
to a tree.

The head-rope should be just taut when the
horse is standing naturally, and a shackle rope
should be pegged directly in the rear of the
horse, and should be just taut when the horse
is standing with his head over the picket peg.
A shackle should be of leather, well dubbed, and
should be buckled so that the buckle is outside,
tight enough only to prevent it from slipping
below the fetlock and causing a sore heel. (See
P. 31.)

180. The sanitation of a camping ground
must always be considered ; a gentle slope will

facilitate drainage. Manure should be removed
at once and taken a long distance away, as it
attracts flies. Chloride of lime or paraffin oil
(coal oil) should be sprinkled about to keep flies
away. Fly-sheets or nets should be used in hot
countries at night or whenever exposed to flies.
In windy weather in camp, hay may have to be
fed in hay-nets to prevent it being blown about.
Thigh-straps must be placed on all blankets and
sheets that are used in camp to prevent wind
blowing them up. Sometimes it is necessary to
hobble a horse or to knee-halter him, while
grazing, if there are no fences around the
pasture. The best kinds of hobbles are leather
straps with sheepskin lining, rings being
attached to which the rope or chain is fastened.
Both forelegs, or a foreleg and a hindleg, may
be hobbled together. The length of the hobble-
rope depends on the horse ; some horses can
move very rapidly with even a short hobble-rope
on. Knee-haltering is done by attaching the
head at the back of the nose-band of the halter
(i.e. the lower gullet-ring) to just above one
knee, the length of the rope allowing the horse
to reach the ground with its teeth. Knee-halter-
ing is good, and causes less inconvenience to the
horse.

The space allowed for each horse in pickets
should never be less than five feet in width and
twelve feet in length. An interval of four to five
yards should be allowed all around the lines.
If horses are picketed in two rows, they should
stand tail to tail, unless there is a prevailing
wind in one direction, in which case they should
all stand with their tails to the wind. A gang-
way of five yards should be left between the
two rows, in which saddlery and forage could
be kept.

181. Transport. — A few remarks on transport
by rail and sea will be of use. Before sending
a horse on a long journey, if hard work is
required of him on arrival, he must be hard and
fit before he goes on board ; he must not be let
down in condition. It is essential, however, that
horses' bowels are free, and therefore a laxative
diet should be given for twenty-four hours
previous to going on board. Just before going
on, horses should be watered, fed grain and given
hay, which will tend to keep them quiet when
they get on board. If horses are slung on board
with derricks, they must not have been watered
for two hours previously, or the large intestine
may become ruptured.

Old horses should be led on first, and young
ones will then generally follow. If a horse
refuses to go on board or to enter a train car,
the best method is to pass a thick rope around
his hind legs, behind the stifle, and for three or
four men on each side to pull the horse gently
forwards. He must not be jerked, so as to cause
any fear. Pulling at his head or whipping him
will do more harm than good. He should be

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

made much of when inside so as to encourage
him next time. Backing him in is unnatural,
and therefore should not be done. We must try
to associate entering a train with pleasant sensa-
tions at all costs.

On board ship foothold should be obtained
by spreading sand, ashes, litter, etc., in the gang-
ways and in the stalls. This should also be done
in railway cars. The sight of a bale of hay will
encourage many a refuser to change his mind.
Some horses may have to be blindfolded before
they will go on to a ship or train. Another
method is to pass a thick cord under the tail, and
to pull it gently on each side ; one man on each
Bide is sufficient, care being taken not to rub the
tail.

182. Harness and saddlery will be stored in
separate places, except on short journeys of a
few hours in the train, when a horse may travel
saddled up or with its harness on ; but girths
must be loosened. It is always better to un-
saddle and to put a blanket on the horse. A
horse's legs should be bandaged, preferably with
cotton-wool inside ; and it is advisable to
bandage the tail either with a flannel or cotton
bandage, or to use a special leather tail-guard
sold for the purpose, to prevent the tail becom-
ing rubbed. (See P. 24e.)

Stalls and horse-boxes should be kept as clean
as possible, and every opportunity taken to exer-
cise horses. Great care must be taken to ensure
proper ventilation on a ship or train ; sickness
on board is usually the result of great heat and
bad smells, due to lack of ventilation. Stalls,
decks, and horse-cars should be whitewashed
before a horse is placed in or on the same.

If weather permits and there is deck space,
horses should have an hour's walking exercise
every day. When on the railway they should
be taken out daily, and if possible walked about
for half to one hour. They should be watered
on such occasions if it is possible. Feeding will
be carried on in the train with nosebags en route,
unless halts are long and the horses can be taken
out. Nosebags will be filled in the forage cars
and put on the horses at a convenient stop.
Great precaution should be taken against fire,
and therefore no hay or straw will be allowed
in the horse-cars as bedding. When mangers
are supplied, only a little hay will be placed in
them at a time. The risk of fire on board ship
is considerably less than in a car, where it may
be impossible to reach it.

Except on very small ships that roll very
much, horses as a rule are quite safe in a wide
stall (say, 4 ft. 6 in. in width), so that they can
lie down in calm weather (they will seldom do
so in rough). In a vessel of, say, 7,000 gross
tonnage, in a rough sea, there is absolutely no
need to sling a horse unless it is sick. The law
should compel all horses to be allowed at least
4 ft. width, also require a passage along behind

each horse, so that the stalls can be properly
cleaned out every day. Horses should not be
allowed in any part of a ship where there are
no port-holes, except on short journeys of one
or two days.

The front of each stall should be movable, to
allow each horse to be taken out for exercise.
Passages should be wide enough to allow for
exercising. The partitions between stalls must
reach to within one inch of the floor. If there
is more space than this, the not uncommon
occurrence of a horse getting a leg under the
partition, and being unable to get up, will
follow. The partitions must reach to a height
of 5 ft. 6 in. to prevent horses biting at one
another, which is a common trick learnt on
board ship. The partitions should be made of
timber 2 in. by 6 in., with a space of 6 in.
between each piece to allow for free ventilation.
Straw must be spread thickly on the floor of the
stalls. Each stall should be arranged so that, in
the event of the sling being used, an extra par-
tition can be added to make the stall sufficiently
narrow.

183. On board ship horses are generally re-
ceiving at the most only light exercise, and their
usual ration varies, according to size and condi-
tion of the horse : 3 to 5 Ib. of oats, 5 to 6 Ib.
of bran, 10 to 12 Ib. of hay, per day.

Oats should be crushed if possible, and great
care taken that every horse is kept free in his
movements, any sign of constipation being
checked by gruel and mashes, and not by
medicine. Carrots or other roots, about one
pound a day, should be given, and rock salt as
well, or in lieu of part of the oats.

The system of keeping the stomach full while
on board ship does not apply to a horse, as
normally he cannot vomit. I have only once
seen a horse vomit like a human being ; then
his stomach was ruptured, and he died in ten
minutes.

During rough weather men should remain
with their horses. On the railway horses are
generally placed either in proper horse-cars fitted
up or else in long box-cars ; in the latter they
should be placed as close as possible to one
another, with heads untied, and facing away
from the other track. Quiet horses will be led
in and placed at opposite ends, and the car
filled up to the centre. Great care must be taken
to see that all doors are properly closed and that
the gangway is safe and attached securely before
horses are allowed to cross it. The finest horse-
cars that I have ever seen are those of the
Canadian Pacific Railway. P. 896 shows one
of the latest types, which holds sixteen horses of
moderate size, or twelve large draught horses,
the partitions being movable so that they can
be placed in any position ; mangers and water-
ing-troughs are provided. These cars are rightly
called palace horse-cars.

IV]

FEEDING, EXERCISE AND TRANSPORT

47

184. On reaching their destination horses will
be gradually brought back to their good condi-
tion by judicious feeding and exercise. If, how-
ever, the journey has been calm and the horses
have received good exercise and a good amount
of hard food, they will not have lost much in
condition ; but if they are in bad condition on
landing, several days will be required to allow
the horses to stretch their legs and to prevent
the risk of fever in the feet. Unshod horses that
have worn their feet down considerably should
not be shod for several days. It will take con-
siderable time to get these horses into condition,
and steady gradation must be adopted.

185. Swimming Horses. — A few remarks on
swimming may tend to relieve the horse of some
mistakes displayed in this art. The horse,
naturally, is a very powerful swimmer, and can
carry a man in the saddle if its mouth is not
interfered with. Horses are often afraid to enter
the water alone, and should in this case be
coaxed to go in after an old horse, and on no
account should it be driven in, which would
cause fear. The rider should be able to swim
himself, and when in three or four feet of water
he should slip off the back. Normally the saddle
and bit will not be on the horse, the bridoon-rein
alone being used, the rein being knotted to prevent
it becoming entangled in the horse's forelegs.

Directly the horse commences to swim the
rider will swim or float by the side and hold on
to the mane just in front of the withers. With
some horses it is possible to swim behind the

horse, holding on to the tail. The horse should
not be guided by the reins, which must be left
alone, and on no account must the rider hold on
to any part of the headgear, because he may pull
the horse's nostrils under the water and possibly
drown him, or at any rate frighten him. He
should be guided by splashing water against the
neck remote from the side he is required to go
towards. If the horse swims well towards its
destination the rider should merely float by the
side of him.

Horses may be made to cross a river by being
led with a rope from a boat, in which case the
rope should be tied around the neck by a knot
that cannot possibly slip and strangle the horse.
Care must be taken not to pull the rope taut and
so run the risk of pulling the horse's nose under
water. Horses may be driven into the river and
kept from going up or down stream by ropes
stretched across ; horses should stand on the
opposite bank as a guide for those swimming.
Another method is the use of the endless rope
that is rotated from both banks, the horses being
attached at intervals to the rope, and thus
gradually led across the water. This method is
a rapid one once the rope has been stretched
across. It should be remembered that when a
horse is in the water he cannot see very far
ahead of him, as his eyes are near the surface
of the water, so he may not be able to see the
opposite bank at all, and he may therefore com-
mence to swim in the easiest direction, which
will be down stream.

CHAPTER V

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

186. The Theory of Grooming the Skin.— The
functions of the true skin (the dermis) are : To
act as an organ of touch ; to remove poisons
from the system ; to give off perspiration, and
thereby keep the system cool ; to secrete oil,
which is essential to keep the hair in good con-
dition and to prevent friction on the inner
portions of joints ; and to form the epidermis,
which includes the outer skin, hair, hoof, horn,
etc.

Perspiration is visible and invisible, the
former being what we generally call sweat ; the
latter is very thin, and contains about 99 per
cent, of water. Perspiration is given off by the
blood. The free use of water will increase the
amount of blood, and thereby increase the per-
spiration given off, and consequently promote
good health. When this moisture reaches the
surface of the skin it evaporates ; the rate of
evaporation increases pro rata with the dryness
of the air.

187. Heat is required to change a liquid into
a gas, and therefore this liquid abstracts heat
from its surroundings in order to change into
a vapour ; hence the skin is cooled down by this
evaporation, and the blood in the superficial
blood-vessels, just under the skin, becomes
cooled, which cools the whole system. There-
fore it is clear that the more water given in hot
weather the more easily will the horse's system
be kept cool. For this reason horses cannot
stand damp heat, because, on account of the
great humidity of the atmosphere, evaporation
will be very slow ; but in a dry heat the air is
dry and evaporation very rapid, the skin nor-
mally appearing quite dry. Although the per-
spiration is invisible, it is going on all the time.
Perspiration is caused, as stated above, by an
increased supply of blood, and also by the
stimulation of the nerves governing the secretory
glands (sudoriferous or sweat glands). It may
also be increased by emotion, external heat,
muscular exercise, poisons, and nervous affec-
tions due to ill-health or fatigue. Cold-sweat is
a sign of ill-health, because it is produced when
there is not an excessive blood supply in the
system through nervous derangements, and upon
reaching the surface undue cooling down results
from there not being sufficient blood in the super-
ficial blood-vessels to regulate this cooling. We

gather, therefore, that with hard work the more
water a horse gets the better his system will be.
The cleaner the skin of the horse the better will
these functions be able to be carried on, hence
the necessity for plenty of good grooming. The
last-named two functions of the skin, i.e. to
secrete oil and to form the epidermis, are stimu-
lated by grooming ; in fact, grooming is the most
valuable means of keeping a horse in good health
and in good condition.

188. Before dealing with grooming let us con-
sider some facts about the horse's coat and hair.
The coat has two mechanical functions — to pro-
tect the body from injury and to keep the body
warm. The skin is thickest where it is most
likely to be injured, i.e. on the limbs and also
on the back, and thinnest in between the limbs
and inside the joints. Its appendages are hair
glands, horn, and hoofs. As stated above, the
true skin produces all these appendages as well
as the outer skin (epidermis). The skin is
divided into the true skin or dermis, and the
epidermis or cuticle. Friction on the epidermis
causes the dermis mechanically to produce a
fluid, and this is what we call a blister, one of
Nature's protections against injury.

The epidermis is an epithelial structure which
is continually growing outwards, the outer layers
are always becoming drier and drier until they
flake off in the form of dandruff ; good grooming
is most essential to remove this. The epidermis
is not vascular (supplied with blood) and is non-
sensitive. The dermis is highly supplied with
blood and nerves, and its glands are of two
kinds. Firstly, there are the sebaceous, which
secrete sebum, an oily fluid (two of these glands
leading to each hair follicle) which keeps the
hair lubricated, supple, and glossy. Good groom-
ing is essential to stimulate the action of these
glands. " Scratches " in horses is the result of
dirt being allowed to clog up the ducts of the
glands, which arrests the flow of sebum and
causes an inflammatory condition ; hence the
need for keeping the horse's heels clean.
Secondly, there are the sudoriferous glands,
which secrete perspiration. Perspiration con-
tains salts, water, and impurities. The glands
are deeply seated in the dermis, and exist all
over the horse's coat. They are most numerous
at the base of the ears, on the sides of the neck,

PLATE 23

J.TBWPLEMAN, CENTRE 1

HACK & S/

VICTORIAS,

CLOTHING

O, Loincloth. H.M. The King Driving from Marlborough House. Photo : L. N. A., Fleet Street. b, Woollen
Blanket, Ottawa Fire Dept. c, Waterproof Sheet, Lined with Wool, Ottawa Dairy Co. Photos by the Author

PLATE 24

GROOMING AND CLOTHING

a. Oval-shaped Curry Comb and Straight Toothed Curry Comb. b, Fur Robe, in use in Winter while Horse is left Standing.
C, Tail Bandaged for Travelling, d. Loincloth for Commercial Horses. Courtesy : b, Mr. Landreville, Ottawa, d, Messrs.

Slinn-Shouldis Co., Ottawa. Photos by the Author

CHAP. V]

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

49

on the flanks, and on the chest. A horse always
perspires at the base of the ears first, irrespec-
tive, of course, of the sweating under the saddle,
which is produced by the pressure of the saddle
and the absence of evaporation.

189. A horse's perspiration should be thin and
should wet the coat without in any way standing
out in small, globular beads. The presence of
such beads indicates over-exertion or ill-health,
not uncommon with young horses when first
trained. It is very difficult to make a horse per-
spire by the use of medicine, but comparatively
easy by the use of heavy clothing.

190. The Hair.— The hair of the horse is of
three kinds : Temporary, all over the body, shed
in spring and partially in the autumn ; horse-
hair or permanent hair, mane and tail and fet-
locks ; tactile, or feelers, surrounding the muzzle
and eyes ; these last have a very good nerve
supply.

The hair develops as it is required, to keep
the horse warm. Grooming tends to keep the
coat thinner by removing loose hair.

Each hair, of whatever kind, consists of a
follicle or bulb, a root, and a shaft. The hair
grows from the follicle by layers of cells, one
after the other, the new ones forcing the old
ones outwards. Hair has been known to grow
over six feet in length. Its length as a rule is
limited, but if hair is cut short it will grow
again to its previous length. Similarly, if hair
is pulled out by the roots, the follicle will grow
another hair, which will take a few days to
make its appearance at the surface. The hair
shaft is hollow and contains the colouring
matter. A hair projects obliquely, and not at
right angles to the surface, and also has a small
involuntary muscle (erector pili) attached to its
follicle, which contracts when the animal is cold
or frightened, causing the hair to stand "on
end."

191. The black hairs of grey horses gradually
become white as the horse gets older ; this is due
to the black matter, called melanosis, being
taken by the blood for some unaccountable
reason and deposited in places, such as near the
root of the tail. There it forms melanotic
tumours, which, if opened, show a black, tar-
like fluid ; these tumours are difficult to heal.
The skin of most horses is black, which serves
as a better protection against the sun, as the
colouring matter which is situated on the inside
of the epidermis prevents the rays from reaching
the dermis. If the rays reach the dermis it will
form a blister, as is common with white-skinned
horses. Most white horses, fortunately, have
black skin.

The " chestnuts " that are seen inside the fore
limbs above the knee and inside the hind limbs
below the hock are appendages of the true skin.
The ergots at the back of the fetlocks are of the
same character. These are all supposed to be
H

remains of organs peculiar to the horse's ances-
tors. (See Chap. II.)

192. Exfoliation of Skin and Hair. — The
outer surface of the epidermis and ends of the
hair respectively are removed by exfoliation,
i.e. the outer layers being rubbed off by
friction. Grooming and any form of friction tend
to do this. Grooming makes the coat fine and
short. Exfoliation of hair is shown by the
end being tapered. The horse's hoof exfoliates
in a like manner unless he is shod, when the
excess of horn will have to be removed when
the shoes are replaced once a month. Perspira-
tion stimulates exfoliation. Thus we see that
good grooming hastens exfoliation and also
improves the condition of the coat by increas-
ing secretion of sebum, but does not increase
growth of hair, as is commonly thought. The
nourishment which the under portion of the
epidermis receives is the lymph from the dermal
lymph vessels, which escapes through the walls
of these vessels. The outer portion of the epi-
dermis has no such nourishment, and therefore
dries and exfoliates.

Continued pressure or continued irritation, if
not too severe, causes increased supply of blood
to the dermis and lymph to the epidermis, and
hence increased growth of the latter, which
accounts for the thickening of the skin under
the saddle or harness and the thickening of the
palms of our hands with manual labour. Inter-
mittent pressure causes a still greater growth of
the epithelial structure, as we see in the case of
a corn. All these growths are pure hypertro-
phies (over-growths) and not diseased growths.

193. Breaking out into cold-sweats results
from the sweat glands being stimulated more
than the bodily temperature is raised ; a hot
stable or too much clothing may cause this. The
best cure is to remove the cause and to give
friction to the body in the form of hand groom-
ing, or to give exercise.

From the foregoing remarks it will be clear
what a beneficial effect grooming has upon a
horse's entire system and, therefore, how neces-
sary it is for a horse to have grooming of the
right kind to keep in condition and free from
chills and other diseases. Neglect of grooming
when a horse returns from hard work may result
not only in a severe chill, but perhaps in con-
gestion of the lungs and diseases of the liver,
etc. The physiological action is as follows :
violent exercise causes an increased supply of
blood to the muscles and surface of the body ;
but if a horse's surface is allowed to become
chilled, as often happens when hunters return
home in a cold horse-car, the blood at the surface
is driven inwards, and congestion of the lungs
or liver may result. If plenty of water is given
as soon as possible, this internal congestion may
be checked by stimulating the action of the sweat
glands, which will again cause more blood to

50

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

flow to the surface. In addition to this, exercise
or vigorous rubbing down all over the body
should be resorted to at once, thus stimulating
the blood supply to the surface of the body.

194. A point worthy of note to those who live
in countries where the winters are cold is that
when an organ or muscle has been emptied of
its blood through cold, as in a frost-bite, the
blood upon returning suddenly may rupture
some of the vessels and cause severe inflamma-
tion with violent pain, and possibly gangrene
(local death) ; so, to avoid this, the blood must
be allowed to return slowly ; this is best accom-
plished by rubbing the affected part with snow.
I have experienced this pain and inflammation
myself, so well know the value of remembering
the remedy.

195. To recapitulate, grooming is necessary
with horses kept under civilised conditions, for
the removal of dirt and dandruff (dead epithelial
cells of the epidermis), to keep the coat short, to
stimulate the action of the skin glands and oil
the hair, to increase the blood supply to the skin,
and to stimulate the functions of the whole body.

The lazy groom who has no knowledge of
physiology, not being watched by his more
ignorant master, removes the outer dirt, but does
not groom the horse. In no place is grooming
carried on better than in first-class racing stables,
because without it the horses could not be
kept in condition ; the extra expense of keeping
grooms and strappers counts for little. This
last item, however, counts considerably in large
commercial stables. Messrs. Tilling, of Peck-
ham, inform me that their horses get twenty
minutes' grooming by machinery every day. I
am sorry to say that most commercial horses do
not get as much as this. Twenty minutes' groom-
ing by a man who knows how to use the brushes
and his weight will do more good than two
hours of brushing by a man who does not know.
In fact, however long an amateur grooms a horse
he will never produce the same effect ; the secret
of good grooming is rapidity. It can only be
learnt by watching others and by considerable
practice. A good groom should groom a horse
thoroughly in one hour.

196. Method of Grooming. — In grooming, the
whole weight of the body should be used on
the brush ; I do not believe a man can
groom a horse properly unless he perspires
himself. Always commence with each brush or
cloth on the near (left) side at the head, and
work right down the neck, shoulder, and fore-
leg, then the trunk, hindquarters and hindlegs.
Hold the brush in the left hand if working
on the left side, and vice versa. Then do the
off side with the same brush ; then start on
the near side with the next brush, and so on.
If a horse is very dirty and the weather is cold,
start on him as soon as he comes into the stable ;
rub him all over with a wisp of straw, par-

ticularly on the muddy parts, thus removing
mud and drying him as well. The fact of rub-
bing the coat, without even grooming so far as
to dry it, will set up increased circulation and
prevent chill. The best way to dry a horse is to
hand-rub him all over. This is done with the
palm and open fingers in the same way as
massaging is done. It will not harm a horse to
sponge him down when he comes in hot, pro-
vided this is done at once, followed by a brisk
rubbing down.

Hand-rubbing at any time is of the greatest
use, although seldom resorted to on account of
laziness. The value gained from it is well worth
the time spent. Twenty minutes' hand-rubbing
every morning is of the greatest benefit. To get
a really good glow on a horse's coat, two men
must work, one on each side, and it will take
them half an hour. One man working for one
hour would not produce the same effect. Horses'
feet must be picked out thoroughly in the com-
missures morning and night and after exercise.
The feet should be thoroughly washed out with
a water-brush and clean water every morning
and on returning from work, or at least every
morning, as it is necessary to remove all manure
or wet straw from the clefts of the frog ; such
impurities if not removed will dissolve the horn.
Glean water will never do any harm, but it
should not be allowed to get on to the heels.

197. In grooming a horse, he must never be
ill-treated ; he should be always gently yet
firmly treated, so that he can associate grooming
with pleasant things, and thus not object to
being groomed, as so many horses do. A horse
should never be groomed while he is feeding
oats, but he can be given some hay while being
groomed. Grooms are too fond of washing the
legs in muddy weather. This is not to be re-
commended, as it tends to get rid of the natural
oil from the coat. Good hand-rubbing with
straw, and then brushing with a dandy-brush,
should be sufficient. White legs, of course, re-
quire washing more often. If washed, they must
be thoroughly dried, especially at the heels, if the
hair has been trimmed ; dry bran or sawdust
is good to assist in drying. Horses that return
with wet legs should be rubbed down sufficiently
to take the worst off, but experience has shown
that if the stable is comfortable and free from
floor draughts, cracked heels (scratches) are far
less common if horses' heels are not dried,
whether they are clipped or not. This holds good
even during the Canadian winter, but does not
refer to legs that have been washed. If the heels
are dried they must be dried properly.

When the saddle is removed, a wet patch is
sometimes found underneath. This should be
hand-rubbed or wisped against the coat to in-
crease the circulation and prevent cold and the
formation of lumps. If a saddle is removed
from a horse directly it is brought to the stable.

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

51

vigorous hand-rubbing should always be given.
This, of course, is necessary if the horse has
been mounted for some time ; if it has been
mounted for only half an hour, the saddle could
be removed in a few minutes after loosening the
girths without resorting to hand-rubbing. The
danger of removing the saddle suddenly after the
horse has been ridden for some time is that the
emptied blood-vessels under the skin (which
have become so emptied owing to the rider's
weight) will become filled so rapidly that they
are liable to be ruptured, producing small
lumps. If a horse is brought in wet from rain
or perspiration, the saddle is generally removed
immediately, and vigorous hand-rubbing or
wisping resorted to until the horse is quite dry.
After the horse is dry, the dandy-brush (if not
already used) should be used on the left and
right sides ; this should be held and used in the
same way as one holds and uses a clothes-brush
in brushing a cloak. In brushing the back and
hindquarters this brush should be changed to
the other hand, i.e. in the right hand, if groom-
ing the left side. Then use the body-brush and
curry-comb, the latter being used merely to
scrape the dandruff out of the former, and not
used on the horse. The body-brush should be
stiff and flat, and should be used in a circular or
to-and-fro manner, according to circumstances,
so as to work out the dandruff and stimulate the
sebaceous glands.

198. The mane and tail should then be
cleaned. A groom should bear in mind that the
way to brush a horse's mane or tail is totally
different from the way we brush our own hair.
Except merely to straighten down the hair, the
brush should not be used on the outside. Few
grooms (outside the army) know how to keep
a good mane and tail in proper order ; most of
them brush out the hairs and do not remove the
dandruff. Each time the dandy-brush is passed
down, several hairs come out, and the tail gets
thinner and thinner, as it takes considerable
time for new hairs to grow. The tail and mane
should be brushed out, lock by lock, at the roots.
Commencing at the top of the tail, the roots of
the hairs are reached by raising the hair in small
locks, and thus exposing the roots below. The
brush is thus gradually worked down to the end
of the tail, travelling across the tail in successive
layers. If the tail is neglected and becomes very
much matted, it should be well washed with
warm water and castile soap, and, when dry,
gently combed out. A well-kept tail does not
require a comb to be pulled through it, causing
a large number of hairs to go with the comb. A
tail should be washed once a week by dipping
it right into a bucket of water, and well washing
it with castile soap, afterwards well rinsing it.

199. A long, white tail (as in P. la, 18&, 48A,
140a) is generally plaited up in muddy weather,
but when it gets dirty it can be dipped into

water, well soaked, and washed out. Such a tail,
especially with a mare, if loosely tied up into a
knot at night will prevent it from becoming
soiled. It is not advisable to plait a tail at night,
as some horses will not lie down with their tails
plaited up. A loose knot in the hairs below the
dock should not worry the most nervous horse.
Tight plaiting left over-night is, of course, most
dangerous.

In washing a tail the soap must be well
rubbed into the roots to remove the dirt, there-
fore cheap soap must not be used, as the excess
of alkali in such soap will cause irritation to the
skin. Likewise, the soap must be well rinsed
out. The long hairs of the tail should be brushed
out daily with a dandy-brush, which should be
damped with petroleum (lamp oil) to prevent the
hairs being pulled out.

Similarly, the mane is brushed out lock by
lock from the roots and washed by means of the
water-brush ; with a little practice a mane and
tail can be kept in perfect order very easily, and
can be washed out without spilling the water
over the horse's quarters and neck. This is only
learnt by experience.

200. Then the eyes, mouth, nostrils and
under-part of dock should be sponged out with
cold water. This is most refreshing to a horse,
which is often neglected by lazy grooms. The
horse misses his sponging as we miss our morn-
ing bath. Then the feet should be picked out
with a hoof-pick, and washed inside and outside
with the water-brush. The grooves between the
bars and frog and the cleft of the frog must be
thoroughly cleaned ; neglect of this operation is
often the cause of thrush, etc.

Then the hay wisp is used all over the horse
in the same way as a brush is used, the whole
weight of the groom being put into his work.
Lastly, the rubber is used all over the horse.

Before putting the horse back into his stall,
the blanket or rug is put on, and the mane and
tail brushed lightly down the outside to make
them tidy.

201. In the cavalry the feet are generally
washed before anything else, and the hay wisp
used only at evening stables. The hay wisp
should be slightly damp to collect the dust.
Tails and manes should never be combed out
roughly ; the comb should only be used very
gently to disentangle hairs. A swish tail may
be shortened, or a banged tail may be swished,
by the use of the comb. For the same reason,
as stated before, the brush should not be used
roughly on the outside of the tail, unless it is
required to make it thinner. In using the comb,
it should be held lightly in the fingers and
worked downwards slowly, in easy, jerky move-
ments, as if the comb were made of brittle glass,
thus avoiding dragging out the hairs. Great care
should be taken not to tie a horse up to the pillar
reins so that he can rub his tail against the

52

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

manger, or to put a horse that is liable to rub
his tail into a loose box (box-stall). Any sign of
this should be carefully watched for, and directly
anything is noticed the cause must be imme-
diately removed and the tail attended to. The
cure for rubbed tails is dealt with in Sees. 246
and 591.

202. Farm horses with rough coats are often
curry-combed with a mild comb. (See P. 24a.)
The use of this tool saves much labour and
removes a great deal of dirt. Generally speak-
ing, a curry-comb should not be used on the
better classes of horses, and in no case should it
be used on the joints. Horses' legs and quarters
get dirty from lying on damp bedding ; if this
dirt cannot be removed with a good dandy-brush
and hand-rubbing, a weak solution of ammonia
should be used, which will immediately dissolve
any grease or sticky matter. A white leg or
white coat that has become stained, after it has
been treated with hot water and soap or
ammonia, should be well rubbed with white
chalk and brushed out afterwards.

203. In a well-regulated stable, where horses
are properly blanketed in winter and are well
groomed, the difference between the winter and
the summer coats is not very great. But, as a
rule, grooms do little work on the coat in the
autumn, so as to allow the coats to grow, and
then the horses have to be clipped ; this saves
a lazy groom a lot of work. Work horses, ex-
posed to the elements day and night, require a
certain amount of grooming to promote the
circulation of the body, but do not require the
same amount of grooming that is necessary for
the over-fed, under-worked carriage horse.

204. Winter Care of the Horse. — The horse is
often sinfully neglected in winter. Because he
is doing less work in winter, his owner thinks
he requires less care. He is making a great mis-
take, because a horse requires more care in
winter than in summer. With cold and wet,
frost and snow, the horse requires a great deal
of care, especially to his legs, and good food,
grooming and water. Grooming is necessary to
promote good health, because he is not perspir-
ing to the same extent as he does in summer.
Healthy perspiration promotes good health.

205. In private stables, where often appear-
ance is considered before humanity, horses are
highly groomed in the morning before they go
out, so that they will look nice, and only casually
rubbed down on return. This is entirely con-
trary to what health demands. A horse should
be cleaned before he goes out, but groomed after
he returns, when his skin and whole body will
be in greater functional activity. Once again
physiology has its say. This is generally done
with cavalry horses during peace time, when
they are exercised for one or two hours before
breakfast, having had a small feed of oats an
hour before starting. They are brought back,

and rubbed down and given hay (and, of course,
water), and properly groomed afterwards.

A horse's sheath must be washed with warm
water and castile soap at least once every two
weeks. Neglect of this causes disease and dis-
comfort to the horse. The penis must be drawn
right out and thoroughly cleaned.

206. To Test for Proper Grooming. — Horses
should be periodically examined to see that
they are properly groomed. The mane and tail
should be examined at the roots of the hairs,
and the fingers should be rubbed against the
coat to discover the presence of dandruff. The
chest, between the forearms, the hocks, the
abdomen, the heels, the commissures of the
frog, the dock, the sheath, etc., must be carefully
examined for presence of dirt. The back,
shoulders, quarters, etc., where the saddle and
harness rest, must be examined for harness
marks. The eyes, ears and nostrils must also
be examined.

207. Grooms. — The ideal groom is a man who
is naturally fond of horses, not merely fond of
them because he can show off with them. He
should be willing to give up some of his own
time to care for his equine charge, and, above
all, never neglect the slightest detail to save him-
self trouble. He should not require to be con-
tinually watched or told things. Being told once
that such and such ought to be done should be
sufficient. It is very important to foster the
feeling that a horse is the groom's own property.
It should be one of his aims never to leave things
undone, so that his master can check him for
it. He must be observant, exceptionally clean
and tidy, cool-tempered, and the opposite to
lazy ; he should not be a grumbler. Cavalry
soldiers and racehorse stablemen are, as a rule,
good at their work, but many of them require
supervision.

The ideal groom must, of course, be capable
of being trusted to feed his horse always as
directed, and, should he neglect ever to do so,
he should immediately report the matter to his
master. A man who is honest to himself and
always owns up, without trying to hide any-
thing, is a valuable man among horses.

208. Tools.— The following tools should be
kept in every good stable : A good English-made
large dandy-brush ; a hard, flat body-brush, and
curry-comb to clean it with (see P. 24<z) ; a
hoof-pick, which must not be too sharp, else
there is danger that the groom may pierce the
insensitive sole while picking out the feet (the
type that folds up is the best, and can be
purchased, nickel-plated, for 6d.); a water-
brush, for washing out the feet ; a good sponge,
which must not be used for soaping the harness,
as the soap will get into the horse's eyes ; a stable
rubber, which can be bought for about 2s. (cheap
stable rubbers are no good) ; hay wisps, which
can be made up as required by twisting hay

PLATE 25

OL,

a. "Cicero," the Morning after Winning the Newmarket Slakes. Showing Hood on Head and Neck; also Brushing
Boots. Copyright Photo : W. A. Rouch, Strand, London, b, " Bergamot," Trotting Mare, showing Patent Net used to
prevent the Tail getting over the Reins, a Trick that some Troublesome Mares Learn. Courtesy of the Owner, Mr.

Horace Barry, Limpsfield, Surrey

PLATE 26

TYPES OF PLAITED TAILS

Courtesy : a, R. Simpson Co. b, Clayton Meat Co. c, Matthews. d, Parker's Dye Works, e and /, T. Eaton Co.
g'.'John Northway & Son. All of Toronto, h, Mr. J. Hutton, Ottawa. Photos by the Author

v]

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

53

with a rake into a long rope about six feet in
length, and then doubling this into two double
rows side by side, and working the remainder
in and out of these rows, forming a kind of mat
measuring about one foot by five inches. A
wooden scraper is necessary for scraping the
horse down when wet from rain or perspiration ;
this consists of a piece of thin wood, measuring
about eight inches by two inches and a quarter
of an inch in thickness, bent into an arc of a
circle whose radius is about one foot ; a handle
is sometimes fastened to this on the inner curve.
A mane and tail comb lightly to separate the
hairs, etc., and a pair of scissors, for trimming
purposes (which must never be used on the eye-
lashes, muzzle hairs or feelers, or the hair inside
the ears), are also needed. If the tail is kept
banged (as in P. 28, 29, 79, 80), tail-squaring
shears should be kept, which will cut the hair
evenly, a difficult matter with ordinary scissors.

209. Care of Legs. — The legs of the horse
require very careful attention, especially if they
have been strained in any way or if the horse is
not receiving regular and sufficient exercise.
Such a horse is very liable to suffer from puffed
legs above the fetlocks. This puffing (known as
filled legs) is owing to the blood becoming stag-
nant in the extremities of the limbs, due to want
of exercise, to exercise not being continued long
enough, to over-heating food (as beans and peas),
to bad circulation, and to strain or sprain. If a
horse stands idle for any length of time after
exercise, his legs are liable to become puffed.
Therefore a horse requires a couple of hours'
walking exercise on the day following a day's
hunting or other hard work. Filled legs are
reduced or prevented by cotton-wadding pres-
sure bandages and vigorous massaging. (See
P. 22e, /.) A horse that suffers from chronic
filled legs should have these bandages on for two
hours after work and during light exercise ; and
for two hours, following massaging, on a day
when he is not worked. The legs should be well
massaged for fifteen minutes against the lay of
the coat (in the direction of the veins), on return
from work, before the bandages are put on.
Massaging is of no use unless done for about
fifteen minutes. On account of the hind extremi-
ties being farther away from the heart, they are
more liable to become filled. Unless the filling
is bad and of long duration, it will disappear,
or nearly so, upon exercise being given, but may
return after standing for some time in the stable.

Filled legs are more liable to become injured,
because the existence of such filling is due to
poor circulation, and, therefore, want of nutri-
tion to the tendons and ligaments, which will
not be able to resist strain so readily.

210. The Coat. — Let us briefly consider the
coat. In physics we learn that a shiny body
reflects heat better than a dull one, and that a
light one reflects heat better than a dark one, and

also that good reflectors are bad absorbers and
radiators. A shiny white coat will, therefore,
reflect cold the most but will radiate heat the
least. Therefore a white or light-coloured horse
will be able to stand cold better, especially if its
coat is well groomed. Of course, too much
grooming in cold weather will remove all the
dandruff and oil which tends to keep the horse
warm ; so that in reality a horse in very cold
weather requires very little brushing, but a lot
of polishing or massaging with a soft cloth to in-
crease the circulation and to produce a shine on
the outside of the coat. In the same way a
shiny white coat will reflect heat best and absorb
heat least ; thus he is cooler in the summer than
his black brother. We infer from this that a
black horse is unable to stand great heat, and I
find that this is the case ; Captain Hayes tells
us that his experience proves this also. We
always find a black horse's coat extremely hot if
exposed to the sun ; Nature has, however, made
provision for this by giving these animals an
extra supply of pigment in the epidermis, which
prevents the sun's rays from penetrating farther.
Besides the above properties the coat possesses
that of being an absorber of sweat, and hence
prevents over-evaporation and chill.

The rate of growth of the coat varies, being
dependent on the temperature of its surround-
ings and on the amount of grooming that it gets.
I call to mind that in Alberta the horses which
we turned out for a whole winter grew coats of
hair two to three inches in length. These horses
pawed through the snow and ate the grass
underneath as well as the snow, and kept fat
and healthy without getting any extra feeding.
In the severest winters they were fed a little hay.

It is very important that horses should be
protected from the direct rays of the sun ; heat
alone does not do them much harm. (See " Sun-
stroke," Sec. 615.)

Clothing

211. A horse, when at pasture or work, does
not require clothing, because sufficient heat is
produced by exercise, and if the weather is cold
Nature provides a thicker coat and extra fat
under the skin. Hence a horse should never be
worked in a blanket, particularly with a blanket
on under the harness. This is a common sight
with worn-out horses in the Jewish quarters of
some cities, and is no doubt done to hide the
sores. In wet weather a horse may be driven in
a waterproof loincloth or in a large waterproof
sheet as shown in P. 23c. In this type the reins
pass through a hole in the centre, so arranged
that the rain does not get through on to
the withers. Horses exposed to rain all day,
especially in cold weather, are saved much in-
convenience by the use of these sheets. I do not
recommend their use in mild countries such as

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

England, where it is always warm when it rains.
The old London 'bus horse would make his daily
journey soaked to the skin with nothing but a
collar on ; but had he worn a sheet of any kind
he could not have done his work. Rubber sheets
should not be used at any time for fast work, as
they will not allow for ventilation. A water-
proof sheet is better if lined with wool, which
will absorb the perspiration, but great care must
be taken to dry it thoroughly after use.

When a horse comes into a stable he requires
clothing, partly because he stands still, and
partly because grooming removes the natural oil
and dandruff from the coat. Stables should, if
possible, be cool enough to admit the use of a
blanket ; hot stables are very unhealthy. (See
Chap. VIII.) Even in summer a light blanket is
often advisable at night.

212. From the foregoing we learn that a dark,
rough blanket is warmer than a white, smooth,
shiny one. Apart from the reflecting and
radiating properties of the material, the heat-
conductive properties play an important part.
Iron conducts heat about five hundred times as
rapidly as wood, and flannels and felts conduct
heat far less rapidly than does wood. The
material must also possess sweat-absorbing pro-
perties. The material which best fulfils these
requirements is wool or flannel. For this reason
it is not advisable to put a cotton sheet next to
the horse with a wool blanket outside. This is
also inadvisable for another reason : clothing
produces warmth by enclosing air within its
various layers ; a cotton sheet would lie too close
to the horse and would not keep a layer of warm
air between itself and the horse. The looser the
material the warmer it will be ; it will also
allow for better ventilation and therefore will be
more healthy. Loosely-woven material becomes
less warm than closer-woven material when the
horse is exposed to cold wind, on account of it
being more porous.

In P. 25a is shown a full suit of clothing,
which consists of quarter-sheet, breastcloth,
hood, roller, roller cloth and fillet strings (hang-
ing round the thighs). Fillet strings are not
generally left on mares while in the stable. The
suit may be made of jute or linen. The full
suit is generally used on racehorses in winter
for walking exercise or while travelling by train.
Extra clothing may be put on underneath, or the
whole suit may be made of warmer material.
The hood is attached under the neck and jowl
by tapes, which must be loose enough to allow
the horse to stretch his neck without breaking
the tapes. Unless the horse is sick, this will not
be used at night. Personally, I do not recom-
mend these suits, as they tend to weaken the
horse's power of resistance. Woollen clothing
must be kept scrupulously clean and must
never be put on to a strange horse, as ringworm
and mange are very easily spread in this manner.

Cotton clothing is more easily kept clean by
being washed, and does not spread disease so
easily. With a very dirty horse a safe plan is
to put on a sheet first.

213. Most horses are blanketed with one
blanket, which contains quarter-sheet and
breastcloth in one (called in England a rug).
Rugs should be made wholly of wool, and, when
washed, care should be taken not to allow them
to soak in warm water. A separate blanket
should be used at night and on Sunday, when
horses will lie down, partly so that the day
blanket can be kept clean and partly so that the
unused blanket can be aired. When horses are
at exercise the blankets should be aired and, if
possible, exposed to the sun.

A roller is nearly always necessary to keep
the blanket in place. (See P. 22a.) This shows
thigh straps as used on service blankets, the
roller being part of the blanket; there is also
a heavy leather breaststrap.

214. Blankets with thigh straps are absolutely
necessary for horses in bivouac to prevent the
possibility of the blankets being blown up by the
wind. If these straps are not provided, a loose
surcingle should be placed far back round the
horse's body, or a string can be tied around the
thighs, joining the corners of the blanket.

The roller must be thickly padded on each
side of the spine to keep it from pressing on to
the spine, in the same way that the saddle is
kept off the spine.

215. A blanket which is very warm is one
made of duck and lined with wool ; the duck
wears extremely well, whilst the wool keeps the
horse warm. Waterproof sheets must on no
account be used inside the stable, as they will
not allow for ventilation. Light clothing is
often used to keep a horse clean, especially white
horses. A horse, unless clipped, does not require
much clothing in a well-regulated stable,
because if it becomes used to much clothing, and
is taken outside and left standing, it will catch
cold. Some undipped horses do better without
any clothing. A racehorse is generally thickly
clothed in the stable, but when he goes out with-
out his clothing he is not kept standing. So,
although in a cool stable a horse generally
requires a medium blanket in the winter to
counteract his inactivity, he must not be
blanketed too heavily ; if he is, he will have to
be heavily blanketed when left standing outside.

Loincloths (see P. 23a) are very useful and
serve as a good protection from loin chills. They
look neat and do not cause excessive perspiration.
Regarding the excessive use of clothing, an im-
portant point is that grooms are very fond of
using too much clothing, with the idea of making
the horse's coat shine better. This is very
wrong. A coat must be made to shine by
manual labour, i.e. good grooming ; a gloss that
is produced by heated stables or excessive use

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

55

of clothing does not last, but on exposure to cold
rapidly disappears and the coat stands "on end."
The amount of clothing required to counteract
the loss of coat when a horse is clipped would
generally be equivalent to a thick woollen
blanket.

216. A tail-guard consists of a cloth case or a
leather case that fastens in various ways around
the tail and is attached at the top to the crupper
or blanket. The best and cheapest way to pro-
tect a tail from being rubbed on a train journey
or to keep it tidy is to use an ordinary three-
inch flannel bandage. (See P. 24c.) The band-
age will be started about six inches from the
root of the dock and wound upwards ; two or
three short hairs of the tail should be doubled
into the folds to prevent the bandage from slip-
ping down. It is then brought right down the
tail, and two or three more hairs near the end
of the dock are turned in under the folds. In
this way there is no danger of the bandage
coming off. The bandage must not be put on
too tightly. The tail may be protected by
plaiting. (See Sees. 243, 244.)

217. Bandages. — Bandages are used for
various purposes, but most commonly for apply-
ing pressure to the legs below the knee or hock.
This is done while exercising, jumping, racing,
etc. They may be used as a preventive or as a
partial cure for strained tendons. For the
former, massaging is far better. Excessive use
of bandages does a great deal of harm. Again,
they may be used surgically, which use will be
dealt with in Chapter IX. Sound legs which are
bandaged during exercise are benefited chiefly
by the mechanical support rendered, whilst un-
sound legs are benefited chiefly by the pressure
which causes increase of blood to the part, and
therefore increased repair of the damage and
resistance to further damage. In either case
benefit is very marked from the mechanical
pressure and from the physiological action due
to pressure. For this reason bandages must be
soft and strong. The softness is required next
to the skin and the strength outside. The best
method of obtaining this is to wind cotton wad-
ding around the leg thickly, and then to bandage
tightly outside. By this means the pressure can-
not arrest the circulation, as is so easily done
with ordinary bandages, and the pressure will
be evenly distributed over the legs. To ensure
this the best method is as follows (see P. 22e, f) :

218. Cotton wadding, measuring about 20
inches in width, which can be procured very
cheaply, is cut lengthways into strips 10 inches
wide. A strip of this is wound round the leg
from knee to fetlock, starting from the front and
winding outwards and backwards. Then a
cotton bandage, 3 inches by 2 yards, is wound
loosely over the wadding. Finally, a regular
woollen bandage is wound tightly over the
whole. It is practically impossible to stop

circulation by this method. The cotton bandage
may be dispensed with, but it is not so easy to
make a good job of it. If the horse is not being
exercised, the bandage should extend from just
below the knee or hock to just below the fet-
lock ; if he is going to be exercised, it must not
extend below the fetlock. For ordinary exercis-
ing, a flannel bandage, 9 feet in length and 4
inches wide, is quite suitable. The best kind of
bandage I know is the Sandown fleecy wool
bandage ; one half of this is made of soft
woollen material, which is wound around the
leg from the knee downward ; the other half is
made of flannel, and is wound up over the out-
side of the soft part. This takes the place of the
cotton-wadding bandages described above.

Cotton bandages are of little use when used
alone, except for surgical purposes. Cotton-wool
may be used instead of wadding (batton), but it
is more expensive. Medicated cotton-wool is
very expensive and is not sufficiently elastic. If
the wool irritates the coat at all, which is un-
likely, a flannel bandage could be put on first.

219. Bandages should not be left on at night,
and they do the most good when put on for
two or three hours after exercise ; if left on too
long they weaken the legs. When used on the
metacarpal and metatarsal regions, i.e. from
knee or hock to fetlock, they support the deep-
seated suspensory ligament, the flexor pedis
perforans, and the back tendon (flexor pedis per-
foratus), known as the tendon of Achilles. If
continued over the fetlock, they support the liga-
ments of that joint. If bandages are left on
over-night they must not be allowed to interfere
with the flexion of the knee, fetlock or hock, or
the horse cannot lie down comfortably. The
arteries of these portions of the limbs are well
protected, so that there is little danger of arrest-
ing blood circulation, and there are no muscles
below the knee or hock except very small acces-
sory ones, which are remains that go to prove
the horse's three-digited ancestry. The frequent
use of bandages is, as a rule, a great mistake.

The best way to put on any bandage is,
firstly, to roll up the bandage with the tapes
inside, and to commence a few inches below the
top part of the bandage, leaving six inches free,
to start rolling round the leg from the front out-
wards and to the rear, winding it downwards ;
upon reaching the lower extremity it is rolled
upwards ; the free end which was left at the top
is turned in under the bandage that is rolled
upwards outside. The tape is then tied in a
bowknot, with the knot at the side of the leg.
On no account must the knot be in front of the
leg or at the back. The tape should be about
two feet in length, the centre of it being sewn
to the end of the bandage.

220. Rolling.— Rolling is a most beneficial
form of exercise for any horse, and still more
for one that is idle in the stable. Horses love

56

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

it. Besides giving the horse physical exercise
and stimulating the action of the liver, intestines,
etc., and stimulating his spirits, it has a most
beneficial effect on the horse's coat. Clean sand
makes an excellent rolling bath ; peat moss or
tan bark, as used in riding schools, will also do.
Idle horses should be turned loose for at least
half an hour a day so that they can exercise
themselves by rolling, etc. It is a good plan to
allow a horse, when he comes in hot, to have a
roll. If a horse, when turned loose in a sand
bath, strains his legs at all by jumping about,
bandages should be put on. The sand bath
should be twenty feet square, the sand being
one foot deep. Great care must be taken to
brush all sand thoroughly from the horse's coat
before putting on the harness or saddle ; if any
sand is left in the coat it will be sure to cause
a sore back.

Sand rubbed in lightly to a wet back for a
few minutes, and then brushed out again, will
dry the coat and remove a great deal of dirt.
Sawdust is very useful for drying wet backs.

221. Bedding. — Bedding is necessary in a
stable to prevent chill (which would result from
lying on a cold stone floor), to add to the horse's
comfort, to prevent injuries, for the purpose of
absorbing wet, and for neatness. Bedding also
affords a soft material for the horse to stand on
during the day, which becomes more necessary
when the horse is left standing for any length
of time in the stable. The various forms of
bedding are straw, old hay, peat moss, sawdust,
shavings and sand. Leaves, ferns and branches
are sometimes used, but are not healthy. Tan
bark should never be used, as it destroys the
feet. Peat moss will absorb about six times its
own weight of water, tan bark nearly as much,
and straw between two and three times its own
weight. Barley straw will absorb most, wheat
straw least. (See "Impurities," Sec. 368.)

222. Bedding must absorb fluid, absorb gases,
be free from odour, be soft, be a bad conductor
of heat, be cheap, be easily procurable, be free
from any properties that harm the horse's feet,
and be free from any properties that will harm
the coat. It should also be unpalatable to the
horse. Any bedding, as peat moss, tan bark,
sawdust or sand, that will clog in the feet is not
the best of bedding. Tan, containing tannic
acid, has a particularly bad effect on horses' feet ;
therefore a horse on returning from the riding
school should have his feet well picked out.
Urine has a very bad effect on horses' feet, so any
of the above materials that will become clogged
in the feet are far inferior to straw, etc.

Straw forms by far the best bedding. Wheat
straw is the best, because it is less liable to be
eaten ; it is stiff, and keeps cleaner and lasts
longer. Oat straw is liable to be eaten, soon
becomes soiled and matted in lumps. Barley
straw may cause a skin irritation. Actinomy-

cosis is caused by a fungus that is not uncommon
on barley straw. The long straw sold in England
makes the best bedding ; the grain separators
in Canada and the United States, unfortunately,
break up the straw into such short lengths that
it is very dirty and dusty and far less economical.
Wheat straw undoubtedly looks the nicest.

223. If peat moss is used, it should contain a
large amount of fibre and cork-like lumps, and
should not be close like soil. The only ad-
vantage of peat moss is its great power of absorb-
ing liquids and gases ; therefore it requires to
be renewed more frequently than is otherwise
thought necessary, because it quickly becomes a
saturated mass of harmful chemicals, such as
ammonia. A few years ago the British Service
used it entirely, but, upon finding that their
horses' frogs became damaged, soon discontinued
it. The great advantage of it is that it is almost
fireproof. It is very convenient on board ship or
on the train, as it makes a splendid footing, is
not blown about, and takes up less room in
stowage. When used, the wet portions must be
continually removed and the feet well looked
after. Tan bark is worse than peat moss for
damaging the feet. Sawdust, wood shavings,
and sand are fairly good when they can be pro-
cured cheaply in a clean state ; but they must
be kept clean, which is not an easy matter.
They are not suitable for private use, or for
horses with fine coats. The shavings should con-
tain no pieces of wood. Sawdust makes a very
good bedding if plenty of it is used, and if re-
placed frequently. Some large commercial
stables use it entirely. The horses shown in
P. 29rf, e, f are bedded entirely on sawdust.
Sawdust is valuable in all stables that are not
drained.

224. The army horse is allowed eight pounds
of wheat straw per day for bedding. The bed-
ding should be taken outside the stable early
every morning, and spread on a wooden plat-
form, or put into a wire cage made for the
purpose of preventing the bedding from blowing
about ; this is necessary thoroughly to air the
bedding. The manure and the wet portions of
the bedding must be thrown away, and not left
anywhere near the stable. The manure heap
should be cleared away every day, especially
during the fly season. A rainproof roof should
be provided to protect the bedding from the
wet while it is airing. (See P. 89e.) This shows
the usual type of bedding roof used in army
stables ; great economy of bedding results by
airing it outside during the daytime. Bedding
should never be left in the stable during the day,
except on Sundays, when the horses are usually
left bedded down. A most foolish practice is
that of pushing the bedding to the front of the
stall, so that all the harmful gases are breathed
by the horse, and affect his eyes, lungs, and
general health.

PLATE 27

TYPES OF TAIL-PLAITING

Courtesy: a, Messrs. T. Tilling, London. b, Mr. W. Cross, Toronto. c, d, e, John B. Smith Lumber Co., Toronto.
g, The Repository, Toronto, h, Mr. W. Cross. Photos by the Author. (AH the Tails are undocked.)

PLATE 28

TYPES OF BANGED TAILS (UNDOCKED)

a. Courtesy: Mr. G. Field, Chislehurst. Pholo : Author. b, C, By permission H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught,
Governor-Genera! of Canada. Photos : Pittaway, Ottawa

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

57

When the bedding is down and the groom is
about, he should remove all droppings whenever
he sees them ; these must be taken outside the
stable, and not left inside, as is often done by a
lazy man.

A heavy draught horse excretes about fifty or
more pounds of dung per diem. The weight of
dung is approximately double the weight of the
dry food eaten, the water drunk making up the
extra weight. When a horse has been tied to
the pillar reins with its head to the centre of the
stable, the manger should be examined to see
that there are no droppings in the manger. This
is often neglected by grooms, who will throw
the next feed on top of the droppings in the
manger, and wonder why the horse does not eat
its feed.

225. Laying Down the Bedding.— Great care
should be taken to make the bed as even as
possible. When baled straw is used, the lumps
must be carefully shaken loose with the hands,
as it cannot be properly done with a fork ; on
no account must these lumps be left unbroken.
In approaching a horse in his stall, with a fork
of straw, he must be spoken to, otherwise he
may become frightened and kick, and possibly
run the fork into his legs. I have seen the
quietest of horses do this. If a horse will not
move over quickly from one side of the stall to
the other, on no account must he be struck with
the fork ; such an act is contemptible, and will
tend to make him fear anyone approaching with
a fork. By talking gently to him he will soon
get to know his groom, and will do anything
for him. (See Chapter III.) I have surprised a
great many grooms who had never considered
the matter in this light, by being able to do
almost anything with a horse which knew me,
whilst the same horse had taken little notice of
the rough and harsh methods of the groom ; and
upon imparting to the groom the secret by which
obedience is obtained from such horses, have
been able to convince them in a few weeks of
the right way to treat a horse. Kindness not
only pays, but it saves so much trouble ; so
that even a lazy type of groom or driver will
gain much by calmness. The bedding should
be placed well forward, because horses generally
work it back before lying down. The best way
to prevent a horse kicking its bedding too far
back is to lay it thinly in the centre and thickly
on the sides of the stall, because the horse paws
mostly in the centre of the straw. The bedding
should be attended to the last thing at night,
unless the horse is lying down.

Sanitation in the Stable

226. The whole stable must be kept scrupu-
lously clean ; if it is constructed of sanitary
material (see Chapter VIII.), the walls and floor
should be washed all over with a 1 per cent.

solution of creolin or carbolic once a week.
Wooden walls and mangers should be white-
washed at least once a week. The ceiling should
be whitewashed with lime every three months.
The whitewashing of mangers is very important
in livery and sale stables, where strange horses
are coming in continually. Metal mangers
should be scrubbed out with hot water and
castile soap once a week. Disinfectants which
possess an odour, such as carbolic acid or creolin,
should not be used in the mangers or watering
buckets, etc. A solution of bichloride of mer-
cury (one in five hundred) is a good disinfectant,
as it has no odour ; but as it is very poisonous,
the vessel must be rinsed out with water after-
wards. Mercury must not be used on plated
metals, as it has a deleterious effect upon them.

Sanitary distempers and washable paints
should be washed once a month. Glazed bricks
and tiles should be scrubbed once a week. Win-
dows should be cleaned every week inside and
outside, to admit plenty of light. Corners must
be swept free from cobwebs and dust every
week. The floor should be washed out every
day, unless it is a wooden floor, which should
be kept as dry as possible, or it will rapidly rot.
All drains must be opened and flushed out
thoroughly with water, and then with a 5 per
cent, solution of creolin or other suitable dis-
infectant, as Jeyes' fluid, lysol, Condy's fluid, etc.
If the drain is not working freely it must be
immediately reported, as it may require to be
cleaned by a sanitary engineer. Neglected
drains are often the cause of horses and grooms
becoming ill.

Smoking or the carrying of lights, lighted
pipes, or throwing matches about in the stable
must be strictly forbidden. A lamp must not
be placed so that it can be knocked down. Oil
lamps are very dangerous in the stable, unless
they are the regular stable lantern. Smoking
should never be allowed near the stable or near
any haystack when there is a wind blowing.

227. Stopping the Feet. — Too much washing
will cause softening of the feet ; wet roads have
not the same effect because the increased circula-
tion during work counteracts the softening effect
of the moisture. Feet, however, may become too
brittle, and require stopping. This is best done
by filling the foot over-night with a linseed mash
(made with cold water and ground linseed),
pressing it well into the foot. It must be
thoroughly removed in the morning, and should
not be continued for more than two or three
nights, or injury may result, due to over-soften-
ing. Softening a foot in this manner merely to
help the blacksmith to pare the wall down must
be strictly forbidden. Puddled clay may be used
if linseed cannot be procured.

To prevent the feet from balling in the snow,
they should be brushed over inside with a thick
oil or grease before going out.

58

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

228. Foot Dressing. — The walls of the feet,
which are porous and covered with a porous
shell, the periople (see Chapter XVIII.), require
to be exposed to the air, hence harm will be
done if thick oil or grease is put on ; a very
common error made by grooms in order to make
the feet look nice. I strongly deprecate the use
of patent hoof dressings. There is no need to
blacken the horses' hoofs. As a rule, the dress-
ing is put on over the dirt, which causes the
feet to become brittle and break, due to the cells
becoming clogged up. If a dressing is insisted
on, it should be of an oily nature ; on no account
a varnish. A good dressing is made of grate
blacking (carbon) and cod liver oil. For brittle
feet the following dressing is very good ; it
toughens the feet considerably : —

Oil of turpentine
Oil of tar
Oil of linseed

1 oz.
i oz.

4 oz.

Shake well and apply night and morning.

229. Examining Shoes. — When a horse re-
turns to its stable his shoes must be carefully
examined. Merely pulling at them or trying to
move them sideways will not test whether they
are loose or not. They should be gently tapped
with an iron hammer, their tightness being
judged by the sound, in the same way as the
wheels of a railway car are tapped to test for
cracks. The clenches should be examined to see
if they are all right. Any clench that is sticking
out must be either bent in or removed to avoid
injury to another leg. Any missing nails must
be replaced, and a shoe must be examined to
ascertain that it has not shifted.

230. Leading into Stable.-^-A. horse should be
carefully led into the stable, and not be allowed
to rush in, nor be driven in, as he is liable to
knock himself against the door posts or to
damage the saddle or harness. The groom
should turn his back to the door and, holding
one bridoon-rein close to the ring in each hand,
lead the horse in while walking backwards him-
self. The same is to be done when leading out,
but a horse is more liable to hurry in to get his
dinner. Some horses object to being stared in
the face and will not follow the groom when he
faces him, so in this case he must turn away
from the horse, who will probably follow.

When leading a horse by the halter in show-
ing him to anyone, the groom should hold the
end of the leading-rope in the left hand and
have his right hand ready to seize the rope near
the halter if the horse becomes fractious ; the
groom will run on the left side. In turning the
horse the groom must turn outside the horse ; if
he allows the horse to swing around outside of
him, he is liable to get away ; that is to say,
when turning he will invariably turn to the
right. In detecting lameness this, of course, does
not apply.

Clipping

231. The practice of clipping horses has been
much discussed in the past, but I have seldom
heard a scientific explanation of the reasons for
clipping or not clipping. On this point I fear
some of my horse-loving readers may disagree
with me. As in other questions of this kind, I
have studied the subject from the horse's point
of view before any other.

In nature the horse has a long coat, but he
does not exert himself at hard labour while in
this coat. If a gymnast was made to go through
his performances in a fur coat, what would
happen? Would he not die, or at any rate col-
lapse, from excessive fatigue? In the same way
it is neither reasonable nor, as we shall see later,
humane, to ask a horse with a heavy coat to do
heavy work. In England job-masters have
proved this fact for themselves, but the same
applies in a lesser degree in Canada, where the
winters are cold. We provide the horse with a
heavy coat whenever he is idle in or out of the
stable, but remove it before we ask him to work.
We clip off his permanent heavy coat and pro-
vide him with temporary heavy blankets.
Horses doing slow work, as is usual with most
draught horses, do not require to be clipped ;
farm horses seldom require to be clipped. If a
horse with a heavy coat is worked until he is
perspiring freely his coat becomes soaked with
sweat, evaporation can only take place compara-
tively slowly, and this only from the ends of the
long hairs of the coat ; hence sufficient evapora-
tion on the skin is prevented, and the bodily
temperature is not reduced, as it should be, to
normal. The lungs and the whole system con-
sequently suffer, and the horse is feverish.

Thin horses, when they are clipped in the
winter, invariably gain in condition. Nature
very soon readjusts matters and counteracts the
loss of a coat by producing more internal heat.
The fact that the coat is wet and steaming is no
proof that evaporation is going on rapidly ; on
the contrary, because evaporation may be more
rapid on a clipped horse that is showing no
signs of perspiring, than on a long-coated horse
that is perspiring freely.

232. But — and this is where the cruelty comes
in — if a horse is clipped, he must never be left in
a stable or outside without his temporary coat.
A clipped horse must be blanketed and never left
standing if it is at all cold. In Canada harness
horses, when left standing, are generally covered
up with the fur robes used in the sleigh. For
most kinds of weather a heavy blanket is suf-
ficient, and unless the wind is quite calm the
blanket should be buckled on to prevent it
from blowing up. In very windy weather it
must be buckled over the quarters, or it may
blow up over the horse's head. A common sight,
which exposes the ignorance of wealthy horse

vj

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

59

owners, is to see clipped horses standing outside
stores or theatres shivering in the cold while
their mistresses are enjoying themselves within.
Well-cared-for private horses are as a rule
better when clipped, but I think that commercial
horses which stand about in their daily rounds
are better undipped, unless they perspire very
freely. The length of the coat, the work re-
quired, and the amount the horse perspires are
factors which decide whether the horse should
be clipped or not. The London bus-horse was
always better when clipped.

233. The most humane way of clipping horses
in a country that has a cold winter is to clip
the body only, and to leave the legs from about
nine inches above the knees and hocks un-
dipped. The long hairs on the fetlocks can be
taken off. I strongly advocate the frequent use
of hand rubbing of the coat in the autumn, thus
keeping it short and thin and often avoiding the
necessity for clipping. In milder climates, such
as in England, light and heavy commercial
horses are frequently clipped on the lower part
of the body and upper part of the legs, as shown
in P. 51fe. This leaves a warm coat on the
body, lessens the amount of perspiring, and
renders the horse less liable to cracked-heels,
etc. All mud must be thoroughly brushed out
of the legs upon return from work. It is gener-
ally necessary to clip horses in England several
times during the winter.

234. Clipping means shortening the hairs of
the coat (temporary hairs) by means of shears.
The coat may be shortened or thinned, and
therefore made cooler, by other means, as
singeing, hand rubbing, use of indiarubber, and
good grooming. Singeing must be done by an
experienced man, and is best done with a gas
lamp made for the purpose, as it can be easily
regulated. Oil or spirit lamps are dangerous ;
the oil may be spilt and cause a fire. Singeing
should never be done over straw bedding ; if
done in the stall, the bedding must be removed.
Good grooming and a large amount of hand rub-
bing will remove a great number of the hairs of
the coat, and thus lighten it. It may be made
still lighter by being rubbed with a piece of
indiarubber held firmly in the hand and drawn
in the direction of the coat. Private horses are
often singed after they are clipped to improve the
look of the coat and to round off the ends of
the hairs, which, by closing, strengthens them.
Clipping, by squaring off the ends of the hairs,
leaves them in a bristly state and causes the
coat to be more susceptible to irritation ; a coat
when first clipped stands up (stares), and does
not lie down smoothly. This will allow dirt and
cold more readily to gain access to the skin.
Horses which suffer from cracked heels
(scratches) are better with their fetlocks left
undipped.

Thin-skinned horses, or horses ridden by bad

riders, are better left with a patch, the shape
of the saddle, on the back undipped, so as to
afford extra protection. Hunters are often not
clipped below the hocks and knees ; this is
advisable in muddy countries, as the mud does
less harm to the legs when the coat is left long,
and the danger of chill is considerably reduced
if the horses are shipped home by train. Hunters
are sometimes clipped on the body only.

235. The long hairs inside the ears should
never be clipped ; they are there for a very good
purpose, and their removal may cause deafness
or other damage to the ear by allowing cold and
foreign objects to gain access. Long hairs pro-
jecting beyond the cartilage of the ear may be
trimmed off with the scissors. I was sorry to
see some of the horses at an international horse
show with their ears clipped in this way ; it
proves gross ignorance. On no account must the
eyelashes or the muzzle hairs be clipped. The
best method of clipping a horse is to use a
machine clipper, worked by hand or by an
electric motor, which must have a safety cutout
worked by the foot, so that, if anything happens,
the machine can be stopped instantly. Hand
clippers are useful for finishing off those parts
which are difficult to reach with a machine. If
a horse is cold after being clipped, which he
will show by the coat staring or even by shiver-
ing, he must be blanketed more heavily, and not
be kept warm by closing the windows, thus pre-
venting proper ventilation. Private horses are
often made sick by stuffy, unventilated stables.
After a horse has been clipped, in order to pro-
duce the extra internal heat required, more fuel
must be supplied by increasing the feed for a
week or two.

236. If a horse is clipped too early in the
autumn, his coat will not look so nice as if the
clipping had been done later, and a second clip-
ping may be necessary. This is necessary with
some horses, anyway. It is cruel to wait until
the end of November, when the winter coat is
fully grown, and then to clip it all off, as the
horse will then be without sufficient coat until
the spring. But if he is clipped at the end of
October, the exact time depending upon the
climate, the winter coat will continue to grow
afterwards, and furnish him with a moderately
short coat all through the winter. Sometimes
horses with heavy coats are clipped at the begin-
ning of spring ; this spoils the appearance for a
while — that is, until the summer coat comes —
but it is often a necessity. When the winter
coat is fully grown, " cat hairs," which are long
hairs, will make their appearance here and there
over the coat.

237. The Forelock.— In Canada and the
United States the forelock and the mane in
between the ears is often clipped off, generally
because it gets in the way when an overhead
check- rein is used. This unnecessary appendage

60

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

is dealt with in Chapter XIX. The forelock is
of great use to the horse in protecting his eyes.
(See Chapter XII.) Some draught horses have
a very heavy forelock, which partly covers the
eyes ; this is very detrimental to the horse. It
should be combed out and be nearly long enough
to reach the top of the eye. A saddle horse looks
far more handsome with a forelock. In the British
cavalry about a couple of inches of mane, where
the head-stall passes over, is clipped off ; this
keeps the mane tidy and prevents it from being
doubled under the head-stall and from working
out and tickling the horse's ears. This clipping
is particularly necessary with some cavalry
bridles which have two head-stalls, whilst those
in the Life Guards have three head-stalls.

238. Time to Trim Horses. — A horse should
be trimmed every few months if it is desired
that he should look neat and well groomed. It
is wonderful what trimming the hair of the fet-
locks and around the pasterns, etc., will do
towards improving the appearance of some
horses.

Tails should be trimmed, if trimmed at all,
at the end of the fly season. If a tail is banged
short, as in P. 29, it should not be touched
after Christmas, so that it will be nearly to the
hocks when the flies come ; this applies more
to countries where the flies are bad. A docked
tail should never be trimmed except at the begin-
ning of winter, but, unfortunately, most owners
of such horses do not consider the horse so long
as it looks "smart."

239. Banging the Tail. — Banging the tail
means squaring the hair off to a desired length
below the end of the dock with scissors or
shears. (See P. 28, 29, 79, 80.) British cavalry
horses' tails are banged so that the end reaches
one hand's-breadth above the hocks, but upon
going to India the hair is left to grow quite long.
(See P. 80.)

To bang a tail, place one hand under the
dock near the top, and cause the tail to hang as
it would be carried while the horse is in motion,
and cut the hair square off at the required
length. Sometimes it is cut at a slight angle,
so that the tail is slightly shorter next to the
thighs. (See P. 80e.) A horse's tail grows from
six inches to one foot in a year, as a general
rule. In Canada and the United States most of
the saddle horses' tails are quite long. (See
"U.S. Cavalry Horses." P. 60.)

240. Thinning the Tail.—li a tail is left bushy
and heavy it has two disadvantages. Firstly, it
keeps the horse much hotter in warm weather ;
and, secondly, it requires more energy from the
horse to move it in striking at a fly. It should
be kept neat, and not be combed on the outside ;
combing breaks the hairs and soon spoils the
beauty of a nice tail. P. 14a, IQb, 616, 676, 68a
show the tail kept thin at the top, which keeps
the horse much cooler, looks neater, and, as it is

lighter in weight, the tail will be carried more
arched and thus farther away from the body. A
tail is thinned gradually by a few hairs being
pulled out every day ; this will not incon-
venience the horse any more than the daily
combing which the average groom loves to give
the horse. To thin a tail in a day by pulling
out bunches of hair is exceedingly cruel, and
should never be allowed.

241. Hogging Manes. — By hogging a horse
is meant clipping off the mane close to the
crest. Some, who are evidently grossly ignorant
of the horse's requirements, say that this is
worse than docking. I hope my readers will
know better than this. Nevertheless, I do not
approve of the practice by any means. The
use of the mane is unknown to most people.
The fly muscles (described in Chapter XII.)
do not extend to the crest of the neck ; there-
fore a mane is necessary to protect the upper
portion of the neck. This he does by shaking
his head and switching the mane from side
to side. In Canada or India, during the fly
season, a mane is of the greatest use to the
horse. The mane is also of great service in the
prevention of sunstroke. (See Sec. 615.) This
is particularly true of the foretop, that part in
between the ears. A heavy mane is of no use
to a horse ; in fact, it causes excessive perspira-
tion. The ideal mane should be about four
inches long, and kept fairly thin so as to keep
the horse cool in hot weather. A long mane,
if not too heavy, adds considerably to the
beauty of some horses. (See P. 2, 186, 21a.)
A hogged mane is generally ugly and gives the
horse an unnatural appearance. The absence
of a mane is a great disadvantage when an
elderly person is mounting a horse. I have
found hogged-mane horses in the fly season a
positive nuisance. The excuse that a mane takes
a long time to clean is an exceedingly lazy one,
and not one that one would expect to come from
a horseman. I regret to see a number of army
horses with their manes hogged ; it makes them
look exceedingly ugly and gives one the impres-
sion of laziness.

Sometimes a mane gets diseased, and the
veterinary surgeon orders it to be clipped off ;
but, as a matter of fact, this is unnecessary, as
various applications can be rubbed into the roots
which will cure any disease that I have yet
come across.

Field-Marshal Viscount Wolseley said : " I
cannot write too strongly against the fashion of
hogging manes and cutting tails short. I have
seen cavalry regiments and batteries of artillery
at home which could not have been sent into the
fields where flies abounded owing to the tails
of the horses having been rendered so useless by
their silly C.O.'s. I wish all such gentlemen
could be picketed out themselves in a fly country
with their hair cut quite close and their hands

PLATE 29

Tit 3.

TYPES OF BANGED TAILS (UNDOCKED)

Courtesy: a, Mr. G. Field, Chislehurst. c, Mr. H. Bristow, Ottawa. d, e, f, L. & N. W. Railway Co. Photo

Glover, Hammersmith.

g, Mr. E. J. Barclay, Brandon, Man. h, Col. S. Denison, C.M.G.
by the Author

Photos, a, b, C, g, h,

PLATE 30

TAIL PLAITING

a, The Top Plaited down the Back. b. The Hairs below the Dock Plaited and Fastened to the Top of the Tail.
Kind permission Maher's Horse Exchange, Toronto. Photos by the Author

v]

GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

61

tied. Their sufferings then would teach them a
lesson."

242. Regr owing Manes.— Manes once hogged
can easily be regrown, with a little patience and
trouble. It takes about six months for a mane
to grow long enough to be plaited or weighted.
The best method is to plait it (P. 270), and then
to weight it as well. Another method is to use
a hood fastened by elastic strings under the
horse's neck. (P. 226.) This hood is of greater
use for making untidy manes tidy. The mane
must be damped with water before the plaiting
is done or before the hood is put on. The latter
should be left on for two hours. Civilians, as
a rule, prefer the mane to lie on the off side, but
the manes of troop horses are generally made to
lie on the near side. The near side is more
convenient for mounting purposes.

243. Plaiting. — Manes that are untidy will be
much improved if plaited up and left so for a
few days. (See P. 27y, 105.) Plaited manes are
quite common in the show-ring.

Plaiting the tail can be done in various ways,
with or without coloured ribbons. The tail can
be plaited up round the bottom of the dock in
various ways (see P. 26, 27) ; it can be plaited
from the top for six or eight inches down the
back, as in P. 30a ; it can be plaited all down
the dock (P. 51/z), or it can be plaited, and
the plait brought up and plaited into the back
of the tail, near the top, as in P. 306, 118/. A
tail must never be plaited tightly. Plaiting is
in many ways better than banging the hair,
because, when flies are bad, the horse has a full
tail, or, if he is turned out to pasture, he is fully
protected from flies. If a tail is kept neat it
looks very well plaited up in various forms in
dirty weather. I have seen a great many hand-
some private carriage pairs in Canada and the
United States with the tails so plaited. (See
P. 37.) Saddle horses should also have their
tails plaited up in muddy weather (P. 27/»).
Fortunately, flies are not generally about in
muddy weather. On several occasions I have
started out riding or driving with a horse with
a very long tail, and on reaching muddy country
have stopped for one minute and plaited the
tail up. Heavy horses on the farm require a
tail of good length, but heavy horses in the
city, as a rule, have their tails about level with
the hocks ; this keeps the tail clean. (See P.
1356.) Dappled greys, so popular in Canada,
usually have their tails left quite long, and
tied up, of course, in dirty weather. These tails
are usually white. (See P. 26a, b, 52.) It is
only a matter of a few moments to clean a long
white tail, even if it is not tied up in dirty
weather ; there is no comparison between clean-
ing a tail, however dirty and however long, with
cleaning one of the four legs. Besides, a dirty
tail will do little harm compared with a dirty
leg, which may cause disease.

On this point Stephen H. Terry, in "The
Crime of Docking Horses," says : " This tying up
of the long hairs of the tail has the effect of
keeping it clean, whilst not depriving the
horse of an ornate instrument for fly destruc-
tion and a screen alike valuable for warmth and
decency."

244. An important point that I have brought
before the public in the Press is the lazy way
some people leave horses' tails plaited up over-
night. If a tail is tied up quite loosely at the
end, no harm will result ; but, for the horse's
comfort, this should not be allowed, because
many horses will not lie down and rest. The
practice of using ribbons tied tightly around the
tail is very dangerous and must never be allowed.
A few hours may be sufficient to cause damage
in such cases. The common practice of showing
off a horse's quarters and hind action by plaiting
the tail is a very humane one and should be
encouraged, but the above points must not be
neglected. Again, damage has often been done
by bending the dock and twisting the hair
around near the root of the tail ; this is done in
a show-yard to show off the horse's hind action,
and is quite permissible, as it is only left up
for a few minutes. (See P. 1186.) This must
not be done at all tightly, or it will cause pain.
Gangrene, the result of stasis, has often resulted
from plaiting tails too tightly. On no account
must the end of the dock be clipped, as shown
in P. 109, Fig. 26.

245. Treatment of Mane and Tail Diseases. —
Neglected manes and tails sometimes get mane
and tail eczema, which is a disease of the
dermis, or true skin. The causes are dirt, con-
tinuous washing, irritant soaps, long exposure
to rain and cold, bacteria, etc. The usual symp-
toms are rubbing, hairs becoming matted and
falling out, skin becoming thick, hard and in-
flamed, etc. If the mane and tail are fairly thin
— that is, not too thick and bushy — this trouble
can easily be cured. A good application is
paraffin oil (kerosene) one part, water ten parts,
thoroughly shaken together, and well rubbed
in immediately. One application is generally
sufficient. Or treat similarly with a 2 per cent,
solution of creolin, or rub in powdered iodo-
form, which should be powdered finely in a
mortar. In bad cases a 5 per cent, solution of
silver nitrate is very good. If the disease is
caused by neglect or by bacteria, and not from
exposure to cold or over-washing, always com-
mence by washing the part thoroughly with
warm water and castile soap.

Another good application for itching manes
and tails is :

•^Linseed oil

:" Sulphur (powdered)

20 parts, i.

5 ''

4 parts.
^ of tar ... 1 part. J

Put these into a bottle and immerse in warm

62

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP. v.

water for several hours, shaking at intervals ;
rub well into the part for three days, morning
and night. For an itching skin a few applica-
tions of diluted prussic acid (HCN) is very
beneficial.

An excellent remedy for rubbed tails and
manes is :

Acid salicylic
Menthol
Chloral hydrate
Water

i oz.

1 oz.

2 drs.
8 ozs.

A similar preparation is sold by druggists under
the name of "Hedrub." This solution must be
rubbed well into the roots for two or three
minutes twice a day.

A good application for eczema, after
thoroughly washing the part with castile soap,
is : Starch and talcum, J oz. of each ; sugar of
lead (lead acetate), 3 oz. ; camphor water, 6 oz.
Apply morning and night. Arsenic is used
internally for chronic skin diseases, but not for
acute attacks. Other external applications for
chronic skin diseases are: Salicylic acid, oil
of cade, balsam of peru, ammoniated mercury
ointment, etc. For mange, wash thoroughly
with castile soap and tepid water, and apply
morning and night a 5 per cent, solution of
carbolic acid. Mange is caused by a minute

insect. Antiseptics and cleanliness are the best
cures.

Any drug that acts as a purgative, as a
diuretic (nitre, pot. chlorate, etc.), or as a
diaphoretic (as chloral hydrate, chloroform, pilo-
carpine, etc.), will tend to cure skin diseases
by drawing away impurities from the blood.
Sulphur, which is eliminated through the skin,
should be used in chronic cases, and will assist
in all cases.

246. Causes of Rubbing Tails. — The tail is
usually rubbed near the root on the upper
surface. Docking is often responsible for this,
the wound causing the tail to itch. Capt. Hayes
mentions this in his books.

A tail should always be bandaged if the horse
rubs it, because rubbing will make the itching
worse. If such a tail is neglected, the hair
follicles may become permanently injured, leav-
ing a bare patch. A tail guard or bandage
should be used on the railway or on board ship
to prevent rubbing. When first signs of rubbing
are discovered, the horse must be put in a stall
where he cannot rub mane or tail. The mane
is usually rubbed by the horse getting his mane
under the manger. A frequent cause of tail
rubbing is either neglect to sponge the under
side of the dock, or worms. Worms can
generally be destroyed. (See Chapter XI.)

CHAPTER VI

DRIVING AND HARNESS

247. On Driving. — The subject of draught is one
that affects our servant the horse very greatly,
and therefore it is only fair to consider this
matter in detail. The subject is not understood
to the extent it should be, considering that
99 per cent, of the horses in the cities are draught
horses. This misunderstanding exists because
drivers are apt to allow things to go on in the
slipshod way they have been used to in the past.
Some books written on the subject are full of
theory which could never be put into practice.
Mechanics seems to be less understood in this
branch than in any other. In considering the
load that a horse can draw we must consider
three factors : the force and the method of apply-
ing this force ; the vehicle and the weight
carried by it ; and the track on which the vehicle
is to move. The former refers to the type of
horse and the type of harness. From the horse's
point of view, and from a pecuniary point of
view, we must aim at getting the most work
out of a horse with the least exertion, i.e. least
waste of energy. This is the principle upon
which all engines are made, but I am sorry to
say upon whichr horsed vehicles are seldom
constructed.

248. We will first consider how a horse draws
his load. He throws his weight forward, and
then temporarily removes the support under the
foremost portion of his body (i.e. his forelegs),
and thus allows the weight of his body to be
supported by the hindlegs, which will be in
compression ; the traces of the vehicle will then
be in tension. Strictly speaking, then, the
weight of his body draws the vehicle forward
primarily. As well as this, the muscles of all
forelimbs advance the body forward on the
limbs, so that the draught power of a horse is
much greater than his weight. A horse weigh-
ing 1,500 Ib. can draw up to ten tons on a smooth
road for a short distance. We will first consider
the best place to attach the traces to. It has
been stated that 50 per cent, of the power of
draught horses is wasted through want of know-
ledge of the theory and practice of draught. I
can quite believe it. The load that a horse can
pull, i.e. the resistance that he can offer to a
load, depends on (1) his own weight, (2) his
grip upon the road, i.e. resistance between his
feet and the road, (3) his length and height, i.e.

the lengths of the levers acting upon the load,
(4) the direction of the trace, i.e. the direction
of the acting force, and (5) his muscular
strength.

P. 32, Fig. i, shows the forces acting upon
the horse. If the trace AB is horizontal, and the
vertical weight of the horse on his forelegs is
AC, the resultant force, when the horse is in
draught, will be AD. Now, let us attach the
trace as in Fig. 2, A'B' ; then A'c1 still represents
the horse on his forelegs, but the resultant force
is A'o1, and with the same load the horse has
an extra force acting upon his collar ; hence,
theoretically, the horse's traces exert least force
upon the collar when they are horizontal. In
practice, however, there are two factors that
cause a slight modification of this : firstly, by
lowering the traces slightly we increase the
resistance between the horse and road, and,
secondly, we diminish the liability of the collar
from slipping up the shoulder. This slipping
is common if the shoulder slopes very much.
Hence the necessity for draught horses' shoulders
being as upright as possible. (See P. 296, 36c,
h, 476, 105c.) With an almost vertical shoulder
we would have the ideal draught shoulder. The
trace should act at right angles to the shoulder
to avoid friction on that part, and, when nearly
horizontal, causes least friction.

249. Another way of looking at this question
is this. A horse is required to draw the load
horizontally along a level road, but if we have
the trace attached just behind his heels he is
partially lifting up the front of the load, and is
therefore wasting a great deal of energy. Hence
the lower the traces the more energy will be
wasted, and the greater will be the weight
brought upon the horse's forelegs, and therefore
the quicker will his forelegs be worn out.
Again, the lower the traces the more the collar
is drawn down, so that the neck of the collar
rests on the horse's neck. This liability increases
as the horse's shoulder is more upright. The
above points are theoretically correct, and are
practically correct, too. I have taken the trouble
of going minutely into this matter with owners
of draught horses who use sleighs with traces
attached low down. (See P. 35d.) Messrs. Elias
Rogers, the largest coal dealers in Toronto, told
me that the above points were absolutely correct ;

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

that in the winter their horses tire sooner in the
forelegs, and that their withers and crests are
continually in trouble.

250. We will consider the effect of the resist-
ance between the horse and the road as the
traces are lowered. If the traces are very low,
as in P. 32, Fig. 2, the resultant force is acting
upon the shoulder from a lower point than if
the traces were horizontal. Now, if the traces
were attached to the ground vertically under the
horse, and the weight was hung on the traces,
the resultant force would be vertically down-
wards, which would offer the maximum resist-
ance between the feet and the road. Therefore,
the lower the traces the greater the resistance.
If the horse wore almost frictionless shoes and
moved on an almost frictionless road, it is clear
that it would be necessary to attach traces low
in order to obtain sufficient resistance. But this
is not the case. A horse with ordinary shoes on,
or with spikes or calks on ice, offers great resist-
ance between himself and the road, so that we
only need to increase this very slightly with
heavy draughts, and not at all with light. For
this reason a draught horse, in mounting a steep
hill, is often backed by its driver to help it pull
the load up more easily.

251. From the above facts we gather that for
draught horses harnessed to heavy loads the
traces should be attached to the vehicle about
six inches below the horizontal, but with horses
attached to light vehicles an almost horizontal
trace should be used. The traces should tend to
work the collar upwards rather than downwards
over the shoulder ; hence the importance of a
large throat to the collar.

The above points were considered when the
horse was moving on a horizontal or nearly
horizontal plane. When he moves up a steep
hill the conditions are not the same, as we will
consider later. The only difficulty to overcome
In the attachment of the traces seems to be in
the case of heavy sleighs. For these vehicles I
recommend an attachment as in P. 32, Fig. 5,
which, although costing a little more, would
repay the cost in a few months. In Canada
most vehicles used for heavy merchandise have
the wheels removed in the winter, and sleighs
fitted on to the axles (see P. 23ft), so in this case
the brackets for raising the height of the traces
could be bolted on temporarily by a simple
arrangement. I do not see why such sleighs
should not be built higher off the ground, as
the wheeled vehicles are, although the cost
would be more and the liability of upsetting
greater, but not so great with heavy draught. It
would make it easier for lifting coal-sacks and
transferring heavy goods to the warehouses and
platforms, which are mostly built to fit the
wheeled vehicles.

Supposing a horse is drawing a load up a 20
per cent, grade, i.e. one unit rise to every five

units of horizontal distance, which is a steep hill.
To draw the load up, the horse requires in-
creased resistance between his feet and the road,
so that he will be considerably assisted by
having the traces attached lower down on the
vehicle. The steeper the hill the lower should
they be attached ; of course, the hill itself will
cause the traces to assume a lower position
behind the horse. This would be impracticable,
so we must consider a more reasonable way of
helping a horse draw a heavy load uphill. We
find that by lowering the traces on the vehicle
we increase the resistance of the horse, i.e. the
apparent weight of the horse on the road, so the
same assistance will be given the horse by in-
creasing the weight on the horse's back. This
can be done in two ways : (1) as stated above,
by placing the driver on the horse, which has a
marvellous effect upon a horse that has been
unable to move a load without this extra weight ;
(2) by placing the load forward on a two-
wheeled vehicle, so that some of its weight bears
on the shafts.

252. This brings us to the second point in
draught: Where should the weight be carried
on a two-wheeled vehicle? The two- wheeled
vehicle is the ideal one for carrying heavy loads ;
firstly, because the load must necessarily be
nearer the horse, and, secondly, because the load
can be altered in position to assist the horse on
varying inclinations of the road. The hansom
cab driver will stand up and lean forward, when
going up a steep hill, to assist his horse. On a
slight incline this should not be done. P. 32,
Fig. 3, shows the load at the back when the
horse is going uphill. Let AC equal the force of
the load and AD the lifting effect of the load
upon the horse, which he has to overcome.
Then, by completing the parallelogram ADBC,
BA is the resultant force which the horse has to
exert. The direction of this force is such that
it tends to raise the horse's feet from the ground,
and therefore diminish his power. This power
becomes less and less as we increase the load on
the back of the cart, until the horse is unable to
move at all, and, upon a further increase, the
horse is lifted off his legs.

253. Now, supposing the weight is placed
forward, as in P. 32, Fig. 4, then A'D' is the
weight acting vertically downwards upon the
horse, A'C' equals force of load ; then B'A' equals
resultant force horse has to overcome, in the
direction shown. This force is acting in a direc-
tion that tends to force the horse's feet into the
ground. From this it is clear that, for uphill
draught, part of the weight of the load should
be brought on to the shafts, or else the man
should mount the horse ; though in this latter case
the total weight will be unnecessarily increased.
But it is better for the driver to do this than
to ride on the cart, unless he sits well in front.
The easiest solution of this problem is for the

PLATE 31

COLLAR DIAGRAMS, ETC.

Fig. jj shows Collar Injuries. — No. 1 Due to Pressure, Remainder Due to Friction ; 2, to Tight Collar ;
3, to Loose Collar ; 4, to either Tight or Loose Collar ; 5, to Raw Edge of After-wale touching the Skin

PLATE 32

Ft $5.

\\

A'

TO KAISE

Ol= SHAFTS
OK T X ACES

ON

DRAUGHT DIAGRAMS

Showing that the Traces should be Attached High, and when going up Hill (except when very slight)

the Weight should be put Forward

PLATE 33

"PJJ*- .

O, Bits Strongly Recommended (j« Text). b, Correct Method of Holding the Reins when Driving
Tandem or Four-in-hand, c. When Driving Single or Pair. Photos by the Author

PLATE 34

>.

A MODERN TANDEM

0. With the Tails left Natural, b, With the Tails Plaited-up. Courtesy : Messrs. T. Tilling, London. Photos : Author.
C, Modern Four-in-hand. Courtesy : P. Maher, Toronto. Photo : James, Toronto

VI]

DRIVING AND HARNESS

65

driver to sit right forward upon reaching a
steep hill, but the most humane solution is for
him to get off and walk and to place the load
forward.

For light private two-wheeled carriages or
for light two-wheeled carts this alteration of
weight is unnecessary, except upon going up
very steep hills, when the driver should lean
well forward. This cannot be done with four-
wheel carriages, so in this case the driver would
help the horse by mounting him. Experiments
to prove this have often been carried out. A
cart is loaded until the horse is just unable to
draw it up a steep hill, heavy weights of about
300 Ib. are attached to the saddle of the horse's
harness, and the horse proceeds up the hill.

254. The above points do not apply at all to
draught along level, up slight inclines, or down-
hill. In these cases the load should be placed at
the back, tending to raise the horse slightly off
the ground, thereby giving his legs less weight
to carry and consequently saving fatigue and leg-
strain. The objection to this is that the horse
is liable to get girth galls if the greatest care
is not taken. At any rate, when going down-
hill the driver must sit on the back of the cart
if it is two-wheeled. The driver of a light two-
wheeled vehicle should lean back.

255. The poles or tongues of vehicles should
either be fixed, as in P. 47Z>, 134c, or suspended
by a strong spring, so that no weight bears upon
the horse's collar. Anyone who has wheeled a
two- wheeled hand-barrow, and who has tried the
difference between a forward and a back load
when going up and down hill, will readily
understand how much easier it is to draw a
forward load up a hill and to draw a back load
down a hill, along level, or up a very slight
incline.

256. Whiffle-lrees. — The attachment of the
traces is of great importance. As a rule, in pair-
horse carriages, farm wagons and many other
vehicles, especially in England, the traces are
attached rigidly on each side. This is quite
wrong, and is the cause of many sore shoulders.
As explained under the heading of "Collars"
(Sec. 273), we see that as a horse moves at any
of its paces the shoulder-blades advance and
retract alternately, and not together, so that, with
traces fixed independently and rigidly, they
become alternately tight and loose, and there-
fore there is a see-saw-like bearing on the collar.
To prevent this the rear end of the traces should
be attached to a whiffle-tree (see P. 36c-/), so
that while the horse is in motion the tree is
oscillating slightly all the time. This is more
important with breast harness. (See P. 36d, e.)
The whiffle-trees are used on all American
buggies and all heavy vehicles on the American
continent ; there is no reason why they should
not be used on private vehicles, etc. The advan-
tage of draught horses being driven abreast, as

J

in P. 114c, which is a general practice on the
American continent, is that the load upon the
horses' shoulders is kept constant, whilst in
tandem the lead horse does not keep the traces
tight all the time and the two horses are not
always pulling together. At one moment the
lead horse relieves the wheeler of his load, and
the reverse happens the next moment. This
is most exhausting to the horses. It is most
important that the pull exerted upon the horses'
shoulders should be constant and steady, and not
an uneven one. With the American system the
" evener " keeps the traces of both horses always
tight, unless one horse drops back very far. A
whiffle-tree behind each horse is attached to the
ends of the "evener." The pull is kept more
even by using a short, strong spring attachment
to the traces (P. 143c). This shows the spring
attached to a coal-merchant's harness, which
saves the horses' shoulders considerably. On the
other hand, this spring must not be such as to
allow much elasticity to the traces, or power will
be lost. Impetus is necessary to overcome an
obstruction on the road, and elasticity in the
direction of the movement destroys the full
effect of impetus. Thus, when a horse is moving
along at a trot, and the wheel meets a stone,
if the traces are very springy and the load very
light, the stone might decrease the speed of the
load so much that by the time the limit of
stretch of the traces was reached the load
would be stationary, and a terrific jerk would
be required to restart it. In fact, in going
over a rough road the horse would be con-
tinually restarting the load. So that it is of the
greatest importance that the traces be non-elastic,
except so far as a small powerful spring may
be introduced, as described above. This absence
of elasticity is of greater importance in the
attachment between the load and the wheels or
the runners of a sleigh ; for example, the Gee-
spring carriage, that allows a backward and
forward motion upon the wheels. This type is
the worst type of vehicle for a horse to draw.
If such a vehicle meets a stone, the impetus of
the wheels alone is not sufficient to pass over
it, and the impetus of the body of the vehicle
is absorbed by the elasticity of the spring. Thus
the vehicle will become stationary. But with
no springs, or springs that allow no forward
movement of the body, the impetus of the body
will carry the vehicle over the stone and allow
it to continue practically at its normal speed.
The more rigidly the weight of the vehicle, or
the weight in the vehicle, is attached to the
wheels or sleigh runners, the more constant will
be the speed of the vehicle when going over
rough ground, and, therefore, the less will the
horse be fatigued. For this reason I do not
recommend Gee springs where the horse is
considered.

257. We might wonder how it is that a horse,

66

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

when walking, can move so large a load with
the muscles of one hindleg, because, normally,
when a horse is walking only one hindleg is
on the ground at once, and each leg is off the
ground for the same length of time that it is on
the ground. But when a horse is drawing a
very heavy vehicle the time that his feet are off
the ground is comparatively much shorter ; in
fact, most of the time all four legs are drawing
the load, each leg being moved rapidly forward
to a fresh position whenever the weight of the
body is so far forward that it prevents further
advance. A horse, when starting a heavy load,
will use both hindlegs and both forelegs
together.

258. Poles. — The poles or tongues of vehicles
are generally rigid, so that their weight is not
borne on the horse's neck. With some vehicles,
especially wagons, the whole weight of the pole
is taken on the collars. (See P. 104c.) This
should not be allowed, and can easily be avoided
by the use of a spring attached to the front of
the vehicle bearing the weight of the pole. The
other end of the spring is attached sometimes
near the front of the pole and sometimes about
one-third along the pole. In the latter case a
spring must be exceedingly strong, as it will
become more easily broken.

259. Loads. — A horse has been known to pull
over fifty tons on a level railway, and I have
known a draught horse to pull sixteen tons in
a level yard. Normally, a horse should not be
expected to pull more than a ton on good country
roads, but on city streets he can pull double this
with ease. Two horses working together can
generally pull proportionately larger loads than
they can separately, as they help one another. If
one ceases to pull for a moment, the load does
not stop and have to be restarted, as is likely to
happen with a single horse. Provided that all
the horses work together, we get proportionately
more work out of a span of horses, and the
horses will become less fatigued. The only
really economical way to harness up two, four,
or six or more horses is side by side by means
of "eveners." (See P. 36&.) This method is
adopted for ploughing and reaping in Canada and
the United States. If harnessed in tandem forma-
tion, i.e. one in front of the other, the leading
horse is too far away from the load, which
means loss of power, and, unless all the horses
are pulling all the time, there will be further
loss of power. With " eveners," if one horse
drops back a little, his traces still remain tight.

260. Overloading. — A very common form of
cruelty daily seen on the streets and country
roads is that of overloading horses. Much of
this form of brutality, I am glad to say, has been
eliminated through the work done by the various
S.P.C.A.s, but there is yet much to be done.
The motor truck has relieved and will relieve
many horses of this form of cruelty; but, as a

rule, the type of horse-owner who overloads a
horse is the one that is unable to purchase a
motor truck, and so he will continue to overload
and probably underfeed our equine friend until
the law puts him in his right place. A horse
that is well cared for and is making good pro-
gress with an overload is not such a pitiful sight,
but when we see the driver thrashing a worn-out
horse who is doing his utmost, not only should
the law, with its trifling fines, intervene, but the
penal code should have a say in the matter.

261. Driving. — The amount of ignorance dis-
played daily in the streets by so-called drivers
is positively appalling. The reader should study
Chapter III. closely if he is not quite sure that
the best way to manage a horse is by kindness.
Xenophon, centuries before the Christian era,
told us that horses were taught and managed by
gentleness, and not by harshness. Why is it
that drivers cannot realise this? The commonest
fault of all is the use of the whip, when the horse
is doing its best, and jerking the horse's mouth
with the reins. Personally, I think that it is
far more enjoyable to drive a good horse than
it is to drive an automobile ; but, unless the
driver has any love for the horse, there is no
doubt that it does not appeal to him to the extent
that it should, and in such cases he had better
resort to the motor. It requires far greater skill
to drive a horse properly than it does to drive
a car. It takes the average man but a few
months to become a good motor driver, but no
man has learnt to become a first-class whip in
less than five or six years, and even then he is
always learning. Not one in a thousand of
those who drive horses can be called expert
drivers. The man who can cut a good style in
the show-ring is not necessarily a good driver ;
he may have, and probably has, in the first
place, bad hands. Besides having good hands,
he must have perfect control over his temper,
perfect sympathy for the horse, perfect know-
ledge of the horse's powers and intelligence,
knowledge of the manner of accustoming the
horse to objects that he is afraid of, the use of
the whip, etc.

A horse must never be hurried unless it is
absolutely necessary to do so, because a few
minutes gained may mean a large loss in con-
dition or even bodily harm. He should be
walked up hills, especially if a load is heavy or
the hill is steep, and walked down, unless the
vehicle has brakes. Trotting downhill, without
brakes on the wheels, does a great deal of harm
to the horse's legs, and is responsible for a great
many horses being "over in front." Frequent
watering, if the horse is not hurried for ten
minutes afterwards, will help the horse very
much on long journeys. In hot weather, city
authorities should supply oatmeal-water for
horses. This is done in many cities. It should
be remembered that a horse requires to get his

PLATE 35

a. Shows the Low Attachment of Traces (see Text). Courtesy : Dominion Express Co., Ottawa, d, Low Attachment

of Shafts in Winter. Courtesy: Elias Roger? Coal Co., Toronto. Photos: Author. b. Modern Four-in-hand in British

Columbia, c, Neck-yoke Attachment for American Buggy. Courtesy: Mr. H. Barry, Limpsfield, Surrey

PLATE 36

: •

DRIVING AND HARNESSING TO THE VEHICLE

a. Four-in-hand (Undocked Horses). Courtesy: Earl Grey, Former Governor-General of Canada. b, A Six-horse Evener in

Alberta. c, d. e, f. Correct Method of Attaching the Tiaces; to a Whiffle Tree instead of to Fixed Sluds. g, Method of Attaching

the Breeching to the Neck-yoke, h, Weight for Tying Horse to while Standing. Courtesy : c, Mr. Hills, Brandon, Man. e, Mr.

Guess, Kingston, Ont. f, Dominion Transport Co., Toronto, g, Canadian Northern Transfer Co., Toronto, h, Mr. Cross, Toronto.

Photos c to f) by the Author

VI]

DRIVING AND HARNESS

67

wind now and then, and therefore he should
not be trotted too far without being allowed to
walk for a short distance. The driver should
watch the horse's breathing, by watching his
nostrils or flanks, and rest him when he is seen
to be breathing abnormally. The reason that so
many horses are so badly treated is that the
drivers do not have to purchase the horses them-
selves, so they do not care how soon they wear
them out so long as they can finish their work
early. A driver should be continually placing
himself in his horse's place, and realising, if he
can, that the animal in front of him is alive and
has feeling and is probably doing his best.

262. Very often a horse does not understand
what is required of him, and gets thrashed or
hit over the head, when it is the fault of the
man in the cart. Heavy draught horses should
not be trotted ; their work is heavy and slow,
and trotting shortens their lives and ruins their
legs. The time gained does not compensate for
the money lost.

If a horse is frightened and moves away from
where he is left standing, he should not be
shouted at, because this will probably make
him more frightened. Of course, if he is not
frightened and is shouted at to stop, he will
probably obey. If the horse is very susceptible
to fear, he must be made to realise that he is
not going to be hurt ; shouting at him will make
him think that he is going to be hurt, and he
will probably continue to run away. We must
oalm him, and then show him that he is not
going to be hurt. When a horse shies at an
object, the opposite rein should be felt slightly
stronger than the rein next to the object in order
to attract his attention away from it and relieve
him of the idea that he is being drawn on to
it, (See Chapter III.)

A horse must be blanketed in cold weather
when left standing, and rubbed down when
brought in ; he must always be watered and cared
for before the driver has his meal. The horse
should be looked upon as the driver's own pro-
perty ; he should be proud to have charge of
it, and take the greatest interest in keeping it
in the best of condition. A horse is much
encouraged by being spoken to kindly and
quietly now and then ; he should never be
shouted at. The brutal and useless method of
trying to accelerate a horse's speed by jerking
the reins should never be allowed. It is the
surest and commonest form of ignorance of the
correct methods of driving. If the reins cannot
be made better use of, they had better be left
alone ; they are there to guide the horse, to
collect him or to stop him, but not to jerk him
on. His speed should be accelerated by the
voice or by a touch with the whip, which does
not mean a thrashing.

263. Whips. — The best kind of whip to use
is one with a long lash. (See P. 47.) The kind

used in buggies, as in P. 39rf, is a good one in the
hands of the unskilled. The chief use of the
whip is as an indicator, and not as an in-
strument for punishment. A horse must be
made to be accustomed to being stroked with it ;
he should only be hit with it when he requires
punishment, when the whip must be used on
the back or sides, and never underneath,
especially between the hindlegs. The whip if
used between the hindlegs may cause consider-
able harm, and, to say the least of it, is a
brutal practice. When used to urge a lazy horse
on, it should be brought down on to the horse,
and drawn away after the lash has touched the
horse, and not before, because if it is it may
"crack" on the horse's back.

264. Reins. — P. 33c shows the method of
holding the reins and whip for driving a single
or pair ; P. 336 for driving a tandem or four-
in-hand. Horses that are well fed and not
worked too hard are generally driven " up to
the bit " — that is, with the driver having a gentle
feeling on the horse's mouth all the time. This
method would not be practicable or at all advis-
able with commercial horses ; such horses last
longest if allowed to go along at their own speed,
not being interfered with by the reins. But the
driver must be careful that the horse does not
get into a lazy way of going along. I emphasise
the importance of drivers refraining from jerk-
ing their horses' mouths ; men who do this
should have a bar of steel put into their mouths
and violently jerked. I have seen a horse's
tongue cut almost through by the abuse of the
bit. When driving, the traces must be watched ;
when they become loose, the brakes must be
applied, and, upon reaching the bottom of the
hill, the brakes must not be removed until the
traces have become tight again. In driving a
pair or four-in-hand, care must be taken that
all the traces are kept equally tight. A long
whip is necessary for this to encourage the
leaders to increase their speed. Well4rained
leaders will understand a " click " from the
driver's mouth.

265. Hints on Tandem and Four-in-Hand
Driving. — It is most advantageous to teach the
leader to go forward or to increase his speed when
the driver chirrups or clicks with his mouth.
The oldest horse, or, rather, the steadiest and
most trustworthy, should be placed as the near
wheeler. The driver should sit high up, so that
he is well above the horses, as thereby he will
have greater control over them. The wheelers
must always be allowed to start a vehicle ; if
the leaders are allowed to start first, the traces
may break, or, in the case of a tandem, the
leader is very apt to turn round upon finding
that the vehicle does not move. The wheelers,
too, must be made to stop the vehicle when draw-
ing up. Three to four feet should be allowed
between the wheeler's nose and leader's tail ; a

68

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

wheeler with high action must have four feet
in front of him to avoid stepping on the heels
of the leader. (See P. 34.) Above all things,
the horses must be started away very steadily,
the speed being increased very gradually. If a
long-lashed whip is used, the lash should be kept
twisted round the handle, and only untwisted
when it is required to be used, which is seldom
if the leader is well trained. One rein can be
shortened by pulling it with the right hand
through the left hand from behind the left, i.e.
between the left hand and the driver's body. In
letting one rein out, the right hand is used on it
in front of the left hand. The first and second
finger of the right hand, or the first finger and
thumb of the right hand, will be used to grip
the rein that is to be shifted ; for this reason the
whip must be held well in the palm of the right
hand, and not in the fingers, so as to leave the
fingers free. The off-side reins will be held,
when necessary, between the second and third
and third and fourth fingers. To "ease" the
leader means to tighten his rein in the hand,
and therefore to slacken the leader's pace. The
leader is always eased when going downhill or
along the level, but let out when going uphill.
Easing and letting out must be done gradually
and not in jerks. If it is desired to tighten the
traces of the leader, the wheeler can be eased or
the leader encouraged to go faster.

The wheeler's head should always follow
the leader's tail when making a turn. When
making a sharp turn, the wheeler must be held
well in hand, the leader being turned almost
round before the wheeler is allowed to turn the
cart. The leader must never be pulled round
suddenly with a loose outer rein. The feeling
on the outer rein must always be retained. If
the leader should start to buck or kick, he must
be let out, and not eased (i.e. reined in), so as
to tighten his traces. If he were eased, which is
so commonly done by nervous drivers, he would
become loose in his traces, and would be very
liable to get his hind legs over them. The
tighter the traces the less liable he is to get his
legs over them. As a rule, the larger horse
should be behind, and, in a four-in-hand, on the
near side.

266. Runaways. — The way to stop a runaway
horse is not to pull at his mouth or to saw it,
but to give him his head for a little distance,
and then firmly to draw his mouth in towards
his chest, then to let him have his head once
again and to draw it in again. In this way, if
he should have the bit in between his teeth,
there will be no trouble in making him drop
it. He should be drawn up in the same way as
a man pulls in a tug-of-war. He should not be
jerked severely, as this may damage his jaw.
This method is far more effective than sawing
with the reins, which practice only makes
excited horses far worse, because it causes them

pain. Pain causes fear, and fear makes a horse
go faster. Hence he must not be shouted at.
The practice of holding on tightly to a runaway's
mouth is the best way of keeping him at full
speed ; the more he is pulled the faster he will
go, if he has really made up his mind to go,
and he will probably have the bit in between his
teeth. I have stopped several runaways within
a hundred yards by the former method without
doing them any harm, and I have tried the old
method with the same horses and given it up as
hopeless. I have often seen drivers kicking their
horses while sitting on the front of the vehicle.
Such usage is most foolish, because the best way
to get the maximum of work out of a horse is to
treat him as a friend, and not to let him regard
his driver as an enemy. A horse will do almost
everything in his power for a kind master.

267. Horses when left standing, if they will
not stand untied, should be tied securely with
a rope from the nose-band, or a halter put on
over the bridle, to a post or other rigid object.
Great care should be taken, if the rope is looped
around a smooth post, that upon the horse
lowering his head the loop will not slip
down the pole, because, upon the horse
raising his head and feeling that his head is
tied, he will probably pull hard and break the
rope or bridle and get away. A horse objects
very much to the feeling that his head is tied
down. Some country houses supply rings, about
four feet from the ground, attached to a wall,
fence or post, to which delivery horses can be
tied up.

268. Notes on the Treatment of Pullers. — A
horse pulls from different causes : want of work,
excitability, fear, pain and a bad mouth. If he
pulls from want of work, the remedy is to give
him more work ; this extra work should be
given, for preference, on the lunging-rein, and
the feed of oats should be decreased. It must
be remembered that it takes two to pull, and
that the fact that a horse is fresh is no excuse
for the driver allowing him to pull. Good
hands, and the best of these, are required to
stop pullers from pulling. If from excitability,
the horse requires plenty of good work in com-
petent hands ; such horses go best if driven in
harness by the side of a quiet horse ; harness
work is always better than saddle work for such
horses. If from fear, then the cause of the mis-
chief must be removed ; the horse must be
accustomed to the object that causes the fear ;
the voice will do much good, as a rule, to such
horses. If from pain, then the mouth must be
very carefully examined ; the teeth must be
examined for sharp points and for pieces of
wood, etc., that may have become wedged
tightly between them, especially the molars ; the
bars (gums between the nippers and the molars)
must be examined ; the lips and tongue and the
hard palate on the roof of the mouth must be

PLATE 37

P37"-

A HANDSOME PAIR OF HIGH-STEPPING CARRIAGE HORSES

a. With the Tails Down jb. With the Tails Plaited-up. Courtesy: Major Jos. Kilgour, Toronto. Photos: Galbraith,

Toronto

PLATE 38

TYPES OF HARNESS

O, "Ruby R," in Pacing Hobbles. Courtesy: Mr. F. McBean, Oberon, Man. b, Showing Low Draught (see Text). Courtesy:
Messrs. Massey-Harris, Toronto, c. Prize winning Six-horse Team, Brandon, Man. d, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Breast
Harness. Photo: Pringle & Booth, Toronto, e. Single Trap Harness. Courtesy: Messrs. Dickins & Jones, London. Photo:
Glover, Hammersmith. f, g, f>, Types of Heavy Harness. Courtesy: /, Firstbrook Box Co. g, Canadian Northern Transfer
Co. f), Mr. W. Crawford, Toronto. Photos, a, C, f, g, h, by the Author

PLATE 39

TYPES OF VEHICLES

b, Victoria, c, f. Bob-sleighs, d. Three-quarter Lock Buggy, e. Dog-cart. g, h, Cariole. Courtesy: a, Messrs. W.

Beechcroft & Sons, Billingsgate, London, b, Messrs. Wimbush & Co., London. Photo: Glover, c, Mr. W. Wilson, Toronto.

e, Major Hamilton, R.C.H.A. g, h, Messrs. Jewell & Hinton, Ottawa. Photos, c, e, f, g, h, by the Author

PLATE 40

V

rarate

O, The President's Four-in-hand at The Capitol. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Taft Driving in Slate in Washington, D.C.
Copyright Photo: International News Service, N.Y. b, "The Eel," who broke the World's Ice Record at Ottawa

in 1908. Courtesy: "Buffalo Horse World"

VI]

DRIVING AND HARNESS

69

examined; the bit must be inspected to ascertain
if it fits properly. Any injury must be attended
to at once. If the horse pulls through having a
bad mouth, it means that he was either badly
broken or that he has been ridden or driven by
bad hands since. In either case severe bits will
only make matters worse. It is almost impos-
sible to convince the average groom of this fact.
If the driver or rider plays with the horse's
mouth by gentle feelings of the reins, and keeps
the horse always well collected and not stretched
out, as is seen with uncollected horses, the horse
will not be able to pull. A simple steel snaffle
(P. 72<z) is the best bit with which to cure most
pullers. Bad hands, of course, will never cure
them, but will probably make them worse.

269. Tying Horses Up. — The method on the
American continent is a very good one. It con-
sists of a weight and strap, that is carried in the
vehicle, being used as shown in P. 36h. The
weight is about 5 Ib. ; at the other end of
the strap is a spring hook that snaps on to the
bit. Delivery horses that are constantly stop-
ping, and that, by law, must be attached to a
weight when left standing, have a long strap
permanently attached to the bit that passes back
through rings on the harness, and is attached to
the weight that stands on the footboard of the
vehicle when the latter is in motion. The strap
is loose enough to allow the driver to drop the
weight on to the road as he jumps off the vehicle.
(See 26e.) Care must be taken that this weight
does not drop off while the vehicle is in motion,
which would give the horse a violent jerk on
the mouth. These weights are used with all
kinds of horses, and work most successfully ;
the horse soon learns that he is to stand when
the weight is snapped on. Riding horses may
be made to stand by being taught to do so
whenever the reins are thrown over their head.
Most Western ponies will do this. It is taught
by tying a cloth or sack on to the reins, so that,
whenever the horse moves forward, he treads
on the sack and jerks himself in the mouth. He
soon associates the moving forward with the
jerks on the bit, and will very soon stand still.
He will continue to do this, after a few lessons,
if the reins are put over his head without the
use of the sack. It maybe necessary to go back to
the use of the sack over and over again until the
horse thoroughly learns what is required. Great
patience is necessary. General Grant once stated,
after he had punished a brutal teamster for abus-
ing his horses, " If people only knew how much
more they could get out of a horse by gentleness
than by harshness, they would save a great deal
of trouble both to the horse and to themselves."

270. Teaching the Horse to Allow Ike Rein
to be Placed Under its Tail. — Sometimes we find
that horses are apt to try to grapple the reins
with their tail. This is generally the result of
the driver having bad hands, the horse's mouth

being made sore, or of a driver continually jerk-
ing the mouth, thus causing the horse to grab the
reins to relieve his own mouth. These ignorant
drivers cannot conceive that it is their own
fault. Of course, at times horses are apt, when
swishing at flies, etc., to get their tails over the
reins, if the reins are left hanging loosely over
the quarters. Horses that are not used to this
must be made to become accustomed to it, and
then it will not matter at all if they do get their
tails over. {See Chapters XII. and XIII.) P. ii8a
shows a neat little device to keep the reins from
getting under the tail, which is only necessary
in very rare cases. The best method, and a
method that I always adopt with any horse, is
to teach him to pay no attention to the reins
being placed under his tail. This is done by
starting off every day with the reins under the
tail, and after a little while drawing them out,
putting them under again, and continuing to do
this until the horse takes no notice at all and
will allow them to be gently drawn out when-
ever they get under, by the driver merely pulling
the reins gently. The horse that is not accus-
tomed to this, upon feeling his tail over the
reins, will usually hold his tail down tightly;
the inexperienced driver pulls tightly, causing
the horse to increase his grip. Instead of this, the
driver should leave the reins quite loose, and
the horse will probably release his grip ; or the
driver may tickle the horse's quarters with the
end of the whip, and the horse, taking it to be
a fly, will swish his tail round and release the
reins. In the worst cases the driver should lean
forward and, while speaking to the horse,
quietly lift the tail over the reins. But, as stated
above, if the horse has been trained to this, as
described in Chapter XIII., he will not mind in
the least whether the reins are under his tail or
not. In this way any horse can be used with
perfect safety as a leader in four-in-hand. I
have used this method on nervous mares which,
it was stated, could not be driven in this way,
and in a few hours they have absolutely acceded
to my wishes. A horse that has not been trained
in this manner, and is sold as a harness horse,
is a swindle upon the public. I would not em-
ploy this method with a horse with a docked
tail, as my experience with them has been that
they hold their tails down with great force when-
ever they feel the reins underneath ; these horses
usually object to having their tails interfered
with, whilst the natural horse generally does
not.

271. Types of Harness Horses. — Where light
vehicles are used, the lighter breed of horse, as
shown in P. 26a, b, d, 36h, 39<f, will outlast the
heavier breed. The light breeds of horses, so
common in America, seldom break down in
their legs, but with the more cobby types, more
common in England, we see the legs go first.
For livery work, slower and thicker-set horses,

70

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

as in P. 36e, e, 39c, are better than the more
"breedy" kind. A harness horse should have a
fairly upright shoulder (see P. 36c, h), large
and sound feet, fair length in body ; shortness
of neck, i.e. of rein, is no fault in a harness
horse. A fast trotting horse must have a longer
back in order to allow room for his legs while
in motion. (See 406, 41a.) See the various types
of harness horses shown in the plates. (See
Chapter IX.)

272. Types of Vehicles. — I have illustrated
various types of wheeled vehicles and sleighs,
which I think will be of interest to my readers.
The common fault of English vehicles is that
they are too heavy. American vehicles are much
lighter, they last nearly as long (if on good
springs), are much cheaper, require lighter
horses (which are cheaper to keep), and do not
wear out the horses so soon, especially in the
forelegs. Heavy vehicles should always be pro-
vided with good hand-brakes ; coaches and
heavy lorries with brakes worked by the foot of
the driver. Two-wheeled carts should be loaded
so that the weight of the shafts is taken off by
the load being put far enough back to tend to
raise the horse slightly ; as described in Sec. 247
et seqq., this weight must be shifted forward
when ascending steep hills. Two-wheel " dump "
carts (P. 118e) must be so constructed that there
is no possible chance of the horse's tail becoming
caught under the front of the cart after the load
has been dumped. There is no reason at all
why such a danger should exist if the cart is
made properly and fitted to the horse, and not
the horse fitted to the cart. See the various
types of vehicles in the plates in this chapter.
P. 38a shows a popular type of American racing
sulky.

Anatomy of the Shoulders

273. P. 31, Fig. 1, shows the anatomy of the
horse's shoulders ; it also shows the external
parts of the shoulder and the common places
where sores are produced by badly fitting collars
and neglect due: 1, to weight on collar; 2, 3,
to collar too tight ; 4, to collar too loose ; 5,
to afterwale rubbing neck.

Collars. — The ordinary type of leather collar,
stuffed with unthreshed rye straw, is the most
satisfactory, as it can be stuffed to fit the
horse, and it soon adjusts itself to the contours
of the horse's shoulders. (See P. 31.) The
names of the parts of the collar are : A, fore-
wale ; B, afterwale (beneath which is the stuffed
body); c, caps; D, housing strap; E, throat; F,
neck ; G, body side.

We will briefly consider the motion of the
shoulder-blade (scapula) as the foreleg is drawn
forward by the antea spinatus, the flexor brachii,
the extensor pedis, and other muscles. The
upper portion of the scapula moves backwards

as the foreleg is drawn forward, this bone
moving as if pivoted a little above its centre.
When a horse is standing still, with both legs
together, as in P. 36d, the collar is resting on
two parallel surfaces, but in any other position
the collar is not, but is resting on two planes
inclined at an oblique angle to one another, one
being nearer the vertical than the other. Thus,
as the collar must rest against the anterior
border of the shoulder muscles, which cover the
anterior edge of the shoulder-blade as well as
the large levator humeri and other muscles of
the neck, it stands to reason that it has an
oscillating motion when the horse is in motion,
and therefore the tension on the two traces alter-
nates in intensity. Hence the difficulty in fitting
harness and the reason for sore shoulders being
so common. It is also clear how careful horse
owners and drivers must be to keep the shoulder
well groomed and the surface of the collars clean
and soft ; saddle soap is the best medium for
keeping leather collar linings soft. Felt pads
and padded cloths, known as sweat-pads, are
used a great deal in Western Canada inside the
collars ; they necessitate a larger collar, but they
save the horses very considerably. A very
common fault is that of using tight collars. A
horse with an upright shoulder is, therefore, the
better animal to wear a collar, because it will
lie better against the shoulder and not tend to
work up, as it will on an oblique shoulder
(which is the ideal shoulder for a saddle horse).
We found, earlier in the chapter, that the traces
should be nearly horizontal, and that the collar
should be nearly at right angles to the traces ;
hence the advisability of upright shoulders.
Even with upright shoulder-blades, the collar
will always rise a little.

274. The best way to avoid sore shoulders
and necks from collars is to keep the horse in
good condition, because, so long as these muscles
are hard and the bones well covered, the dangers
of collar sores are slight. Collar injuries, unlike
saddle injuries, are caused, nearly always, by
friction, so the collar must fit close enough to
lie quite flat on both shoulders, and should not
see-saw, as it would if stuffed too much in the
centre. If pressed to one side, it should allow
the flat of one finger to pass between it and the
shoulder all the way down. All lateral motion
must be stopped to avoid collar sores, but the
other extreme, of pinching the neck, must be
avoided. The collar must be short enough in
length to prevent undue rising upon the horse
throwing his weight on to the collar. The hand
and wrist must be able to pass easily between
the throat of the collar and the horse's neck, so
as to be sure that no pressure exists on the gullet
(oesophagus) or the windpipe (trachea). The top
of the collar just in front of the withers must
admit the flat of the hand between it and the
neck. When the poles of the wagon bear upon

PLATE 41

AMERICAN TROTTING HORSES

a, "Peler the Greal." Courtesy: " Buffalo Horse World." b, Champion Standard-bred Trotting Stallion "Ed Winter."
Courtesy of the Owner, Mr. M. H. Reardon, Indianapolis, Ind.

PLATE 42

TYPES OF HARNESS

Cf, Single. /), Pair. c9 Tandem. d, Four-m-hand. Courtesy : G. T. Willimont & Co., Victoria Street, London.

C, SKows the Names of the Parts of the Harness

VI]

DRIVING AND HARNESS

71

the horse's collar, the crest of the collar rubs the
neck and causes a sore ; eventually a hard collar
growth is formed. The best method to prevent
this is to use a pure zinc arch that fits inside
the neck of the collar and bears on to the crest
of the horse's neck. Zinc acts as a stimulant to
the part that it touches. The horse's mane
should be left fairly long at this part to act as
a cushion, so that the collar will not rub.
Hogged manes are far more liable to cause sores.
The collar must also be pressed hard against the
shoulder on each side to ascertain that the stuff-
ing is sufficient to keep the afterwale from
touching the horse. If the stuffing is flattened,
the afterwale may touch the shoulder and cause
injury. The larger the body of the collar the
better, as it will allow the weight to be distri-
buted over a larger area.

275. New collars are a great source of sore
shoulders, and require to be very carefully
examined. They must be thoroughly fitted
before the horse is made to work in them. It
is better to give a horse easy work the first time
he wears a new collar. The army regulations
recommend wetting the collar by soaking for
several hours in water, and working the horse
for an hour in the collar, taking the collar off
carefully, and allowing it to dry. All the
draught-horse collars and most of the light-horse
collars on the American continent are not closed
at the top permanently, but are kept closed by
a housing strap. This is a great advantage in
putting the collar on, but they are very liable,
unless properly buckled up, to cause some of the
hairs to become entangled, and they are more
liable to get out of shape. This type must be
kept buckled up when not in use.

Hames should really be fitted to every collar
after the collar has adapted itself to the shape
of the horse. The use of stock hames is absurd,
because, if too straight, they will cause the
centre of the collar to pinch the horse, and, if
too much curved, they will cause the throat or
neck to pinch. Metal hames can easily be bent
to fit, and wooden ones either steamed and bent
or else cut.

The traces should be fastened to the hames
a little more than two-thirds down the collar.
Every horse must have its own collar ; the
borrowing of collars must be strictly forbidden.
They should all be marked with the horse's
name or number, otherwise they will get mixed
up. When a horse becomes thin, the collar must
be re-stuffed. The use of small collar-pads is a
bad system, as they must cause uneven pressure.
If pads are used at all, they must be large
enough to cover the whole collar inside.

276. As mentioned before, collar injuries are
the result of friction, except those caused on the
crest by too much weight bearing on the collar.
If this pressure injury is a gall, it is most pain-
ful. Much downhill work, and consequent

holding back with the crest of the neck, will
cause this trouble, unless some such arrange-
ment as the zinc arch (known as a wither pad)
is used. A hogging mane under this part of the
collar is the worst thing possible, as the collar
will drive the stiff short bristles into the crest
(the ligamentum nuchae, composed of yellow,
elastic tissue, which is very susceptible to
injury). By stuffing the collar so that there is
only a little stuffing on each side of the crest and
over the top of it, this trouble may be overcome.
(See P. 31, Fig. 3.) Hence the importance of
having poles supported by springs, and the
chains of fixed poles, as in P. 36g, loose enough
so as not to pull down on to the collar when
the horse is in motion.

Tight collars usually cause a friction injury
high up on the shoulder, and loose collars an
injury low down. The stuffing of the collars
must in these cases be altered by a saddler to
remedy the trouble. If it is very important to
work a horse with a collar sore, a felt pad must
be placed inside the collar on the side on which
the sore is, the whole length of the collar, and a
hole cut in the felt around the sore large enough
to prevent the sore being touched however much
the collar may move while the horse is in motion ;
the edges of the hole must be tapered off.

277. A new form of collar, that extends over
the anterior border of the shoulder-blade only,
has been invented by the Whipple Horse Collar
Company, of Hamilton, Canada. This is claimed
to be an improvement on the old-style collar.
Theoretically it seems to be a good idea, and I
have seen some practical experiments carried out
successfully. These experiments were made on
level roads. I do not know whether it would be
successful for ploughing purposes.

278. Sore Shoulders. — For the method of pre-
vention of sore shoulders and of giving imme-
diate relief, see Sees. 320 to 323.

The best cure for sore withers, caused by the
collar, is the use of the zinc plate, referred to
above. If the withers are very bad, the horse
should be worked in a breast strap for two
weeks, care being taken that the supporting
strap that passes over the neck is kept well away
from the sore. The shoulders should be very
carefully examined every time the collar is re-
moved. Merely looking at them is not sufficient ;
they must be felt with the fingers.

For the antiseptic treatment of wounds, see
Chapter XVII.

If, while working, a slight lump is noticed,
the horse must at once be given a rest for an
hour, and the following hardening lotion applied
immediately (i.e. previous to the rest) :

Common alum (powdered) ... 2 oz.

Tannic acid 1$ oz.

Carbolic acid 1 dr.

Water 1 pt.

72

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

This lotion should be always kept on hand,
ready mixed, and should be mopped on to the
affected shoulder. After an hour the horse can
be worked. Any abrasion or unevenness on the
collar that caused the lump must, of course, be
removed.

279. Breast Collars.— P. 36d, e, h, shows the
breast strap (wrongly termed breast collar) now
used in the British artillery and in most light
vehicles on the American continent. For light
work and galloping artillery there is nothing
better than this type, if it is properly fitted. The
breast strap has often been abused, generally
due to its not having been properly fitted. The
strap must not be too high, so as to cut into the
gullet. For this reason the top edge is hollowed
out in front of the gullet. It must not be too
low, or it will interfere with the movement of
the upper arm (humerus), which moves forward
very considerably as the foreleg is extended.

The motion of the shoulders causes a strap
collar to move to and fro in a see-saw motion ;
hence it is of the utmost importance that the
material should be kept perfectly soft and
pliable and that no lumps or uneven stitching
be left inside to cause injury. The inside of all
collars must be thoroughly soaped with good
harness soap to keep the leather soft. This does
not apply to collars that are not lined with
leather.

The traces of breast straps should be attached
to whiffle-trees (see P. 36) to take up the oscilla-
tions (see Sees. 256 and 273). The strap must be
broad if it is for heavy draught, but, as explained
above, the width is necessarily limited. It should
be lined with a seamless piece of leather. These
precautions are not so necessary with light buggy
harness. I have seldom seen a buggy horse
suffer from sores produced by the breast strap.
With heavy breast straps the supporting strap
may cause crest or wither troubles ; a zinc or
stiff leather shield should be used to take the
weight off the neck. Artillery wheel-horses
have metal shields over the crest, above which
two straps pass, one for supporting the breast
strap, and the other for supporting the pole. No
pole chains are used. The strap supporting the
pole must be very carefully adjusted. As a rule,
pairs of horses are harnessed with ordinary
collars, but in the British Service wagon pairs
are harnessed with breast harness, the pole
chains being fastened to a ring in the breast
strap.

For ordinary collars the leather lining, I
think, is superior to any other kind, as it is so
much more easily kept clean and soft.

280. Harness. — When harnessing a horse,
great care must be taken that every buckle is
done up properly, that no buckles are twisted,
that the horse is securely fastened to the vehicle,
and that the traces are of equal length, the
harness lying flat all over. For light vehicles no

breeching is necessary (see P. iile-h), but when
any weight is to be kept back, breeching should
be used, although it must be remembered that
a horse can hold back more with his neck than
he can with his hindquarters. The breeching
must be horizontal and loose enough to allow
the width of one's hand to pass between it and
the horse's thigh. It must be about from 10 in.
to 1 ft. below the root of the dock ; if much
lower it will hinder the movement of the thighs,
whilst when in its correct place it presses, when
in use, against the powerful triceps, biceps and
adductor magnus muscles of the hind limbs.
The hip straps which support the breeching
must be loose when the horse is in draught.
Two of these are usually necessary. The front
one is called the loin strap.

P. 36# shows the neck yoke attached by
straps direct to the breeching, so that the horse
holds no weight back with his neck, but entirely
with his hindquarters. P. 132/z shows the neck
yoke attached to the back straps, so that the
horse holds a load back chiefly with the collar.

281. Crupper. — The crupper strap must be
loose enough to allow two fingers to pass
between it and the horse's croup. The dock-
piece must be kept soft and pliable and must be
well padded. It must fit properly. A draught
horse's crupper is best made with a small buckle
on one side, so that it can be undone when
harnessing the horse, the crupper being passed
under the tail and buckled up.

282. The traces must be of equal length, and
should be attached at their rear end to a
whiffle-tree, as described in Sees. 256 and 273.
The traces of horses in a team must be long
enough to allow from three to four feet space be-
tween the nose of the wheeler and the tail of the
leader. The hames must lie evenly in the
grooves of the collar and be both at the same
level. The wither straps should not be tight,
and the free ends of the hame straps of pair
horses should point inwards, i.e. towards the
opposite horse. The belly band that is attached
to the back pad should allow one finger's-breadth
between it and the horse's belly ; with heavy
draught horses this strap is generally left quite
loose. The belly band attached to the traces
should admit two fingers between it and the
belly when the horse is in draught.

283. Harnessing-up. — We often see horses
harnessed incorrectly into the shafts. Horses
are sometimes harnessed too far back, so that
when in motion the tail rubs continually against
the splinter-bar or the splashboard. Besides
irritating the horse, it may spoil the look of the
tail. It is the result of carelessness and want of
observation. A horse should be harnessed well
away from the splinter-bar or splashboard. In
the case of a "dump" cart (P. 118e) this is very
important, although such a vehicle, when made
by one who has studied the subject, would not

PLATE 43

THE HORSE IN ACTION

a, Mr. Walter Winan's " Bonny View," Winner at the Richmond Royal Show. Copyright Photo : W. A. Rouch.

b, Champion Standard-bred "Majestic," formerly owned by Mr. J. Darrach, Dayton, Ohio; this Beautiful Horse
was bought by a Horse-dealer and Docked, and has since been shown in the Hackney and High-stepping Classes and

won Prizes. Photograph by the Author

PLATE 44

I

TROTTING HORSES

a, Digger Stanley and his Pacer, " Gipsy B." Copyright Photo : Topical Press Agency, Fleet Street, London, b, Mr.

Walter Winan's " Princell " and "Lake Erie." Copyright Photo: W. A. Rouch. c, Courtesy: Lieut.-Col. Hall,

Toronto, d, Courtesy: Mr. W. U. Pitfield, Brandon, Man. Photos, c and d. Author

PLATE 45

CANADIAN CARRIAGES AND PAIRS
Courtesy: a, Mrs. Massey-Treble, Toronto, b, Mr. Parker, Toronto. Photos: Galbraith, Toronto.

PLATE 46

CLEVELAND BAYS

a, "Josephine," Champion Yorkshire Coaching Mare. Photo: G. H. Parsons. t>, "Hawthorn Beauty,
Champion Mare and Foal, owned by Mr. Geo. Elders. Copyright Photo: Sport and General

VI]

DRIVING AND HARNESS

73

endanger the horse's tail at all. (See Chapter
XIII.)

With shafts, the traces and breeching must
be arranged so as to keep the points of the shafts
about opposite the hames.

284. Harness Injuries. — Apart from collar
galls, girth galls, back and croup sores may
result from harness not being properly cared
for, the horse being improperly groomed, or the
harness fitting badly. Lumps and bad stitching
may cause trouble. The girth, if too far for-
ward, may cause a gall. Croup sores are caused
from the hip straps being too tight, or from the
under surface of the crupper-boss being rough.
A sore may result from a badly fitting saddle-
pad, which must be kept well off the withers
and fit in the same way as a riding-saddle.
(See Chapter VII.) Injury will result if there is
lateral motion to the saddle-pad.

285. Breast Cloths. — As horses, in cold
countries, are liable to perspire freely over the
chest, and very liable to chill on standing
still, breast cloths are used a great deal, with
good result. The breath of the horse, while at
work, condenses on the cold shoulders and chest,
and very soon covers these parts with moisture,
which evaporates and chills the chest so much
that pneumonia has often resulted. The use of
breast cloths in these cases will prevent the above
trouble. These cloths are padded, and hang
from the lower portion of the collar, and are
sufficiently large to cover the whole chest.

286. Bridles (see P. 63-72) .—Driving bridles
are of various types. The headstall, which
passes from the bit, over the head, and down
to the bit on the other side, should be parallel
to and behind the cheek-bone (P. 42c). The
nose-band, if used, should be the breadth of two
fingers behind the cheek-bone, and should admit
two fingers between it and the nose. It should
be sufficiently rigid to keep it from hanging
down over the horse's nose and possibly affect-
ing his breathing.

The throatlash should admit, at least, three
fingers between it and the horse's throat, and
should really be only tight enough to keep the
bridle on the horse. Great ignorance is dis-
played by grooms buckling up this strap too
tightly. Serious injury to the larynx may
result.

The brow-band should be long enough so as
not to interfere with the horse's ears when laid
back, but not so loose as to allow the head-
stall to slip back. White buckskin brow-bands
(P. i32e-h) look very nice, and can be kept soft
very easily.

The bit must be placed across the bars of
the mouth so as to be approximately two inches
above the corner tooth (incisor) of a mare and
one inch above the tusk of a horse. So much
depends on the shape of the mouth and the dis-
position of the horse that no fixed rule can be
K

laid down. A bridoon or snaffle-bit (see P. 72a)
should be placed so as just to touch the corners
of the mouth without wrinkling them.

The curb chain should be twisted up quite
flat by a right-hand twist, and should lie flat in
the chin groove under the jaw. The end link
is hooked up, and then another link, making
the curb of such a tightness that it will allow
two fingers' breadth to pass between it and the
horse's jaw.

All straps, etc., are made to do up, if possible,
from the near, or left, side of the horse. A
horse is always saddled, harnessed and bridled
from the near side.

The best way to ensure that the curb chain
is properly adjusted is as follows : After it has
been wound up with a right-hand twist, and
the first link hooked on the near side of the bit,
let us suppose we find that the fourth link is
the correct one to use to tighten the chain
sufficiently, then the fourth link should be
twisted up a half-turn farther and hooked on.

287. Blinkers. — The subject of blinkers, or
blinders, has been much discussed, some saying
that they are cruel. If they are in good order
and fit properly, they can scarcely be called
cruel, but one commonly sees them rubbing
against the horse's eye or swinging from side
to side, striking the eye at every step. Blinkers,
if worn, must be kept at least one inch from
any part of the horse's eye. Some horses have
shades over their eyes to keep the bright light
out ; these must not be within about one inch
of the eyes. Many horses have had their eyes
seriously damaged by blinkers fitting too closely,
or by their striking the eye through not being
properly fastened to the headstall. Most horses
behave better in blinkers, because they have
always been used to them. If horses were
trained without them from the first, there would
be only a very few that would not be better
without them. (See P. 36/, 17.) The blinker
shown on P. 36rf, as employed for private use, is
kept right away from the eye, allowing the
horse to have a full front view, being intended
merely to prevent the horse seeing the wheels
behind. I have driven scores of horses without
blinkers that have been used to them, and have
never found one that did not go perfectly well
after a few days. Like other things concerning
horses, the hackneyed argument, " It always has
been done," is responsible for most of the
blinkers we see to-day.

Horse trainers should teach their young
horses to go without them, and allow them to
see what is behind them. Many horses are
frightened because they cannot see what is
coming up from behind. A horse that ia
frightened, as described in Chapter III., must
be able to see the object that causes the fear.
Railway companies have wisely abandoned
blinkers, because their horses, when unable to

74

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

see to the side or behind them, are always get-
ting run into ; but now they can see to protect
themselves in the yards. A horse with blinkers
on is greatly handicapped, and, in case of fear
from noise, is a far more dangerous animal.
Heavy horses sometimes wear small blinkers
which do not hide the side view. The only case
in which I recommend the use of blinkers is
that of the livery horse that is driven by people
who wave the whip and hands about, and con-
sequently frighten the horse. This becomes
very apparent to anyone who drives a livery
horse without blinkers, holding the whip in
the correct manner in the hand ; whenever the
horse sees the whip move, it expects to be hit
with it. The addition of blinkers in such cases,
if the horse is at all nervous, is to be recom-
mended. I strongly recommend the disuse of
blinkers on nervous horses — at any rate, as an
experiment — because, as stated before, a horse
must see the object approaching from behind
that is causing him fear.

288. Bits.— The subject of bits is dealt with
in Chapter VII., so little need be said here,
except that most horses, if trained from the first
by a man that possesses good hands, can be
driven perfectly well on a snaffle-bit, or on an
easy Liverpool bit, with large mouthpiece and
the reins on the top ring. (See P. 33<z.) Bad
hands and ignorance are responsible for many
horses having to be driven in a score of different
bits, some of which are extremely cruel. It
takes two to pull, and a horse that has once
learned to pull can be cured of the habit by
patient driving with good hands. I remember
many instances where coachmen have stated that
their horses could not be driven except in severe
bits, who, upon being shown that such horses
could not only go on the simplest of bits, but
that they would cease to pull when such bits
were used, have "given in" with astonishment.

289. Halters. — A horse, when tied up in a
stall in a stable, must be tied up with a good
type of halter which must be very strong,
because if a horse once gets loose he learns that
he can get loose, and will probably try to do so
afterwards because he has learned that he is
master of the situation. There is considerable
danger of a horse's getting kicked or over-eating
himself if he gets loose at night. In Chapter
VIII. other methods of preventing a horse from
getting loose are described.

The plain cow-collar, which consists of a
broad strap placed around the neck behind the
ears, is very secure, but is liable to spoil the
horse's mane. On no account must a horse be
tied too short in the stall. He must be able to
lie down in any position at perfect ease. I have
caught several unprincipled grooms tying their
horses up at night to save trouble of grooming
them in the morning ; such people should be
made to sleep standing up. A secure halter

must have a headstall, noseband, gullet-piece,
and a strong throatlash. If this last is
done up so that only three fingers' breadth
remains between it and the horse's throat,
there is little fear of his being able to slip
his halter. Halters, as a rule, buckle up only
on the headstall, the throatlash not being able
to be shortened. Great care must be taken
not to have the throatlash too tight. If a horse
does not try to get free at night, it is better not
to use a brow-band, which will be more comfort-
able for the horse. One objection to this is that
the top of the headstall will work back over the
mane and perhaps damage it. whilst the brow-
band will keep it just behind the ears, where a
small portion of the mane is usually clipped out.
(See Sec. 237.)

A non-slipping halter can be made, as on
P. 31.

A horse gets his halter off either by putting
his poll under the manger or else getting the
slack of the rope over his poll, just behind the
headstall, and pulling back, thus slipping the
headstall off his head. Great care should be
taken, in making an improvised halter out of a
rope, that the knot is not a slip-knot, because
if such is used the horse may be strangled. A
good way to make such a halter is to make a
loop that will fit quite loosely over the muzzle
to a height of about one inch below the zygo-
matic ridge on the cheek-bone, then to pass the
rope over the poll behind the ears, down the
other side, and attach it to the loop. Another
piece should then be tied from each side of the
rope that passes over the poll, just behind the
eyes, around the jowl, to act as a throatlash.

290. Training Gear. — Some civilian horse-
breakers use the most elaborate and absurd
appliances for breaking horses. A harness horse
should be trained at first upon the principles
laid down in Chapter III., with the cavesson and
lunging- rein, etc., and later be made to wear the
harness so as to become accustomed to it. Great
care should be taken when first putting on the
crupper. Horses trained under my ideas as
regards crupper and the reins under the tail will
not mind their tails being handled at all. (See
Sec. 270.) But horses are often frightened and
made to grip anything that gets under the tail
by being ill-used when the crupper is first put
on.

I consider that the cavesson and rein, and a
lunging-whip and a short cutting-whip, besides
the ordinary harness and a kicking-strap, are all
that is necessary for training a harness or saddle
horse. I do not believe in the use of the dumb-
jockey, unless the trainer has bad hands. I
have tried horses with and without its use, and
there is no doubt that a dumb-jockey cannot
produce the same mouth as a pair of light hands.
Those which contain elastic or springs are the
best apparatus for spoiling a horse's mouth. If a

PLATE 47

TYPES OF CARRIAGE HORSES

a, b, c, g, Cleveland Bays. Courtesy: a, b, C, Messrs. T. Tilling, London, d, Mr. G. Field, Chislehurst. e, Sir John

Gibson, Lieut.-Governor of Ontario. /, Mr. Bond, Toronto. g, ft, Messrs. Wimbush & Co., Grosvenor Place, London.

Photos : a, b, C, d, f. Author, e, James, Toronto, g, h, Glover, Hammersmith

PLATE 48

TYPES OF CARRIAGE HORSES: CANADIAN BRED (except />)

Courtesy: a, Mrs. Willson, Ottawa, b, Hon. S. N. Parent, Ottawa, c, Col. Little, London, Ont. d, Mr. J. Darrach,

Toronto. e. Dr. Coxe, Biandon, Man. /, Mr. Robertson, Boissevain, Man. g, Cleveland Bay "Lord Minto," Mr. Adam

Agar, Nashville, Ont. h. Hackney Stallion "Peter Shales," "Farm Life," London. Photos (except fj) by the Author

PLATE 49

TYPES OF CANADIAN-BRED COMMERCIAL HORSES

a, Hackney Pony, b, Standard.bred Mare. Courtesy : a, Mr. J. Holman, Toronto. Z>, Messrs. R.
Simpson Co., Toronto. Photos : Galbraith, Toronto.

PLATE 50

TYPES OF COMMERCIAL HORSES

Courtesy : a, John Macdonald & Co., Toronto, b. Cowan Chocolate Co., Toronto, c, Parker's Dye Co., Toronto.

d, Mr. W. Holman, Toronto, e, Mr. Uridge, Chislehurst, Kent. /, g, h, L. & N. W. Railway, Euston. Photos: a, C, d,

Galbraith, Toronto, e. Author. /, g, f), Glover, Hammersmith

VI]

DRIVING AND HARNESS

75

dumb-jockey is used to "place" a horse's head
and neck, there must on no account be any
elastic or springs in the reins, because such
will teach a horse to pull and to stretch out
his neck and will never make him light in the
mouth.

291. The horse, when he has become accus-
tomed to wearing the harness, should be driven
with the ordinary reins, without being attached
to a vehicle, for a week or two. He can then
be attached to a two-wheeled breaking-cart or
other vehicle that cannot be damaged by a little
kicking. It is safer to use a kicking-strap,
because if a horse once gets his hind-quarters up
he will always remember that he can do so, and
at some inopportune moment, through fear or
otherwise, he may do it again. Prevention is
better than cure, and in this case far more easy.
It is not wise to put a young horse into a sleigh
before it is used to a wheeled vehicle, because
a sleigh runs so differently from a wheeled
vehicle, and horses, as a rule, do not take so
readily to the former.

When approaching a horse in the stall
previous to harnessing, saddling, etc., the hand
should not be poked out to him, as it will either
frighten him or else teach him to snap at it, and
perhaps to become a crib-biter. It is also most
foolish to approach a horse in the open, whether
in harness or not, with an outstretched hand.
This is commonly done, and people wonder why
the horse shies and backs up, or perhaps turns
and runs away. The correct way to approach a
nervous horse is to approach his side ; his head
can then be taken hold of after he has become
accustomed to the person's presence.

292. Care of Harness (see " Impurities," Sec.
368). — Harness must be kept clean for two
reasons : firstly, because, if it is not, the horse
will suffer from sores caused by the dirt and
the caked dandruff, causing severe irritation ;
and, secondly, because the harness will deterior-
ate. The inside of harness, which is more often
neglected than the outside, is the part that
requires the most careful attention. It must be
cleaned every day after use by being rubbed
firmly with a wet sponge, and then well soaked
over with a good saddle-soap or harness-soap.
All hairs, dandruff and dirt must be removed
before the soap is applied. Half-hearted
measures in cleaning harness, as in grooming
horses, are useless. The outside must also be
cleaned and dressed with suitable dressing.
Dressings containing a large amount of methy-
lated spirit, as so many do, ruin the harness.
Cloth and felt linings must be dried in the sun
and well brushed every day. Blankets and
numnahs must be similarly dried and brushed.
Perspiration that has become badly caked on
can be removed with a weak solution of
ammonia. Great care must be taken with

insides of collars, saddles, girths and cruppers.
After using ammonia, good saddle-soap must
be well rubbed in. Steel-work should be greased
except when being used for special occasions,
when it should be rubbed free of oil, cleaned
with bath brick, and burnished. Highly bur-
nished steel can be dipped into water and
immediately rubbed dry without causing it to
rust. The practice of dipping into water bits
that have the reins sewn to them must not be
allowed, as this will rot the ends of the reins.
Brass- and nickel-work should be cleaned with
a metal polish. Nickel bits and stirrup-irons,
although commonly used, are not very safe,
because nickel cannot be forged, but only cast.
A casting of such a small size cannot be so
entirely depended upon to be free from air-blows
as forgings can. Harness and saddlery must be
hung up on large pegs well above the ground,
and, if possible, not in the stable, as the
ammonia, etc., rot the leather very rapidly.
Grease and saddle-soap preserve leather from
ammonia vapour. Dampness destroys leather,
so harness must be hung in a dry place. It is
better if covered up with a sheet, to keep dust
and poisonous gases from it. Glass-door harness
cupboards afford the best protection to harness
and saddle. Care must be taken that the mis-
chievous moth is not allowed to get at the pad-
dings in harness. The free use of Keating's
powder and oil of cedar will keep the moth
away. A saddle must be kept on a saddle-rack
that supports the side bars of the saddle only.
Harness and saddlery must never be thrown
about or dropped. A good hunting saddle may
be ruined by being dropped.

293. All saddlery and harness should be
given three days' rest at least once a year, during
which time it should be "put in oil," i.e. well
greased with dubbin, neat's-foot oil, Mars oil,
etc. Pigskin leather (seats of hunting saddles,
etc.) must not be greased with the above
greases ; it should only be greased very lightly,
or it will stretch and become cockled. Griffin's
saddle-paste is the best preparation I know for
pigskin leather. Leather buckets and other
articles that should remain stiff must be only
lightly greased. The advantage of Griffin's paste
is that the leather can be used the following day
without soiling the clothes, any superfluous
grease being rubbed off with a duster.

Hot water must never be used on leather ;
cold water, a good sponge, and a little energy
are all that should be allowed. But if leather
has been very badly neglected, it may be as
well to rub it with lukewarm water, and im-
mediately to apply saddle-soap or grease.
Leather must not be left soaking in water.
Soda, or soft soap, which contains a large
amount of soda (soda carbonate), must never be
used on leather.

CHAPTER VII

RIDING AND SADDLES

294. Anatomy of the Horse's Back. — No part of
a horse's harness causes more trouble than the
riding-saddle, and most of this trouble is the re-
sult of misunderstanding on the part of the
saddler or groom, or of bad riding on the part of
the rider. The most difficult problem we have
to deal with in harness fitting is the prevention
of sores from the horse's collar ; this trouble, as
stated in the previous chapter, is due to friction,
as a rule, and not to pressure. Saddle galls,
however, are almost entirely the result of pres-
sure, uneven or continuous. With proper care
there is no reason why a saddle should cause a
gall.

Due to the gross ignorance displayed in the
past by so-called horsemasters, and to the bad
riding of cavalrymen, we find that armies have
been handicapped in campaigns ; and through
the bad riding of some hunting men, polo
players and others, cruelty of the grossest form
has been inflicted upon the horse. The question
has been asked whether sore backs are not the
result of domesticating the horse. The answer is
in the negative. This trouble is the result of
want of knowledge of the anatomy of the horse's
back. If there is any part of the horse that a
horseman should understand thoroughly it is the
back. We will therefore study the back from
the withers to the loins and around the girth or
thorax.

295. P. 69, 70 show the bony structure of a
horse's back. The horse's body, consisting of
thorax, abdomen and pelvis, is enclosed in a
musculo-bony frame. The bony part of this
frame consists of a horizontal chain of bones
called the vertebral column, and circular bones
leading from part of this chain to the breast-bone
below, and at each end the upper portions of
the limbs. The body frame is attached by liga-
ments directly to the hind-limbs, but is only
suspended in front to the fore-limbs by muscles
on each side (serratus magnus). The verte-
bral column extends from the head to the tip of
the tail. There are 53 to 56 vertebrae in all.
Neck (cervical) 7, back (dorsal) 18, loin (lumbar)
6, croup (sacral) 5, and tail (coccygeal) 15 to 20.

The vertebrae which we will consider are the
18 dorsal ones. The first eight of these have true
ribs (sternal) attached to them, the other ends of
these ribs being attached to the breast-bone

(sternum) at the base of the thorax. The remain-
ing ten have false ribs (asternal) attached to
them, the other ends of which are joined
together by costal cartilages which are indirectly
attached by ligaments to the rear end of the
sternum.

296. The first rib is the shortest, the ninth the
longest. The curvature gradually increases from
the first to the eighteenth.

The true ribs are wider and flatter ; the false
are more like a semicircle. The sixth and
seventh, which cover the heart, are very wide.
The ribs project out almost horizontally for a
considerable distance on each side of the spinal
column before they bend down over the sides
of the thorax and abdomen. It is on this almost
horizontal portion, and nowhere else, that the
entire weight of the saddle must be borne. As
the horse inspires, muscles draw these ribs for-
ward, being hinged at both top and bottom. As
the centre part of each rib is drawn nearer to the
head, the diameter of the thorax, i.e. the horse's
girth, is increased, in the same way as our chest
is expanded by the ribs rising in front when a
deep breath is taken. Therefore, a horse should
never be girthed too tightly, and the girths
must not be too far back, as the expansion is
greater as we go farther back. The first rib
does not move with the expansion of the chest.

297. Having realised what portion of the bony
anatomy should support the weight, we must
consider which portions must not bear any
weight. The loins, situated posterior to the
eighteenth rib and anterior to the hip bones
(ilium), are not covered by a bone on each side
of the vertebral column, but only by muscle. On
no account must any weight be borne on these
parts. Great care must be taken when a second
rider is sitting on a horse, behind a saddle, that
he sits on the pelvis, i.e. behind the hips, and
not on the loins, because, as the kidneys are
situated in this region, damage will result.
Nor must there be any weight borne by the
spinal column itself ; neglect of this is the
common cause of a great many sore backs. On
P. 69 it will be seen that spinous processes
project up from the body of each dorsal ver-
tebra ; these are usually called spines. The
spines increase in length from the first to the
fourth or fifth, and then gradually decrease to

PLATE 51

•STORES

QUEEN VICTORIA STREET!

COMMERCIAL VAN HORSES AND SOME TYPES OF TAIL-PLAITING

Courtesy: a, Spiers & Pond. /), Wm. Whiteley, Ltd. c, Junior Army and Navy Stores. d, Whitbread's Ltd.,
London. e, f. Holt, Renfrew & Co., Toronto. g, Mr. Peter Dawley, Carroll, Man. fj. The Repository, Toronto.

Photos, e and /, by the Author

PLATE 52

PRIZE-WINNING CANADIAN-BRED COMMERCIAL HORSES
Courtesy : a, Dominion Express Co., Toronto. b, Firstbrook Box Co., Toronto. Photos : W. James, Toronto

PLATE 53

KENT&C0!/

WHOLESALE

LIGHT COMMERCIAL TRAP HORSES

Courtesy: a, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent &. Co. b, Marshall & Snelgrove, London.

Grey, b, Ellis & Walery, Baker Street, London

Photos: a, Campbell

PLATE 54

BRITISH ISLE PONIES

a, Highland Pony Sire " Comariach," the Property of Lord Middleton. ft, Shetland Mare "Thora Lina," Champion

at the Royal Show, 1912. Photos: G. H. Parsons

CHAP. VII]

RIDING AND SADDLES

77

the twelfth, and are of the same length from the
thirteenth to the eighteenth. They slope back-
wards from the first to the thirteenth or four-
teenth, the fourteenth or fifteenth is vertical, and
slope forward from the fifteenth or sixteenth to
the eighteenth.

The twelfth or thirteenth is the smallest and
the thickest. The bodies of the vertebrae increase
in size as we pass back, because there is more
movement in the rear part of the back, and
therefore a greater curvature is required between
each body to allow for this twisting movement.
The spinal column consists of an arch with its
apex at the fourteenth or fifteenth dorsal ver-
tebra. The arch is trussed by powerful muscles
woven in between the spines, acting as ties, and
by a powerful muscle under the column (longus
colli), as well as by a large number of powerful
inelastic and elastic ligaments. This arch or
girder is not rigid, as will be clear to anyone
who has studied the horse ; it can be arched,
depressed, or bent to either side at will.

298. The first six or eight of these spines
form what is called the withers. On top of the
spines there is a white, non-elastic ligament
(supra-spinous), but over the withers this liga-
ment is interwoven with the rear end of the
yellow elastic ligamentum nuchse that supports
the weight of the head. Pressure or friction on
any of these spines will cause diseased ligaments
and, eventually, diseased bone ; but, if over the
yellow ligament above the withers, the result
will be far more serious. It is for this reason
that fistulous withers are so common and so
difficult at times to heal.

299. As stated above, the tops of the ribs must
be made to bear the weight. The top portion
is at a considerable angle in the front ribs, but
nearly horizontal in those at the back, so that
the pressure from the front of the saddle will
naturally tend to force a saddle downwards and
pinch the horse. The pressure is not taken
directly by the bones ; any pressure or friction
is first taken by the periosteum, a thin, highly
vascular skin covering the bone. This skin, if
damaged, dies, and causes necrosis, i.e. death
of the bone below. This shows the importance
of keeping all bony prominences free from
injury, and shows how much more careful we
must be when a horse is in poor condition and
has less muscle covering his bones, as, for
example, at the end of a campaign. The top
portion of the ribs on each side of the spinal
column is covered by a powerful muscle (longis-
simus dorsi), which is again covered by skin
and hair. It is this, then, that actually bears
the weight and acts as a cushion between the
bones and the saddle.

300. We found above that the front part of
the saddle may tend to pinch the first few ribs
together, and, fortunately, the bottom ends of
these ribs are securely attached to the breast-

bone, otherwise we should not be able to put a
saddle upon a horse without interfering with
the action of the heart and lungs. Whilst the
amount of muscle covering the bony back makes
a better cushion, it is the cause of sore backs,
being so difficult to treat surgically. The reason
is that when pus (matter) forms under the skin,
instead of its breaking out and the wound heal-
ing quickly, it burrows down between the layers
of muscle, carrying the infection wherever it
goes. In fistulous withers the pus will burrow
inside the muscles of the shoulder-blades, and an
incision for drainage may have to be made
below. Where the pus has burrowed down,
setons should be inserted and the holes kept
open until they heal from the top. If wounds
are allowed to heal from the bottom they will
not drain, and blood-poisoning will result. The
healing of bad saddle-sores cannot be hurried,
because if hurried worse consequences inevitably
result. The next point is how far the saddle
should extend to the front. We see that it must
not extend posterior to the ribs. In Chapter VI.
we saw that the shoulder-blade moved to and fro
as the horse moved. As this bone moves back,
the muscle bulges out. The foremost part of
the saddle must not in any way interfere with
the play of this bone or the action of the muscles.

301. It is clear that the shape of the back
and shoulders will materially affect the position
of the weight, the amount of weight that can
be carried, and the extent to which the weight
will move when the horse is in motion. With
nearly all kinds of backs a saddle tends to work
forwards, hence a breastplate (now almost
abolished) is seldom of any use. On some horses
with large girths — i.e. deep and wide over the
first few ribs and narrow behind, like a grey-
hound— the saddle will tend to slip backwards,
and the use of a breastplate is advisable. Al-
though the saddle itself generally tends to work
forward, the blanket or numnah, under the
saddle, tends to work backwards in the direction
of the hair, so that if the numnah or blanket is
strapped to the saddle the tendency of the saddle
to work forward is greatly diminished.

302. Backs.— The front of the portions of the
saddle resting on the ribs must be embedded in
the hollow behind the shoulder blade, so as to
prevent the possibility of the saddle slipping
over these parts. These portions of the saddle
must be well padded to prevent injury.

The conformation of the back varies greatly.
Short backs are stronger and generally wider in
the loin. A back cannot be too short, if it is
long enough to fit the saddle. A long back is
generally weak and narrow. A horse cannot be
too short above his body, but he must have
sufficient length underneath. High withers are
most liable to injury, as they are thinner and
less covered with flesh ; they, however,
generally, indicate good action in front, which

78

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

means that the horse is a safer saddle horse.
These are sometimes found with hollow backs,
and are not suitable for carrying weight.
Low withers are generally wide, and are very
liable to be pinched ; they are generally signs
of a clumsy action in front. Roach backs, the
opposite to hollow backs, are strong, but un-
comfortable for long riding. Hollow backs,
though weak and unsuitable, are very comfort-
able to ride upon. A wide-backed horse is the
right kind for saddle work of long duration, as
the bearing surface is large and the lung capacity
is large. If too wide, the saddle may tend to
work over the withers on to the narrow
shoulders. A narrow back is unsuitable to bear
weight, and indicates a flat-sided horse, whose
stamina is generally deficient.

303. The weight of a horse is carried mostly
on the forelegs ; the chief function of the hind-
legs is to propel the body forwards, as in
draught or jumping. About two-thirds of the
weight of the saddle and rider is borne on the
horse's forelegs. Now, the weight of the horse
on his forelegs is decreased as his head is raised
and neck arched. Therefore, the ideal saddle
horse should carry his head high and neck
arched, so as to save his forelegs. And, again,
the rider should not sit forward on the withers,
as was formerly done with the old straight-
legged seat. The correct seat on a horse will
place the rider's weight almost over the middle
of the back. (See P. 58.) The weight is thrown
farther back the more sloping the shoulder is,
hence the necessity of a sloping shoulder for
saddle horses to lighten the weight on the fore-
hand as well as to decrease the liability of the
horse's stumbling. The placing of the head and
the correct seat are dealt with in Sees. 321, 330,
347 and 476, et seq.

304. Pressure. — As stated above, most saddle
troubles are caused by pressure, hence great care
must be taken to see that the pressure of the
rider is distributed evenly over every square
inch of the bearing portion of the saddle.
Uneven stuffing, uneven folding of the blanket,
nails and other foreign substances in the stuffing
or numnah (not an uncommon occurrence),
wrinkles in the blanket, etc., must never be
allowed to exist. The greatest care must be paid
to these points when saddling up. Pressure
causes death to the bones ; it also causes death
to all living tissue (gangrene) by arresting
the supply of blood to the tissue. Without
blood, life in the cells ceases, and gangrene
sets in immediately. Directly a cell dies,
as explained in Chapter XVII., bacteria com-
mence to devour the dead cell, splitting it up
into the various gases and solids of which it
is composed.

If one presses his finger against the back of
the hand for a few seconds and removes it, the
part pressed is devoid of colour ; the pressure

has driven the blood away. If a finger is tied
tightly with a cord for a few hours, it will die.
The same happens if a certain part of the
horse's back is unduly pressed upon for a long
time ; it dies, and is marked afterwards by a
white patch, so common on the backs of saddle
horses. When a rider mounts a horse, the blood
in the subcutaneous blood-vessels is driven out,
and these vessels remain empty. If only for an
hour or so, no permanent damage is done, but
if for many hours damage may result. Hence it
is advisable that a rider should never remain in
the saddle for more than an hour or two without
dismounting, even if only for a few minutes. On
the other hand, if a saddle is suddenly taken off
after the horse has been ridden for some time,
the blood will rush back suddenly into these
vessels and may rupture them, causing small
lumps to appear on the back. This is not un-
common with thoroughbred horses that have
thin skins. My advice is to leave the saddle on
for fifteen minutes or more after the girths have
been loosened. If, however, the saddle is re-
moved suddenly, the back must be energetically
hand-massaged for at least ten minutes, prefer-
ably by a man on each side. This should be
done against the direction of the hair. A rider
should never remain mounted unless it is
necessary.

305. Saddling. — In placing a saddle upon a
horse's back it should not be dropped on, but
be placed on gently from the near side, the
girths having been crossed over the seat so as
not to swing against the horse as the saddle is
lifted over the back. After ascertaining that the
pads, numnah or blanket are perfectly smooth
on the horse's back, the girths should be done
up loosely. They should never be done up
tightly at first. After the horse is bridled, and
just before he is going to be mounted, the girths
should be done up to their proper tightness, but
they must be tightened slowly, and never by
jerks. Great ignorance is displayed by grooms
in girthing up, causing both pain to the horse
and waste of energy to themselves. Directly a
rider dismounts at the end of a ride he should
loosen the girths, leaving the saddle on for, say,
fifteen minutes, as already advised.

306. If the back is still wet when the saddle
is removed, it must be dried, which is best done
by hand-rubbing against the coat. If a saddle is
taken off in the field to ease the horse's back for
a few moments, the back must be energetically
hand-rubbed.

The utmost care must be taken that blankets,
saddle-pads, saddle-linings and numnahs are
perfectly dry and not cold when placed on the
horse's back. If kept in a cold place, they
should be warmed first. Damp or cold saddles
are uncomfortable to the horse, and cause some
mares to kick. They also cause many horses to
roach their backs until the saddle has become

PLATE 55

UJW:

TORONTO FIRE BRIGADE HORSES
Photos : Galbrailh, Toronto

PLATE 56

TORONTO FIRE BRIGADE HORSES
Photos: Galbraith, Toronto. t>. Courtesy: Waterhouse Engine Co., Brantford, Ontario

PLATE 57

TYPES OF COMMERCIAL HORSES

a, b, C, Courtesy : Harrod's Ltd., London. d. Courtesy : Win. Whileley; Ltd., London. e, f, Courtesy : Marshall
& Snelgrove, Ltd., London. g. Courtesy: Jewell & Hinton, Ottawa. h, Courtesy: The T. Eaton Co., Toronto.

Photos: g, h, by the Author

PLATE 58

The Natural Seat (see Text). "Caligula," Equestrian Statue in the British Museum. Kind permission of the Curator.

Phoio, Mansell & Co., 405, Oxford Street, London

VII]

RIDING AND SADDLES

79

warm. With a freshly clipped horse a damp
saddle may do harm to the skin.

Saddle blankets and numnahs should be kept
in a warm, dry place, so as to be ready at any
moment. When removing a saddle, the instruc-
tions laid down in Chapter V. on grooming
must be carefully adhered to.

307. Saddles. — Having considered the place
on which to put the weight, we will next con-
sider the best apparatus to carry a rider on the
horse's back. All saddles are, and always have
been, built on the same principle. A flat side-
bar rests on the ribs on each side of the spine ;
these are connected together at the front and
rear by arches. The side-bars are usually made
of ash wood, and have a twist on their under-
surface so as to fit the first ribs, which slant
considerably, and the last ribs, which are nearly
horizontal. A straight side-bar would rock.

Arches should be made of steel, but some
hunting saddles have the rear arch of wood re-
inforced with steel. The front arch (pommel)
must be very strong to prevent spreading, and
must be wide enough to prevent pinching, and
high enough to clear the withers. If the front
arch spreads it will touch the top of the withers.
The rear arch is not subjected to spreading, but
often breaks down from the weight in the
saddle, and comes in contact with the back.
Military saddle rear arches are generally
strengthened by steel brackets between the arch
and the side-bar. With military saddles, the
use of the numnah and blanket (although the
'ormer is not used much nowadays) necessitates
the side-bars being farther apart and the arches
wider and higher in order to keep the cloak,
etc., that are carried on the saddle off the horse's
back.

The real difference between military and
hunting saddles is that the high arches cause
the seat to be attached higher in front and rear,
and, in order to carry out the essential principle
of placing the rider as close to the horse as
possible, the centre of the seat is lowered, thus
giving it a chair-like appearance.

308. The seat is formed by webbing being
stretched from arch to arch, and by other web-
bing being stretched over the first pieces from
side-bar to side-bar. The leather seat, pigskin
in hunting saddles, is then stretched over the
webbing. The rider sits on this, which trans-
fers his weight to the arches and thence to the
side-bar. The side-bars and arches are called
the saddletree. The shape of the back deter-
mines the shape of the tree. Now, although a
hunting saddle will fit most horses, provided the
front arch is high enough and wide enough, if
the stuffing in the pannels is adjusted to fit the
back, the tree of a military saddle will not
necessarily fit even two horses. On account of
the extra weight and the difficulty of keeping
stuffed pannels in good order on active service,

military saddles are made without pannels,
numnahs or blankets being used instead. Felt
pannels are sometimes used under the side-bars.
In military saddles the side-bars must fit each
horse, and every military horse should have his
own saddle. The wood is roughly shaped to fit
the horse's back by the saddletree maker, who
ascertains the correctness of the fit by placing a
folded blanket on the back and pressing the
saddle down for a few minutes on to the
blanket. These parts will be shaved off. Again,
portions that have been shaved off too much can
have small pieces of numnah-felt tacked on.
Self-adjusting side-bars have been introduced,
and are of great use on active service, as they
only require adjusting as the horse loses con-
dition. Under the side-bars of military saddles
either felt pannels or numnahs are used with
a blanket. The numnah should have a buckle
at each end of its middle to buckle to the front
and rear arch of the saddle when in position,
thus keeping the blanket, if used — which is
between the numnah and the saddle — in proper
place. Slipping is impossible with the use of
these straps.

309. With hunting saddles it is more practic-
able to use pannels, stuffed with flock or horse-
hair, which can be restuffed or readjusted as the
horse's condition alters or when the saddle is
used on a fresh horse. Numnahs are often used
under the pannel. The pannel is usually of felt
or leather. Leather is easier to keep clean and
soft, and does not absorb the sweat, but requires
to be kept well soaked or it will get hard. Felt
pannels must be dried in the sun after being
removed from the horse's back, and brushed
clean when dry. Weak ammonia should be
used to remove cakes of grease and dandruff.
Numnahs and blankets must also be kept
scrupulously free from hairs and grease.

310. Cork" and pneumatic pannels are used ;
the latter answer very well until the air sacs
leak, when the saddle is useless. It will be
understood that the essential part of a saddle
is the tree, and that the seat and flaps are only
luxuries and not necessaries. Some Mexican
saddles have only a small seat and no flaps. A
thick blanket laid over the tree would serve the
purpose of the seat and flaps, but would not be
so comfortable and would get puckered up.

The bars of the tree must fit the back as the
boot fits one's foot. We all know what it is to
walk six miles with a lump in the lining of one's
boot, so we can imagine what it is for a horse to
carry a badly fitted saddle. Besides the under-
surface of the side-bars fitting perfectly, the rear
and front ends of the side-bars must fit perfectly ;
so must the arches.

311. When fitting these parts or when ascer-
taining that they do fit, the following important
points must be borne in mind :

The withers must not be pinched or pressed

80

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

upon ; the vertebral column, along its whole
length, must not be pressed upon ; the front
parts of the side-bars (burrs) must allow absolute
freedom to the movement of the shoulder-blades ;
there must be no weight on the loins, and the
rear ends of the side-bars (fantails) must not
come in contact with the loins ; and the side-
bars must distribute the weight evenly over the
muscles covering the back from the withers to
the last rib.

312. Thus, a short back requires a short tree,
and a long back is better with a longer tree, pro-
vided the tree is not so long that it will rock or
move sideways. A wide, thick wither and a
wide back require a wide front arch (pommel),
whilst broad loins require a wide rear arch
(cantle), and vice versa. To cause the least
fatigue and risk of injury, every hunter or hack,
as well as military horse, should have a saddle
chosen for his back, and fitted or properly stuffed
in order to distribute the weight evenly.

The modern military saddle does not carry
wallets, but only a light roll in front and some-
times a small roll behind. The folly of strap-
ping a heavy pack to the fore and aft of a
saddle was conclusively proved during the South
African war. In order to keep the light rolls
off the back, as well as the arches having to be
higher, the side-bars extend more forwards and
backwards. As so little is now carried on the
military saddle, I think there should be a new
saddle made for military purposes, with a seat
more like the hunting seat, in which a man
can sit upon his horse in a proper position,
whilst the old saddle tends to make the rider
use too straight a leg. The front part of the
side-bars could be more like those of a hunting
saddle with the necessary D's attached. All that
need be carried on a military saddle is the cloak
and waterproof sheet on the front arch, and
possibly one peg ; and, on the rear arch, the
nosebag on one side and a second peg on the
other. Personal kit should be carried in a haver-
sack. If the saddle were thus modified in shape,
one of the greatest troubles caused by our present
military saddles would be obviated — that of fit-
ting the burrs and the fantails, particularly the
former. We seldom hear of this trouble with a
hunting saddle. If these burrs do not fit
properly, injury is sure to result; at any rate,
the horse is liable to be thrown down by the
action of his shoulder blades being interfered
with. A horse with a good back (see P. 68a)
could not wear a long-tree cavalry saddle.

313. As the hind-limbs of a horse are pivoted
to the frame quite widely apart, there is a
considerable rolling action to the hind-quarters
while the horse is in motion. Long fans or fan-
tails will tend to cause friction against the loins
unless they are kept well above them. With
hollow-back horses this is very difficult. Simi-
larly, it is very difficult to fit burrs to a horse

with a thick, low wither or with a hollow back.
A roach back is also in danger, as a saddle will
rock and the burrs or fans will dig into the
horse.

314. Fitting Saddlery. — A saddle must also be
fitted and tested for correct fitting when a man
is in the saddle.

A careful examination must be continually
made when the rider is in the saddle, and the
horse watched for any loss of flesh (muscle) on
the back or withers. Absence of wither pressure
must be ascertained while the rider is leaning
forward in the seat, when the hand should be
able to be passed over the withers and down
each side between the horse and the numnah,
or whatever is next to the horse.

To test for bladebone pressure, the hand
must be passed in between the front part of the
side-bar (inside the numnah, blanket, or what-
ever is next to the horse) and the horse's skin,
and, while the rider is leaning forward, the fore-
leg of the horse must be raised and extended
fully to the front by an assistant. If the hand
is not pinched at all, then the bladebone is free
from pressure. If it is pinched, extra stuffing
will have to be introduced or another thickness
of blanket placed under the side-bars in the rear
of the part that pinches, in order to keep that
part away from the horse.

315. Both shoulders must be carefully tested
as above described. To test for loin-pressure, the
rider must lean back, and the flat of one's hand
should be able to be passed easily between the
fans and the loins.

316. Saddle Blanket. — There is a great ten-
dency to place saddles too far forward. In fold-
ing a blanket, great care must be taken to see
that every layer is absolutely flat and free from
wrinkles. The military saddle blanket measures
5 ft. 5 in. by 4 ft. 8 in.

The best way is to fold it along its length
twice, so that when folded it will measure
5 ft. 5 in. by about 1 ft. 8 in. This can then be
placed over the horse's back, and the ends
brought up nearly to the centre of the back next
to the horse, as in P. 70, Fig. 5, thus leaving the
thinner portion over the spine, where there must
be no pressure. The disadvantage of this method
is that the blanket is liable to shift unless the
rider has a very good seat. Another method is to
fold one end of the strip, made as above, over
for about 2 ft., and then to turn the other end
into the pocket formed by the first end. This
will not slip, but it means that a thick portion
lies over the withers and backbone. The blanket
should be kept in place by the numnah straps,
as described in Sec. 308.

317. The saddle, when on the horse's back,
must lie in the centre (see P. 68a) ; the exact
position can usually be felt by placing the saddle
a little forward and sliding it backwards in the
direction of the hair until it seems to embed

PLATE 59

CHARGERS

a, " Kildare," Charger of the Late King Edward. bt Charger of an Officer of the First Life Guards. Copyright

Photos : W. A. Rouch, London

PLATE 60

AMERICAN CAVALRY HORSES

a, 4th Cavalry; Capt. Short. b, 15th Cavalry; Capt. Lear, jnr. c, 12lh Cavalry: First Lieut. Scott, d, 13th Cavalry:

First Lieut. Merchant. e, 13th Cavalry: Capt. Henry. Courtesy: Col. Allen, Chiel of the General Staff, Washington,

and the Commandant Cavalry School, Fort Riley, Kansas, where these Photos were taken

PLATE 61

a. An Ottawa Turn-out.

Courtesy : (the late) Sir Richard Cartwright. Photo by the Author.
Pony " May Star." Copyright Photo : W. A. Rouch

b, Prize-winning Polo

PLATE 62

THE MODERN POLO PONY

a and /), Inter-Rcgimcntdi Cup Final at Hurlingham, 20th Hussars v. 15th Hussars. Copyright Photos: Sport and
General, c. Heavy-weight Polo Pony "Energy." Copyright Photo: W. A. Rouch

VII]

RIDING AND SADDLES

81

itself in its right position. Using stirrup leathers
of unequal length causes saddles to wear un-
evenly, the stuffing to wear unevenly, the saddle
to rock, and the numnah or blanket to work
crooked.

318. Girths. — Girths are made of leather,
webbing, cord, raw hide, twisted wool, hemp,
etc. The webbing girth is commonly used on
hunting saddles, and, if kept soft, is very suit-
able. But the leather girth, used on military
saddles, is better for hard work, is stronger and
lasts much longer, and, if kept clean and soft
by being well dubbed or greased, will cause
very little trouble. It should have slits made in
it longitudinally so as to allow for ventilation
and to prevent slipping.

A girth should not be attached to only one
place on the side-bar, but to each end, and this
is done by a V-shaped attachment extending
from each end and joining the girth nearer the
front end, thus causing the girth to have an
uneven pull on to the whole length of the side-
bar and preventing rocking or dipping in of one
end of the saddle.

The side-bar and the two sides of the V-
attachment form a triangle of which the side-
bar is the base. The side of the triangle nearest
to the shoulder is thus shorter and more vertical
than the posterior side. Thus the apex of the
triangle is not below the centre of the side-bar,
but about one-third from the front. The girth
is prevented from slipping forward on to the
play of the shoulder by the shape of the
horse's chest, particularly at the under surface
of the breast-bone (sternum). Some horses are
peculiarly shaped, and an attachment has to be
put on to keep the girth back. This is best done
by placing a surcingle around the belly over the
fans, not tightly, and then joining this to the
girth by means of a small strap underneath the
horse. The use of the crupper is the best way to
keep a hunting saddle from slipping forward,
but a crupper tends to rub the tail if used much.
A horse that is very badly shaped for saddle
work is better driven in harness. A flannel
saddle-cloth strapped on each side to the pannel
or sweat-flap is well suited for use with hunting
saddles, but must be well adjusted and kept
quite clean.

319. Saddling-up. — The saddle must be
placed in the middle of the horse's back, the
front a hand's-breadth behind the play of the
shoulder, the numnah or blanket being well
raised into the arch of the saddle by being forced
up with the forearm. The girths must be
tightened gradually, and should only be tight
enough to keep the saddle in place. The better
the seat the rider has, and the more evenly he
rides, the looser will he be able to have his
girths. With bad, crooked riders the girths need
to be tight. The surcingle must lie flat over and
not be tighter than the girth.

Breast-plates are very seldom used now, but,
if used, must be fitted so that the upper edge of
the rosette is the breadth of three fingers above
the sharp breast-bone (anterior end of sternum).
It should admit the breadth of the hand between
it and the flat of the shoulder and between it
and the horse's chest. (For types of saddles, see
P. 74, etc.) Great care must be taken that the
girth is well clear of the elbows.

320. Sore Backs: their Prevention and Cure.
— Every sore on the horse's back is due to a
definite cause, which should be and can be dis-
covered and remedied, thus preventing further
ill effects and allowing that which has already
been produced to recover itself. Galls are caused
either by friction or else by local arrest of the
circulation, due to pressure. Grooms, etc., must
be encouraged to show the first sign of a sore,
and severely punished for hiding anything. The
old procedure of punishing a man for causing a
sore is the surest way to cause him to be deceit-
ful. A man, if he causes a sore, must, of course,
walk his horse and himself, not so much as a
punishment, but for the horse's sake.

Bad riding is most certainly responsible for
many sores ; nevertheless, I maintain that if a
saddle fits properly bad riding will not do much
harm, as most saddle galls are from pressure and
not friction. If a good horseman rides on a
badly-fitting saddle, it is quite possible that no
harm will result, but it is a risky procedure.

321. A racehorse should have as narrow
girths as possible, and his girths should be as
far forward as possible, so as not to check his
breathing, but they must not interfere with his
elbows. If a rider begins to sit uneasily in a
saddle or to move about, he had much better
dismount for a mile or so. If he goes on until
he galls the horse, then he will have to walk.
A short walk will soon overcome the tired feel-
ing or stiffness that some riders get after being
in the saddle for a long time. It is generally
the result of having an unnatural and forced
seat. By getting off and walking, the rider is
easing both horse and himself. Quitting the
stirrups on a long march must not be allowed.

The importance of walking one's horse as
much as possible, especially downhill and up
steep hills, cannot be too strongly impressed
upon horsemen. Bad-fitting saddles cause many
galls ; this is due to neglect in fitting the saddle.
Bad saddling also causes many galls ; this is due
to neglect on the part of the groom. Such
neglect may consist in allowing straps to get
under the saddle or numnah, in numnah or
saddle-cloth not being properly strapped to the
saddle, in the sweat-flaps or pannels being
turned in at one corner, in the pack (if any)
touching the horse, in creases in the saddle-cloth,
or in the girth being too loose or surcingle too
tight — causing a crease in the girth underneath.

As pressure causes local death, it is clear that

82

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

the better the condition the horse is in (the
harder his muscles and the better his general
health) the better will he be able to resist being
galled. For this reason we see so many appall-
ing sores on old, ill-fed horses. Horses in poor
condition or in soft condition are liable to be
galled very easily. The fantails of the colonial
saddle are, unless well fitted, very liable to rub
the loins when ridden by a poor horseman. (See
P. 740.)

322. Remedy. — In looking for a remedy when
a horse has been galled the cause must be sought
for and immediately removed. For instance, if
the withers are being pinched, the stuffing or
blanket over that part must be reduced in thick-
ness, or perhaps the saddle raised higher by an
extra blanket, etc. If the spine is being rubbed
or pressed upon, the numnah must be strapped
or forced higher into the arch, or a thicker pad-
ding put under the side-bars. Injuries from
burrs or fans can be eased by folding the blanket
shorter or thicker, or by increasing the stuffing
and raising these parts farther off the back.

Injuries from the inner edge of the side-bar
can be eased by using a wider tree ; injuries due
to the outer edge of the side-bar pressing into
the back can be relieved by padding the inner
edge with strips of felt or by increasing the
thickness of the blanket, etc. ; injuries due to
uneven pressure can be cured by readjusting the
side-bars or the stuffing in the pannels, or by
increasing the thickness of the blanket.

Girth galls are generally due to the girth
working forward, and are commonest under the
breast-bone. The advantage of raw hide or
string girths, and leather girths with splits in
them, is that they do not tend to shift forward.
The girth must be properly adjusted and tight
enough to prevent slipping. Some horses blow
themselves out, so this must be guarded against
by waiting until the horse is tired of holding his
breath and expires a long breath, when the
girth should be tightened sufficiently. On no
account must the girth be done up too tightly.
A horse with round, wide ribs and with elbows
close to the sides is a difficult horse on which
to prevent the girth from working forward. On
such a horse the girths must be attached farther
back on the saddle, or the use of a surcingle over
the rear of the saddle, as explained in Sec. 318,
may be resorted to.

323. Cure of Galls. — When an injury is
discovered on the horse, the exact spot on
the saddlery that causes the same must be
ascertained. This is best done by placing
a little white powder on the sore, then
placing the saddle on the horse in its correct
position, and allowing the rider to sit in the
saddle. On removing the saddle the spot will
be clearly shown by the white mark left on the
saddlery. Having discovered the cause, it must
be removed. If none of the above remedies

will effect a cure, it may be necessary to cut a
hole in the numnah round the gall, or remove
the stuffing over and around the gall, sewing a
ring around to keep the pannel at this spot
empty. After the gall has healed, the stuffing
may be put back or the numnah piece sewn into
the hole. It is better to keep old numnahs for
this purpose, as any stitches in a numnah will
tend to cause a gall if the horse is in bad con-
dition. The best cure for sore backs is rest.

If the sore is not broken, it should be
fomented every four hours with cold water, and
an astringent applied, such as a strong solution
of common salt, or Professor Dick's white lotion,
which consists of 1 oz. each of lead acetate and
zinc sulphate, in a quart of water. If it is
broken, it must be kept thoroughly aseptic with
creolin, etc., and bathed every four to six hours
with white lotion.

The following gall ointment is most excellent
for all kinds of harness and saddle galls, and
may be applied morning and night after the
wound has been made aseptic:

Lead subacetate 1 oz.

Zinc sulphate 1 oz.

Bismuth subnitrate ... J oz.

Carbon (powdered) \ oz.

Lard or lanoline, sufficient to make a
paste.

Good gall ointments of various kinds are pro-
curable on the market.

324. Seats. — A great deal of nonsense is
written and spoken about different seats, some
saying that the military varies from the hunt-
ing seat, etc. There is only one seat, and
that is when the rider is sitting over the centre
of gravity in a perfectly balanced position, so
that, in whatever position the horse may get,
the rider is still in perfect harmony with the
horse without using the reins or legs below the
knee to maintain his balance. P. 58 shows
the seat which is acknowledged by the best
modern authorities to be the only correct one.
Of course, a certain latitude must be allowed,
as the physical formation of two men is not the
same. Unfortunately, very few riders can or
ever will have a really good seat. A good seat
and good balance are rare gifts, and there is one
other rare qualification that a good horseman
must possess, and that is good hands. The
latter cannot exist without the former, and if
one possess a good seat and good balance one
is pretty certain to possess fair hands as well.

325. For hunting, military riding, or any
other kind of riding except flat racing and
broncho-busting, the correct hunting seat is
essential if the rider wishes to become an expert
at his art. But it is necessary that the rider
does not ride with his stirrups too short or too
long, for in the former case he will be greatly
handicapped in using his weapons in war, and

PLATE 63

THE LADY ASTRIDE SADDLE

O, Meet of Lord Rothschild's Staghounds. Copyright Photo: Sport and General. b. An International Horse Show
Champion: Miss Preece on "Silver Grey." Copyright Photo: W. A. Rouch

PLATE 64

'

V

•p***.

HUNTERS

a. The Duchess of Newcastle on her Favourite Hunter "Burmah." Copyright Photo: W. A. Rouch. A, The Author's

"Lady Victoria." Photo: Author

PLATE 65

FREEDOM

STARTLED

• Files— Freedom— Startled." Drawn Specially by the Well-known Horse Artist, Mr. Harry Payne

PLATE 66

THE SIDE SADDLE
a, "Snuffbox." b, "Miss Trix " (Mrs. Chapman up). Copyright Photos: W A. Rouch

VII]

RIDING AND SADDLES

83

in the latter he will be greatly handicapped in
riding across country. For this reason the seat
of the military saddle should be made much
longer and the arches lower. With a short
seat the rider has to lengthen his leg too much ;
but the straighter the leg the rounder becomes
the inside of the thigh, which should be flat to
give the rider the proper position and grip. The
grip extends from the top of the leg to the knee,
the whole length of the thigh. The calf is only
used when giving an indication, called by some
an "aid," to the horse, or in an emergency,
perhaps. The leg must at all times be free to
pivot at the knee to the front or rear, and this is
not possible if the rider is holding on by the
calf. He should be able to move his leg below
the knee almost to any extent without in any
way moving any portion of his body above the
knee.

326. If one goes across country bareback, as
I often used to for a morning's breeze, one does
not sit forward with a straight leg, nor sit with
the knees right up on the withers, but assumes,
or very soon assumes, a position as in P. 58,
because this is the only natural and correct seat
whether in a saddle or bareback.

The calf should be a little behind the per-
pendicular, so that the ball of the foot is
approximately below the knee ; the legs must
not be stuck out like shafts, because in this
position the rider can never obtain balance. No
weight should be borne on the stirrups ; the
rider's weight should be transmitted to the seat
of the saddle by the thighs and the buttocks,
similar to sitting in a chair. The rider must
not lean forward, except when in fast motion or
when rising in the stirrups, when the science
of mechanics tells us that it is necessary to assist
a horse. The arms must be kept low, and the
horse ridden with a comparatively long rein,
especially when going at a jump.

The body itself, when a horse is cantering,
remains practically vertical, and when going at
a jump it should still remain so. While on top
of the jump, and when landing on the other
side, the body still remains vertical. Leaning
back as the horse rises at the jump is the surest
way to be jerked off. If anything, a man will
assist his balance by leaning slightly forward as
the horse rises, but he must keep his seat well
against the saddle. Leaning forward too much
will throw too much weight on the horse's fore
hand.

327. A rider must not lean back when land-
ing over a jump. If a horse is going at fast
speed, the rider remains ahead of the vertical
all the way over the jump ; were he to lean back
he would reduce the horse's speed considerably
when the horse landed, owing to the increased
moment of inertia that the horse would have to
overcome before he could regain his former
speed. A flat-race jockey adopts a different seat,

but such a rider cannot really " ride " his horse
except so far as he can control the speed and
direction of his mount. He throws his weight
forward because thereby, mechanics and practice
tell us, the speed of the horse is greatly in-
creased. So the broncho-buster sits in an arm-
chair type of saddle, known as the stock saddle
(P. 74A), several inches above his horse, not with
the idea of riding the horse, but with the idea
of keeping on his back until he stops buck-
ing. For this purpose, and for long journeys at
the trot or canter, the stock saddle cannot be
beaten. I have spent some long journeys and
some lively moments in a stock saddle, and
know what little use a hunting saddle would be
in Montana, Alberta, and other ranching
countries.

328. I repeat again, that in order to ride a
horse a man must have a saddle that allows his
seat to be as close to the horse as possible, and
that also enables him to sit on his seat gripping
with his thighs and knees only, allowing free
motion to the lower part of his legs, and permit-
ting him to sit at the centre of balance. The
hunting saddle is the only one that will allow
this. (See P. 74e.)

The only way to obtain good balance and a
good seat, apart from the natural gift that
Nature has bestowed upon us, is to ride without
reins and without stirrups for a considerable
time. Perfect balance while jumping will
readily be obtained by being taught to jump
without reins. I have found with various
pupils to whom I have taught riding and jump-
ing, that the progress made by forbidding the
use of reins, once confidence has been gained,
until the rider can go over a fairly stiff jump
with hands folded without in any way losing
his seat, is far and away more rapid than the
old method of allowing the rider to ruin his
own hands and spoil his horse's mouth by using
reins ; and, of course, by the former method
hands are improved, balance is rapidly obtained
and kept, and the horse's mouth is not only
spared, but probably improved.

329. After confidence has once been gained —
which, by the way, is an important point — I
make my pupils give up reins and stirrups for.
perhaps, as long as two or three months, and
ride in a large school or enclosed manege. The
reins can be left knotted on the horse's neck,
so that in an emergency they can be taken up.
By this method I have made many bad jumpers
have a moderately good seat within a week, and
such people have declared that their change has
surprised them immensely. It is only common
sense after all.

To allow a beginner or a recruit to jump a
horse with reins is downright cruelty besides
being very foolish, because it ruins the horse.
It is easy to discover horses that have been
ridden in this way by merely taking them once

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

over a jump and finding the way they have of
throwing up their heads as if they were expect-
ing a jerk on the mouth. This method of riding
old horses that will jump any kind of jump with
a ridter holding on to their mouths is all right
for men whose seats do not allow them to ride
otherwise ; it is quite common to see men in
the hunting field and other places relying on
the reins to keep them on the horse's back, but
these men are not schooling young horses.
Unfortunately, mafiy riders never improve their
hands, or their seat, or their general knowledge,
because, for some unknown reason, they imagine
they are perfect in these matters and have
nothing to learn, which is the last thing a good
horseman would ever assert. A good horseman
expects to learn something new every time he
mounts a horse.

If a horse gets jerked in the mouth when
going over a jump, he associates the pain with
the jumping and thinks he has done wrong, so
the next time he is asked to jump he refuses.
(See Chapter III.) Allowing bad riders to jump
with reins is quite wrong, but allowing them the
use of stirrups is not so bad.

330. Hands. — " Hands " is the power the rider
or driver possesses, through the medium of his
hands, to communicate between himself and his
horse.

Good hands are a valuable gift possessed by
few. They can be improved by practice, but,
however bad a man's hands may be, if he has
good balance he will be far easier upon his
horse. A man with good balance and good
hands handles his horse's mouth as if with
silken threads, but not elastic. He has a gentle
feeling upon the mouth all the while, unless he
is riding with a loose rein, and he uses his
hands, together with his legs, as indicators to
the sensitive animal machine underneath him.
A rider with good hands is very soon able to
"mouth" a young horse, and, until a horse has
'been properly mouthed (which consists really
in slightly hardening the bars), the horse's head
cannot be properly placed. (See P. 68, 100.)
This placing the head of a horse is necessary
before the rest of his body can be balanced, and
until a horse's body is properly balanced and
collected he is not a safe horse, and cannot be
trained to any high degree. When a horse is
properly mouthed and made obedient, and has
had his head and neck properly placed, he will
arch his head as the rider's legs are gently closed
upon him, bringing his haunches under him
and relaxing his lower jaw, champing at the
bit. The rider will not make any action with
his legs that he is not able to meet with his
hands. Unless a horse will do this, it cannot be
called a properly mouthed horse. Mechanical
contrivances will never mouth a horse properly ;
good hands and a good temper are necessary.
Vice versa, it must be remembered that " made "

horses never made hands ; that is to say, that
every young rider should train a number of
young horses in order to improve his hands.
The pleasure of riding a properly balanced horse
with a good mouth and that of riding the
average horse one sees in the street cannot be
compared.

The first-class rider uses his legs as much
as his hands to give indications to his horse.
The common use of the leg is to kick the horse
in the side or, even worse, to use sharp spurs.
(See Sees. 336-7.)

331. A very erroneous idea, commonly held
amongst young riders, is that the correct thing
to do is to ride with one hand. As a rule, a
beginner exposes want of knowledge by trying
to ride with one hand. A far better test of good
riding is to ride the horse properly with both
hands. It is a common thing to see riders try-
ing to train young horses with one hand, and
the horse going wherever it likes. Riding with
both hands is absolutely necessary for many
months of the young horse's training ; he can
never be schooled with one hand. Above all
things, beginners must not sit stiffly, but as
naturally as possible. The correct seat can only
be attained by months of practice ; nine months
is a fair minimum, as it takes quite this time
for the muscles to conform to their proper
shape. The leg must be turned in from the hip
joint, so that the inside of the thigh and knee
lies flat against the saddle ; turning the toes in
does no good unless the thigh is turned in too.

Before a horse is taken put on a ride his
feet should be carefully examined to see whether
nails are protruding or the shoe is loose or
has shifted. The rider should be careful to
avoid riding over pieces of wood, as these often
have nails sticking out of them. A horse that
is taught to lie down should not be asked to
get up with a rider on his back, as this may
strain his legs, especially the hocks.

332. Treatment of Refusers.— A horse that
has been in incompetent hands may have
acquired some objectionable habits. The
principle of treatment in all cases is to associate
in the horse's mind unpleasant sensations while
he is displaying objectionable habits and
pleasant ones directly he ceases (Chapter III.).
Great patience and firmness are, of course,
necessary. In the case of a horse refusing to
jump, it is most probable that he has been hurt
in one form or another while previously jump-
ing. If he is, therefore, firmly made to jump
without receiving any kind of pain or other
unpleasant sensations, but given a tit-bit on
arriving at the other side, he will soon like
jumping. A great fault is allowing the horse
too great a distance in front of the jump. Unless
the jump is very high, he should be walked up
quietly until three or four lengths from the
obstacle, then quietly cantered up to it, and

PLATE 67

CHAMPION HUNTERS
a, "Forensic." Copyright PhoU>: W. A. Rouch. b, "Barometer." Copyright Photo: Sport and General

PLATE 68

CHAMPION HUNTERS: ENGLISH BRED
a, " Monarch." i, The Earl of Kenmare's " Busby." Copyright Photos : Sport and Genera!

PLATE 69

Sketches of the Bones of the Limbs and Back, showing the Part of the Ribs that Bears the Weight of
the Saddle, and how this Space is Limited in Front by the Scapula, and Behind by the Loins

PLATE 70

<T/?OSS
T l-i K 00 G-H H ORJS E

SHOW//VG- fxreAT OP

so

ABOVE..

Diagrams showing how the Surface under the Saddle becomes more Horizontal as it passes Back,
necessitating a Twist in the Side-bars of the Saddle-tree

VII]

RIDING AND SADDLES

85

given his head, so as to allow him plenty of
time to take off, the legs being used as required,
but on no account should he be whipped or
spurred. Such punishment is only necessary
when it is quite clear that the horse is
deliberately disobeying.

383. When a horse rears up, the rider must
immediately give him his head by letting out the
reins. He should try to throw his weight on
to the horse's neck, and should be prepared to
slip off should the horse come over backwards.
The horse should, if possible, be kept moving
forwards by, perhaps, being hit over the quarters.
On no account must he be hit over the head or
neck. I have cured many a bad rearer by
taking it on to a sandy beach and slipping off
quickly while it was up in the air and gently
pulling the reins, thus bringing the horse over
backwards. This so frightens the horse, with-
out doing him any injury, that he, as a rule,
does not wish to have the experiment repeated.

334. Riders should be very careful when
riding over wooden bridges to ascertain that the
planking is perfectly safe ; many floors of such
bridges become so rotten that one is scarcely
given a warning before the horse's foot goes
through. A one-inch plank is not safe for a
horse to walk upon ; two-inch planking is the
minimum that should be allowed on the bridge,
and this should be renewed at least once a year.
The safest plan is to have the two-inch boarding
covered with a one-inch plank, this latter being
replaced when at all worn.

The practice of linking horses, which con-
sists in tying them together side by side by
means of the reins — that is, by tying the reins
of one horse to the head-gear of the horse next
to him — unless done properly, is extremely
dangerous. I have known horses to have their
jaws almost broken by the reins from their bits
being tied to the horse on one side and the reins
from the horse on the other side being tied to
their nosebands, thus tending to break the jaw,
through the horses on both sides pulling at the
same time. Clearly the only way to link horses
is either to attach the reins from bit to bit — i.e.
from the right side of one bit to the left side of
the next — or to use the head-ropes attached from
noseband to noseband at the ring at the back
(the jowl-ring).

335. The subject of eye fringes is discussed
in Chapter XII. P. 10W shows the eye fringe
commonly used on bridles. These are especially
useful for horses with hogged manes.

In the fly season riding is made far more
pleasant by using a fly whisk, as shown in
P. 10W, as this savee the horse from throwing
his head about while endeavouring to reach
flies.

When mounting a horse that will not stand
still, or one that tries to buck, it is a good plan
to take hold of the headstall with the bridle

hand, and hold on to it until one is properly
seated in the saddle.

Great ignorance is often displayed by those
who lead at the head of a column by their riding
at a great speed, with no consideration for those
behind them. Such practices are the cause of
much distress amongst both horses and riders.

336. Spurs. — A great many of those who ride
with sharp spurs should not be allowed to use
them at all. If horses are properly trained
they would not require sharp spurs — at least,
not one in ten thousand would. As a punish-
ment a whip is always far superior to a spur.
The whip is more humane, and can be applied
in the correct place, which is behind the
place where the spur is usually used, and
has not the frightening effect that the spur
often has. A spur as a means of inflicting
punishment, if sharp, is a barbarous instrument,
and it is horrible to see young recruits and
would-be riders of all types digging their
horse's flanks with sharp spurs when probably
the horse does not know what his ignorant
rider requires of him. Such men should not be
allowed spurs ; if they were given a whip they
might do more good, or, at any rate, they
would do less harm to the horse. I cannot
understand why riding instructors allow such
things to go on. If people must use spurs to
show that they ride or belong to the cavalry,
the rowels should be filed off or cut out. Most
spurs are sharp, and yet not one in a thousand
horses requires their use. Some horses get used
to being constantly spurred, and take no notice
of it, but this is the result of shocking riding.
By cutting off the sharp points or taking out
the rowels, the rider shows greater knowledge
— at any rate, in most cases.

Riding whips (cutting) should not be made
of soft leather, but should be stiff, and lined
with whalebone, not steel, and, if used as a
punishment, must be used well behind the
girth, but not under the belly and never over
the head. The stiff whip can be used as an
indicator when required.

337. Personally, I look upon the spur or
whip as an indispensable indicator in training
or riding a horse after a certain stage has been
reached, and only as a means of inflicting
punishment in rare cases when the equine pupil
is wilfully disobedient. For this reason I always
use spurs without rowels. With these spurs one
can play on the horse's flank with a touch
similar to that of the finger on a piano key.
These touches vary according to what is
required ; the position of the touch varies from
far back on the loins to as far forward as the
shoulder in rare cases. Were I to use a sharp
spur I should expect the horse to give a sudden
movement that would be quite beyond the
control of my hands ; that is to say, by my own
ignorance I should place my horse temporarily

86

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

beyond my control, i.e. out of hand. There is
nothing gained by using sharp spurs if the same
result can be obtained with blunt ones. This
is the case with most old horses, but with young
ones the results that could be obtained with
sharp spurs are really not worth anything. If
the horse requires punishing, then I use the spur
or whip as an instrument of reproof ; but
directly he is obedient I caress him, and con-
tinue to use the spur or whip as an indicator.
The whip is used as an extra indicator on one
side or the other while training horses, hence it
must be rigid. This indicator is of the utmost
service to ladies using the side saddle, as it takes
the place of the right leg.

An objection to the present abuse of this
valuable indicator, the spur, was brought home
to me a short while ago when I overheard an
observant lady say concerning me, " Oh, look
how he is spurring that poor horse ! " As a
matter of fact, I was riding a high-spirited horse
who objected to pass a street car, and I was
passaging him past. I had no rowels to my
spurs.

The word " indicator " as applied to hands
and legs is better than the word " aid," because
the latter rather implies the application of
physical help, which, generally speaking, the
hands and legs do not and cannot apply. If one
dismounts and by mere force pushes a horse
over, then he applies an aid. Our hands and
legs would have little effect on a horse unless
it acquiesced in the movements we ask him to
perform.

338. On Ladies Riding Astride. — Ladies, as a
rule, have better hands than men, and for this
reason they often manage horses, both riding
and driving, better than men. Ladies are often
handicapped by riding side-saddle. Custom and
appearance cause many people strongly to con-
demn ladies riding astride ; they say it is un-
becoming, too manly, and so forth. But in
horse matters I think humanity and common
sense should stand ahead of fashion or " what
used to be done." It may be unbecoming to
some ladies, especially those who are corpulent,
but my point is, as stated above, that comfort,
safety and humanity should stand first. Riding
astride is not improper any more than cycling,
and no laws of common propriety or etiquette
can be laid down against riding astride for
ladies. (See P. 63.)

Laying aside custom and appearance, we will
look into the subject from a practical point of
view. There are three important points: the
comparative ease of properly learning side-
saddle and astride-saddle riding, the harm to
the rider that may result, and the harm to the
horse that may result. Of the former, there is
no doubt that astride-riding is more easily
learned. The number of ladies that ride really
well on a side saddle is extremely small. Pro-

fessor Savigear, my old instructor, was one of
the strongest advocates of abolishing the side
saddle, and he has been partly responsible for
many ladies taking up riding astride. I had the
pleasure of assisting him at Earl's Court in
teaching some of his lady pupils to ride astride
from the beginning, amongst whom were many
ladies of the nobility, and after comparing the
results with those of teaching side saddle there
is no doubt which is the easier, with few excep-
tions, to become proficient at. Very few ladies
sit square to the front, rise square to the front,
and rise at the right time. The second point,
that of damage to the rider ; I have quite
enough proof of a number of ladies who have
been seriously, or even permanently, injured in-
ternally and otherwise by bad side-saddle
riding. I do not suggest for one moment that
a graceful side-saddle rider will do herself or
her horse any harm, far from it ; but what I do
emphasise is that these graceful riders are so
few and far between. (See P. 776.) It must
be remembered that a seat cannot be judged
while at rest alone ; a bad rider may sit well
at the halt.

339. A lady while riding side-saddle is
handicapped in that, as a rule, she cannot mount
or dismount as easily as a man can. If she is
run away with, her life is in far greater danger.
If she is a bad rider, she endangers herself
every minute by tending to "upset" the horse.
She has no right leg to rely upon as an aid or
indicator ; at the best she can only have a stiff
whip or stick.

Some state that a lady has not the grip or
the flat thigh that a man has, but we must
remember that a great number of male riders
have round thighs, so I do not think this plea
carries any weight.

340. In the west of Canada and the United
States practically all women ride astride. They
would not be of any use if they rode side-
saddle.

My third point, which is more suited to this
book, is the terrible cruelty inflicted upon the
horse by bad side-saddle riding. I wonder how
many ladies I have ridden behind and watched
the side oscillations of the saddle on the horse's
back, due to crooked rising, or to rising off the
wrong leg of the horse. The lady should rise
from the saddle as the horse's near leg comes
to the ground ; that is, she should sink into the
saddle as the off leg comes on the ground. The
sights that I have seen in hunting stables and
livery stables, due to side saddles, have taught
me quite enough to advocate astride riding for
all ladies except the few who are accomplished
in the art of side-saddle riding. The number of
sore backs from such bad riding is simply
appalling. The question is then brought up :
How is a lady to know that she will never
become a good side-saddle rider? This can

PLATE 71

PLATE 74

TYPES OF SADDLES AND SADDLE HORSES

b, Ccurtesy: Miss Davies, Toronto. c, The Duke of Newcastle, Author of One of the First English Books on Riding.
Courtesy : " Cavalry Journal," London. d. Courtesy : Mr. J. Hutton, Ottawa. /. Courtesy : Captain McMillan. D.S.O.,
R.C.D. g, Colonial-pattern Saddle. f>. Courtesy : Mr. F. Bernard. Trochu Valley, Alberta. Stock Saddle. Photos :

a, b, Pringle & Booth, Toronto, d f> by the Author

VII]

RIDING AND SADDLES

87

generally be answered by an expert instructor
after a few weeks.

341. Paces. — The paces of the horse are
various, and are generally little understood.
The natural pace is the canter, which is a pace
of three time. The trot has become general with
the advancement of the horse's domestication.
In the long rides carried on in Europe the horses
that cantered at the slow paces instead of trotting
were less fatigued than those that trotted. The
ranch horse canters or ambles most of the time ;
we find the same with the South African pony.
They never seem to tire, and there is no doubt
that it is the easiest pace for the rider. P. 75
shows the tracks made by a horse at the walk.
The horse raises his legs from the ground in the
following order : near hind, near fore, off hind,
and off fore. If the walk is a long, striding one,
then the hindleg touches the ground a little
ahead of the spot from which the foreleg was
lifted ; in the slow walk the hindfoot is placed
behind the forefoot's imprint. In ambling or
single-footing, the horse brings the near legs
forward together, and then the off. In trotting
(P. 96) the diagonally opposite legs are advanced
together, the legs remaining on the ground for
a shorter period. In the fast trot the hindleg
is brought ahead of the foreleg, and in the
slow trot it is placed behind the imprint of
the foreleg. In pacing (P. 9a) the lateral pairs
move together. This is natural with some
horses whenever they are in motion, but with
others it is not a natural pace, but an acquired
one. With these, and also with some natural
pacers, hobbles are used while racing (P. 44a).
The gait is much faster than trotting.

342. The following are the world's records
for the various pacers :

Pacing. — Dan Patch, 1 mile in i min. 55 sec.

(P. to).
Trotting. — Uhlan, 1 mile in 1 min. 54£ sec.,

at Lexington, Kentucky, October 9th, 1913.
Trotting on Ice. — The Eel, i mile in 2 min.

Hi sec., on the Ottawa River, at Ottawa,

January, 1909 (P. 40fe).
Two-year-old Trotting. — Peter Volo, 1 mile in

2 min. &£ sec.

343. In the canter, which can be made at the
same pace as the trot or faster (P. 75), the horse
places the leading foreleg on the ground, then
the opposite foreleg and leading hindleg
together, and then the hindleg diagonally oppo-
site to the leading fore. The true canter is a
movement of three time. In P. 55a the near
horse is leading with near fore, the off horse
with the off foreleg.

In the gallop (P. 75) the motions are quite
different. The leading fore is brought to the
ground, followed by the diagonally opposite
hind, then the other hind, and then the other
fore. A horse while galloping (sometimes called
running) cannot be collected as he can while

cantering, but is stretched out ; the faster he
goes the farther will he be stretched out. The
true gallop is a movement in four time.

With the canter or gallop a horse leads with
one or other of the forelegs. A trained horse
will never turn on a circle or to one side unless
he is leading with the inward leg ; untrained
horses will not do this as a rule. If a horse is
turned while leading on the wrong leg, he is
very liable to cross his legs and throw himself
down ; this frequently happens and often causes
accidents, generally due to want of knowledge
on the part of the rider. Schooling is most
essential for every hunter or military horse. A
good rider knows by the feel with which leg
the horse is leading ; at any rate, a glance at
the shoulders in front of the saddle will settle
the question, because if the horse is leading with
his near fore, the off shoulder-blade will move a
little forward first, followed by the near shoulder-
blade.

344. A horse that canters or gallops with his
legs moving in the correct order, but with, let
us suppose, the off legs leading while turning to
the near side, is said to be cantering united but
" false." If his legs are not moving in the correct
order, he is cantering "disunited." In order to
canter "true" he must, therefore, canter united.
" True " is the opposite to " false."

345. Conformation of the Saddle Horse. —
When judging a saddle horse it is more im-
portant that he should go well at the walk, trot
and canter than that he should look well when
standing. Both conditions are ideal, but difficult
to get. A saddle horse must be sure-footed and
must not drag his toes, but place each foot flat
on the ground. Of course, the heels really come
to the ground first. He should be impetuous,
i.e. a free goer at all times, thus keeping up to
the bit. A sluggish horse is always behind the
hand (or bit), and has not the pluck and
reliability that it is most essential a saddle horse
should have. He must not be nervous. His con-
formation must be carefully examined. He
must have a long rein, i.e. neck, and a well-set-
on head. The neck should be fairly light,
shoulders long and oblique, withers prominent
and well covered with muscle, but not too broad,
back and loins short and strong, croup long,
pelvis not too horizontal. He must be well
ribbed up, i.e. as short as possible between the
last rib and the point of the hip (ilium). He
must have a long forearm (humerus) ; hocks
well let down, and not too much bent or tied in
below the hock.

" Good bone," which means good width
between the cannon bones and the back tendons
below the knees and hocks, is essential. The
tendons should stand out distinctly, cannon
bones short, not tied in below the knee, pasterns
fairly long and at an angle of 45° with the
vertical, long feet, and heels not contracted.

88

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Depth of girth, i.e. distance from withers to
brisket (sternum), is large, nearly equal to dis-
tance of brisket above the ground. All joints
should be free, especially fetlocks and pasterns.

As well as possessing the above qualifications,
a hunter should be very strong about the loins
and hocks ; his gluteal and thigh muscles must
be well developed, as these are used in jumping.
It is foolish to economise when purchasing a
hunter ; a cheap hunter is a danger to life.
P. 66, 67, 68 show types of good saddle horses.

346. Bits and Bitting. — Bridles and the fitting
of bits have been discussed in Chapter VI.,
Sec. 286, but I intend here to discuss the uses
of bits and the general abuse of the horse's
mouth, due to ignorance on the part of certain
riders and horsebreakers.

Every horse should be schooled and trained
in a thick broken bit, with ring attachment to
the reins, usually called a snaffle or bridoon
(P. 72a). A snaffle is thicker than a bridoon,
and has cross-pieces attached to it that prevent
it being drawn through the horse's mouth. A
racing snaffle has no cross-pieces (P. 14c). When
a horse during training, i.e. mouthing, etc.,
has reached a certain stage, his head and neck
must be properly placed, and to do this it is
really necessary to use a plain curb bit. The
functions of the curb bit will be explained later.
As horses' mouths vary so much in size and
shape, and as their dispositions vary also, the
curb bit must be fitted to every individual horse.
A snaffle or bridoon will also vary in thickness
and length for different horses. Apart from
these variations, with very few exceptions, most
other types of bits are useless.

Nearly all the varieties of complicated and
absurd bits put on the market are worse than
useless. They are made by men who know little
of the art of bitting, and are sold by harness
makers because they make large profits thereby.
Grooms and others encourage their use partly
because they sometimes receive commissions by
recommending them to their would-be horsy
masters and partly because they love a display
of steel in the harness-room. The horse owner
who says, " Come and look at my harness-room,"
and shows one an elaborate glass case full of
marvellous-looking instruments of torture called
bits, is exposing his want of knowledge.

347. The best kind of curb bit is the Liver-
pool bit (P. 33a) for driving, and the Wey-
mouth bit for riding, or modifications of the
same. The Portsmouth reversible (P. 740) is
a useful bit for either, especially if in bad hands,
as it will not easily hurt the horse. The racing
snaffle is the best kind of bit to ride a young
horse with. This is broken in the middle.
P. 74c shows a method of attaching the reins
which gives great leverage over the horse, but
which must make the horse very hard in the
mouth, and, being limited in its action, is

therefore not to be recommended under any
conditions.

If a horse is taught from the beginning by a
good trainer with good hands, the curb bit,
except for placing the head and neck, will prob-
ably never be required at all. That is, after the
head has been placed and the horse properly
mouthed, the snaffle can be used again. There
is nothing more delightful than riding a horse
to hounds in a plain racing snaffle. For driving
light harness horses a broken bit, which very
much resembles a snaffle, is often used (P. 36A) ;
or the mouth-piece may be unbroken.

348. Many horses are made to pull, and even
run away, by bad hands and ignorance of
driving and riding. They are driven in severe
bits, which make them pull all the more ; it
takes two to pull, and I have never found a
horse yet that did not give in after a few days
when he found that he had nothing to pull
against. (See Chapter VI., Sec. 268.) It is the
playful but firm feeling that good hands impart
to the bars of the horse's mouth or tongue, some-
thing like the playful touch an expert chauffeur
exerts upon the clutch of a motor-car with his
foot, that compels the horse to give way, to cease
pulling, to champ the bit and to go in a collected
manner. Mechanical bits never have accom-
plished, and never will accomplish, this. The
private coachman, whose hands are often, as Sir
Robert Baden-Powell said (in the Cavalry
Journal), "mutton-fisted," is a strong advocate
of using curb bits and holding on to the horse
all the time.

If a horse is going too fast, the fact of pulling
with a steady strain upon his mouth will not
stop him ; his mouth must be played with, not
jerked, and if this will not have any effect,
through the horse's mouth having been made
hard previously, his jaw must be drawn back
with determination towards his chest and imme-
diately released, i.e. the reins let quite loose,
followed by his mouth being again drawn in,
and so on. Almost any runaway horse, as
described in Sec. 266, can be stopped in this
way.

849. It must be remembered that pain excites
a horse to motion, and this is why so many run-
aways have been caused by the pain inflicted
upon the horse by severe bits. Race-track trot-
ting horses are taught to go faster by the feel
upon the reins being increased. Pulling on the
reins has not much effect upon such horses when
it is required to stop them, but it is quite easy
to stop these horses by the playful method
described above. A horse which apparently
cannot be managed without brutal and useless
patent bits must be handed over to a competent
man for a few weeks, who will be able very
soon to accustom the horse to being ridden or
driven in the simplest of bits. I do not believe
in rubber-covered mouth-pieces. They teach

PLATE 75

O'P

3'f X

W/U

ZO" * 30 " * 26

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IS- Z *. HORSE. 8 HU-ES re* HOUt?

4 ' >

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HV-H. OFF FCRE.

O = FOR.E FOOT

Tracks of Horses' Feet at Different Paces. Taken from Tracks made in Clay

PLATE 76

HUNTERS

Courtesy: a. Mr. F. G. Haines, West End Riding School, London, b. "Gold Ribbon." Prize Winner.

Courtesy : " Canadian Sportsman

PLATE 77

•

HUNTERS

Ot *' Grey Man," owned by Mr. John Ferguson, Co. Antrim. Courtesy : " Weekly Irish Times."
bt Courtesy : Major Douglas Young, R.C.D. Photo : W. James, Toronto

PLATE 78

cc

I1-

A&DOMINUS
STROCNEMIUS

INFERIOR CERVICAL.
LAT/SS/MUS DOKS1.
LEVATOR HUMERI.
EXTERNAL SCAPULA M
TRICEPS EXTENSOR.

EXTENSOR BRACH//
(BICEPS).

a, H.M. King George V. on his Favourite Charger. Photo: "Sphere and Tatler." b. The same Horse being Ridden
in Rotten Row. Copyright Photo: L. N. A. c, The Outer Layer of Muscles of the Horse (after Schwan), the

Panniculus Carnosus being removed

VII]

RIDING AND SADDLES

89

horses to pull. If a horse has a tender mouth,
a thick mouth-piece must be used and an easy
hand must be at the other end of the reins.

Jerking a horse's mouth in order to increase
his speed is a sure sign of extremely bad driving.

350. Curb Bits. — The curb bit requires to be
fitted accurately to the mouth if the best use is
to be derived from it. A curb bit consists of
mouth-piece, lateral upper and lower cheek-
pieces, and curb chain, which is hooked on to
both sides. The upper cheek-piece has a ring
in its top to which is buckled the headstall,
which keeps the bit in the horse's mouth. The
chain hooks are also attached to these rings.
The lower cheek-piece, i.e. below the mouth-
piece, has usually two holes in it in driving bits,
and sometimes two in riding bits, for the attach-
ment of the reins. The mouth-piece is either
straight or has a port in it which fits over the
tongue. (See P. 71.) The surface of the mouth-
piece is usually smooth, but may be slightly
grooved for horses which have hard mouths.
P. 71, Fig. 2, shows how the tongue of a horse
usually projects above the side-bars. The side-
bars are the ridges (incidental spaces) between
the incisor tooth of a mare, or the tusk of a
horse, and the first molar. They are covered
with mucous membrane, and, unless they are
made callous by hard handling, are very sensi-
tive. The degree of sensitiveness of these bars,
sometimes called gums, is often designated as
" fineness of mouth."

Fineness of mouth is defined as meaning a
mouth that is properly trained and responds to
the actions of the bridle hand ; therefore, the
rider cannot be too cautious in the manner in
which he uses his bit reins, or too careful that
the movements of his hands are the correct
indications of his own will, always bearing in
mind that fineness of mouth is not produced
through laceration of the bars, as the delicate
skin that covers them is never so sensitive or
tender after abrasion as before.

351. From the diagram it will be clear that
the existence of a port and the depth of the port
depend on two things : the shape of the mouth
and tongue, and the disposition of the horse.
Clearly, with a port the bars will take the feel
of the reins, without a port (unless the tongue
is very small and the bars high) the tongue will
take the feel. The tongue is less sensitive than
the bars, and therefore a port makes a bit more
severe. Some horses go better with the bit on
the tongue, some with it on the bars. This can
only be ascertained by a careful examination
followed by a trial.

The width of the bit must also be correct ;
if too narrow it will pinch the mouth, and if too
wide it will slip from side to side. The width
of a jaw can be measured by passing a wooden
rule through the mouth and measuring from a
quarter of an inch outside the lips on each side

M

when the mouth is closed. This distance is the
correct length inside the cheek-pieces. If a bit
is too wide, circular leather cheek-pieces can be
cut to slip on the mouth-piece inside the cheek-
pieces of the bit. A horse with a thin skin on
his bars or on his tongue will have to be bitted
with a thicker mouth-piece to prevent injury and
pain.

Besides taking into account the shape of the
mouth and the thickness of the skin on the bars,
the conformation of the head and neck, fore
quarters and back should also be considered.

352. Port. — The port is usually made parallel
to the cheek-pieces. When it is in this position
the lower cheek-piece would have to be moved
at right angles to the bars in order to allow the
tongue to fit into the port. At the most the
lower cheek-piece is drawn to an angle of 45°,
and therefore half of the depth of the port will
be lost. So that really the correct plane for the
port is at least 45° to the plane of the cheek-
pieces, as shown in P. 71, Fig. 4 ; the port then
forms a small groove for the tongue at all times,
but a complete one when the curb is brought
into action.

353. Curb Chain.— As explained in Sec. 286,
a curb chain must lie flat in the chin groove ;
it must be broad, so as not to cut into the jaw
and cause pain. The curb chain is not meant
to cause pain, as is so often supposed. It has
quite a different function, as explained below.
The object of the curb bit is to subject the head
and neck, and therefore the whole body, to the
action of the hand. It acts by causing a properly
mouthed horse to allow his lower jaw to move
toward the rider, thus causing him to arch his
neck and to take no hold of the bit.

The longer the lower cheek-pieces and the
shorter the upper, the greater will be the power
of the bit. The reins for driving are usually not
buckled to the lowest hole on the long cheek-
piece (P. 33<z). The more power such a bit
possesses the greater care must be exercised in
handling the reins ; but, as the mouth-piece
should never be thin nor the curb chain narrow,
the harm done will be comparatively slight
should the horse be accidentally jerked in the
mouth. If it is seen that a curb chain causes
pain, a leather strap should be worn between
it and the chin. The length of the upper cheek-
piece is limited, because it must be of such a
length that the curb chain is just tight when the
bit rein is pulled so as to cause the cheek-pieces
to be at an angle of 30° to 45° from their original
position. In this position the curb must be lying
flat all along the chin groove, not having slipped
up or down. A curb may slip up if the mouth-
piece is too high or if the upper cheek-piece is
too long. A curb chain will not allow the cheek-
pieces to form the required angle if it is too
short, but if too long it will allow the cheek-
pieces to be drawn too far over, i.e. too near a

90

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, vn

right angle. Unless this angle is from 30° to
45° (preferably the latter) the best results cannot
be obtained from the curb.

The curb chain must be several links longer
than required, else it will be difficult to hook it
on properly ; it is always twisted as a right-
hand screw is turned (Sec. 286).

It stands to reason that if a curb chain is too
short the action of the bit will be too strong,
and not gradual enough. If, however, it is so
long as to allow the cheek-pieces to turn nearly
at right angles to their original position, the use
of the curb is lost, because the rein is pulling
against the bars of the mouth in the same way
as if they were attached to a snaffle bit. The
feeling that good hands has upon the reins is
a continuous and playful feeling, but if it is
required to stop the horse this feeling is gradual,
then stronger, until it ends in a distinct oppo-
sition, the whole lasting but for a few seconds,
when the horse's mouth is eased again, and the
feeling repeated. To the casual observer these
motions of the bridle hand would not be
discernible.

354. Martingales. — A horse which is con-
tinually throwing up his head or which carries
his head too high, so that the bit remains in the
corner of the mouth instead of on the bars, may
require to be ridden for a while in a standing
martingale. This fault is often the result of bad
handling, and, therefore, can only be cured by
careful handling. The martingale is attached to
the back of the noseband, and must be tight
enough to catch the horse's nose whenever he
throws his head to about a horizontal position
or perhaps a little lower, but should never be so
tight as to keep his head down ; such will ruin
the horse and make him far worse when his
head is left free. By having it as described
above, whenever the horse throws his head up
he will catch his nose, which will cause him a
slight amount of pain, and he will soon know
that he has to keep his head down. Standing
martingales are not advisable for hunting, nor
for jumping anything but low jumps ; even then
they must be quite loose.

355. Another type of martingale is the run-
ning martingale, which I do not recommend for
horses as a rule. When used, leather stops must
be placed on the reins, so as to prevent the rings
of the martingale from catching on the buckles
of the reins, which might throw the horse down.

The objection to the running martingale is that,
as the pull is coming from below, it tends to
make the horse try to hold his head higher, as
he will naturally pull against the reins. When
jumping a horse that gets his head very high, a
running martingale is generally necessary.
They are of great use for horses that are liable
to rear, but the martingale should not be used
tightly. The best kind of bridle to use with
this type of martingale is the double-reined
snaffle, so that only one of the reins is attached
to the martingale ; the other, which is free, is
used for riding, except when the martingale is
required. A third type is a fixed one that is
attached to the rings of the bit. This is most
dangerous, and I do not see how it can do any
good, except to throw the horse on his nose.

356. Cold Bits. — I wish here to emphasise
the great cruelty commonly practised in thrust-
ing cold, or even freezing, bits into a horse's
mouth. This is common in the Canadian west
in winter. Such cruelty should be practised on
those who practise it upon their horses. I well
recollect a constable of the Royal North-West
Mounted Police punishing a cruel lad in this
way for having thrust a cold bit into his horse's
mouth. He asked the lad to lick a piece of cold
steel, which he did, and was greatly surprised
when he found the metal firmly stuck to his
tongue. The shock was so great that he dropped
the metal, which tore the skin from his tongue.
He learnt a lesson. Bits should be kept at night
in the stable, unless the stable is very cold, when
they should be kept in the house.

If they are kept in a cold place, they must
be warmed by being held for a few minutes in
the hand or before a fire, and then put in the
horse's mouth. A very cold bit may tear off
large pieces of skin from the horse's tongue or
lips. This is done by the cold steel suddenly
freezing the moisture on the surface of the skin,
the ice acting as a cement and securely sticking
the skin to the cold metal.

357. The cleaning of harness, etc., was
described in Chapter VI., Sees. 292-3. The white
buff leather brow-bands, so commonly used on
bridles (P. 14c, Tib], must be kept quite soft in
order that they will not rub the horse's ears
when he moves them. This can easily be
accomplished by bending the brow-bands back-
wards and forwards, after they have been pipe-
clayed and dried, until they become quite pliable.

PLATE 79

TYPES OF CANADIAN-BRED ARMY HORSES

a, Royal Canadian Dragoons' Musical Ride, b. Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (Old Dress). Courtesy: Major Leslie.

C to h, R.C.H.A. Horses. Photos by the Author

PLATE 80

CAVALRY HORSES

a, Troop Horses and Chargers of the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Photo : W. James, Toronto, b, Troop Horse King's
Dragoon Guards. c. Royal Horse Guards. Photos, Author, d, Chaiger 17th Lancers

CHAPTER VIII

STABLE CONSTRUCTION AND THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

358. The Circulatory System. — A knowledge of
the use of fresh air is essential before it is
possible to realise the necessity for a continued
supply of fresh air in the stable.

The food of the living cells of the body is
blood. Blood carries two important kinds of
food: one, protein, salts, etc., as explained in
Chapter IV. ; the other, oxygen. Oxygen is not
very soluble in the watery fluid portion of the
blood, so Nature has made use of a red substance
called haemoglobin, which has a very great
affinity for oxygen, and absorbs a very great
amount of it per unit volume compared with
any other liquid. In the horse and other large
animals, and in man, Nature has not allowed
this haemoglobin to mix freely with the liquid
plasma (watery fluid) of the blood, but has con-
fined it to little carriers (like delivery vans)
called red blood corpuscles (erythrocytes) ,
which, in the horse, measure l-5,000th of an
inch in diameter. A large drop of blood contains
several millions of these circular, bi-concave,
plate-like cells. They carry a large quantity of
haemoglobin. Their function is, as stated above,
to carry oxygen, which they obtain from the
lungs, and whenever they reach a place in the
body where there is not much oxygen, i.e. where
the pressure is small compared with the pressure
in the corpuscle, they give up some of their
oxygen. By the time they get back to the lungs
they have exhausted all, or almost all, of their
oxygen, and there they receive a fresh supply,
because the pressure of oxygen in themselves is
less than that in the lung capillaries.

359. The circulation of the blood consists of
a continuous flow that is given an impulse every
time the heart beats. The heart is a double
pumping station, which is divided into left and
right, and each side is again divided into the
receiving vessel (auricle) and the pump proper
(ventricle). The circuit of the blood is as
follows : the left ventricle, which is a very
powerful muscular box, forces its contents into
the large aorta, then into the other large arteries,
and thence into small arteries, until, finally,
it reaches the minute capillaries that are
situated in every portion of muscle, bone and
almost every kind of tissue in the body. Here
the blood gives up its oxygen. While full of
oxygen, blood is bright red in colour, and is

called arterial. After parting with its oxygen
it becomes blue, and is called venous. From the
capillaries the venous blood passes into small
veins, then larger veins, then into the vena cava,
and thence into the right auricle of the heart.
Before it reaches the heart the lymph vessels
empty the nourishment that they have collected
from the intestinal walls into it. This is the
other kind of food that the blood carries.

The venous blood passes from the right
auricle, down through a strong, three-sided
valve, into the right ventricle, which forces it
into the pulmonary artery (the only artery in
the body that carries venous blood), which
carries it to the capillaries of the lungs ; in these
capillaries the red blood corpuscles pick up their
oxygen. The arterial blood then passes into the
pulmonary vein, and is poured into the left
auricle of the heart. From the left auricle it
passes through a very powerful two-sided valve
into the left ventricle, whence it is again forced
through the body. (See P. 71.)

• 360. It will, of course, take a number of
beats of the heart for a drop of blood to pass
around the whole circuit. A heart-beat consists
of a complete cardiac cycle, which is the con-
traction of the large valves, the contraction of
the auricle, and then the contraction of the ven-
tricle ; this period, which is called the systole,
occupies three-fifths of a heart-beat. Then the
auricle and ventricle relax, and cause the heart
to refill ; this period is called the diastole, and
occupies the remaining two-fifths of a heart-beat.

361. Respiratory System.— We must briefly
consider how the capillaries of the pulmonary
circulation come in contact with the oxygen.

Air contains by weight 21 per cent, (a little
over one-fifth) oxygen, nearly 79 per cent, nitro-
gen, and about one-twentieth of 1 per cent,
carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas), and a trace
of ammonia gas. It contains other gases that do
not concern us here.

Every time an inspiration is taken, air passes
into the mouth, through the larynx, windpipe
(trachea) and bronchial tubes, to the lungs
proper. These consist of numerous branches
leading off the bronchial tubes, which subdivide
until they become very small tubes that ter-
minate in minute air sacs. The surface thus
exposed to the inspired air is very great. In a

92

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

man of average size it is about 625 square feet.
In a horse this is many times greater. A
common view held is that a lung at each expira-
tion empties itself of air ; this is far from being
the case.

Every time the lung draws in air, by the
chest being expanded and the diaphragm being
contracted, the little air sacs become larger ; this
expansion of the lungs causes the air sac to
expand only one-seventh of its original volume.
Now, only one-fifth of the air is oxygen, so each
time an air sac becomes expanded it receives
only one-thirty-fifth of its volume of pure oxygen.
The venous blood, when it reaches the lungs,
besides receiving a fresh supply of oxygen, gives
up a quantity of carbon dioxide, which is a waste
product from the cells of the body.

The air in the lungs, as it is expelled by an
expiration, takes this carbon dioxide (C02) with
it, so that the air has a double function : that
of taking oxygen to the blood, and that of taking
carbon dioxide away from the blood. As the
lungs only open and close, approximately, one-
seventh of their volume, the air in them must
always contain a certain amount of carbon
dioxide.

362. It will also be clear how important it is
that the air which is drawn in is as pure as
possible, and that which is blown out is taken
away from the nostrils as rapidly as possible.
In short, unless fresh air is continually being
supplied to the nostrils of a horse, his health
must be seriously impaired. Also, the oxygen
in a closed stable will rapidly become used up,
and the stable will soon become filled with a
high percentage of carbon dioxide. Air contain-
ing as little as \ per cent, carbon dioxide is
exceedingly bad for horses to breathe. As long
as this impure air remains in a closed stable it
will remain impure, but when impure air is
allowed to escape into the open air Nature
rapidly removes its impurities and transforms
it into pure air. This process of changing carbon
dioxide back to carbon and oxygen is carried out
by plants, i.e. the vegetable kingdom.

It would, therefore, be possible, if a perfect
inflow of pure air and exit of used air were
maintained, to keep a horse in a very small
enclosed space ; but for various obvious reasons,
and also because a certain space must be allowed
to avoid a draught, the cubic capacity for a horse
must be comparatively large. Experiments have
shown that the cubic space in a stable for each
horse should be 1,500 cubic feet. Thus, if a
stable is 12 ft. high and about 6 ft. wide, it will
have to be 21 ft. from the front of the stalls to
the back of the stable, or the centre of the
passage, if there is a double row of horses. The
width of 6 ft., of course, is the width of the
stall. It is quite obvious that there are many
stables that have not this required air space.

363. Having got this space for every horse, it

is necessary that the air in this space be entirely
changed every twenty minutes. The large
volume of air which enters a horse's lungs at
every inspiration, and which comes out impure
at each expiration, rapidly causes the 1,500 cubic
feet of air to become contaminated. Careful
experiments have shown that if there is a large
enough inlet and a large enough outlet to allow
this space to be refilled every twenty minutes,
the horse will obtain all the fresh air that he
could possibly require while standing in the
stable, if he is not suffering from lung disease.

Nature assists us to replace the foul air in a
wonderful way. Foul air, when it comes out of
the lungs, is warm. All gases expand when they
are heated. Thus, the same weight of a gas
when heated occupies a larger space. That is,
a cubic foot of expanded air would weigh less
than a cubic foot of cold air. Hence the heated
air, being lighter, rises above the heavier cold
air. Carbon dioxide (22) normally weighs more
than air (14'43), but when heated and mixed
with air it weighs less than pure air ; thus the
impure air from the horse's lungs rises to the
ceiling. If this air cannot continue to rise, but
comes in contact with a cold ceiling, it will
remain there until it cools down and once more
becomes lighter than air, when it will again fall
and reach the horse's lungs. Therefore, the air
in a closed stable would be breathed over and
over again, each time becoming more foul and
causing more harm. Thousands of horses in
large cities are daily having their health im-
paired by bad, and in many eases disgraceful,
ventilation.

364. On the other hand, if this warm foul air
is able to rise up and pass through the ventilator
in the roof, it escapes into the outside air. So
much for the outlet. The most important ques-
tion is the inlet of fresh air. This must be
nearly as abundant as the outlet. If it is not,
the fresh air will get in under the door and
through other places, and cause objectionable
draughts. If we close up windows and venti-
lators we create draughts, as some air will get
in some way or other.

If the inlet is at a suitable height above the
ground, and is large, there will be very few
draughts along the floor. When the foul air
leaves the stable through the ventilator, other
air must replace it, or else a partial vacuum
will be created in the stable ; and, as Nature
abhors a vacuum, the air has, as we said before,
to get in somehow.

365. Windows as the Air Inlet.— The best
entrance for the fresh air is through a small
window about 8 ft. from the ground in front
of each horse. The window should be 2 ft.
square, hinged at the bottom on the inside wall,
to open towards the inside of the stable to an
angle of 45°. A little plug should be arranged
to fit into the window to keep it right open

PLATE 81

CHAMPION GREY PERCHERONS

a, Photo, Hildebrand, Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Illinois. A, Champion Team, the Property of W. E. & R. C.
Upper, Clear Water Slock Farm, North Portal, Saskatchewan. Courtesy of the Owners

PLATE 82

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STABLE CONSTRUCTION AND SANITATION

93

or partially open as required (see P. 84), but it
must never be entirely closed, except in very
cold climates. The best way to stop grooms
from closing the windows entirely is to have
blocks of wood fastened so that it is impossible to
close them completely. Grooms have a very bad
habit of trying to heat a stable at the expense
of fresh air in order to save themselves trouble
in grooming. A hot stable makes a horse's coat
shine a little better, but a horseman with a little
experience will be able to distinguish between a
horse that has been groomed properly and one
that has lived in hot stables. The glass (which
is most conveniently fitted in four panes) must
be put in from the outside, so that there will be
no danger of its falling on to the horse's head
should the putty get dry.

366. A most necessary and cheap addition to
a stable is that of fitting fly screens to the
windows and doors during the fly season. They
must be put on before the flies make their first
appearance. The doors are fitted on to the out-
side of the door frame with hinges. The
windows should either screw on or fasten on to
the outside of the frames. These frames must
fit very accurately, or flies will get in. Fly
strings should be hung inside the stable from
the ceiling sufficiently high so that a horse can-
not reach them if he gets loose. Ply strings are
better than papers for catching flies.

367. Ventilators. — The outlet, as described
above, must be through ventilators in the roof.
The best kind is shown in P. 87, which is
of the new louvre-board type. This kind can
be used for stables that have no ceilings, or for
those with a ceiling and loft above (P. 84), or
for those with a living-room above. P. 87
explains as fully as is necessary the detail. The
opening at the top, with louvre-boards fastened
in to prevent rain and snow from beating in, is
the best kind of top to the ventilator. The
number and size of ventilators should be,
approximately, as shown. These figures vary,
of course, in proportion to the number of horses
and the size of the stable. There must be holes
to allow the foul air from the loft or living-room
above to pass out. The bottom of the ventilator
shaft should have a trap, as shown, but, to
prevent this being entirely closed, holes must be
bored through it. If these traps are entirely
closed, not only would the ventilation through
the windows be poor, but periodic rushes of
•old air would descend on to the horse's
head. When these traps are open, the inflow of
cold air tends to rise up and pass well over the
horse and fall diffused over a large space. What-
ever the style of the stable, it is imperative that
a window be built in front and above every
horse's head. If a stable cannot be constructed
to admit of an outward wall being in front of
the horses, then a better site should be chosen.
Many stables holding a dozen horses have only

one or two windows in them, and the atmo-
sphere is often extremely unhealthy. A stable,
if properly fitted with windows, should have
such a supply of fresh air that, upon entering
it, there is only a slight smell of horses, and
upon leaving it, after standing in it for some
minutes, one's clothes should not smell of the
stables, except perhaps very slightly. The atmo-
sphere of many stables is very injurious to those
who work in them, especially those who groom
the horses, because their breathing, while groom-
ing, is naturally more rapid, causing them to
breathe so much more foul air.

368. Stable Impurities. — In order to show the
bad effect produced by improperly ventilated
stables upon the horse and upon harness it will
be necessary to discuss briefly the chemical
impurities that are produced in a stable.

The lungs give eff, as explained above,
carbon dioxide and water. Other impurities are
given off by the system, which remain chiefly
in the coat until they are brushed out by the
groom. (See Chapter V.) The urine decomposes
into gases and solid substances. The chief gas
is ammonia gas (NH.) ; the chief solids are
ammonium carbonate, ammonium benzoate,
ammonium acetate, and acetic acid.

The dung consists chiefly of insoluble sub-
stances, such as cellulose, which have very little
effect on the impurity of the air. It decomposes
slightly into ammoniacal substances, lactic acid,
and a very small percentage of carbolic acid.

369. Horse Urine. — This is normally cloudy.
It is composed of about 90 per cent, water, 5 per
cent, mineral salts (salts of K., Ca. Mg. Na.),
5 per cent, organic matter, 3 per cent, of which
is urea and 2 per cent, alkaline lactates. Fresh
urine contains no ammonia, but, owing to
ammonia bacteria, fermentation rapidly takes
place, the urea combining with water and form-
ing ammonium carbonate : CO (NHa), (urea) +
2H30 (water) = (NH4), CO, (ammon. carb.).
Urea is present to a certain extent in the blood
when the horse is at rest. Exercise changes this
partly into hippuric acid.

370. The functional changes in the body pro-
duced by work cause urea to be changed into
hippuric acid. Hence it will be seen that
exercise is necessary to diminish the chance of
the horse suffering from rheumatism and gout.
These are partly due to an excess of urea in the
blood. Urea is decomposed, as stated above,
and hippuric acid is decomposed by bacteria
(see Chapter XVII.) into various solids, as
mentioned above. The ammonium carbonate is
again split up into water, ammonia gas and
carbonic acid gas : (NH,)a CO, = HaO + 2NH, +
C02.

Ammonia has a very bad effect upon the eyes
and lungs of the horse. It destroys all leather
by dissolving the fat that leather contains, thus
leaving the leather at the mercy of damp and

94

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

wet and the action of bacteria. The life of
leather is extremely short if it is deprived of its
fat, hence the importance of keeping leather
well greased.

If leather is hung in a badly ventilated stable
it will rapidly deteriorate, however well it is
greased. Ammonia also has a bad effect on
polished and varnished woodwork, such as
carriages, because it dissolves the varnish. In
fact, carriage builders use ammonia to remove
varnish from carriages.

As stated above, dung contains comparatively
few impurities if kept dry and unmixed with
other fluids. But if mixed with alkaline fluids,
as ammonia, it produces certain ferments
(Chapter XVII.) which have the power of dis-
solving albumen and mucin, of which the
horse's hoof is chiefly composed ; hence the
importance of picking out the horse's hoofs two
or three times a day and of keeping them dry.
It will be clear that the hind feet of mares will
be more liable to become affected, which I have
found to be the case. Glean alkaline water has
a slight action on the horse's hoof. Dung soaked
in ammonia is an excellent medium for en-
couraging the growth of bacteria. (See
"Tetanus," Sees. 619 and 795.)

371. Light. — Abundant light is of the utmost
importance, for several reasons. If stables are
not well lighted with windows the horse's eyes
will become seriously damaged. Many shying
horses are made such by being kept in dark
stables, and, upon first coming out into the light,
are unable to see properly. If horses live for
long in such stables, their eyes will be affected
permanently. Light is also necessary to assist
in keeping the air in the stable pure ; light is
an enemy to most disease-producing organisms.
Dirt, darkness and dampness are the three
friends of the disease microbe.

Light, again, is necessary to enable the groom
to see dirt and to see that every portion of the
stable is kept scrupulously clean. The owner
can at once discover any neglected places if
there is good light in the stable. While work-
ing at night, the stable should be lit with electric
incandescent light, which is the best form of
artificial light for night work, but this is of
little importance compared with daylight.
Light assists the groom only, but daylight is
necessary to maintain good health. All fittings
should be gas-tight stable fittings, and all wires
should be laid in gas-tight iron pipes to prevent
the ammonia from acting upon the rubber in-
sulation and metal work. Switches should be
where they will not be struck by horses that
pass near them. The lights should be hung
where they will not be knocked by the horses,
and should be at least 9 ft. from the floor. In
some places, where high buildings surround the
stables, skylights (windows in the roof) are
necessary, but these must not take the place of

the other windows which are necessary for
ventilation. If, however, it is only possible to
have skylights, then these must be made to
open. The inlet in such cases must come
through ventilating shafts on the side of the
wall, 6 ft. or 7 ft. from the ground.

372. Roofs. — Open roofs are cheaper and
allow more air space for the horse ; but where
the extra expense is not considered, it is far
better to have a ceiling above the stable, 12 ft.
from the ground. The roof can then be built
as low as possible above the ceiling, allowing
a sufficient slope for drainage off the roof, or it
can be built higher to give room for a hayloft
or room (P. 84). The advantages of a ceiling
are that with it the temperature of the stable is
more easily kept consistent. Without a ceiling,
the stable becomes hot in summer and cold in
winter. A ceiling also keeps the stable much
more free from dust. The ideal roof is a ferro-
concrete one, because it is fireproof and water-
proof, and lasts a long time ; but it is very
heavy.

The ceiling should always be made of ferro-
concrete, and in this case it would be quite safe
to have the room above built of wood. Wooden
shingles should never be used on a stable, as
they are extremely dangerous from a fire point
of view. Slates, tiles, or metal shingles should
be used. As stated above, ferro-concrete should
be used wherever possible as a protection from
fire, and in this case the ventilating shaft would
be made of sheet metal ; the trap at the bottom
should be fireproof also.

373. Walls. — A stable wall should be made
of solid brick or concrete, with air space inside
(P. 86) ; this is necessary to keep the stable
warm in winter and cool in summer, and to
prevent damp from reaching the inside of the
stable. There should be a row of ventilating
bricks in the outer wall, 1 ft. or 2 ft. above the
ground, and another row beneath the eaves of
the roof, thus connecting the outside air with
the inside space and keeping it well ventilated.
In Canada, where the winters are cold, the
total thickness of a stable wall should be 2 ft.,
1 ft. outside the space and 8 in. or 9 in. inside,
which should keep the stable quite warm in the
coldest weather. The inside and outside walls
are joined at intervals by means of small iron
rods.

The inside surface of the stable wall should
be of glazed bricks or tiles. Glazed bricks are
the best (P. 88). Good smooth cement must
be used to "point" the bricks. These walls can
then be scrubbed and kept absolutely sanitary.
If the walls are not made of glazed bricks, they
must be made of ordinary bricks or cement, and
should be whitewashed every three months with
chloride of lime. As bricks, especially glazed
bricks, are expensive, a cheaper kind of wall
can be made of concrete. The same air space

PLATE 83

Ot Earl Harrington on his Polo Pony at Ranelagh. Copyright Photo : Newspaper Illustrations, London.
b, Champion Percheron Pair, " Vennetle " and "Abella." Property of Messrs. Upper, North Ponal, Sask.

PLATE 84

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STABLE CONSTRUCTION AND SANITATION

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must be left. Concrete is absolutely fireproof,
and looks well if lines are made on the outside
wall representing blocks of stone. Inside it can
be painted with washable sanitary paint. The
best colour for the inside of the walls is white
or light cream.

374. Doors and Windows. — In Sec. 365 win-
dows have been discussed. They should be
made of metal fireproof frames and casements.
If they are arranged as shown in P. 84 there
is no need for any ropes, which are always
liable to break ; small plugs should be used to
regulate the extent to which the window is
opened. Doors must be in halves, must be 4 ft.
6 in. wide, and should open outwards. Their
total height should not be less than 8 ft., and the
height of the bottom half not less than 4 ft. 6 in.
The bottom half should bolt very securely, to
prevent a loose horse from getting out when the
top half is open. The doors should be made of
hard wood, or may be covered on both sides with
metal to make them fireproof. The frames
should be of metal if it is desired to make the
whole stable fireproof. Hard wood is almost as
fireproof as thin metal sheeting.

The latches should be such that a loose horse
cannot use his muzzle to open the door, but
must also be of such a pattern that in case of a
fire in the stable they can be opened immediately.
In Canada double doors are often used in the
winter ; in this case the inner door should be
put up in the winter and should open inwards.
A space of about 6 in. should be left between the
two doors. With good thick doors and properly
constructed stables two doors should not be
necessary.

On the floor, inside each door, a ridge of con-
crete an inch high should be made to fit tight
against the bottom of the door to prevent cold
air and rain beating in under the door.

Sliding doors that are hung on wheels that
run on a rail are very convenient where large
doors are necessary, such as in coach-houses.
They do not sink, as heavy doors on hinges are
liable to do ; they are, of course, fastened on to
the outside of the wall.

375. Coach-houses. — Coach-houses and har-
ness-rooms should be constructed very similarly
to stables, except that a fewer number of larger
windows are better than the smaller stable
windows. Strict attention must be paid to ven-
tilation, but the temperature should be kept up
to about 60° F. in winter. Without perfect ven-
tilation the carriages will become mouldy and
the varnish will become spoilt ; the harness will
also suffer considerably. A fireplace, properly
constructed, should be placed in the harness-
room, to keep the room dry in damp weather,
and also for the purpose of boiling water and
cooking food for the horses.

376. Floors. — Floors should be of tiles, or,
preferably, small bricks, as shown in P. 87.

These consist of small rectangular bricks, with
grooves running in one direction only. If the
grooves run in both directions it is more difficult
to brush out the dirt.

The slope of the floor of each stall must not
be more than i in. in 3 ft. (1 in 36) ; therefore,
in a stall 6 ft. in width the drop in the centre
would be 1 in. The slope from front to rear
should be i in 80 ; therefore, in a stall 10 ft. 6 in.
in length the drop would be i^i in. If the
slope is greater it will be uncomfortable for the
horse, and if very great it will be injurious. The
bricks or tiles must be laid so that the grooves
run in the direction of the line shown.

The gangway or passage between two rows
of stalls should be level unless surface drainage
is used (see Sees. 377-8), and the tiles should be
laid so that the grooves run across the passage.
The floor should be at least 3 ft. thick, and should
be at least i ft. above the outside ground. There
should be 2 ft. of loose brick and tiles, and 9 in.
of good concrete on top, and about 3 in. of tile
or brick above the concrete.

The approaches, or ramps, leading up to the
stable doors should be made of concrete, well
grooved, or wood with slats across them, and
should not have a greater slope than 1 in 10.
They should be about 2 ft. wider on each side
than the door.

If concrete alone is used as a floor, the groove
should be as shown in P. 87. Concrete, however,
although cheap, does not make a good floor.
Horses are very liable to slip, and the concrete
wears badly, especially under a fidgety horse.
The grooves are also awkward when calkins are
used, as is done during the winter in Canada.
In the coldest of Canadian winters the best
method of keeping the horses warm is to place
wooden floors, already fitted together, measuring
6 ft. by 12 ft., in the stalls. These floors should
be made of at least 1-in. boards, separated
slightly between each board, and nailed on cross
pieces of 2-in. by 4-in. scantling. These floors
should be taken out daily one by one, and the
stall underneath washed down. In stables that
have wooden floors the horse should not stand
on the main flooring, which is generally made
of 2-in. planks, but should stand on an upper
hard wood floor made by laying 1-in. planks
across the stall. When these become worn they
can be replaced, which is considerably cheaper
than waiting for the 2-in. floor underneath to
wear through, and does away with the danger of
the horse's leg breaking through, which I have
seen occur several times. When calkins are used
a 2-in. board will wear through in a few weeks.
Single flooring in these cases is extremely dan-
gerous.

377. Drainage.— The stall should be drained
as shown in P. 87.

Surface drains are really the best, as they are
much more easily kept clean. They should run

96

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

along the back of each stall at least 1 ft. in the
rear of the partitions or heel posts. These drains
should be made of half-pipes (concrete or pot-
tery) measuring about 3 in. internal diameter.
In such cases the floor of the stable must slope
i in 80 from one end to the other, or from the
centre to each end, so that the depth of these
drains will remain the same. Metal pipes are
very easily broken unless they are thick.

In private stables that are carefully looked
after, underground drains may be used. I do
not like a centre drain in each stall ; a drain
behind each stall is far better. This drain should
be covered with strong iron grating, and should
lead into a common pipe running down under
each side of the centre passage. The passage can
be made level, and the drain laid deeper as it
passes along to allow for the correct slope of 1
in 80.

If the drains run into a sewer pipe outside, a
perfect type of gully-trap must be used to prevent
foul gas getting back into the stable. With open
drains the pipe should run open for at least 6 ft.
outside the stable, and then into an ordinary
underground drain. This open space acts as a
trap to prevent gases from the underground
drain getting into the stable.

After the bedding has been taken out to air
in the morning, every stall should be washed
down with a 2 per cent, solution of creolin, or
suitable antiseptic, and scrubbed clean with a
hard stable-broom. Then a good quantity of 5
per cent, creolin should be poured down the
drains if they are underground. The half-pipe
open drains must be scrubbed clean as well as
the grooves in the floor.

378. If peat moss or sawdust (Sec. 223) is
used, drains are sometimes not used at all ; but
as peat moss is not good for horse's feet when it
is soaked with the wet from the floor I cannot
recommend this method of stable sanitation.
There is no reason at all why upstair stables, if
made with ferro-concrete floor (or any kind of
floor for that matter), should not be properly
drained.

A loose box (box stall) (see Sec. 386) should
drain in the centre if underground drains are
used, the floor sloping about 1 in 80 towards the
centre. If surface drains are used, the floor
should slope 1 in 80 to the back, and slightly
towards the centre, similar to an ordinary stall ;
the partition at the side next to the passage must
be raised an inch or two at the bottom to allow
for drainage underneath.

379. Damp. — A horse always keeps more
healthy in a dry stable ; dampness, besides being
one of the friends of disease-producing microbes,
causes various ailments, such as rheumatism,
debility, etc.

In addition to having the walls damp-proof
(Sec. 373) and the floor 3 ft. thick and made as
described in Sec. 376, the site of the stable is of

great importance. In a drained city the site, of
course, does not matter so much. Sand is the
best soil on which to build a stable, and clay is
the worst. The stable should be on high ground,
if possible. If on low ground the site should be
drained.

After the foundations have been made (see
P. 86), and three or four layers of bricks have
been completed above ground level, a layer of
pitch should be laid over the whole thickness of
the wall as well as over the inner and outer
walls. This prevents the damp from rising up
the wall. A stable should be isolated from other
buildings where possible ; if this is done, more
fresh air and light will reach it. If circum-
stances permit, its longer sides should face the
east and west, so that both rows of windows (if
there are two rows of horses) will get a little
sun. If facing the north and south, one row
would get all the sun and the other none at all.
The practice of building a stable with a coach-
house as a wing on one side, and harness-rooms,
etc., as a wing on the other, is not a good plan,
as it shuts out light and cuts off the free supply
of fresh air.

For purposes of drying bedding every day, a
concrete floor, of 1 ft. in thickness, roofed to
keep rain off, should be made close by. It is
not a good practice to lay it under the outside of
the windows, as the gases arising from it will
re-enter the stable.

380. Sanitation.— Drainage and sanitation are
discussed in Sees. 377-8. If glazed brick walls,
concrete ceilings, and iron mangers are used,
whitewashing will be unnecessary. The parti-
tions, if of wood, must, however, be scrubbed
and painted with Hall's sanitary distemper,
alabastine, or other suitable washable sanitary
paint every six months. The concrete ceilings
should also be mopped with an antiseptic solu-
tion every three to six months. Walls and ceil-
ings that cannot thus be washed, such as ordin-
ary brick or plaster, should be whitewashed
at least every three months, or painted with
sanitary paint every six months.

381. Wooden stables, which are dangerous
on account of the risk from fire and are also
very insanitary, must be whitewashed all over
inside at least every three months. Wooden
mangers should be scrubbed out with hot water
and soap every month, and brushed over with
whitewash. Greolin, or strong-smelling anti-
septics of any kind, must not be used, nor must
water-buckets be used to put these chemicals in,
as horses very much object to their odour.

If a diseased horse has been using the manger,
it must be made thoroughly antiseptic by being
painted two or three times with chloride of lime.

Buckets and watering-troughs must be kept
scrupulously clean, but not have creolin or car-
bolic put into them. The best antiseptic to use
for mangers and buckets, etc., is bichloride of

PLATE 85

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PLATE

Interior of the Stables of Col. Sir Henry Pellatt, Toronto, who kindly supplied the Photos, a. The Sialls.

b. The Loose Boxes or Box-stalls

VIIl]

STABLE CONSTRUCTION AND SANITATION

97

mercury (HgCl2), but thorough washing out with
clean water afterwards is imperative, as bi-
chloride of mercury is poisonous. It must not be
allowed to come in contact with steel or plated
bits, harness, etc., as it will rapidly damage the
articles by depositing mercury.

382. Heating.— Horses keep in best health if
the stables are not too warm ; on the other hand,
the stable should not be too cold. If the stable
is constructed as laid down in this chapter, it
will, even during a Canadian winter, keep warm
enough for horses if they are well blanketed.
The heat given off from a horse's body keeps the
temperature of the stable from falling too low.
The temperature of the stable should be about
50° to 60° Fahrenheit. If, however, it is found
that in order to keep the stable properly ven-
tilated the temperature in very cold weather is
very low, which might occur when a large stable
is only partly filled, hot-water pipes should be
laid under open gratings running along under
the centre passage. The stables shown in P. 88
are heated by steam pipes, which are controlled
automatically, and are therefore never allowed to
get too warm.

One great advantage of heating large stables
that have few horses in them is that the groom
will be less liable to close the windows and ven-
tilators to keep up the temperature. A careful
horsekeeper would, of course, keep too strict a
supervision over the stable economy to allow such
practices to exist.

I regret that very many stables in winter in
Canada are kept warm, and often hot and stuffy,
at the expense of fresh air and consequent good
health of the horses. Most of this is the result
of faulty stables, combined with the belief that
horses can keep well in a foul atmosphere.

383. Precautions against Fire. — I strongly
advocate ferro-concrete ceilings, brick walls,
and hard wood partitions. If a fire starts, it will
not be able to spread far, and may even be con-
fined to one stall. The greatest precautions
should be taken in laying electric wires ; safety
fuses should be connected in every circuit.
These fuses should be either outside or in
metal-lined boxes.

Peat moss is, of course, the safest bedding
from a fireproof point of view, but, as described
in Sec. 223, is not the best bedding.

Smoking must never be allowed in or near
any stable, nor in the harness rooms, unless they
are detached from the stable. With concrete
ceilings, should a fire break out in the loft or
in the room above, it cannot spread to the stable
below. Upstair stables (so common in cities)
should have a sloping " chute " or gangway,
made of ferro-concrete, leading to each storey.
The gangway should be large enough to allow
each storey to be emptied in a few seconds in
case of fire. Wooden gangways are extremely
dangerous. Elevators are of little use in case

N

of fire, unless they are very large and fireproof.
Even then the shaft is apt to increase the fire
by acting as a chimney. The footing on the
gangway is best obtained by cross-pieces of
metal bolted into the flooring.

384. Every stable should have at least one
fire extinguisher hung on the wall. In long
stables there should be one at each end. The
best kind of extinguisher is the large brass-
cylinder type, which has only to be turned
upside down to produce a rapid spray of liquid.
The spray proceeds from a nozzle attached to
the end of a 2-ft. rubber tube. The contents
consist of a strong solution of sodium carbonate
and a bottle of strong sulphuric acid ; upon the
cylinder being inverted, the acid gains access to
the solution, and produces carbonic acid gas.
This type of extinguisher must be kept from
freezing, and it is essential that it should be
tested every six months.

385. Improvements to Old Stables. — Badly
constructed stables can be greatly improved by
having proper windows made and proper ven-
tilators, drainage and flooring put in. Sanitary
mangers can be put in, and many other little
items can be fitted or altered to make the stable
more up to date without much expense. Ample
fresh air, good light, good drainage, and abso-
lute cleanliness are the essentials for keeping a
horse in good health. The reason that private
horses are so often sick, compared with other
horses, is because of the love the coachman has
for close, unhealthy stables and the want of
exercise. Working horses are often stabled in
insanitary stables, but, as they get plenty of
work and are out of doors during the greater
part of the day, their health does not suffer to
the same degree.

386. Stalls and Boxes. — Work-horses, as a
rule, are kept in stalls. Horses are generally all
right in stalls, provided they are 6 ft. wide and
that the horses get plenty of exercise, but idle
horses are much better in box stalls (loose
boxes). Sick horses should, if possible, be put
into a loose box. All private stables should,
therefore, have two or three loose boxes. These
are not so necessary in work-horse stables or
in cavalry stables, because any horse, upon
becoming sick, is put into an infirmary or sick
lines. I notice, however, that most large stables
in large cities have a couple of box stalls at one
end.

One disadvantage of a loose box is that a
horse is very liable to rub its tail — a not un-
common habit with idle horses, especially if the
grooming of the tail is neglected. (See Sees.
198-9.) A loose box should measure 11 ft.
square. A stall should measure at least 6 ft.
wide and 11 ft. in length. A ring should be
placed about 5 ft. from the ground, over the
manger, for tying up the horse when he is being
groomed or if required during part of the day,

98

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

as, for instance, when he is harnessed up, wait-
ing to go out.

There should be a ring on each heel post
5 ft. from the ground, with chains or ropes
attached, with spring hooks on the free end to
fasten to the head, collar or bit when the horse
is turned with his tail towards the manger.
This is known as tying the horse to the pillar
chains.

387. Partitions should be made of hard wood,
such as oak or hard maple, which are much
more fireproof than any kind of soft wood.
They should be painted with sanitary paint.
Partitions are made almost fireproof if they are
covered on both sides with sheet iron or zinc,
which should be painted, but the objection is
that the metal is liable to become warm, and
sharp pieces may stick up and cut the horse.

The heel or bale posts and the top of the
partitions should be made of iron. The heel
posts should continue right up to the ceiling ;
then a saddle rack can be attached to them.
Saddlery and harness, of course, should not be
kept in the stable, but in the harness room.
Work-horse harness, which gets hard wear in
any case, is generally hung in the stable on the
racks fastened to the bale posts.

The stall partitions are better as shown in
P. 86, without openings near the top. But the
sides of a loose box next the centre passage
should be closed for 4 ft. up and open for the
top 2 ft. This partition, if 6 ft. high, is sufficient
for any-sized horse, but the partitions in between
the stalls should be at least 7 ft. near the wall.
Low partitions and open-work partitions allow
horses to snap at one another and also con-
tagious diseases to spread. For this last reason,
partitions should extend right to the wall, and
even be let into the wall. Each stall should be
quite separated by the partitions on the ground,
so that a fire in the bedding will not spread to
the next stall.

388. A good method for preventing horses
from getting loose at night, should they slip
their head-collars, is to have a rope stretched
from heel post to heel post, about 4 ft. from the
ground. In the stables shown in P. 88, at night
iron rods are drawn out from the inside of each
partition right across the centre passage, thus
converting each stall into a temporary loose box.
The centre passage between the heel posts should
be at least 10 ft. wide in double stables and 6 ft.
in single.

Some stables are constructed with only loose
boxes, each loose box having its own door, in
two halves, opening directly out of doors. This
is the common practice for racehorse stables.
The only disadvantage is that a stable of this
construction is difficult to keep warm in the
winter, but from a fire and sanitary point of
view they are ideal. The door of an inside loose
box should be 4 ft. wide, and have a very secure

form of bolt that cannot possibly be opened by
the horse, but which can be easily opened in
case of fire. The most suitable colour for the
partitions in a stable is a light stain colour.

389. Mangers. — The only kind of manger
that is really suitable for a horse is the all-iron
pattern, as shown in P. 86. This kind con-
sists of a broad iron shelf on a bracket that has
its outer edge bent down. On the left is an
opening that has the oat bowl resting in it.
This bowl must be movable, so that it can be
easily cleansed. A simple thumbscrew or other
arrangement can be attached beneath to keep it
from being knocked out by the horse. The bowl
should be as near the centre of the stall as
possible, when only bale posts are used instead
of partitions between the stalls, to prevent the
next horse from stealing the oats. The hay rack
must be as deep and roomy as possible. Over-
head hay racks are not good, as they cause hay
seeds to get into the eyes and mane, and often
cause trouble.

Hay should never be put into the rack with a
fork, but with the arms, on account of the danger
of the horse running his head on to the fork.
Iron mangers should be scrubbed out once a
week. The oat bowl should be emptied and
cleaned out properly before every meal. Wooden
mangers are destroyed quickly by the horse
nibbling at the wood, and require to be con-
tinually replaced. They require the utmost
sanitary attention. (See Sec. 380.) Zinc or sheet
iron-lined wooden mangers, unless very care-
fully looked after, rapidly become jagged, and
are liable to tear the horse's nose, mouth, or
even eyes.

Horses which are liable to rub their manes
by getting their heads under the manger should
have the manger filled in in front with a close
iron fencing, so that they cannot get their heads
underneath. This fencing should be easily mov-
able, to allow the space behind to be cleaned out
daily. The habit of rubbing the mane is gener-
ally a sure sjgn of neglect in grooming. The old
method of filling hay racks from the loft above
is a lazy one and a dangerous one, and should
not be allowed. Some stables are fitted with a
continual stream of water in front of each horse ;
this is most insanitary, as the water runs past
all the horses in a row, the horse nearest the tap
being the only one that gets fresh water. If run-
ning water is used, then a separate supply must
be laid for each horse.

Some horses have a most objectionable habit
of knocking their knees against the manger in
front previous to being fed or while feeding.
They often damage their knees by this trick. A
wooden partition should be put up underneath
the manger, sloping back a little to the floor,
which must be covered with sacking or other
padding to prevent the horse from damaging his
legs.

PLATE 89

STABLES

O, Exterior of Sir Henry Pellatt's Stables at Toronto. b, Canadian Pacific Railway Palace Horse Car, to hold up to
Sixteen Horses ; Movable Stalls. c, A Modern Fifty-horse Farm Stable at ihe Polar Star Ranch, Esterhazy, Saskatchewan.
d. Summer Stables for Regular Cavalry at Petawawa Camp, Ontario (Exterior). /, Close View of One Side (see Plate
85). e. Military Stables at Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario. Courtesy : Commandant R.M.C. Photos, a,

Galbraith, Toronto. Remainder by the Author

PLATE 90

CANADIAN-BRED HORSES

a, "King," a Great Prize Winner belonging to the Dominion Express Co., Toronto. Photo: Galbraith, Toronto.
White Horses belonging to Mr. J. McGregor, Brandon, Man.

VIIl]

STABLE CONSTRUCTION AND SANITATION

99

A similar partition to this is also necessary to
prevent horses from knocking their heads against
the manger after eating hay, etc., lying on the
floor at the front of the stall. I remember one
horse stunning itself by raising its head suddenly
and accidentally knocking it against the manger.
A horse without a mane is very liable to do him-
self serious harm. For the above reasons, i.e.
rubbing the mane and knocking the head, the
addition of a wooden or metal framework or
partition under the manger is highly advisable.

390. Water Troughs.— Water troughs should
be of iron, similar to the mangers, and should be
emptied and thoroughly scrubbed out every day.
Nothing should be dipped into the troughs.
Buckets should be filled from a tap, placed at
the end of the trough (outside). The trough
should be either filled from a tap or by a stop-
cock. It should be emptied through a large tap.
In countries where the winter is cold, water
troughs should be filled just before being re-
quired by a hose pipe laid on from the stable and
emptied directly after use. Plugs are not very
advisable in water troughs, as horses are liable
to knock them out.

Public drinking troughs should not be used if
other water can be obtained, as there is a certain
risk of picking up infection ; but, as described
in Chapter IV., the risk of picking up disease
in such cases is so slight, as is shown by
statistics, that it is almost negligible. There are
patent antiseptic horse troughs on the market
which consist of a separate bowl for each horse,
the bowl being refilled before the next horse
drinks from it. I thoroughly recommend their
installation by city authorities. (See Sec. 153.)

391. The Loft. — Hay and straw are best kept
in a loft, or in a separate forage shed. Oats must
be kept in a metal or concrete bin, so that rats
cannot get at them. In a ferro-concrete stable
a bin can be made in the loft with a trap leading
down to an iron bin in the stable below. The
trap is fitted with a suitable cut-off. Oats should
not be kept in large bulk, for fear of becoming
heated and causing fire.

392. Tying up Horses.— The best way to tie
a horse up is to use a good, strong, smooth,
pliable rope with a heavy wooden log of box-
wood. For horses that are liable to eat the rope,
raw hide straps should be used, as they will
never eat them. This rope or strap can be passed
through the opening shown in P. 86, which has
a brass ring in it to prevent undue wear ; or
through a wide staple in wooden mangers.

In modern stables the rope or strap should
pass in between two rollers just underneath the
front of the manger, and back underneath the
manger to the wall, where it passes over another
roller and down close to the wall. The last-
named roller is sufficiently far from the wall to
allow the log to rise and fall without striking
the wall. (See P. 86.) With these arrangements

there is also no danger of the horse's legs be-
coming entangled with the rope, strap, or
weight.

393. Chains and iron logs are very noisy, and
disturb other horses at night. A horse must be
tied up with a rope of such a length that he can
lie down on his side stretched right out at night.
A most brutal practice exists in some private
stables, where the groom does not allow his
horses to lie down properly at night. I have
been fortunate in discovering one or two such
cases. Every horse-owner should be on the look-
out for such matters.

Horses which at night are liable to cast them-
selves while rolling in the stall, by getting a
fore foot over the rope, are better if tied up by
a chain or rope from each end of the manger
without the use of weights, the chains or ropes
being of such a length as to allow the horse to
lie down properly.

394. Slings. — It is an excellent plan to have
strong rings hung from the ceiling or from small
girdles below the ceiling over one stall in the
stable, for the purpose of attaching slings, in
case a horse breaks his leg or requires to be
slung up for any other purpose. P. 87 shows
the principle upon which a sling should be
made and fitted. It will, of course, be necessary
to have a movable wooden partition made to fit
close to one side of the horse, because a 6-ft.
stall would be too wide in which to place a
sling properly. The width of the stall can be
adjusted to any size by the temporary partition,
which should*be padded on the one side. Some
thick blankets should be hung over the partition
on the other side of the horse. Horses are some-
times put into slings without support on each
side, but this does not allow for much comfort.

395. I am indebted to Sir Henry Pellatt, of
Toronto, for the photographs reproduced in
P. 88, 89a. The stables are indeed a modern
equine palace, and the finest I have yet seen.
They are fireproof, being built of stone and
brick, with ferro-concrete floors and ceilings.
They are absolutely sanitary, being lined with
glazed tiles. Over each horse's head there is a
large window which opens inwards ; it is hinged
at the bottom. The stalls are of full width, and
the drains are covered with strong cast-iron
gratings. The walls are white in colour, to give
as much light as possible. Each stall is con-
verted into a loose box at night, as previously
described, and the stables are automatically kept
at any temperature and artificially ventilated.

P. 89£ shows the exterior of a modern palace
horse car, belonging to the Canadian Pacific
Railway. It holds sixteen or fewer horses, or
twelve very large draught horses. It has water
and feed troughs. It weighs, when empty,
52,000 lb., and carries 30,000 Ib. (15 American
tons). The internal dimensions are : length 40 ft.
3 in., width 8 ft. 9 in., height 8 ft. 4 in.

CHAPTER IX

SURGICAL DISEASES, LAMENESS, TEETH AND CONFORMATION

396. Lameness. — The commonest ailment that
the horse suffers from is lameness. Lameness
is the outward sign of inward pain. It is
very often the result of bad horsemanship, and
can, therefore, be put down to pure neglect.
Such cases as sprains in the hunting field or a
horse slipping on an icy road are, however,
usually examples of accidental lameness. It
might be safely said that 90 per cent, of lame
horses become lame through causes which are
preventable, such as bad shoeing, over-driving,
over-loading, over-riding, bad jumping, careless
riding or driving (as on slippery pavements or
in heavy ploughed fields), abuse with sticks or
other cruel usage, under-feeding, leaving the
system in a weak state to resist strains, etc. etc.
The horse's balance is easily upset by improper
shoeing.

Lame horses are seldom found in the posses-
sion of the most careful horsemen, who naturally
have only the best grooms. Percivall defined
lameness as " the manifestation, in the act of
progression or while at rest, by one or more of
the limbs of pain or weakness, inability or im-
pediment." A horse becomes lame when pain
or inability (such as stiffness) causes him, during
movement, to diverge from permitting the
normal distribution of weight upon his limbs.

Irregularity of gait is not necessarily lame-
ness. For example, "bridle lameness" consists
in the horse placing one leg about six inches
farther forward than the other while trotting,
and is due to bad training ; this is often difficult
to overcome afterwards. On the other hand, a
horse which is lame in both fore or both hind-
legs may go apparently sound. Lameness, as a
rule, consists in decreased action in the painful
limb. Stringhalt, which is a nervous affec-
tion due chiefly to an increased involuntary
contraction of the peroneus muscle (the tendon
of which passes down on the outer side of the
hock), is not strictly a lameness, because, as a
rule, no pain or inconvenience is felt.

397. The commonest form of lameness is
that due to pain, and not to stiffness or other
mechanical hindrance ; pain is, more often than
not, the result of a sprain. A sprain must not
be confounded with a strain ; the latter is far
less serious, and usually consists of a temporary
over-exertion which has been placed on an

organ that recovers itself rapidly after this
exertion has been removed. A sprain is a certain
injury caused to a muscle, ligament or tendon,
the result of excessive work enforced upon it by
tension or torsion, or the result of an application
of work repeated for too long a period ; it con-
sists in the stretching of the fibres of the muscle,
ligament or tendon, and generally in a breakage
of some of these fibres, or the fibres may be
broken away from their hold upon the muscle,
bone or tendon to which they are attached.
Almost all sprains could be cured if rest were
as much considered as it should be. Local treat-
ment is only secondary. Permanent injury is
generally the result of trying to keep a lame
horse "on his legs."

398. Muscles are of two kinds : red voluntary
(striated), and pale involuntary (non-striated),
with the exception of those of the heart, which
are red and involuntary and striated. Voluntary
muscles are those that are generally sprained ;
they consist of bundles of minute fibres laid
longitudinally side by side. At the attachment
of a muscle these fibres are very securely con-
nected by fibrous tissue to the bone, etc. The
end of the muscle that has least motion is called
its origin, whilst the other end is called the in-
sertion. The tendon that is attached to a muscle
usually has the same name as that of the muscle.

Ligaments are of two kinds : inelastic white
fibrous, and yellow elastic. The inelastic liga-
ments chiefly join bones together and form
joints ; they will not stretch. It is, therefore,
these that usually suffer when a severe strain is
placed upon a limb, etc. These ligaments are
composed of strong white fibres bound tightly
together like suspension-bridge cables. The
elastic ligaments can be stretched considerably
without injury. The chief ones in the horse are
the interspinous ligaments in the region of the
neck, which allow so much movement in a
horse's neck, and the large ligamentum nuchse,
which extends from the withers to the poll
(occipital bone), and supports the great weight
of the horse's head. This ligament is particu-
larly well developed in horses with heavy heads,
as Clydes. In the Suffolk Punch and Percheron
the heavy appearance of the neck is due to the
fibrous crest. (See P. 126-131.) The ligamen-
tum nuchee is also well developed in the horned

100

PLATE 91

a. Hunting in the North of England. Photo: Topical Press Agency, London. Courtesy: Sporting and Dramatic
News, b. Prize-winning Ontario-bred Harness Horse. Courtesy : Methodist Book and Publishing House, Toronto

PLATE 92

Arabs from the Famous English Arab Farm at Thames Ditton, Surrey. Courtesy of the Owner, Hon. Geo. Savile.

Photos: F. W. J. Flicker, Esher, Surrey

CHAP. IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

101

stag, whose head is naturally heavy. When a
horse wishes to lower his head, the muscles in
the under portion of the neck draw the head
down, the superior muscles relaxing.

399. The joints of the limbs are securely
formed by very powerful ligaments, with the
exception of the scapulo-humeral joint between
the shoulder-blade and arm, which is kept
together chiefly by muscle and by vacuum.
These ligaments consist of interosseous liga-
ments, which are inside the joints, and binding
ligaments, which are on the outside. There are
also annular ligaments that form loops to keep
the tendons in place, and also capsular liga-
ments that do not hold a joint together, but
merely keep the synovia, or joint oil, from run-
ning out of the joint. In a broken knee one or
more of the capsular ligaments of the carpal
joints may have become ruptured or torn, but, as
a rule, a bursa of the tendons has become broken.

Tendons are strong, non-elastic, white,
fibrous cords that usually have an active
function ; they generally connect the distal end
or insertion of a muscle to a bone. A tendon
is like the wire of a railway signal, and the
bone the signal arm, the signal cabin being the
muscle, the electric wire leading to the cabin
being the nerve that runs to the muscle.

400. Structure of the Bone. — Before passing
on to the detection of lameness it will be well
to give the reader some idea of the structure of
the bony frame. Bone is a bluish-pink, hard,
insensitive substance that gives attachment to
muscles, acts as pillars of support, encloses
cavities and protects vital organs, forms joints
and acts as levers.

Diseased bone is highly sensitive ; dead bone
is yellowish-white in colour. Bone is composed
of two substances : animal matter, which is very
elastic, and mineral or earthy matter, which is
very brittle, but gives hardness and rigidity to
the bone. If bone is placed in diluted hydro-
chloric acid for some minutes the mineral matter
becomes dissolved out, leaving an elastic mass
of the same shape as the original bone. On the
other hand, if bone is burnt in the atmosphere
the elastic animal substance will become burnt,
leaving a brittle earthy mass the same shape as
the bone.

In the embryonic state bone is composed
entirely of animal matter. As the animal
advances in age the percentage of earthy matter
increases until, at very old age, the bones become
quite brittle. At birth the foal has a consider-
able amount of earthy matter in its bones ; it
is able to stand on its legs without their show-
ing any sign of bending within half an hour of
birth. But in the case of the human there is not
sufficient earthy matter to enable walking for
one to two years. Children's legs become bowed
through using them before the bones have
sufficient earthy matter in them.

In the adult horse (five to six years of age)
the average composition of bone is one-third
animal and two-thirds mineral or earthy matter.
The hardest bone in the body is the triangular-
shaped ear bone (petrosal), which has 93J per
cent, mineral matter. The ribs are softer than
the limbs. A foal one year old has about 55 per
cent, animal matter and 45 per cent, mineral ;
at ten years it would have about 25 per cent,
animal and 75 per cent, mineral. When bones
are too soft and liable to bend too much, phos-
phates of lime and iron should be given in the
feed.

401. Histology of Bone. — Bone is composed of
a hard outside layer of compact tissue and a soft
inner portion of cancellated tissue. Normally,
this latter is never found at the outside of the
bone. The thoroughbred, that has small limbs,
has a great deal of compact tissue in its bones,
to render them sufficiently strong, whilst the
heavy draught horse has a greater amount of
cancellated tissue. Compact tissue is composed
of minute honeycombs. Inside all long bones,
such as those of the limbs, is a hollow space,
the medullary canal, which runs throughout
most of their length. In this canal we find bone
marrow, which is red in early life, but yellow
in the adult. Inside the honeycomb of the com-
pact tissue there are little spaces called lacunae
and little canals called canaliculae which join
the little spaces together. The average diameter
of these canaliculae is l-7,000th of an inch. The
lacunae contain bone-producing cells.

402. Cancellated tissue is composed of thin
plates, which contain lacunae and canaliculae. In
between these plates are spaces called cancelli,
which contain bone marrow. The cancellated
tissue is chiefly at the extremities of the bones
of the limbs. It gives bulk without increasing
weight ; the larger the end of a bone the greater
will be the area for attachment of muscles and
ligaments.

Blood-vessels pass in between the various
layers of the bone tissue and also amongst the
marrow, thus supplying food to the bone cells
and tissue. Every bone is surrounded by a thin,
very vascular skin (the periosteum), except at
the articular ends, which are covered with arti-
cular cartilage. The periosteum also has an
outer fibrous, thick, non-sensitive layer. In a
joint the two articular cartilages of each of the
ends of the bones forming the joints are lubri-
cated by synovia, which, as stated above, is kept
in place by the capsular ligament that surrounds
the joint. This ligament is lined internally
by the synovial membrane that secretes the
synovia.

The periosteum is very easily damaged ;
when this happens, the bone underneath is very
liable to die. Thus, when a bone is damaged,
great care must be taken to prevent necrosis, or
death, setting in. In the periosteum there is a

102

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

network of arteries and veins that also supply
blood to the outer portions of the bone. The
periosteum thus nourishes the bone, protects it,
and gives attachment to muscles and ligaments.
Bones are classified into four classes : long,
as the thigh ; flat, as the shoulder-blade ; short,
as those of the knee and hock ; and irregular, as
the vertebrae. Most of the thirty-three bones of
the horse's head are flat bones.

403. As stated above, in foetal life the foal's
bones are at first entirely cartilaginous ; at the
sixth or seventh week after conception the car-
tilaginous bones begin to form. In the adult all
the bones are properly ossified.

In speaking of the various sides or surfaces of
the various parts of a horse's anatomy the follow-
ing terms are used :

The upper surface is the proximal, superior,
or dorsal.

The under surface is the distal, inferior, or
ventral.

The front surface is the anterior.

The hind surface is the posterior.

The internal surface is the surface nearest to
the median line, which is an imaginary vertical
plane drawn through the centre of the horse from
head to tail. Thus the internal surface of a
foreleg would be that surface nearest to the other
leg. The external surface is that farthest from
the median line.

404. Sprains. — The commonest sprains are
those of the muscles of the shoulder and hind-
quarters, the back tendons of the forelegs, the
suspensory ligaments of all the legs, and the back
ligament of the hock joint (curb). Tendons are
more often sprained than muscles. Ligaments
and tendons may possibly break, but are more
liable to tear, especially small portions of them
here and there, so that the whole thickness is
not broken across at any one point, but they will
not stretch, except under prolonged strain.

When a tissue is sprained, the blood vessels
become gorged with blood, and the circulation
becoming impeded, there is more or less com-
plete stagnation of blood. There is also, as a
rule, blood and other fluid which has escaped
from vessels which were ruptured at the time
that the fibres were broken. The presence of
this blood and other fluid renders the part tense,
hot, and painful, by interfering with the circula-
tion, or later, by giving rise to adhesions (fibrous
bands which will more or less interfere with the
movement of the part). In the treatment of
sprain, therefore, our first efforts should be
directed to checking the accumulation of the
fluids and hastening their removal. For this the
best treatment that can be applied is the com-
bination of pressure and massage. Pressure must
be even and equally distributed. An ordinary
bandage between the knee and fetlock does little
good, because it only applies pressure to the front
of the bone and to the back of the tendon. The

method of applying pressure bandages has been
described in Chapter V., Sees. 217-9. The im-
portance of applying pressure bandages and
giving much massage must be fully realised to
treat sprains with success. However severe the
sprain or other injury may be, if even pressure
is applied immediately, it will do a great deal of
good. Bandages should be taken off every
twenty-four hours, and the part vigorously mas-
saged for at least twenty minutes with a suitable
lubricant, such as compound liniment of cam-
phor (powdered camphor 5, oil of lavender £,
strong ammonia 10, alcohol 40, parts by weight).
The legs should then be raised, i.e. bent, and
straightened alternately for at least six times to
remove stiffness and to stimulate blood flow,
which is essential to encourage rapid healing.
Then the pressure bandages must be put on
again. If this is done morning and evening the
cure will be more rapid. As the sprain improves,
the joints must be passively worked for a longer
period without requiring any muscular effort
fron the horse.

405. The most valuable cure for mechanical
injuries is that described above, i.e. massaging
with hand or fingers and passive exercise ; the
time needed for repair of the injury will be
greatly shortened by assisting Nature in her
efforts. Purgatives act beneficially by diminish-
ing the congestion in the blood vessels and
lymphatics, in that they remove much watery
fluid and foreign substances, drawing the blood
to the intestines, and therefore away from the
congested part. A free supply of good cold water
assists greatly by keeping the blood in a pure
state and by removing foreign substances from
the system. Horses cannot be given too much
water. Small doses of nitre, by stimulating the
action of the kidneys, which are the filters of
the body, cause removal of much foreign matter.
Nitre should be given very seldom in cold
weather.

Laxative foods, such as green food, carrots,
etc., by cooling the system (as they contain very
little albumen, which heats the system), and by
increasing the action of the bowels and improv-
ing the tone of the blood, do much good. Hence
if a horse is in gross condition he should be given
only a little food for several days.

406. External Applications. — External applica-
tions are sometimes of use. Any chemical or
drug that causes stimulation or irritation when
applied to a part will increase the blood flow to
that part. This is the functional use of massag-
ing. Hence if we wish to remove inflammation
from an internal part of a leg or the body, we
apply an irritant to the external part and- draw
the blood away from the inflamed part to the
surface. Hot-water applications will cause in-
creased blood flow to the surface, but should not
be applied for more than a few minutes at a
time. The old system of several hours' hot-water

PLATE 93

\ v

\\\S

a, b, C, d. Types of Arab Horses at the Arab Stud Farm at Thames Ditton, Surrey, the property of Hon. Geo. Savile.

Reproduced by kind permission. Photos : F. W. J. Fricker, Esher, Surrey, e. The Late King Edward's Famous Derby

Winner, " Persimmon," at the Stud. Photo : J. Russell & Sons, Baker Street, London

PLATE 94

THE ENGLISH COACH HORSE

a, Cleveland Bay Stallion " Rillington Sensation," First, Royal Show, 1913. b, Cleveland Bay Mare "Woodland Briar."

Photos: G. H. Parsons

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

103

fomentations did little good except to relieve pain
by acting as a sedative. On the other hand, it
was liable to do considerable harm by softening
the tissues, thus increasing the exudation of fluid
from the capillaries.

Cold water, ice, or refrigerant lotions, as
ammonium chloride, chloroform, ethyl-chloride,
ether, and hydrochloric acid, etc., cause contrac-
tion of the tissues and produce pressure that
checks the exudations from the capillaries ; but
in acute inflammation they will check the flow of
blood, and as blood is necessary for vital repair,
cold water must never be applied until the in-
flammation has been removed from the part.
Under most favourable conditions the above
applications are never so beneficial as proper
massage and mechanical pressure, which method
is the only satisfactory one for removing in-
flammation. But if massaging is done, it must
be done with energy for a long period ; it is
useless unless it is done for fifteen minutes at
each application.

407. External Counter - irritants. — Ether,
chloroform, copper sulphate, iron perchloride,
tincture of iodine, liniment of belladonna, can-
tharides, ammonia and water, and alcohol, when
evaporation is prevented.

Stimulating Liniments.

1. Spirits of ammonia.
Methylated spirits.
Oil of turpentine.

Of each, 1 oz., add water 5 oz., mix, and make
liniment. If opium, 1 oz., is added, it is good
for sore parts.

2. Camphor.
Chloral hydrate.

Of each, 1 oz., rub well together in mortar,
and the ingredients will form into a liquid.

3. ABC liniment.
Liniment of aconite.
Liniment of belladonna.
Chloroform.

Of each, 1 oz., mix well.

4. Camphor, 1 oz.
Alcohol, 4 oz.

Liquid ammonia fort., 2 oz.
Oil of linseed, 1 pint.
Mix and make liniment.
5- Compound liniment of camphor (see Sec.

404).

Any of the above counter-irritants or stimu-
lating liniments must be well applied with good
hand rubbing and finger working for twenty
minutes.

408. Blistering, Firing, and Massaging. — Blis-
tering on bony exudations is of very little per-
manent use ; firing is usually more beneficial.
The amount of good gained by either in many
cases is slight, but in some it is considerable. In
most cases more good could be derived by resort-
ing to thorough daily massaging and using a
suitable liniment as a lubricant and aid to stimu-

lation. Too great importance cannot be laid on
scientific massaging.

From an expert massaging can be learnt by a
groom in a few hours sufficiently well to enable
him to be of great value when his horses get
sprained or require massaging for other reasons.

Captain Hayes says : " The benefit obtained in
many instances from firing is undoubtedly due to
the absence of severe work which it necessita-
tates." The strongest advocates of firing allow
that they only expect 50 per cent, of cases to
benefit. Severe blisters, as a rule, will do more
good, and, generally, massaging still more. This
applies to sprained tendons and sprained sus-
pensory ligaments and sprained muscles. Other
conditions, such as curb, bog spavin, thorough-
pin, and bone or jack spavin, are usually better
cured by blistering. There are a great many
patent medicines on the market that practically
take the place of firing, and there are likewise a
great many which are a swindle.

The success of any treatment usually depends
on a long rest of from six weeks to three months,
or longer. I have come across scores of horses
that have been fired and blistered with scarcely
any benefit, and feel confident that many of these
cases could have been cured at home by scientific
massaging.

409. Blistering. — The part must be clipped,
but not too closely, then it must be greased with
dripping fat or other animal fat around the
actual spot to be blistered (and not over it),
especially below it to prevent the blister from
running down. The blister is then rubbed in for
from three to ten minutes. The horse must have
a cradle put on its neck, or be tied up short, to
prevent it from biting the part, and other pre-
cautions must be taken to prevent the horse
licking the part when it commences to smart, as
it will in four to six hours. When the action is
well marked it must be watched, and when it is
considered that sufficient irritation has been
caused, i.e. in twelve to twenty-four hours, the
part must be gently washed with warm water
and animal fat rubbed gently over the whole.

The grease must be rubbed in every few days.
In any case the part must be washed and well
greased thirty-six hours after application, and if
the effect is not sufficient the treatment can be
repeated in two weeks. It is, however, always
best to rub a good blister in for ten minutes, and
when sufficient irritation is caused, i.e. when the
part becomes very hot and swollen, the leg
must be washed and greased as explained above.
Strong measures cause less suffering in the end,
and do more good than half-hearted ones.

410. Blisters.

1. Strong blister (use with caution).

Oil of croton 30 min.

Mercury biniodide 2 dr.

Oil of turpentine ... ... 2 dr.

Parke Davis vesicant, add to make 2 oz.

104

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Rub in for fifteen to thirty minutes. After
twenty-four to thirty-six hours wash off and
grease well with antiseptic animal fat, e.g. lard
and oil of eucalyptus.
2. Mild blister.

Mercury biniodide 1 dr.

Gantharides powder ... 1 dr.

Lard, to make 2 oz.
Rub in as in No. 1.

411. Firing. — The part should be clipped, but
not too closely. Local anaesthesia should always
be resorted to, because firing a horse without
using any form of anaesthetic is barbarous, and
the operation cannot be carried on properly
unless the horse is kept quite still. Cocaine is
generally used. (See Chapter XVI.) When the
part is properly anaesthetised, the irons must be
applied almost at a white heat. Firing is either
done with a sharp edge, forming lines close
together, known as line firing, or with a point,
forming a number of small punches close
together, known as pin firing. The cross-firing
should never be done, because the part enclosed
by the crossed lines will have the blood supply
cut off. These parts will eventually die and
come off. As firing is done to increase the blood
supply to the part it would be contradictory to
stop the supply to a portion of the part. Before
the action of the cocaine has stopped, about ten
minutes after the operation, the part must be
well greased with an antiseptic grease, such as
antiseptic lard. An antiseptic should be used,
because the burnt part readily absorbs infection.
The part must be greased morning and night.
With a local anaesthetic there is never any need
to use ropes for securing the horse.

It is inadvisable to blister or fire on the inner
side of any joint, such as the front of the hocks,
or behind the knee, or at the back of the pasterns.

412. Diet. — As stated above, the horse must
be dieted when suffering from a severe sprain.
On no account must heating foods be given, but
green food, mashes, and plenty of water, and a
teaspoonful of nitre once a week in the food. If
the horse is in a well-fed condition, a mild ball
of aloes (6 dr.) should be given. Absolute rest
is essential for the cure of all sprains, and the
part must be relieved of as much weight as
possible ; for example, a high heel shoe must be
put on for any injury to the back tendons or
suspensory ligament. As soon as the horse is
able to walk slowly with ease he should be
turned out to pasture for six or more weeks. The
time the horse is kept in the stable, and the time
he is kept at pasture afterwards, depend much
on the injury and the length of time that he can
be spared. If a horse is valuable, three to six
months should be given at pasture for spavins
and sprained tendons.

Enlargements of a minor nature, such as
slight curbs, bone spavins, thoroughpin, etc., can
often be satisfactorily removed by a mercury and

iodine liniment ; this treatment does not necessi-
tate the horse being laid up. Enlarged tendons
can be cured also by the following :

Mercury bichloride 35 gr.

Potassium iodide 4 dr.

Iodine 1 oz.

Water, distilled i oz.

Ether, to make 8 oz.

Paint on daily for five days, after clipping the
part. Keep the part free from damp ; if it is
allowed to get wet the liniment will blister
severely. Then wash off and immediately grease
well. After a week repeat again for five days if
necessary.

413. Throwing. — Before many minor opera-
tions, or before a general anaesthetic is given to
a horse, it is often necessary to throw him. The
horse must be taken on to a thick bed of hay or
straw, so that he will not hurt himself when he
falls. He should be taken quite quietly, the
hobbles put on him, and then made to fall down
gently. He must then be secured, someone being
at his head to prevent him throwing it about and
becoming frightened. The best method of attach-
ing the hobbles is to put on each pastern a
shackle with a ring sewn to it ; these shackles
must be very strong, and padded with thick felt.
Buckles must be placed on the outside of the
legs. A 2-in. surcingle is passed around the girth
and buckled tightly ; there must be a ring sewn
on each side half-way up. Two long ropes are
used, both being put on in the same way. The
rope is securely tied to the foreleg hobble and
then passed through the surcingle ring down to
the hindleg ring, back to the surcingle ring, and
is held by an assistant. Another assistant holds
the other rope on the other side. When both are
ready, a person at the head leads the horse for-
ward a step, and as he raises one foot, both ropes
are gently but firmly pulled until the horse drops
on to his knees. The ropes then are drawn tight
until all the four legs are secure. The rope is
twisted around the foot of the hindleg with a
double half hitch. The man at the head must
hold the head securely all the time the horse is
down, and he must make much of the horse
after it is down, and avoid causing it fear.

414. Detection of Lameness. — The horse's
attitude in the stable should always be watched.
A sound horse stands equally on both fore feet
and alternately rests the hind ones. One fore
leg may be slightly advanced, but in the sound
horse the weight will be equally borne on both.
It is better to find out that a horse is lame before
starting out to work than when we are away
from home. If one suspects lameness, the horse
must be taken out on ground that is hard, level,
and free from stones. The dishonest horse-
dealer trots his horse on soft ground.

For the detection of lameness the trot is the
best pace ; lameness must be acute for a horse
to show it at the walk. A horse, like a man,

PLATE 95

CONFORMATION

a. Curb. b, Clean Ligament at Back cf Hock (no Curb), c. Clean Inside Hock (no Spavin), d, Bone Spavin or Jack.
e, Bone Spavin. /, Bone Spavin, g, Bog Spavin, h, Capped Hocks, i, Windgalls. Photos by the Author

PLATE 96

CONFORMATION

a, Good Suspensory Ligament, Foreleg: showing also the Position of a Thoroughpin. Courtesy: Mr. W. U. Pitfield,

Brandon, Manitoba, b, Showing the Weight that the Forehand has to support at Times. Courtesy: Captain W. H. Bell,

R.C.D. c, A Bad Ringbone, and Two Bad Sidebones. d. Splint. e. No Splint. Photos by the Author

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

105

shows lameness by throwing more weight on
the sound limbs than on the injured ones. He
also uses his head as a balancing pole, which
enables him to shift his weight and thus save
the injured limb. Therefore, if he is lame in
front, he will raise his head when the injured
limb comes to the ground, and bring it to its
natural position when the sound one comes to
the ground. fl^ £

If he is lame behind, he will lower hiajfead
when the foreleg opposite to the injureti^Mki
one comes to the ground. For instance, if the
left hindleg is affected, he will lower his head
when the right foreleg comes to the ground.

The examiner must be thirty yards off, in
front of the horse, and on the near side, taking
care that the horse's head is left alone and that
it is straight, not bent to either side ; it should
have quite 18 in. of rope. If the head is held
tightly, the horse will not be able to nod it if
it is lame. The horse must be trotted towards
the examiner, who should note whether he
dwells more on one leg than on the other, and
whether he raises or depresses his head more
than usual. When the horse has been trotted
past about thirty yards, he should be turned
somewhat sharply — say, to the right-about — and
the manner in which he turns must be noted and
compared with the way he turns left-about. In
the second trot past, the examiner should try to
detect if there is any difference in the action
viewed from the off side from that which was
shown from the near side.

Lameness improves with exercise, except in
the case of splints, sore shins, corns, laminitis
and sprains. Having detected which leg a horse
is lame on, the next thing is to try to find out
which part of the leg is affected. Disease and
injury usually show themselves by heat or
swelling, or both. The affected leg must be
compared with the sound one, both by observa-
tion and touch. If one foot is hotter than the
other, and there is no heat or swelling else-
where, the foot which is the hotter is the one
affected, and the lameness is probably there. If
the back tendon in one leg is more swollen than
in the other, and there is no heat or swelling
elsewhere, the lameness is probably due to the
swelling.

The amount of heat should be detected by
using the back of the hand, which is more sensi-
tive than the front. Lameness may often be
detected without taking the horse outside ; for
example, if a horse is continually pointing one
foot, it is a sure sign that there is something
wrong with that leg, perhaps navicular disease.
Holding one leg bent or a peculiar action in
moving in the stall may indicate lameness.

Hock lameness becomes more distinct if the
horse is turned on a small circle. Some forms
of hock" lameness are difficult to detect if the
horse is trotted in a straight line.

415. The shoes should be carefully examined.
An uneven wear upon one shoe must be noted.
Special shoes are used on horses that are un-
sound. For example, a bar shoe is used on a
horse suffering from sidebone or ringbone, to
take part of the weight off the walls of the foot,
and thus decrease the amount of movement
between the walls and the bones of the foot; it
may also be used for corns or foot fever. The
insides of shoes are feather-edged, to prevent
horses from "brushing." Steel tips and calkins
are used in cases of tendon sprains and hock
lameness.

The frog is pared away, and calkins used to
place more weight on the toe and to remove it
from the frogs in cases of navicular disease. In
navicular disease the horse may go quite sound
on soft ground or on snow, especially after being
warmed up.

If it is thought that the lameness is in the
foot, the shoe should be removed, and every nail,
as it is drawn out, carefully examined to see if
there is any blood or pus on it, which would
mean a prick. (For the structure of the foot,
see Chapter XVIII.)

If the lameness is in the foot, the animal will
usually place it on the ground in an abnormal
way ; perhaps very carefully, or perhaps he will
favour the toe or the heel. The foot must be
gently tapped all over to ascertain whether there
is any tenderness. The clefts must be cleaned
out thoroughly, and a thorough search made for
nails and glass. The foot must be examined for
heat, splits in the wall or any unevenness, and
to see whether the lateral cartilages are
" springy " or hard. The pasterns must be
examined for ringbone. The foot and parts
around must be examined for overreach, treads,
cuts, brushing, etc.

If the lameness is not in the foot, but is
thought to be in the lower part of the limb, the
two back tendons and the suspensory ligament
(see P. 101), the fetlock and the front tendon
must be carefully examined for heat, puffiness,
soreness, swelling, and to ascertain if the back
tendons are bowed. (See P. Q7g.)

Supposing the lameness is not below the
knee or hock, it may be in the ligaments of
these joints, in which case there will be heat
and tenderness. The hock must be examined
for curb. (See P. 95a, b.)

If the lameness is above the knee, it will be
in the muscles or joints of the elbow or shoulder.
A slip may sprain the internal lateral ligament
of the elbow, in which case the horse will turn
the point of the elbow outwards to relieve that
limb of weight. When passaging towards that
side of the limb, the horse will drag the limb.

416. If the flexor muscles of the shoulder are
sprained, the horse will drag his leg when
going forward. If the extensor muscles, he will
drag it when backed. These latter (the power-

106

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

ful triceps, extensor brachii, or caput muscles)
are very commonly sprained in a slip. Rest and
massage are the only cure.

If the lameness is in the shoulder, pain will
probably be evinced when one presses the
muscles. The limb is not moved normally, but
swung outwards, and the toe dragged. If the
lameness is persistent, the muscles affected will
waste (atrophy). (See P. 78c and 82.)

If the lameness is above the hock, it may be
in the stifle joint, hip joint or muscles of the
thigh. If the patella (or kneecap) is out of
place, it can be felt, and the horse, in going
forward, will drag his leg behind him. A
common seat of lameness (known as gonitis) is
that of the synovial membrane of the femur-
patella joint. This membrane extends about
three inches above the anterior surface of the
femur under the extensor (crural) muscles of the
thigh (the rectus femoris and internal and ex-
ternal vastus muscles). The seat of lameness is
difficult to get at. If the lameness is in the
stifle, heat may be detected, and the manner in
which the horse moves his leg will be abnormal.

If the extensor thigh muscles are affected, he
will drag his leg; if the flexor thigh muscles
(those around the region of the buttocks and
over the hindquarters), he will drag his leg
when backed and show pain when called upon
to draw a load. The gluteal muscles are the
chief ones used in propelling. (See P. 78e.) If
the abductor muscles, which draw the leg out-
wards, or the adductor muscles, which draw the
leg inward, are affected, the horse will show it
if passaged to the one side or the other. (For
the treatment of sprains, see Sec. 421 et seqq.)

If the lameness is not due to a sprain of
muscles, tendon or ligament, it is either due to
a bony growth or to rheumatism. (See Sec. 583.)
If the rheumatism in a joint is bad, the liga-
ments will become seriously inflamed, and stiff-
ness will probably result. Chronic rheumatism
of a muscle may cause atrophy.

417. Surgical Ailments. — Sprain of Suspen-
sory Ligament. — This ligament has its origin in
the lower row of knee or hock bones and head
of cannon bone (posteriorly), passes down be-
tween splint bones, bifurcates above the fetlock
joint, is attached to the outer surface of sesa-
moid bones, is then directed downwards and
forwards across the outer borders of the pastern
bone, and blends with the extensor pedis tendon,
forming the broad ligament. (See P. 100, 101.)
It is composed of white, fibrous, inelastic tissue.
It is the most important ligament in the body,
as it bears the greater part of the weight borne
by the limb. The more horizontal the pastern
is the greater will be the strain on this ligament.

Normally, the ligament can be seen as a
distinct ridge, separated from the cannon and
the back tendons. (See P. 96a.) This ridge
commences just above the fetlock joints, and

extends two-thirds of the way up the cannon.
It should feel hard and firm, like a bass violin
string. When sprained, it will not stand out
clearly, and will feel soft. (See P. 970.) The
pastern will be straighter than usual, the knee
shaky and perhaps a little " over," fetlocks round
and puffy. Heat will be present, and some
swelling. The horse will go lame at the trot, and
possibly at the walk, and if very bad, will go on
his toe. If the ligament is ruptured (known as
a breakdown), the fetlock will nearly reach the
ground.

The suspensory ligaments of the forelegs are
generally sprained while the horse is galloping ;
his flexor muscles having become fatigued, are
thereby unable quickly enough to take some of
the weight off the suspensory ligament. This
weight is greatest when the foreleg is under the
body supporting almost the entire weight, as the
opposite foreleg is being drawn forward. In
draught horses the ligament of the hindleg is
generally sprained, a common cause being that
of allowing a horse to take a heavy load in a two-
wheeled cart down a steep hill. Horses may
sprain any of their suspensory ligaments while
getting up from a slippery floor or by walking on
icy pavements. (For treatment, see Sec. 42d.)

418. Sprain of Fetlock Joint. — Usually due to
concussion, hard work, or to a twist. If from
concussion, the back tendons will generally not
be affected, and there will be a puffed appearance
due to distension of synovial bursse. In a twist
the binding ligaments of a joint will be injured.
The horse may go lame ; the chief symptoms are
heat and swelling. Fetlock joints " knuckle
over," and in young horses are due to weakness,
and in old horses to sprain of the lateral liga-
ments of the fetlock joint. (For treatment, see
Sec. 421.)

419. Sprain of the Back Tendons. — The two
back tendons of all four legs are called the per-
forans and perforatus. (See P. 101.) The flexor
pedis perforans tendon originates in the forelegs
on the inner border of the lower ends of the
humerus, and in the hindlegs on the back of the
upper end of the tibia, passes behind the knee
or hock, down behind the suspensory ligament,
is joined by the upper check ligament, and
inserts itself at the upper border of the back of
the pedal bone.

It flexes the fetlock, the pastern and coffin
joints, and, in the foreleg, the knee, but in the
hind it extends the hock.

The flexor pedis perforatus originates in the
foreleg at the point of origin of the perforans,
and in the hindleg at the lower end of the femur
and at the point of origin of the perforans, ex-
tends down behind the knee or over the point of
the hock (called here the tendon of Achilles in
the hindleg), passes down behind the perforans,
and is perforated by the perforans just behind
the fetlock, and is inserted at the back of the

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

107

small pastern bone. It flexes the fetlock and
pastern joints, and, in the foreleg, the knee, but
in the hindleg extends the hock.

When sound these tendons feel hard and
tense, and are hollow on the side nearest to the
opposite leg. If strained they feel large, round,
and soft. The perforans is usually sprained just
behind the fetlock joint. If the tendons are badly
sprained they will assume a bowed appearance.
There will be heat, pain, and swelling, and
consequent lameness, unless the tendons are
sprained very slightly. The perforans is more
often sprained, but if badly the inflammation
will extend back to the perforatus.

These tendons are sprained by working horses
when too young, by hard and severe work on
hard roads, by jumping on sticky or hard
ground, and by overloading. Horses that are
tied in below the knee and the hock are liable to
sprain these tendons. (See P. 97^.) (For treat-
ment, see Sec. 421.)

420. Sprain of Check Ligament. — The check
ligament has its origin at the origin of the
suspensory ligament, passes down behind the
cannon bone, and joins the perforans tendon
half-way down the cannon. It thus forms a
direct connection between the cannon and the
coffin bone, and assists the suspensory ligament,
thus preventing too much obliquity of the pas-
tern, and also supports the weight of the limb.

The suspensory and check ligaments are
brought into severe action when the fetlock joint
descends below its normal position, which can
be noticed when a foot is placed on the ground
at the walk. After the foot is on the ground the
flexor muscles normally draw the fetlock up
again by partially straightening the leg, and if
the ground is sticky the resistance offered to
removal of the leg may be great enough to sprain
one or other of these ligaments. When a horse
is moving normally on level ground, whenever a
foot comes to the ground the leg will be straight
and the flexor tendons will therefore be assisting
the ligaments ; but when any sudden irregu-
larity of the ground, or an accident, causes the
foot to reach the ground before the tendons are
ready, a sprain of the check ligament is likely to
occur. Hence this ligament is generally sprained
by a sudden shock upon the leg. Again, draught
horses, when going up hill, will, unless they
have calkins on the heels of their shoes, be very
liable to sprain this ligament. The steeper the
hill, the loriger the toe and the shorter the heel,
the farther will the heel have to drop to reach
the ground, and the greater will be the sprain
brought upon the check ligament.

Symptoms. — The injury is generally at the
junction of the check ligament and the perforans
tendon. Unless slight there will be lameness,
and pain on pressure. There will be heat and
swelling. The swelling will probably extend
from the knee to one-third way down the cannon,

close behind the bone. At first, back tendons
will not be affected, this being a diagnostic symp-
tom of sprain to check ligament. Later, in-
flammation will move to these tendons, which
may also become bowed. In bad cases the horse
rests the toe on the ground. A permanent
thickening below the back of the knee or at the
junction of the check ligament and perforans
tendon may result.

The subject of filled or puffed legs and pre-
vention of same has been discussed in Chapter
V., Sees. 209, 217, el seq.

421. Treatment of Sprains of Back Tendons,
Ligaments and Fetlock Joints. — The most reliable
and permanent treatment for these is removal of
the weight by using at once a high-heeled shoe,
in case of tendon or suspensory ligament injury.
If the latter be ruptured, the fetlock must be
kept up in its normal position by a shoe with a
long heel, to which a cross-bar is attached, covered
with a pad, on which the fetlock will rest.

The injured parts, i.e. if tendon or ligament
from the knee to below the fetlock, must have
pressure bandages applied immediately, and the
pressure bandage and massage treatment, as
explained in Chapter V., Sees. 209, 217, et seqq.,
resorted to entirely. If this system is adopted,
far better results will be obtained, in the
majority of cases, than from blistering or firing.

422. Curb. — A curb is a sprain of the cal-
caneo - metatarsal (calcaneo - cuboid) ligament,
which binds together the back of the hock joint.
It extends from the back of the point of the hock
(os calcis), passing over the cuboid bone, to the
head of the outer splint bone. The injury,
which results in a swelling, is generally four
to six inches below the point of the hock, i.e.
directly below the cuboid bone. (See P. 69.)

Horses tied in below the hock, and those
with sickle hocks, i.e. hocks bent too much (see
P. 19c, 26fe, Tie), are most liable to curbs. A
curb is the result of severe work when young,
such as jumping, pulling heavy loads, galloping
over ploughed fields or sticky ground, etc.

Symptoms. — Generally lameness, pain oh
pressure. By viewing from both sides a lump
will be seen projecting. (See P. 95a.) In slight
cases this is not easily noticed. The perforatus
tendon of a sound hock will continue in a
straight line from the point of the hock nearly
to the fetlock ; a curb causes this tendon to
bulge out. A large head to the outer splint bone
must not be confounded with a curb. By look-
ing from the outer side, this large head may
look like a curb, but will not do so when viewed
from the inner. The best way to determine
whether it is a curb is to run the finger down
the tendon ; the head of a splint bone will not
interfere with the passage of the finger. Horses
inherit weaknesses ; therefore, curby parents
may produce horses liable to become curby.

Treatment. — High-heeled shoe, a good blister,

108

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

and suitable diet are necessary. Keep the horse
in for several weeks, and turn him out to pasture
afterwards for a like period. If very slight, it
may be cured entirely, if taken at once, by the
use of the mercury and iodine liniment, described
in Sec. 412, without laying the horse up, and
even while giving him steady, slow work.

423. Sprung Hock. — Is one in which the
binding ligaments have been severely sprained ;
the back tendons may be affected, too. There
will be much swelling, heat, pain and lameness.

Treatment. — As the horse will not lie down,
he must be put into slings, and the massage
and pressure bandage treatment resorted to.
(Sees. 244, 252-4.) When the worst is over, the
horse must be rested, if possible at pasture, for
from six to nine weeks.

424. Sprain of the Shoulder. — This usually
consists in sprains of the muscles which keep
the legs straight (flexor brachii, etc.), or those
which keep the leg close to the body (pectorals),
and, in rare cases, the capsular ligament, which
surrounds the shoulder joint itself.

Cause. — Falls or blows, over-exertion in
ploughing or in hunting field, landing over a
jump, twists and sudden turns.

Symptoms. — The horse will step short in front
and drag his leg on being backed. Compare
both shoulders. If the pectoral muscles are
affected, the shoulder will bulge out and the
foot swing out at each step. If the flexor brachii
(biceps) is affected, the foot will be dragged in
going forward. Sprains of the capsular liga-
ment may result in a stiff joint ; the horse shows
pain when the shoulder is moved passively, and
tries to remove weight from that limb. If these
sprained muscles are not attended to immedi-
ately, wasting may take place. Shoulder lame-
ness is not common.

Treatment. — Rest, and massage morning and
night (Sees. 209, 217-9), passive exercise. These
are far better than hypodermic injections and
blisters. Afterwards turn the horse out to pas-
ture for several months, and, upon working
again, avoid the former cause.

425. Sprained Back. — The ligaments connect-
ing the vertebrae together may be sprained, or
the large muscle on top of the back on each side
of the spine (longissimus dorsi), or those under
the spine that flex the pelvis (psoas muscles)
may be sprained.

Cause. — Efforts to extend or bend the back,
struggling when down or when being thrown,
slipping, falling, etc.

Symptoms. — Partial paralysis of hindquarters
(if horse has broken his back, but not damaged
the spinal cord, he will still be able to move
his hindquarters a little and move his tail) ; heat
and pain on pressure, if injury is near the
surface.

Treatment. — Put horse in slings, unless he is
very bad, when he is better kept lying down.

Warm water enemas and laxative food several
times a day. The sprain must be treated by
energetic massaging over the part affected. If
no symptoms of heat or pain from pressure, the
deep-seated psoas muscles are probably affected.
Absolute rest and laxative food are essential.

426. Bone Diseases. — Bone inflammation may
result from mechanical injury, such as a blow,
concussion, fracture, or from infection or chill,
in rheumatic diseases. The treatment for bone
disease is counter-irritation by means of severe
blisters or firing ; the former is best, as being
the more certain. This irritation causes in-
creased blood supply to the part, and either
assists nature in removing the trouble, or else
produces more bone and seals the joint together,
thus preventing any movement and consequent
pain. (See P. 96c.) Some cures can be effected
by a surgical operation under an anaesthetic.

427. Splint. — Splint is a bony growth on the
side of the cannon bone, between it and the front
of one of the splint bones. Splints are more
common on the inside of the leg, because more
weight is borne on this part. (See P. 96rf.) A
sprain is more common in young horses,
especially if worked on hard roads at a fast pace.
It is a result of excessive concussion, causing
friction, and therefore irritation between the two
bones. This is easily caused in early age, when
the interosseous ligaments are not strong enough
to hold the two bones firmly together. The con-
cussion also sprains these ligaments and sets up
inflammation of the periosteum, and eventually
of the bone. A splint may not cause lameness if
it is well below the knee or hock, in which case
it had better be left alone.

Symptoms. — Generally lameness, sometimes
before the splint can be felt, i.e. while it is
growing. Probable presence of a small lump.
If near the knee or hock great lameness. This
will become worse upon exercise. Will not bend
knee normally. There may be more than one on
the same leg, and perhaps not on the same side.
Lameness at trot will be much greater. A new
splint causes greater lameness.

428. Treatment. — If no lameness, leave it
alone. If time is unlimited, pressure pads of
compressed wadding, bound on with ordinary
wadding and bandages over the splint, and
massaging the part morning and night will
often do much good. If this is no good, or in
cases of limited time or very bad splints, a good
blister repeated two or three times after intervals
of two or three weeks is best. Cutting down
under local anaesthetics on the splint and sever-
ing the periosteum around the splint generally
removes the lameness, but must only be at-
tempted by a surgeon ; this is known as perios-
teotomy. Surgical removal of the splint has been
done with success.

Splints must not be confounded with the
lower head of the splint bone, which generally

PLATE 97

CONFORMATION

a, Good Straight Hindlegs. b. Good Width Behind. c. Good " Bone " Behind. d, Crooked Hindlegs. e, Good
Straight Forelegs. /, Sprained Tendons in Front, g. Sprained Tendons and Tied-in below Knee, h, Sprained Fetlock.

/, Good Back Tendons Hindleg. Photos by the Author

PLATE 98

Conformation of the Fore-limbs and Back. Drawn from Life and Photographs

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

109

projects out, and can be found by running the
finger down the splint bone. Enlargement of
this head is not uncommon in France, where it
is called a jarde.

429. Bone Spavin. — This is called a jack or
spavin. Consists of a bony growth on the lower
portion of the inside of the hock. (See P. 95d, e,
/.) It is an inflammation. In the hock there are
four joints, the top one, between the tibia and
the astragalus, is a pulley joint, and is the true
hock joint ; the three lower ones allow only a
slight movement, which is chiefly a sliding one,
when the hock is flexed. The lowest has least,
and the highest most, movement. Hence, as in
a splint, the higher the spavin the more serious
it is.

Cause. — Concussion, therefore most common
in fast draught horses, hunters, the circus horses
that perform much on their hindlegs ; less
common in racehorses and light-driving horses.
Young horses more susceptible. Actual con-
cussion, sprain or rupture of the interosseous
ligaments which bind the hock bones together
is the cause.

Symptoms. — Horse starts out lame in a hind-
leg and drags his toe, especially going downhill.
Lameness disappears or decreases as horse
warms up. Will be worse after a hard day's
work. A spavined horse will usually wear the
ehoe of the affected leg thin at the toe. The
lameness can often be detected by pushing the
horse's hindquarters across the stall. Unless the
spavin is very slight or is just forming, a lump
can be felt and be seen on the inner lower side
of the hock joint just above the straight inner
border of the cannon bone. There will gener-
ally be heat and pain on pressure. It will be
noticed that a spavined horse when turned about
to either side will bear most weight on the
sound leg.

A good test is to raise the foot of the suspected
leg as far as possible, holding the hock well
flexed for a minute or two, and upon releasing
the leg the lameness will be much increased if
there is a spavin. When there are no external
symptoms the injury is in between the surfaces
of the bones of the hock ; this is known as occult
spavin. In bad cases horses often refuse to lie
down because of the pain caused when rising.

430. Treatment. — In young horses spavin
lameness can generally be cured easily. A high-
heeled shoe is advisable . We cannot cure a spavin ,
but we can remove a lameness by means of unit-
ing the lower joint or joints of the hock, thus pre-
venting any movement and, therefore, pain. This
union is made by our assisting Nature to throw
out a bony growth which unites the bones to-
gether. For slow work a horse which has under-
gone such treatment is not decreased in value.
Severe blistering may have the desired effect ; but
deep pin-firing with an electro-thermocautery
needle is the surest method, as the heat reaches

the inside of the enlargement. The true hock
joint, the tendons and their sheaths must not in
any way be interferred with. Cocaine must be
used before firing. Absolute rest is essential
while this union is taking place, therefore the
horse should be kept in a sling, or the hock put
in plaster of paris for from four to six weeks.
The horse must be prepared beforehand with
purgatives, and given laxative food and diuretics
during the treatment. Turn out afterwards to
pasture for three months. In young horses, in
early stage, cure may be effected before any bony
deposit has taken place by rest, massage and
pressure bandages, and suitable diet. The seat
of spavin is covered by a binding ligament
(astragalus metatarsus), and this ligament often
becomes seriously inflamed when a spavin is
present. A small tendon (cunean), which is an
inward branch of the flexor metatarsus tendon,
passes over this ligament, and is attached to the
small cuneiform bone on the inner border of the
lower row of hock bones. This tendon causes
pressure on this ligament and therefore much
pain. With the use of local anaesthesia this
tendon can be cut, and may save much lameness :
in some cases it does no good.

431. Ringbone. — This consists in a bony de-
posit on the pastern bones and varies consider-
ably in position and size. P. 96c shows a large
completely formed ringbone. It is usually on
the sides and front, and tends to form a semi-
lunar ring. A ringbone on the large pastern
generally causes no lameness unless it interferes
with the lower end of the suspensory ligament.
If it interferes with the joint between the large
and small pastern bones, which is the commonest
place of occurrence, it will cause much lame-
ness. In this case the deposit will be on the
lower head of the large pastern bone or upper
head of the small one. It may be on the lower
head of the small one and interfere with the
coffin joint ; this is most serious.

Cause. — More common in the hindfeet, and is
due to severe concussion on the toe, sprains or
fractures setting up inflammation ; and some-
times to rheumatoid arthritis. Ringbone may
be caused by a horse going on his toes owing to
lameness.

Symptoms.— The deposit can be felt just above
the coronet, or higher up on the pastern, unless
it is not sufficiently formed. The horse will try
to avoid bending his pastern joint more than he
has to.

Treatment. — If in the early stage, absorption
of the deposit is looked for by giving rest and
suitable diet, and by a severe blistering or pin-
firing, as in bone spavin. Allowing the deposit
to unite the bones, as in the case of spavin, would,
of course, greatly decrease the value of the horse ;
therefore the horse should be turned out to
pasture in a few days after blistering or firing,
to prevent the joints becoming stiff. Neurectomy

110

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

is often resorted to as a last resource. This con-
sists in severing the internal and external meta-
tarsal, or metacarpal, nerves just above the sesa-
moid bones at the back of the fetlock. (See
P. 137.)

432. Sidebone. — Is an ossified lateral cartilage
of the foot. The lateral cartilages consist of two
flat pieces of translucent hyaline cartilage at-
tached to the wings of the foot bone. Their
function is to support and give elasticity to the
heels. Sidebone can be internal or external.
(See P. 96c.)

Cause. — On account of the blood supply to
these cartilages being poor, they readily become
diseased if injured. Sidebones are the result of
hard work, and occur frequently in the draught
horse, especially in the forefeet. Sidebones are
hereditary. They may arise from want of frog
pressure. (See Chapter XVIII.) High calkins or
paring away the frog will cause this ; the soft
frog or plantar cushion is consequently not sup-
ported by the horny frog, causing great strain on
the lateral cartilages. External injuries, such as
treads, may cause sidebones.

Symptoms. — Horse goes short and foot dwells
on ground longer than in navicular disease.
Horse tries to bend his leg and to take the weight
on other foot. There will probably be heat and
pain on pressure if the finger is pressed above
the coronet in a downward direction. If the
cartilage is ossified it will feel hard ; a distinct
firm ridge will be felt, instead of a soft pliable
one.

Treatment. — Obtain frog pressure by lowering
heels, and give rest. Reduce the wall of hoof in
vicinity of side bone. Hasten ossification by
blistering around the part ; when this is complete
inflammation will decrease. In bad cases neurec-
tomy must be resorted to. (See Sec. 431.)

433. Sore Shins. — Not uncommon in race-
horses that do hard work, especially when on
hard ground. The disease, which is due to con-
cussion, consists of a swelling in front of the
lower third of the cannon. There are heat and
pain on pressure ; later the swelling becomes
more like putty and eventually hard, this being
due to bony deposit.

The horse will go short on the affected leg,
and will try to bear most weight on the other
leg. If on both he will shift his legs about in
the stable continually. In slight cases massage,
pressure bandages and rest will effect a cure. In
worse cases blister.

434. Stiff Joints. — These may often be cured
by passive exercise and the breaking down of the
tissue that has formed around the joint ; and by
a free use of massaging with suitable diet. (See
Sees. 209, 217-9.)

435. Navicular Disease. — Consists in the
navicular bone becoming diseased. This bone
bears no weight but acts as a pulley block to the
perforans tendon. It is situated in rear of and

below the foot bone, the perforans passing be-
hind and under it. (See P. 69, 101.) Owing to
this, it is subject to compression every time the
perforans tendon is put in tension.

Cause. — The trouble is generally in the fore-
foot, and commonly in trotting horses, especially
those which work on city streets. Trotting race-
horses are very subject to it. Caused by concus-
sion, as a rule, but may be the result of injury
to the perforans tendon, or direct mechanical
injury, or rheumatism.

Symptoms. — There are generally no outward
signs on the foot. The surest sign is stepping
short and trotting as if sore ; pointing the foot
while resting, and lying down after hard work.
Horse tends to go on his toes. At the walk he is
probably not lame. Lameness decreases or dis-
appears as horse warms up. He may go sound
on snow or soft sand. Pressure by the finger on
the frog may show pain. Diagnose by negative
symptoms.

Treatment. — A cure is impossible, but lame-
ness may be prevented in some cases by paring
away the frog and using high heels, thereby re-
moving frog pressure. I have known this to be
successful in several cases. The toe should be
kept short. Feed on laxative diet, and encour-
age horse to lie down as much as possible by
giving soft bedding. Place clay in the front of
the stall. Work horse on soft ground and turn
out to pasture when roads are very hard. Several
hours a day standing in cold water will remove
much of the inflammation. In bad cases the only
relief for lameness is neurectomy. (See Sec.
431.)

436. Quittor. — This consists of a canal, or
several canals, running between the hoof and
pedal bone through the sensitive laminae of the
foot ; it reaches, or tends to reach, the surface
at the coronet.

Cause. — Treads, especially from calkins in
heavy horses or from loose nails ; blows, frost
bites, nail pricks, suppurating corns and other
mechanical injuries.

Symptoms and Treatment. — A lump forms on
the coronet and horse goes lame. If this does not
come to a head, it can be hastened by rubbing in
a mild blister for a few minutes. Open wound
and treat as an ordinary abscess (see Sec. 444),
taking great care to remove foreign tissue and
matter, and to syringe right to the bottom twice
a day, so as to cause it to heal from the bottom
only. If the canal goes right through, a seton
should be placed in it to insure its being kept
open until ready to heal. Inject cocaine before
opening. In deep cases put horse under a
general anaesthetic, and open canal right
through.

437. Enlargements due to injury of synovial
membrane of a joint and consequent excessive
secretion due to a provision of Nature.

Windgalls. — A puffy, flabby enlargement

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

111

around the fetlock ; most commonly at the back,
behind the bifurcation of the suspensory liga-
ment. (See P. 95z.)

Cause. — Overwork in older horses or weak-
ness in young. A very common cause is that of
suddenly stopping severe work, as in the case of
a racehorse. While at speed the synovia flows
rapidly around the joint ; the horse is suddenly
stopped, but the synovia continues to flow for a
while, which results in the pressure thereby pro-
duced stretching the synovial membrane and the
excess of synovia causing a swelling. As a rule,
no lameness results, but the puffs are unsightly.

Treatment. — Avoid sudden stoppages and de-
crease speed gradually ; adopt massage and
pressure bandage treatment. (See Sees. 209,
217-9.) The swellings are very liable to reappear.

438. Bog Spavin. — Consists of a soft, flabby
swelling on the inner side of the front of the
hock. (See P. 950.) It is in front of the true hock
joint, and therefore is considerably higher than a
bone spavin. It is caused by the distension of
the synovial membrane surrounding the hock
joint, i.e. that between the tibia and astragalus.
The cause is due to working when too young, too
severe work, or weakness. Unless bog spavin is
complicated with sprains of the ligaments of the
hock there is not much pain or heat.

Treatment. — Massage, pressure bandages and
rest. It often occurs accompanied by a thorough-
pin.

439. Thoroughpin. — This is a swelling just in
front of the point of the hock, and consists in
distension of the tarsal sheath, which surrounds
the perforans tendon (see P. 101), as it passes
through the hock. The synovia accumulates in
the space between the perforans tendon and the
synovial sheath. The swelling can be moved to
and fro from nearly one side of the hock to the
other. If unaccompanied by lameness it is not
serious. Cause and treatment same as bog
spavin. (See P. 96a.)

440. Windgalls sometimes appear along the
course of the perforans tendon and are a disten-
sion of the bursse surrounding this tendon, which
are filled with synovia. These may appear at the
back of the hock and may be mistaken for capped
hock. Treatment is massage and pressure band-
ages and rest. Give potassium iodide internally,
£ to 1 dr. twice a day, and paint on liniment of
iodine for three or four days in aggravated cases
of any kind of synovial swelling. This will
stimulate absorption. In very bad cases it may
be necessary to blister.

441. Enlargements caused by Serous Effusion.
—These enlargements or cysts are not uncommon
at the point of the hock and elbow, known as
capped hock and elbow. They are caused by in-
juries ; as a rule, those of an external mechanical
nature. The serum inside, which is the fluid
portion of the blood, eventually turns to fibrous
tissue if the enlargement is not attended to.

442. Capped Hock (see P. 95/*) .—Caused by
kicking in the stable or by other blows. Some
nervous horses are liable to kick when left in the
dark, others kick when they hear mice or rats.

Treatment. — Removal of cause and massage.
If very bad, after inflammation has disappeared,
the swelling may be opened and kept open with
a seton for a while. Antiseptic precautions must
be taken. Blistering will assist in bad cases. In
long-standing cases the swelling may be removed
by a surgical operation. It seldom causes any
defect in action, but is generally unsightly. In
synovial capped hock use absorbent liniment of
iodine.

443. Capped Elbow. — An enlargement on back
of the elbow joint, point of ulna. Caused as a
rule by the horse lying on hard floor or lying on
the heel of the shoe when too long. Allowing too
short a rope at night may cause this.

Treatment. — Remove cause by giving plenty
of head rope and good bedding, and, if necessary,
shortening heels of shoe. Treatment must be
commenced directly the first sign is noticed.
Treat same way as for capped hock. (Sec. 442.)
In some cases, if it is large and loose, it can be
removed by a ligature, i.e. by tying aseptic gut
around its base, and gradually tightening it day
by day until the stasis produced in the circulation
causes the part to die and drop off. This is pain-
less, unless the ligature is tied too tightly at first.
Treat part then with antiseptics.

444. Wounds. — The antiseptic treatment of
wounds is dealt with in detail in Chapter XVII.

Abscess. — An abscess is a collection of pus in
a cavity, the result of internal or external injury.
In the horse most abscesses are those caused by
external injuries. The pus is produced by the
tissue becoming damaged and allowing pus-
producing organisms (which are present in
every part of the animal) to form pus. These
organisms (bacteria) have no action on healthy
tissue, but directly a tissue becomes damaged
they commence to work. If the damaged tissue
is exposed to the atmosphere the pus produced
is much greater unless antiseptic precautions are
at once taken. Even then considerable pus will
be formed.

Symptoms. — Tenderness, heat and throbbing
and later swelling. This swelling tends to
" point " in a few days. The part is hard at first
and as pus forms becomes soft and fluctuates.

445. Treatment. — If the abscess does not de-
crease in size, or is already large, it is useless and
wrong to try to arrest it. We must try to help
it to come to a head by hot fomentations, or
applications of antiphlogistine, etc. When it has
come to a head it may have to be lanced and
drainage allowed in order to free the pus.

The wound must then be kept open for days,
and either filled or syringed out once daily with
an antiseptic solution until no more pus forms.
This will allow the wound to heal up from the

112

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

bottom. If on account of its position the wound
will not drain itself perfectly, drainage must be
obtained by making an incision at the lowest
part of the wound and keeping a seton in until
the wound appears quite healthy. Wounds that
will not heal, but which become hard, can be
assisted by placing crystals of copper sulphate in
the wound. This irritates the surfaces and
causes increased blood supply and new tissue to
be formed. Give horse laxative food and diure-
tics, and in bad cases a purgative.

446. Contusions and Bruises. — A bruise is a
contusion on the surface, so the term contusion
includes a bruise. It is an injury to the tissue
due to a mechanical blow, prolonged pressure,
etc., to that part. There is always a rupture of
the capillaries, so that there will be blood pre-
sent round the damaged tissue. The tissue may
be slightly or severely injured.

Treatment. — Remove cause and effect absorp-
tion of the effusion by applying stimulants to the
parts or as near to the parts as possible. Give
vigorous massaging. If the contusion is deep
and the horse is not required, and manual labour
is expensive, blistering over the part should be
resorted to.

447. Brushing. — Consists in the horse knock-
ing the inside of the fetlock, coronet, or possibly
wall of the hoof of one leg with the inner border
or possibly the clenches of the shoe of the other
foot.

Cause. — Outer portion of foot too high causing
fetlock to incline inwards, weakness, bad con-
formation, fatigue, bad shoeing. Horse may
brush himself if his legs itch from any disease
or presence of parasites while scratching his legs
together. A horse that turns his toes out in
action is liable to brush.

Symptoms. — The part may be only brushed.
A lump or perhaps an open wound may be
formed on the inside of the fetlock or coronet, or
there may be a cut on the wall. There may be
heat and considerable swelling and even an
abscess.

Treatment. — Remove cause. Shoe with
feather-edged shoe (see P. 139) on the inside of
the foot that does the damage ; and shoe low on
the outside of the other foot, keeping the outer
wall well pared away. If bruised, foment and
treat antiseptically. If there is an abscess or a
wound, treat accordingly. Give laxative food.
In future use a Yorkshire boot (P. 22g). This
is made with a piece of flannel about 8 inches in
width, and long enough to go twice around the
leg, and doubled over after being secured with a
tape as shown. Special leather brushing boots
can be procured on the market.

448. Speedy Cut. — Consists in the horse brush-
ing himself on the inside of the knee or hock.
More common in foreleg. The seat of injury is
at the bottom part of knee-joint. The causes and
symptoms are similar to those of brushing.

Knock-kneed horses, and those who turn their
toes out, are subject to it. More often caused at
the gallop after horse has become tired. Severe
blows are liable to cause an abscess, which
must be treated. A speedy cut boot should be
worn afterwards, which must come down well
over the knees. Give laxative diet, and if an
abscess, give purgative. Shoe as for brushing.

449. Over-reach. — Consists of an injury made
by the toe of the hindfoot striking the bulb of
the heel, the fetlock or the back tendon of the
forefoot. Generally done to the leading leg at
the canter or gallop, by the hindleg on the same
side. Practically never done at the walk, pace,
or amble. The cause is generally due to the
forefoot not being removed quickly enough, as
when it becomes temporarily stuck in sticky
ground. Or it may occur on slippery ground or
from weakness or fatigue. A horse that is
allowed to go along in a slovenly way may over-
reach himself.

Symptoms. — Bruise or wound on the part that
is struck or rubbed.

Treatment. — Remove cause and make horse
carry himself better by proper schooling under
competent hands. Heavy shoes, by increasing
the action, will generally do good. It may be
necessary to use over-reaching boots to cover fet-
lock, back tendons, or bulb of the heel. These
are made of leather or rubber. Treat any wound
as for brushing. (Sec. 447.)

450. Broken Knees. — These are the result of a
horse being allowed to fall down on to his knees.
May be simple, that is not affecting the joint ; in
which case treat antiseptically. Every precau-
tion must be taken to avoid the damage spread-
ing towards the joints. Therefore hot fomenta-
tions, except to clean the wound in the first place
and remove all irritating grit (which is absolutely
necessary), and poultices are absolutely for-
bidden, as they tend to soften the part and lessen
vitality.

451. Open Joints. — If the knee is so damaged
that the synovial membrane of joint proper is cut
there will be an " open joint," which is, as a rule,
a most serious injury. The cure for open joints,
if in the knee, hock or fetlock, is the same.

Symptoms. — Synovia will run out (in a closed
joint a few synovial sacs may be ruptured, allow-
ing a little synovia to escape), and later there will
be heat, swelling and pain ; blood and pus will
run out. High fever will be present. If the top
synovial sac of the knee is affected it is much
less serious than if the middle or lower sac is
opened. The lower is the most serious, because
this will drain the middle sac as well. In the
hock the most serious is the true hock joint or
upper sac.

Treatment.— Reduce fever in horse and give
laxative food. If fever is very slight give mild
purgative. The success in treatment depends on
keeping the synovial cavity absolutely aseptic

PLATE 99

HOCK TOO

HtCK Too HUCH &EH7.

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fiOT U£.LL LE.TTXIU*''

HOCK" M A L- FOR MAT/ON
"TH5 Q 0 Gooj) HOCK ao N FOR/-I A~r< o u.

Conformation of the Hock and Hindleg. Drawn from Life and Photographs

PLATE 100

INF&Rl 01

Se. ss>» MO i-

^

fOST£K/OK VI£U OF POKE.
US G , SWO W ING- THE. TOUEK
FOL. S05"P«A'SO«y HGKHEN

THAT "LOCKS' THE. FETLOCK

Diagrams of the Correct Conformation of the Horse

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

113

and perfectly drained, and in keeping the joint
perfectly stationary by means of splints or plaster
of paris cast, with an opening for treating the
wound. The wound must be covered between
each dressing with antiseptic wadding and sheet-
ing. The horse must be put into slings, as a
rule. When a wound is quite clean tincture of
iodine is a very good application ; collodion is
good to arrest bleeding.

The application of a good blister around the
part is recommended, as it hastens the healing
of the wound. A cradle should be put on the
horse's neck, to prevent him from biting at the
wound. In most cases when the bottom sac of
the knee-joint is open, the horse is better de-
stroyed ; similarly with the upper of the four sacs
in the hock.

452. Galls have been dealt with in Chapter
VII., Sec. 323.

Poll Evil. — Is an injury to the poll, which is
the part on the top of the head between the ears.
Generally commences in inflammation of the
bursa that lies between the first cervical vertebra
(atlas) and the ligamentum nuchae (which holds
the head up).

Cause. — A blow from a stick or from a low
ceiling, as on board ship, or doorway. The
overhead check rein often causes this. (See
Chapter XIX.)

Symptoms. — Swelling, heat, pain in region ;
if bad, horse carries his head stiffly, and may
object to being groomed over the head or to being
bridled.

Treatment. -- Remove cause. Apply anti-
phlogistine or other similar agent to bring
abscess to a head. Then open abscess and treat.
If bad, it will be necessary to obtain drainage
from the bottom, in which case a general anaes-
thetic must be given. In mild cases, if dis-
covered early, massage and liniments may cause
effusion to be absorbed without any abscess form-
ing. The horse must be given diet and fed from
a manger, and not from the ground, nor should
he be turned out to pasture, because it is neces-
sary to keep his head up to prevent too much
blood flowing to that part. In bad cases the
yellow elastic ligamentum nuchae becomes seri-
ously involved, and an operation under chloro-
form has to be performed ; a portion of the
ligament is securely attached at the upper end
to the occipital bone of the head and to the second
cervical vertebra (axis, or dentata), and if it is
severed above the attachment to the axis the
horse can still keep his head up almost naturally,
but if it is severed between the axis and the
withers the horse will be unable to hold its head
up except with the upper muscles of the neck,
which will soon become tired, and the horse will
endeavour to rest its head on any support. Such
a horse must be destroyed.

453. Fistulous Withers, or Sinus of the
Wit hers .—Caused by saddle pressure on the top

of the withers, pinching at the sides, or collar
injuries.

The injury is similar to poll evil and is chiefly
in the yellow elastic fibres at the top of the
withers, where the yellow ligamentum nuchae
fibres are interwoven with the white inelastic
supraspinous ligament that continues back to the
tip of the tail.

The symptoms and treatment are similar to
those of poll evil. Great care must be taken to
get proper drainage, otherwise the pus will
burrow down in between the shoulder-blade and
the muscles and may find an exit at the bottom
of the chest. Great care must be taken from the
first to bring any abscess to a head. This must
be opened as soon as possible and kept properly
drained and aseptic.

454. Burns. — If the burn is slight and the
skin is only reddened the best application is a
saturated solution of picric acid. Another good
application is carron oil (equal parts of linseed
oil and lime-water). If the skin is injured right
through, apply zinc oxide ointment. If this can-
not be obtained, dust on boracic acid. If nothing
else can be obtained, any form of grease must be
put on to keep the air away; an antiseptic should
be added to the grease, as burnt skin readily
admits germs. Baking soda (sod. bicarb.) dusted
on will do good. The system suffers from shock
if the pain is at all bad, in which case strychnine
sulphate should be given hypodermically in the
neck, £ to 1 gr. If this cannot be obtained give
4 to 6 oz. whisky. Do not give methylated
spirits. If pain is bad, give i to i oz. chloral
hydrate in a drench of at least 1 pint of water (a
stronger solution will burn the mouth). Put
horse on diet.

455. Frost Bites. — Not uncommon in winter
in Canada. Horses exposed much to cold winters
may have their ears frost bitten at the tips. Tails
that have been plaited up tightly with the hair
drawn away from the tip of the dock may be-
come frost bitten at the end, therefore it is never
advisable to plait a tail up in the coldest of
weather, unless plenty of hair is left around the
end of the dock.

Usually a frost bite in a horse is discovered
after the part has become dead, and in this case
any wound that may be a frost bite must be
treated antiseptically. If the part is found to be
cold and apparently feelingless, the circulation,
which has been arrested, must not be allowed to
return suddenly by applying friction or warm
fomentation, as this will cause inflammation and
pain. Cold water, or better, snow, must be
rubbed against the part for fifteen minutes or
so, until the circulation returns. Horses' feet
sometimes become frozen, which may result in
thrush, due to walking on a mixture of salt and
snow, the salt being put down to prevent street
rails becoming clogged with ice.

456. Snake Bites and Stings.— If a bite is from

114

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

a non-poisonous snake or is a sting from an
insect, apply at once liquid ammonia (spirits of
hartshorn) and treat part afterwards as for a
bruise. (See Sec. 446.)

Poisonous snake bites have symptoms of
swelling, shock, faintness and perhaps uncon-
sciousness. Later there may be paralysis, con-
vulsions and, finally, death. I have never had the
opportunity of seeing a horse that had been bitten
by a poisonous snake, but the use of strychnine
injected over or near the part in large doses every
quarter of an hour has had wonderful effects,
half a grain being used at a time in very bad
cases ; in milder cases ^th grain will be sufficient.
After all signs of poison have gone and the
twitching effects of strychnine commenced, its
use must be stopped. A careful watch must be
kept for hours in order that strychnine may be
again used upon first signs appearing.

457. Lightning and Electric Shocks. — Horses
that have been rendered unconscious from elec-
tric or lightning discharges may recover if
assisted, by applying stimulating liniments to
the part with vigorous massaging, and by inject-
ing 1 grain strychnine into the part. Four to
6 oz. of whisky should be given every two
hours, and a bottle of strong ammonia should be
held near the nostrils. The legs must be rubbed
to promote circulation, and afterwards bandaged
with flannel.

458. Fractures are of three kinds : simple,
when the broken part does not protrude through
the skin ; compound, when it does ; and com-
minuted, when the bone is crushed into small
pieces.

Simple fractures, as a rule, can be mended,
because as there is no external opening there will
be less danger of pus-producing organisms gain-
ing access ; in most cases of compound fracture,
unless the horse is valuable it is better that he be
mercifully destroyed. I have assisted in mend-
ing a great number of limb fractures in horses,
and the methods laid down in the following
sections will be found most successful. I used to
drive a heavy horse in Alberta on long trips that
two years previous had had its tibia broken, set
in plaster of paris and turned out to pasture for
nine months.

459. Physiology of a Fracture.— When a bone
breaks, irritation around the fractured ends sets
up inflammation ; small cells, normally in the
bone (osteoblasts, bone-producing), appear on
the scene and produce bone that is placed in be-
tween the fractured ends inside and outside the
fracture. After uniting, the ends are encased in
a thick mass of bone resembling the lead on a
joint on a lead pipe. Next appear bone-devour-
ing cells (osteoclasts). These gradually remove
this excessive bone, which may take two or three
years, and in many cases its removal is never
complete. By giving phosphates (calcium phos-
phate i to 2 drs., or phosphoric acid dilute 1 to

2 drs.) once a day, the union will be hastened.
If there is much fever give as a febrifuge, Flem-
ing's tincture of aconite 5 to 10 minims (this
drug must be used with caution). Rest is always
necessary, not only to keep the part motionless,
but to allow as much vital energy as possible to
assist in the repair. Feed on laxative diet, and
if in a gross condition give purgative to com-
mence with, unless there is much fever. If the
fracture is compound, and it is intended to
attempt to reduce it, very careful antiseptic pre-
cautions will have to be taken, which is not an
easy matter in a stable.

460. Before applying the bandages and plaster
of paris (plaster of paris bandages are sold in
hermetically sealed tins), the ends of the bones
must be brought together in their normal posi-
tion. It may be necessary to give chloroform to
ensure complete relaxation of the muscles.

Symptoms and Treatment. — Sudden and bad
lameness after a fall or accident, pain, fever, de-
formity and crepitation of part. Fractures of
the long bones, i.e. the cannon, radius, tibia, can
be set in plaster of paris and the horse either kept
in slings or turned out to pasture. The former
for a few days is more humane.

Fractures of the pastern bones, especially the
small one, due to a horse slipping and suddenly
bringing one foot with great force on to the road,
are generally very bad, and, as a rule, the bone
breaks into a score of pieces. The horse will
suffer much pain, and is better destroyed. I
have known of this bone being broken into forty-
five pieces by a mere slip and a sudden recovery.
If the pain is only slight the pastern must be
put into plaster of paris for at least a month.

461. If the coffin bone or navicular bone is
broken the horse had better be destroyed. The
symptoms are severe pain and heat. Horse holds
the elbow of the affected leg much lower than
the other elbow. The knee and fetlock will be
bent and the heel raised. These symptoms may
occur, however, when the first rib is broken, but
there will be no heat in the foot.

Fractures of the upper arm (humerus) or
shoulder (scapula) will generally repair them-
selves if the horse is turned out to pasture. I
have known several instances where horses have
broken these bones in a fall, and have kept in
good health and free from pain while at pasture ;
the bone quickly uniting. A horse can bear
weight day after day on one foreleg without
tiring, because the large muscle (serratus
magnus) which suspends the body to the inside
of the shoulder-blade is interwoven with in-
elastic fibres. However, in fractures of the thigh
bone (femur) the horse must be put into slings
for five to six weeks, because one hindleg cannot
bear all the weight for any length of time. These
upper bones must be bandaged as well as
possible when the horse is slung to prevent
movement.

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

115

462. In fractures of the pelvis (ossa inno-
minata) the horse must be slung for at least three
months. In fracture of the jaw (the lower jaw
being sometimes fractured owing to cruel use of
the bit) the jaw must be bandaged and kept as
still as possible.

In fractures of the ribs, which will become
apparent by evidence of pain when the horse is
girthed up and should be discovered when he is
examined, as he should be after a fall, the best
cure is rest. The horse should be turned out to
pasture for a couple of months away from any-
thing that might cause him to gallop about. For
this reason he must not be turned out with colts.

Fractured tail bones sometimes occur from
falls. The treatment is simple, and consists in
applying a leather guard for at least one month.
The guard must be laced up moderately tight,
but not so as to arrest circulation.

Broken backs are sometimes caused by tying
the horse up short. Placing the horse in slings
would tend to separate the broken pieces of
vertebras because the slings will cause him to
roach his back. The point of the hip (external
tuberosity of the ilium) and the point of the but-
tock (tuberosity of ischium) are sometimes frac-
tured in falls ; the former may result from the
horse being rushed carelessly through a narrow
gateway or door. As a rule, nothing can be
done, and if the horse is turned out to pasture
for a couple of months the part will either unite
or remain permanently loose. This latter is not
uncommon and does not affect the horse in its
work.

463. Dislocations. — Consist of displacement
of a bone, or bones, that form, or help to form,
a joint. The symptoms are pain and awkward
or lessened gait. The only dislocation which is
generally successfully treated (and fortunately
other dislocations are uncommon) is that of the
patella or small bone at the front of the stifle,
corresponding to our kneecap. Chloroform will
often have to be given to get relaxation of the
muscles before the bone can be placed back.

Dislocation of Patella. — This generally slips
outwards, i.e. away from the body, and is quite
common with foals, who usually grow out of
the tendency, which is a sign of weakness. An
accident or a sudden wrench may cause the
patella to slip out. When it is out, the leg is
kept straight and the foot far back. The toe of
the foot and sometimes the front of the wall will
rest on the ground. The horse will be unable to
draw his foot forward.

No time should be lost in treatment. If it is
left out the joint may become injured. If it can-
not be pushed back, the foot must be drawn for-
ward by an assistant with a rope and the patella
pushed into place. If it is difficult to replace,
the horse must be given chloroform to relax the
muscles. After replacing the patella, massage the
part for twenty minutes morning and night for

one month, or it may be blistered, repeating once
or twice at intervals of two weeks. A stifle shoe
should be applied in cases where the patella slips
out repeatedly.

464. Stable Vices. — Kicking. — The best way to
prevent a horse from kicking in the stable at
night is to hang a sack of straw tightly packed
from the ceiling, so that when the horse kicks he
will kick the sack and cause it to swing against
his hindquarters. Chain hobbles on the hind-
feet may cure in some cases. If a horse kicks
from ill-temper while in the stable, in harness,
or in the saddle, a man should stand at his
shoulder and strike him a good cut under the
girth while his quarters are in the air. He then
associates the pain with the kicking ; if he is
struck afterwards he may kick all the more. (See
Chapter III.) The moment he stops he must be
caressed and shown that he is doing right by
stopping. Horses often kick at a timid person
or at a rough man, but when handled by a good
horseman give it up altogether. Every attempt
should be made by the rider when in the saddle
to hold the horse's head up ; he should close his
legs, and speak to the horse directly he feels an
attempt to kick. In training a horse to harness,
a kicking strap should be used always as a pre-
caution, so that should the horse attempt to raise
his hindquarters, he will be checked from the
first, and knowing that he cannot do so will
probably not attempt it in future. But if, upon
first trying, he finds he can do it, he will have
learned something that he will not easily forget.

465. CRIB BITING. — This is a most objection-
able habit. It is a nervous affection, therefore a
crib biter should be isolated. He should be kept
in a stall or loose Box, with no manger or other
article in it at which he can suck. He should be
fed in a manger that is removed directly he has
finished, the hay being put on the floor. Crib
biting leads to wind sucking and helps to destroy
the horse's digestion and keep him generally in
bad condition. When he sucks he inflates his
intestines with air, and is inclined to be subject
to colic.

Treatment. — Place a two-inch strap fairly
tightly around the neck just behind the throat,
so that whenever he tries to wind suck, being
unable to swell his throat, he will find the strap
causes pain, and in most cases will cease to try.
This must not be tight enough to interfere with
his eating or breathing in any way. Idleness is
responsible for most crib biting. Horses turned
out to pasture usually return cured, but only
temporarily, as a rule.

Snapping at one when approaching the horse
in its stall is an objectionable habit, and is often
caused by the continued practice of giving sugar.
The best cure is for the groom to approach the
horse, and while the latter turns round and
snaps, the former should thrust a hot grilled
meat chop into the horse's mouth. The horse

116

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

very much objects, as a rule, to hot grease, and
in many cases it will effect a cure.

466. THE HORSE'S TEETH.— The horse's teeth
require attending to far more often than is gener-
ally supposed. Horses get thin and the owners
do not suspect that the teeth require attending to,
but continue to give patent medicines which
probably do more harm than good. I have seen
teeth in horses' mouths that make one wonder
how they can eat at all, the condition being
merely the result of want of knowledge and often
neglect.

I consider it cruel not to secure a veterinary
surgeon to examine a horse's teeth once a year.
All horses may not require attention every year,
but we never know, and it will be money well
spent. If the owner knows how to examine the
teeth, of course, he should do so. It is the molars
and not the incisors (front teeth) that require
floating with a suitable file every year or so, de-
pending on the composition of the teeth and on
the food. Every horse over eight years of age
should have its teeth floated once a year, or
oftener ; but horses over five years of age may
require this.

467. Floating consists in taking off the sharp
points only, and not in rounding off the edges of
the tables. I remember a young vet. who filed
a horse's teeth so smooth that the animal died
of starvation. Normally the tables of the molar
teeth are quite ragged like the grinders in a mill,
and unless they are so the horse will not be
able to masticate oats, etc. The tables are not
in a horizontal plane, but, as shown in P. 103,
they incline inwards and upwards. This allows
of a better grinding motion when the horse
masticates. The upper teeth are farther apart
than the lower. Only points that stick right up
above the tables should be taken off with the
float. Projections into the gums or tongue,
which are sometimes found, must be clipped off
with molar nippers or cutters.

Neglected teeth will cause indigestion, because
the horse will not be able to masticate his food
sufficiently, and consequently there will be a con-
siderable waste of food and money. The
symptoms of neglected teeth are irritability and
awkward carriage of the head, sore tongue and
cheeks, ptyalism (slobbering), pulling on the bit,
trying to run away, etc. Whenever a horse is off
his feed, carries his head to one side, or pulls
unnaturally, his teeth must be examined. There
may be a piece of wood jammed in between two
teeth and the horse has no means of informing
its owner.

468. How TO EXAMINE TEETH. — If a speculum
is used it is an easy matter to examine the teeth.
The hand is then placed into the mouth and each
row of molars is examined very carefully in
turn ; great care being taken to detect any pieces
of wood or other foreign substances that may be
wedged in between the teeth. Care must be

taken to see that the speculum is resting properly
on the surface of the incisors, and that it is pro-
perly secured and not opened too far. It is an
easy matter, after a little practice, to examine the
teeth without the use of a speculum or other in-
strument to keep the horse's mouth open.

The right hand and arm are inserted into the
mouth through the interdental space ; the horse's
tongue is forced gently with the back of the hand
in between the horse's left molar teeth. This
prevents him closing his mouth and allows the
two rows of molar teeth on the horse's right side
(the side on which the person will stand) to be
inspected. The other hand is then used to
examine the left molars by keeping the tongue
between the right. A speculum may frighten a
nervous horse.

469. The tooth consist of a crown, with a
table on top that is the grinding surface, a neck,
fangs, and the roots at the tips of the fangs. The
horse has two sets of teeth : temporary, milk,
deciduous, total or teeth of the first dentition,
and permanent, replacing, or teeth of the second
dentition.

The front teeth are called incisors or nippers.

The tushes, or tusks, are called canines, and
are situated in the interdental space between the
incisors and molars, and nearer to the incisors.

The back teeth are called grinders or molars.

The full number in a horse is :

Temporary set, Incisors, six on each jaw
Canines

Molars, three on each
side of each jaw

12
0

12
24
12

Permanent set, Incisors, six on each jaw
Canines, one on each

side of each jaw . 4
Molars, six on each side
of each jaw . . 24

40

Generally a mare has no canine teeth, there-
fore has only 36. Several mares in Canada have
been known to have canine teeth.

470. A tooth is composed of dentine, which is
similar in composition to bone, and contains
76 per cent, of earthy matter. This is covered on
its sides with enamel, which is enfolded from the
top in the upper molars ; it is very hard, con-
taining 96 per cent, earthy or mineral matter, and
is an epithelial growth.

Inside the dentine there is a pulp cavity that
extends along a considerable length of the tooth ;
in the old tooth it is quite short. There are also
cups in the table around which the enamel forms
a ridge called the infundibulum. (See P. 102,
103.)

There is a soft yellow material on the sides

PLATE 101

L-ARG-E PAS T6
TiONE..

iff

FORMING THE. 8#OfiJ> Lie.
/VS T£/v,DOW.

'PEKFORfi TUS

01? T£/V:POA/ OP ACHI

T/ B 'A o R
LE G- BONE.

p£/?WftTtJS T.
B. »R rfe'T/4 T/» M

-pEKFOKAHS T.

/_£ c^.

OF BON£ S ,

UP THE FORE 4 H i>

Diagrams of the Relative Positions of the Suspensory Ligament, Back Tendons (Perforans and Perforatus)
and Extensor Tendon of the Fore and Hind Limbs, Viewed from Both Sides

PLATE 102

CHE.S OF
TSSTlf op TH£
JAW, AT VARIOUS A&ES.

sec-Titus

/VC/Sfl/f
VARIOUS AGES.

Diagrams of the Incisor Teeth, Showing how the Tables Change with Age

PLATE 103

-TH«OU<?H
C.

P
Of=

WIT>TM

z< 5.

Diagrams of the Teeth, showing the Angle of Incidence, etc.

PLATE 104

FLIES AND FLY-PROTECTION

a, b, C, Show the Horse in the Act of Striking a Fly with its Fly-weapon, d, A Fly-whisk, and an Eye-fringe on the
Bridle. e, Fly Nets. Courtesy : MacPherson Fruit Co., Brandon, Manitoba. /, Fly Sheet for Stable or Out of Doors

in the Fly Season. Photos by the Author

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

117

of the molar and parts of the incisors called
crusta petrosa ; this continues to grow after the
tooth has formed. It contains about 66 per cent,
earthy matter.

Permanent incisors do not have a well-marked
neck, as do the milk incisors, are larger and
longer, are not so white, but have a bluish tint,
and are more curved on their outer surface.

The angle formed by the incisors, which can
be seen by looking at a mouth sideways with the
lips held open, is called the angle of incidence.
This angle decreases as the horse gets older.

The cups in the tables of the upper incisors
are deeper than in the lower, therefore those in
the lower wear away before those in the upper.

The centre incisors are called middle or centre
incisors ; those next outside are called the inter-
mediate or lateral incisors ; and those outside the
corner incisors.

471. AVERAGE PERIOD OF ERUPTION.

Tooth Eruption Shedding

Temp. Mid. Inc. . . Birth to 8 days . . 2 to 2£ years
Temp. Inter. Inc. . . 4, 6 or 8 weeks . . 3 to 3£ years
Temp. Cor. Inc. . . 7 to 8 months . . 4 to 4J years

The milk incisors are often said to erupt at
approximately 8 days, 8 weeks and 8 months
respectively.

Tooth

Perm. Mid. Inc.
Perm. Inter. Inc.
Perm. Cor. Inc.

Eruption

2 to 2J years

3 to 3J years

4 to 4 1 years

These teeth will be fully grown in six
months after eruption, so that at five years of
age a horse should have a full mouth of
incisors.

Tooth Eruption

Canines, Permanent (no temp.) . . 4 to 4 J or 5 years

Tooth
Molars,
temporary
1st ..
2nd .
3rd

Eruption

At birth
At birth
Birth to 1 month

Eruption

Shedding

2J to 3 years
2 J to 3 years
3£ to 4 years

Tooth

Molars,

permanent

1st . . 2J to 3 years

2nd . . 2J to 3 years (a little after the 1st)

3rd . . 3J to 4 years

4th .. 10 months to 1 yr. (1st molar in mouth)

5th .. 1 1 to 2 years

6th . . 3J to 4 years

The teeth of the lower jaw generally erupt
earlier than those of the upper. Some horses'
molars are earlier in eruption than normal, and
incisors later. The molars will erupt much
earlier if the horse is fed on grain, as a race-
horse is, whilst the incisors will erupt much
earlier if the horse is at pasture in a sandy
district. A thoroughbred horse fed on hard

grain, and developed rapidly for racing in the
modern "young events," will have many of his
molars six months earlier.

472. Table of teeth from birth to five years
(an average) : At birth or soon after, temp. mid.
incisor, 1st and End temp, molars ; at 3 months,
temp. mid. incisor, temp, inter, incisor, 1st,
2nd and 3rd temp, molars ; at 6 months, temp,
mid. incisor, temp, inter, incisor, 1st, 2nd and
3rd temp, molars ; at 9 months, all temp,
incisors, 1st, 2nd and 3rd temp, molars ; at
1 year, all temp, incisors, 1st, 2nd, 3rd temp,
molars and 4th perm, molar ; at 2 years, all temp,
incisors, 1st, 2nd and 3rd temp, molars, 4th and
5th perm, molars ; at 3 years, perm. mid.
incisor, temp, inter, incisor and cor. incisor, 1st
and 2nd perm, molars, 3rd temp, molar, 4th and
5th perm, molars ; at 4 years, perm. mid. and
inter, incisors, temp. cor. incisors, 1st and 2nd
perm, molars, 3rd temp, molar, 4th, 5th and
6th perm, molars ; at 5 years, all perm, incisors,
all canines, all perm, molars.

Therefore, at four and a half to five years of
age a horse has a full mouth. From this time
on we tell his age by examining the cups in
the tables of the incisors, by the shape of the
tables, by the angle of incidence, and by the
length of the teeth.

Molar teeth are matured at nine years of age,
and from that time on they commence to grow
up from the bottom of the jaw, and the lower
edge of the rami of the lower jaw bone (inferior
maxilla) becomes thinner.

473. A glance at a longitudinal section of a
tooth (see P. 102) shows us that a tooth wears
away from mastication, and gradually becomes
shorter, causing the shape and nature of a table
to vary very much. This takes place in the
canines and also in the molars. At first there is
no cup in the incisors, then a cup appears, then
it goes again. Dishonest dealers make a young
horse appear six years of age by filing the
incisors and showing the cups. The expert,
though, will examine the molars to detect this.
Again, old horses are made to appear younger
by filing the incisors shorter and making cups,
and darkening them with silver nitrate. The
expert can tell the difference by the angle of
these teeth and by the shape.

TABLE OF INCISORS. — At 6 years, lower jaw
cups in mid. incisors disappear ; at 7 years, lower
jaw cups in inter, incisors disappear ; at 8 years,
lower jaw cups in cor. incisors disappear ; at 9
years, the back corner of upper cor. incisors
begins to point down below and behind the
cor. of the lower cor. incisors ; at 10 years, upper
jaw cups in mid. incisors disappear ; at 11 years,
upper jaw cups in inter, incisors disappear ; at
12 years, upper jaw cups in cor. incisors dis-
appear.

After twelve years of age it is difficult to
judge accurately the age of a horse. Successful

118

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

judging of the age of a horse at any age depends
on considerable practice. With a good deal of
practice it is comparatively easy to judge the
approximate age of a horse up to twenty years
of age.

At fifteen years, the table of incisors is tri-
angular and the sharp point on the back edge
of the upper cor. incisor is worn away.

At twenty years, the shape of the table is
rectangular, being narrow from side to side.

A horse that has grazed much on sandy soil
will have shorter incisors than one that has done
little grazing.

AGE OF HORSES. — The terms " rising " and
"off" are used to denote, approximately, how
far distant the horse's birthday is. For example :
rising six means that the horse is a five-year-old,
but nearly six ; six off means that he is a six-
year-old, and nearer six than seven.

474. ON PHOTOGRAPHING HORSES. — As one
who has photographed over two thousand horses
in the past five years, I think it may be as well to
say a few words on this subject. Photographing
horses is far more difficult than it looks, and I
do not wonder that many photographers refuse
to do this. The photographer has so much to
keep his eye on ; he must watch the legs, ears
and tail at the same time. The first thing he
must do is to get the horse standing with all
four legs showing from a point directly behind
the camera, standing with his legs under him
and properly balanced, and not with his legs
stretched out, as is so commonly done with hack-
neys. (See P. 105c.) This latter is an example
of the foolishness and ignorance of anatomy dis-
played by grooms and owners of such horses.
It is supposed to look showy, but is unnatural
and injurious, causing strains upon the back
tendons of the hindlegs and upon the back itself.

When flies are absent, the photographer's
difficulties are considerably lightened. After he
has got the horse standing well, he has merely to
watch the horse's ears ; but, if flies are present,
he has to watch the ears and tail. He has to try
some means of attracting the horse, so that it will
keep its ears forward steadily ; he then has to
wait for the tail to be still. The worst time of
year to take a horse is at the end of the summer,
when the flies are hungry and worry horses very
much. Of course, it is an easy matter for a
retoucher to put the ears forward on the photo-
graph, should the horse have them back at the
moment the photograph was taken, so this point
is not so important as the tail. Many people
think that by sitting on the horse or in a vehicle
behind and chirruping with the mouth they will
cause the horse to prick up his ears ; on the
contrary, the horse holds them back, listening
intently to the signals from the rear. Flapping
the reins on the horse's back will have the same
effect of causing the horse to hold his ears back
to receive the signals. The man on top or on

the vehicle must keep absolutely quiet and still,
and mind his own business. An assistant (when
the photographer is quite ready) should walk
forward with a measure of oats, if necessary,
shaking the same. The practice of throwing
something up in the air in front of the horse's
head is not a good one, as it will cause him,
probably, to prick his ears suddenly and only
momentarily. Another good practice is that of
leading another horse at some distance in front
of the one to be photographed.

475. CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. — The
special good points that should exist in a saddle
horse have been described in Sec. 345.

In considering the external conformation of
the horse we have to consider two points : the
anatomical conformation or malformation, as
the case may be, and the appearance or looks
of the horse. Shakespeare says, "Beauty is
bought by judgment of the eye."

The former point, of course, is the one which
a horseman considers most, but the latter is
always considered most by the average buyer.
It must be fully realised that a perfect horse is
almost unknown, but a good horse must have
many good, few indifferent, and no bad points.
In judging a horse we consider the various
structures purely from the point of view of
mechanics. The usefulness of a steel chain
depends upon the strength of the weakest link.
So in the horse, one bad point will be very much
worse than several indifferent points. But in
the chain, one very strong link will not weaken
the chain, but one very strong structure in the
horse may cause considerable weakness. For
example, a horse with a heavy, well-made body
upon weak legs is far worse than a weak body
on weak legs, because in the latter the legs will
last longer. Hence two weaknesses often
counteract one another.

Then, again, a good point may partially
counteract a bad one. For example, a straight
pastern may be counteracted to a great extent by
a good sloping shoulder. The usefulness of a
horse possessing various malformations depends
entirely on the work that he is required to do.
For example, a horse working on city streets
must have good feet, and especially good frogs ;
a horse with a long, hollow back will not do
for saddle work, but is all right for harness
work ; a weak-hocked horse will not make a
hunter, but will last for years in light harness ;
a wide chest and round barrel are essential for
a heavy draught horse, but a narrow, deep chest
is essential for speed in the racehorse. Good
wind is essential for fast work, but not so
essential for slow draught work. It is far easier
to procure a good little horse than a good big
horse, and for this reason it is commonly sup-
posed that big horses will always be beaten by
the small ones. If both were equally good, the
big would win in most cases ; good big horses

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

119

are few and far between. In most large horses
the parts do not grow in the right proportions.

Size in bone is no criterion of strength. For
instance, a thoroughbred's bones are much
smaller than those of a coarse-bred horse or of
a pure-bred Clyde, yet they are stronger because
they are made of better material. (See P. 166,
1406.)

A horse must always be examined at the
walk and at the trot to ascertain if his action
is free and true. The limbs must move freely
at every joint, and move forwards and back-
wards without describing circles. The amount
of action in a horse depends entirely upon the
work that is required of him.

476. STRUCTURAL EXAMINATION (see P. 95-101).
— The head should be small, fairly long, wide
between the eyes and in the jowl (to allow for
a large brain and large larynx respectively). A
good brain is necessary for energy, pluck, endur-
ance and resolution. (See P. 93c, liic, 138a.)
Should taper off towards the muzzle, being wide
from the eye to the angle of the lower jaw. The
nostrils should be large and prominent. These
should appear moist without there being any
sign of discharge from them. There should not
be many hairs inside the nostrils, which en-
cumber the free passage of air. The horse
breathes entirely through its nostrils in normal
health. The line down the front of the face
should be straight when viewed from the side.
(P. 166, 636 show good heads. Compare these
with P. 29a, 47<f.)

The mouth should be small ; lips small, thin
and firm. (See P. 2ia, 636. Compare these with
P. 57d.)

The eyes must be full, clear, large and
prominent and mild, with a good brow and fine
eyelids. Such an eye indicates a kind, generous
disposition and good health. (P. 636, 66a.
Compare these with P. 29e, /, 30a.)

A sunken eye often indicates suspiciousness
and perhaps vice. An unduly round eye often
indicates short-sightedness and probable shying.
Horses which show the white of the eye are
often said to be vicious, but, as I know so many
horses that show this white which are not
vicious, this theory, like so many stablemen's
theories, is probably nonsense.

The ears should be small, thin and well-set
on. They should be firm when the horse is at
work, and when pointed forward the tips should
be closer together than the bases. Lop ears are
not necessarily a bad sign, as they are found in
all classes of horses, and are often the result of
a nervous affection. (P. 686, 113a show good
ears; P. 14d, 56c show ears of inferior con-
formation.)

477. The neck should be light, fairly long
(especially for saddle work), and taper so that
the chief weight is at the shoulders, thus allow-
ing the end of the neck to be easily controlled,

similar to the end of a fishing rod. (P. 68<z.
Compare these with P. 29d, /, 37.) The head,
must be well set on to the end of the neck ;
while the neck is held up normally, the head
should be at an angle of about 60° with the
ground. (P. 68a, b.) The neck must be well
arched, so that the upper edge is longer than the
lower ; such is called " long in the rein." The
crest must feel firm to the grasp.

The withers must be high and well muscled.
Fine withers indicate insufficient strength to the
shoulders ; in such there is a deficiency of
muscle.

478. The shoulder (P. 31, 69) consists of the
shoulder-blade (scapula), the forearm (humerus)
and the point of the shoulder, which is the joint
between these bones.

The scapula should be very long and fairly
broad and lie obliquely. The muscle should be
well developed. For saddle work, obliquity is
essential. For harness work, a fairly upright
shoulder does not matter so much. (For saddle,
see P. 68<?, b. Compare with P. 296, 476, 105c.)

The humerus should be fairly short and more
upright than the scapula, so as not to bring the
elbow joint too far under the body. (P. 676.)

The chest should be very deep, fairly broad,
and well muscled in front. (P. 686.) P. iilh
shows want of depth from withers to sternum,
The elbow should be well separated on each side
from the chest. The forelegs should be straight
and broad. A plumb line dropped from the
point of the shoulder should pass in front of
the leg right down to the foot. (P. 100.) A
plumb line dropped from the centre of the elbow
joint should pass the centre of the leg right
down to the fetlock, and touch the ground just
posteriorly to the foot. (P. 636, 686. Compare
with P. 36c, 47d, 51e.) P. 966 shows clearly
the tremendous weight that can be borne by the
forelegs of a hprse, and what a tremendous strain
must come upon these legs when a horse lands
over a jump.

479. The forearm (radius) should be quite
long compared with the cannon bone, and be
thick and very well supplied with muscle.
(P. 63a. Compare with P. 52a, 6, 57rf.)

The ulna, which is the bone that is attached
to the back of the radius at the elbow joint,
should be large, strong, and set directly pos-
teriorly to the joint. This allows for ample
muscle attachment and full freedom in action.
(P. 66a. Compare with P. Me.)

The knee should be large, broad, deep and
prominent. The trapezium bone, which projects
to the rear, should be long ; thus the knee should
taper off to the rear. (P. 66a. Compare with
P. 57d, /, 60a, 916.)

The cannon should be short and strong ; very
short compared with the radius. (P. 21a. Com-
pare with P. 36e.)

The tendons must be well set back and feel

120

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

firm, distinct and hard. They must stand out
distinctly from the bone, so that the cannon,
viewed from the side, has the appearance of
being flat from front to rear. This is commonly
and erroneously called " flat boned." (P. 66a, 676,
97e, 98, 105c.) P. 74e shows a leg of bad con-
formation. The cannon, viewed from the side,
must not appear narrow below the knee, called
" tied in," but be nearly as thick as the knee
itself. P. 970 shows a leg a little "tied" and
with tendons too close to the bone.

The pastern should slope at about an angle of
45° with the ground and be fairly long ; should
be strong. (P. 166, 636, 1136. Compare with
P. 190, 536, 57a.)

The fetlock joint should be strong and fairly
large. (P. 686.)

The sesamoid bones at the back of the fetlock
should be large. (P. 686.)

480. The Foot.— The wall of the forefoot in
front should slope at an angle of 45° with the
ground. (P. 636, 666. Compare with P. 57a,
GOd.) A good foot is of the greatest importance.
It should be sound, fairly large, and of a firm,
dense, waxy texture. It should appear healthy.
(P. 1386.) Both feet should be similar, i.e. each
pair.

The frog should touch the ground at each
step and be elastic, and should show wear.

The sole should be concave and feel firm.

The bars must not have been pared away by
the blacksmith.

481. The back should be short, well muscled,
and fairly straight. The length of the body
underneath the belly should be comparatively
long. (P. 676, 68a, 6. Compare with P. 536, 56c,
98.) These points give strength and freedom in
action. If the horse is short underneath, his speed
will be limited, and he will be liable to over-
reach. Trotting racehorses have longer backs
than most horses. (P. 410.) Old horses have
more or less hollow backs, due to the wasting
away of the muscles of the back. Hollow backs
are weak.

Roach backs are strong, though ugly, and if
shoulders and quarters are good the horse will
be useful especially for harness work. A roach
back is uncomfortable for saddle work, whilst a
hollow back is comfortable. P. 47, 48 show
types of harness-horse backs.

The Barrel — Ribs. — The ribs should be well
rounded. A round-barrelled horse will always
outlast a flat-ribbed horse when put to the test,
and is far more easily kept in good shape at
other times.

The ribs should be broad and close together,
and continue back close to the pelvis — the point
of the hip. (P. 680, 1050. Compare with 536,
56c, 830.)

A horse that is " slack " in the ribs has the
last rib approximately more than a hand's
breadth from the point of the hip. One that is

" light " in the ribs has the last rib too short and
too flat. Horses that are very slack in the ribs
will not stand long-continued work.

A horse that is poor in condition must not be
confounded with one that is slack or light in the
ribs.

The loins should be broad and well muscled
up and short (the latter being the opposite to
slackness in the ribs). The muscles of the loins
should appear smooth and round. (P. 346
— leader.)

482. The croup, or haunch, should be long
and muscular, and should only slope a little
towards the tail, the tail being set on high.
(P. 676. Compare with P. 516 for drooping
croup, and P. 516, 520 for tail set on too low.)

Strength in propulsion (as in draught, jump-
ing or racing) depends almost entirely on length
and an ample muscle supply in the croup (the
gluteal muscles). A drooping croup, if combined
with powerful muscles of the hindquarters, gives
great power in jumping for hunters and steeple-
chasers. (P. 686.)

The pelvis should be broad ; but in a saddle
horse, if too broad, it is liable to produce a roll-
ing action behind. It should be deep, and at an
obliquity of 30° to 35° with the ground to give
length to the croup. (P. 676. Compare with
P. 1130.)

483. The Tail.— The dock should be naturally
(when unmutilated) fairly short. (P. 28.) It
should be thick, and, therefore, well muscled.
The hair should be fine and not curly. (P. 16.)

The sheath should be large and well
developed. (P. 160.)

484. The Hindlegs. — There must be great
length from the pelvis to the hocks for power
and speed ; this is known as being " let down "
in the quarters. (P. 636, 676. Compare with
P. 260, 290, 57d.) A horse cannot be let down
too far, except, as stated in Sec. 475, in the case
of weak forequarters.

A leg that is bent too far forward is pre-
disposed to curb (P. 19c, 266, 74e), and one that
is too straight is predisposed to bog spavin and
thoroughpin. (P. 56c, 119ft.)

A plumb line dropped from the point of the
buttock should pass down the back of the cannon,
and, viewed from behind, it should pass down
the centre of the entire leg. (P. 646, 686. Com-
pare with P. 266, 970, d.) A plumb line dropped
from the centre of the hip joint should pass
across, halfway down the tibia, and through the
centre of the foot. (P. 676, 100.)

The thigh bone (femur) should be long,
strong, and lie at about an angle of 80° with the
ground. (P. 676.)

The tibia should be long and let well down
into the hock. (P. 636.)

The muscles of the thigh and tibia should be
well developed and continue down close to the
hock. The adductor and internal femoral

IX]

SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION

121

muscles inside the thighs should be well
developed, and continue down so as to give the
gracilis region a plump appearance. (P. 1146.)

The tibia, or gaskin, should slope at an angle
of 65° to 70° with the ground. (P. 100.)

The patella should be well developed. (P.
15a, 113a.)

485. The hock is one of the most important
parts of the horse's anatomy from the point of
view of conformation. It should be clean, firm,
prominent and large, and without any puffiness
or filling-in between the various prominences.

The point of the hock (formed by the process
of the os calcis) should be large and strong, and
should be separated, as it were, from the leg
above. The distance between the point of the
hock and the bottom of the front of the hock
should be great ; such a hock is " well let down."
(P. 21ft, 676, 686. Compare with P. 266, 74e,
96<z. See P. 99, 100.)

The hind cannon should be short, the tendons
well set back, and there should be good width
on top at the base of the hock. The hind cannon
bone is larger than the fore.

The hind pastern should be similar to the
fore, but this is not of such importance. The
hind is not subjected to the same amount of
concussion.

The hind foot should be well rounded. The
tendency is for the hind feet to be too much
pointed. The slope of the front of the wall
should be 50° with the ground. (P. 636, 666.
Compare with P. 57a, 60rf.)

486. Action. — The action must be free, level
and straight, i.e. true. A horse that walks well
usually trots and canters satisfactorily. The foot
should be well raised up and fairly flexed, with-
out being turned more than perhaps a very little
in or out. The foot should be placed flat on the
ground, the shoe wearing equally all over. In
trotting, the hocks must be properly flexed. All
action should commence from the top of the
limb. In front, from the shoulder, and not
merely from the knee ; whilst, behind, it should
commence from the thigh. (P. 43.)

In the gallop the hindlegs should be brought
well under the body and the body carried near
to the ground.

High action is of little use except for appear-
ance. Hackney fanciers like it, but it is a fad,
and with some people it is carried to such an
extreme, by means of very heavy shoes, that it
becomes a mere fake. High action destroys speed
and destroys the horse's legs and feet.

487. Colour. — Whatever the colour may be, it
must be good of its kind, i.e. not light. Par-
ticularly should the horse's points (extremities)
be dark. Chestnuts, browns, bays, roans, duns,
etc., which are lighter in colour at the extremities
of the limbs are generally weak in constitution.
This is probably due to the circulation in the
washy parts being poor. When the colour of a

Q

horse is doubtful, the muzzle is the guide ; for
instance, a black body with a brown muzzle is
a brown horse, but with a black muzzle is a
black horse.

A grey with a black mane and tail is an iron-
grey (P. 46, 57/z, 636), but a grey with a dark
body and a white mane and tail is a black-grey
(P. 57<7, 836). Yellow-coloured horses with light
or white manes and tails are called creams.
Those with black manes and tails, duns. A
chestnut must have a chestnut mane and tail ; if
these are black, then the horse is either brown
or bay.

A shiny black is called jet-black. Black horses
and other colours change considerably between
summer and winter. Summer-blacks are dark
brown in the winter.

A horse with a few white hairs scattered
about the body is known as a flecked brown,
black, chestnut, or whatever his colour may be.

White horses with brown patches are called
skewbald. Those with black patches, piebald.

A white horse with small black patches all
over its body is called a spotted-grey. The
reverse, a black with many white spots, is called
a starred horse. A dappled-grey is a white horse
with various small ring-like markings on its
body, particularly on its hindquarters ; they vary
considerably in design. (P. 104<z, 133, 136d.)

488. Natural Marks. — A star is a round or
star-shaped white spot on the forehead from one
to three inches in diameter.

A snip is a white strip down the muzzle, in
front or at the side.

A race is a narrow white strip down the face.
It may extend to the star or it may be separate ;
it may extend to the snip or be separate.

A blaze is a broad white streak covering the
whole face, or part of the face, down to the
mouth.

A white stocking is a white leg below the
knee or hock. If marked higher up it is known
as a high stocking.

A white sock is the leg that has the fetlock
and pastern, and a little above the fetlock, white.

There are also white fetlocks, white coronets,
white heels, and white hoofs. White hoofs are
not, as a rule, so strong as dark ones ; they seem
to lack vitality.

Natural white hairs in the mane and tail are
not uncommon marks. Natural marks must not
be confounded with blemishes which are the
result of saddle or harness injuries, etc.

Some dun-coloured horses have a black-
striped marking extending down the back from
the mane to the tail.

489. Various breeds of horses are shown in
the photographs in this book. There is one breed
in particular that, I am thankful to say, is
becoming more popular, and that is the Arab.

The English thoroughbred is in reality an
Arab — at least, it came from the Arab — and more

122

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, ix

than ever its value is being realised by the
sportsman of to-day in the hunting field, the
point-to-point race, and in the polo field. As for
beauty, style, elegance and smoothness, and per-
fect conformation, there is no horse in the world
to compare with the Arab. (See P. 2, 4, 5, 186,
92, Q3a-d.) Napoleon said : " Un bon cheval

Arabe est le meilleur cheval du monde." To
use Major Upton's words in " Newmarket and
Arabia " : " He is a perfect animal (what more
could we want?). There is a balance and
harmony throughout his frame not seen in any
other horse ; the quintessence of all good quali-
ties in a compact form."

CHAPTER X

PHARMACOPOEIA AND USES OF MEDICINES

490. THE USE OF MEDICINE. — In the treatment of
diseases it must always be remembered that
all we can do is to assist Nature to repair the
diseased structure, in whatever form the disease
may be. We cannot cure the disease, but we
can, however, by means of suitable nursing,
drugs, and antiseptic precautions, place the
patient under the most favourable conditions. In
short, what we can do is to fight for Nature
against the enemies that are hindering her work.
The abuse of drugs, even in this enlightened
age, is very great. The horse is subjected to a
great deal of cruelty by owners and grooms
administering all kinds of quack and useless
medicines because they think their horses are ill.
The old story, that if anyone looks up the symp-
toms of a score of diseases in a book he will come
to the conclusion that he has got all these diseases,
applies in the case of horses. A well-meaning
owner often imagines, on account of his limited
knowledge, that his horse has some disease,
whereupon he at once goes to his shelf of ancient
drugs, many of which are useless, and in some
cases harmful, and administers a dose.

491. As in all medicinal science, faith is half
the battle. This does not apply to the horse in
the same way that it does to man ; but, gener-
ally, if the owner has faith in his treatment, the
horse has a better chance of recovering.

It is always wise when in doubt to call in a
professional. "A little learning is a dangerous
thing," and many a horse has died, or has been
hindered in recovery, by inexperienced people
meddling with drugs. It is not necessary to be
continually giving drugs. The finest cure is
Nature's fresh air, plenty of good exercise, and
healthy surroundings. The commonest of harm-
ful drugs that are given to the horse are nitre,
spirits of nitre, opium and black antimony. Nitre
is a salt of potassium, and all potassium salts
have a bad effect on the heart if their use is con-
tinued. Opium is used in all patent medicines
for colic ; but this drug should never be used
except in one case of colic, i.e. when there is
diarrhoea. Antimony forms the largest propor-
tion of many stock medicines ; it is a useless
drug, and in many cases does much harm.

492. The belief in old-fashioned recipes is
also most amazing. Books printed over half a

century ago are kept on the shelf and are re-
ferred to whenever medicine is required. I
strongly advise that such books be burnt, be-
cause, if they lie about, people are sure to take
hold of them and read them. A recipe in print
is held by some as almost sacred, however old it
may be.

Owners of horses should keep a strict watch
over their grooms to see that drugs are not
given whenever the latter think fit. Cruelty is
not limited to the abuse of drugs, for it is prac-
tised in the use of the knife ; some old-fashioned
surgical practices are continued to-day, and in
many cases gross cruelty is perpetrated, such as
blowing powdered chalk into the eye to rid it
of a piece of chaff, and other even more foolish
notions. Then, again, a common practice is to
soak a horse's coat with coal oil or creolin when
it is suffering from mange. Others cover a horse
with coal oil to keep flies off, and in many cases
seriously impair the horse's health by stopping
up the pores of the skin with a mineral oil.

493. METHODS OF INTRODUCING DRUGS.

1. Intravenous consists in injecting a solution
of the drug into a vein, generally the jugular (see
P. 137), by means of a hypodermic syringe. The
disadvantages are that it is difficult to make the
point of incision aseptic, that a slight over-dose
would reach the heart, and the danger of inject-
ing a bubble of air.

2. Subcutaneous consists in injecting a solu-
tion with a hypodermic syringe under the skin,
usually on the neck. Certain drugs, as barium
chloride, which cause irritation to the tissue
under the skin, must not be introduced in this
manner.

3. Intratracheal consists in injecting the solu-
tion into the trachea or windpipe by inserting a
needle in between two of the cartilage rings.
This is the best way of introducing eserine and
other drugs that are required to act in a hurry.
Chloral hydrate must not be introduced in this
manner, as it may cause pneumonia.

4. Inhalation. — Volatile drugs, as ammonia,
ether, chloroform, amyl nitrite, eucalyptus, etc.,
are introduced in this way for diseases of the
respiratory tract.

5. Oral. — This is the usual way of introducing
drugs, either as a drench, or in a gelatine capsule,

123

124

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

or in the form of a powder. The action, how-
ever, is slow.

6. Rectal injection, i.e. per rectum, used
when the patient is in convulsions or a coma,
also in tetanus and for local effects, as for the
cure of worms in the large intestine.

7. Inunction consists in mixing the drugs up
with a vehicle to form an ointment or liniment
which is rubbed through the skin. The vehicle
must be either an animal or vegetable fat ;
mineral fats are only absorbed very slightly, if
at all, by the skin.

Wool fat, lanoline, lard, and oleic acid are
absorbed rapidly through the skin, and should
always be used for making ointments ; petrola-
tum and vaseline are not.

494. NOTES ON THE USE OF DRUGS. — Absorp-
tion occurs through wounds and abscesses very
rapidly, therefore great care must be taken in
applying drugs to these cases. I remember a
horse that died after its coat had been soaked
all over with kerosene oil, and another that
almost died from having its coat soaked all over
with 5 per cent, solution of creolin, in each case
with the idea of curing mange. The symptoms
are identical with those of taking the poison by
the mouth. lodoform is a dangerous drug if
used over large surfaces, especially wounds.

An animal can do without food for several
days provided large quantities of normal saline
solution (-85 per cent, solution of salt, NaCl,
in distilled water) is injected per rectum. An
empty stomach absorbs more rapidly than a full
one, although it is not so vascular, i.e. its blood
vessels are not so well filled with blood. In cases
of puncturing from bloating, drugs may be intro-
duced through the opening, i.e. through the
cannula before it is withdrawn.

495. In whichever way a drug is adminis-
tered it eventually reaches the blood ; if given
per oram it reaches the intestines and the blood
by passing, by means of osmosis, through the
cells of the intestines and of the walls of the
blood vessels. From the blood it reaches the
liver, and certain cumulative poisons such as
salts of mercury, arsenic, antimony, silver, tin,
bismuth, and lead, remain in the liver, and if re-
peated continually, cause a slow death, hence the
danger of playing with these metallic salts.

496. ADMINISTERING DRUGS.

Balling. — The most convenient way of giving
a horse medicine is to give it in the form of a
ball or a capsule.

A ball is composed of the drug in powder or
syrup form, mixed with a vehicle to make it of
the right consistency. (See " Purgatives," Sec.
514.) A capsule consists of a hard gelatine cup-
shaped box, with a lid that slips on ; it holds
nearly an ounce of most drugs. Any form of
drug can be put into it, but warm drugs must
not be left in many minutes, because they will
melt the gelatine.

To give a ball, take a good but gentle hold of
the tongue with the left hand, and draw it out
of the mouth a little way, holding it between the
right molars so that the horse cannot close his
mouth. With the right-hand fingers take hold of
the ball or capsule parallel to the fingers, be-
tween thumb, first, and fourth fingers, squeezing
the hand so as to make it of as small a compass
as possible. Turn the sleeve up and insert the
hand rapidly right to the back of the tongue, and
throw the ball over the tongue into the foramen
caecum, which is directly in front of the pharynx.
At the same time let go the tongue, and the horse
will withdraw the tongue and cause the ball to
slip down his throat. If the tongue is held for
too long a period, the horse may be able to cough
the ball up again. There are mucous glands
around the base of the tongue that make the ball
slip easily into the pharynx and down the gullet.
The horse must not be frightened, but taken
quite quietly. The weight of a ball must not ex-
ceed 1 oz. ; the size not greater than 3 in. in
length and 1 in. in diameter. It is a good plan
to put a glove, with the fingers cut off, on the
right hand, to prevent the molars from scratch-
ing it.

497. Drenching. — In giving a drench the
horse's head must not be tied up, as there is
always a danger of the horse choking. However,
unlike the cow, sheep and pig, a horse can
completely close the back of its mouth if it
wishes ; the other animals named cannot. And
thus many cases have occurred where liquids
have been poured directly into the lungs of the
unfortunate animal who has refused to swallow
the drench.

The horse must be handled quietly so that he
may associate pleasant sensations with the pro-
cess, and a tit-bit should be given afterwards.
One can easily hold the jaw up with one hand
and pour a little of the drench from a soda-
water bottle or drenching horn over the bars of
the mouth in front of the molar teeth, though
an assistant to hold the horse's head up may be
necessary. If the head is held up at all by a
rope, the rope must pass over a pulley in the ceil-
ing, so that it can be let loose directly there is
any sign of choking. The drench must always
be diluted with a pint or more of water. After
each mouthful is poured into the mouth the
throat should not be rubbed, which is a dan-
gerous habit, but the horse should be made to
swallow by pressing one's thumb gently but
firmly up against the hyoid bone, in between the
rami of the lower jawbone, which can be felt as
a little lump about half-way down the jaw. The
dangers of harming a horse from drenching are
very slight compared with those in the case of a
cow. I remember one cow which died before its
head was let down. The ignorant vet. had tied
its head up securely, and poured a bottle of liquid
into its mouth. The cow refused to swallow,

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

125

and, being unable completely to close the
pharyngeal opening (the isthmus of the fauces)
with its soft palate (velum pendulum palati), the
liquid ran directly into the lungs.

498. Hypodermic Injections. — A little patch
of hair should be clipped off, one or two inches
across, preferably half-way up the neck. The
needle is screwed off or slipped off the syringe,
and made aseptic. It is then quickly pressed
through the skin with the right hand, the skin
being held up away from the under-tissue with
the left hand, and then the syringe, previously
filled, is slipped on to the needle, and the whole
contents squirted gently in. This must not be
done rapidly. The syringe and needle are then
withdrawn together. Care must be taken that
the liquid does not escape ; for this reason it is
always better, after inserting the needle, to make
sure that the inside of the needle is not clogged
up by passing the small wire through it which
is provided for the purpose. In filling the
syringe, care must be taken that the plunger is
slightly greased to ensure its being air-tight. The
plunger should be pressed down very slightly
until one or two drops of liquid come out, thus
ensuring that there are no air bubbles left in
the syringe. This is most important in making
injections into the veins.

If the liquid remains like a blister under the
skin, it can be assisted in its absorption by being
gently rubbed with the fingers. If injected into
the windpipe, the needle must be inserted be-
tween two of the cartilage rings, and pressed
right through. If into the jugular vein, the
greatest care must be taken to avoid a bubble of
air getting into the blood, which would pass to
the heart, and might cause death. The jugular
vein is discovered by pressing the thumb into
the jugular groove (see P. 137, 138«) and causing
the pressure of blood sjightly to distend the vein.
The needle is inserted into the distended portion
of the vein.

499. Rectal.— Enemas are given per rectum.
As most of the fluid in the horse's alimentary
canal is absorbed in the floating colon, any
drug placed in a liquid state into this intestine
will be absorbed into the system. The back
portion of the floating colon is only about
two feet from the anus ; the floating colon is
about ten feet in length. Before anything is
pumped in, the horse must be backraked by
greasing the hand and arm and passing it into
the rectum and removing all its contents. It
would be useless to try to fill the colon with
an enema unless it were empty.

The enema must not be colder than 100° F.
The best method of injecting is with an enema
pump, which has a six-foot rubber tube and a
wooden nozzle attached to it. The nozzle is
greased, and, with the hand, passed right into
the floating colon, without any force being used.
The enema is then pumped in slowly, the tail

being depressed with the hand for about fifteen
minutes to allow the drugs to be absorbed into
the system.

If an enema is given merely to decrease in-
flammation or to act as a purgative, as in colic
cases, it is not so important to pass the nozzle
so far in. A large bucketful (four gallons) is
about the right amount to use for a single
injection.

500. Inunction. — Ointments or liniments for
this purpose must be put on fairly thickly, and
rubbed in until the skin is quite dry.

501. Use of Trocar and Cannula. — Whenever
tympanites becomes bad (i.e. the horse becomes
badly bloated in the abdomen), a trocar and can-
nula must be used to save life. These must be
separated and sterilised, if there is time, or
dipped into an antiseptic. The trocar is inserted
into the cannula, and the two together are
pressed rapidly through the hide until the head
of the cannula is right home. In the case of
abdominal tympanites, the place of puncture is
at a point equidistant from the last rib, the
point of the hip, and the transverse process on
the side of the lumbar vertebrae. The trocar is
then rapidly withdrawn from the cannula, when
the gas will escape with a rush. When all the
gas is out, and the animal seems to be recover-
ing, it will be necessary to remove the instru-
ments. The trocar must be placed back into the
cannula, and the whole rapidly drawn out. An
antiseptic must be placed over the spot.

Drugs are often administered through the
cannula, especially when the digestive powers
of the stomach are affected or when a constric-
tion in the small intestines is suspected.

502. Passing the Catheter. — In a mare it is
an easy matter to pass the catheter. The hand
and arm are cleansed and slightly oiled, and
inserted into the vagina; with the first finger
the opening into the bladder (meatus urinarius)
can be felt about half-way towards the neck of
the womb, on the floor of the vagina. The finger
is inserted, and the catheter, which must be
greased, is passed in under the hand and finger
into the bladder.

Passing the catheter in a horse is a dangerous
operation unless understood, as it is easy to
injure the animal. The yard must first be with-
drawn right out, and the catheter greased. This
must be slowly and gently passed up the passage
in the centre (urethra). When the end of it has
got as far as where the urethra passes under the
tail, just midway between the points of the
buttocks (ischial bones), it must be assisted in
passing round the sharp bend with the fingers
of the other hand. The end can be felt, and
must be pressed slightly to help it along, great
care being taken not to use any force with the
other hand.

Catheters must be kept scrupulously clean,
always immersed for three minutes in an anti-

126

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

septic before use, and rinsed with cold water after
use. They should be kept greased, otherwise
they will become stiff, and are liable to break
in two when inside and perhaps cause serious
trouble. They must never be inserted unless
they are absolutely flexible. A wire should be
used to keep the inside free of foreign matter
before use. They must never be allowed to
become frozen.

503. Poultices. — Every poultice that is put on
must be antiseptic. One pound of linseed should
be taken, and enough boiling water added to
make a mash ; sufficient carbolic or creolin must
be added to the water to make a 3 per cent,
solution. The poultice must be well mixed with
a stick. In modern medicine, poultices are
seldom used ; their chief use is to bring an
abscess to a head and to draw a poison out of a
prick in the feet, or to soften the feet. A poultice
made without an antiseptic is a dangerous thing
to put on an open wound, because it acts as an
incubator to the germs of disease, thus probably
causing more harm than good.

A poultice must never be left on over night ;
if, therefore, the horse is not attended to for any
length of time, as during the night, hot cotton-
wool should be used in the place of a poultice.
This remains hot for a longer period, and never
gets cold and damp as a poultice does. A cold,
damp poultice, for this reason, often counteracts
the good that the hot poultice has done. The hot
wool should be put on so that the hand can just
be borne against it, and plenty of flannel band-
ages placed outside to keep in the heat. Pillow
feathers make the best insulator against the con-
duction of heat.

504. Mustard. — This must be mixed with cold
water only, and on no account must it be mixed
with warm water or vinegar, as they destroy
more than half the life of the mustard. To dilute
the action, flour should be added. Mustard
should be mixed with the fingers or a spoon in
a large basin until it is of a fairly thick con-
sistency. This is plastered on the part with a
spatula or blunt knife fairly thickly. The time
that it remains on depends entirely upon the
thickness of the skin and the disposition of the
animal. In some cases half an hour will cause
sufficient irritation to render it advisable to re-
move the mustard ; in others it may be left on
until its action ceases — say, twelve to twenty-four
hours — when it may be necessary to repeat the
plaster. In pneumonia and pleurisy, as a rule,
mustard is put on all over the area of the lungs.
Ordinary newspaper should be put on outside
the mustard, and a blanket over the paper. As
a rule, mustard should not be rubbed in.

505. CONDENSED PHARMACOPOEIA. — Realising
fully that a veterinary surgeon can treat all the
cases he has in a year's practice with drugs from
a few dozen bottles, in the pharmacopoeia which
follows, I have listed the drugs that are most

necessary in treating diseases of the horse. Many
are not listed for obvious reasons ; then, again,
there are many which some practitioners would
not use themselves ; but, as one drug is often
handy whilst another is not, it is advisable to
give doses and uses of them. One practitioner
prefers one drug and another prefers something
different. Changing about from one drug to
another is not good therapeutics, except in those
difficult cases in which one drug having proved
of no avail, another must be tried.

It is neither possible nor wise to lay down any
hard and fast rule for the treatment of diseases,
as each practitioner has his own method, guided
by broad rules and a sound knowledge of the
action of drugs.

506. Dosage. — Approximately, if a dose for a
man is 1, that for a horse, of, say, 15.2 hands
in height, is 60.

Doses for young horses :

For 3 years and up . .1

li to 3 years . . -. J

9 months to 1J years . J

4J to 9 months . . |

1 to 4J months . . ^

2 to 4 weeks . . . ^5

Birth to 2 weeks . . ^ or that of a man.

These doses, of course, must vary according to
the size and condition of the patient.

At first all drugs must be given in small
doses until the horse is used to the drug ; then
they can be enlarged. A thoroughbred or
standard-bred horse of high quality requires a
smaller dose, as his nerves are better developed.
Farm horses take much larger does, even if they
are small animals.

All fluid measures are imperial. (See Sec. 517.)

A tablespoonful is approximately \ oz. water.

A teaspoonful is approximately 1 dr. (See
Sec. 520.)

Solutions. — The strength of a solution is
generally stated as a percentage, e.g. 5 per cent,
sol. carbolic acid in water equals 5 units by
weight of carbolic in every hundred units by
weight of the solution.

507. Pharmacopoeia.

The action, doses, names and formulae of
drugs :

Name

Synonym
and formula

Action

Dose

Acetanilid

Antifebrin

Antipyretic and

1 to 2 dr.

febrifuge

Acid, acetic dil.

HC2H3O2

Stimulant, astrin-

i to 2 oz.

gent and corro-

sive

Acid, boracic

A. boric,

Antiseptic

H3B03

Acid, carbolic

Phenol

Antiseptic and

J to 11 dr.

deodoriser

diluted

30 times

Acid, hydrochloric

A. muriatic

Tonic, astringent,

J to 2 dr.

dil.

dil. HC1.

antiseptic and

stimulant

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

127

Name

Synonym
and lormul

Action

Dose

Name

Synonym
and lormul

Action

Dose

Acid, hydrocyani

Prussic aci

Allays itching

(Poison)

Amyl nitrite

C6H,,NO,

Reduces tempera

10 to 20

dil.

dil., HCN

ture and blooc

min.

Acid, nitric

HNO3

Escharotic and

pressure, in

corrosive

creases hear

Acid, nitric dil.

20 per cent

Astringent, alter-

1 to 1 J dr.

action ; used in

HNOj

ative and diges-

tetanus, asthma

tive

bronchitis ant

Acid, phosphoric
diL

H3P04, 10
per cent.

In bone diseases,
rickets, fractures

1 to 2 dr.

Anxsthaine

(Abbott Al
kaloidal

spasms
Anesthetic

(See page
194.)

and diabetes

Cn 1

Acid, prusstc (se
A. hydrocyanic
Acid, sulphuric

8-27 per

Astringent, tonic,

i to 1 1 dr.

Aniseed powder
(see Oil of Ani
seed)

\jU.f

1 to IJoz.

dil.

cent.
H,S04 by
vol.

refrigerant, and
antiseptic

; Antifebrin (see
Acetanilid)

Acid, sulphurous

H2S03

Antiseptic and
deodoriser ; used

t to 1 oz.

Antimony et pot.
tartral.

Tartar
emetic
KSbOC4

Intestinal irritant,
vermifuge and
vermicide.

2 to 4 dr.

Acid, tannic

Tannin

in tympanites,
fever, diarrhoea,
and coughs
Intestinal astring-

pn t

Jto 11 dr.

Antiphlogisttne

H,0.

Alterative, seda-
tive, febrifuge,
and diaphoretic
Antiphlogistic

1 to 1 dr.

Aconite tincture

cllL

Sedative ; slows
heart and lung

15 to 30
min.

Arecolene hydro-
bromide

• •

Powerful sialo-
gogue, diaphor-
etic, cathartic,

igr.,hypo-
dermical-
ly, every

Aconite tincture

..

set ion
Sedative ; slows

5 to 10

and vermifuge

half-hour;
not to cx~

(Fleming's)

heart and lung
action

min.

ceed 4 gr.

t nl 'il

Adeps (see Lard)

Argentum (see

tvlfu

Adeps lanx

Wool fat,
similar to

Jsed as a vehicle
in ointments

Silver)
Arnica tincture

Internal and ex-
ternal stimulant

Jtoljoz.

lanolin

Arsenic liquor

Fowler's

Tonic. Increases

2 to 8 dr.

Adrenaline chlor-

rlamostatic ; used

(1 to 1,000

solution

red blood cor-

ide

combined with

sol.) 1 to

puscles

local ansesthe-

4 dr.

Asafcetida

. .

Mild purgative,

2 to 3 dr.

tics

respiratory stim-

/Ether

Sulphurous

General anaesthe-

Per oram,

ulant and disin-

ether

tic ; stimulant

i to li

fectant ; arrests

(CSH6)20

and depressant

oz.

spasms and tym-

to heart and re-

panites

spiratory tract

Alropin sulphate

Active prin-

Heart, respiratory

itoljgr.

Alcohol

Rectified

Respiratory, di-

1 to 3 oz.

ciple of

and brain stimu-

spirits(90

gestive and heart

Belladonna

lant

per cent.)

stimulant ; di-

Bacterines (see

C2H5OH

uretic and dia-

Poly- and Strep-

phoretic

lo-bacterines)

Alcohol

Whisky,

Ditto

2 to 6 oz.

Barium chloride

Bad

Violent purgative,

intraven.

gin, or

action uncertain

ISgrs.

brandy

Externally, any

vfevcr inject into

Oral, 2 to

form of alcohol is

tissues

4 dr.

antiseptic, d i s-

Belladonna, F. E.

. .

See Alropin

i to 1J dr.

infectant, re-

Bismuth subni-

. ,

For intestinal

to 2 dr.

frigerant, and

trate

catarrh

Must be

stimulant

suspend

Aloes

3arbacloes

3urgative

2 to 8 dr.

ed in a

aloes

d e m u 1-

Aloln

'urgative

1 to 2 dr.

Borax (see Sod-

cent

Alum

Potash,

Astringent and

2 to 4 dr.

ium diborate)

alum

styptic

Cafjein citrate

. .

*ferve stimulant.

Hyp. 3 gr.

Ammonia

Jquor am-

Diffusible stimu-

3 to 6 dr.

Used in heart

monise.dil.

lant, heart and

diseases and

ammonia,

respiratory stim-

atrophy of mus-

NH.OH

ulant

cles

Ammonium acet- Liq. ammon.

diuretic and

2 to 6 oz.

Calcium carbon-

Chalk

Jsed in diarrhoea

3 to 8 dr.

ale solution acetatis

diaphoretic

ate

CaCO3

in foals

for foal

i NH.C^O,,

Calcium oxide

Jme, CaO

Msinfectant, irri-

Ammonium car- ! (NHJjCOa

Carminative, stim-

1 dr. to 1

(See Lime-

tant, caustic and

bonate

ulant to heart

oz.

water)

desiccant

and respiratory

Calcium phos-

Ca3(P04),

Jsed in bone dis-

to 2 dr.

tract

phate

eases

Ammonium

Sal ammo-

Diuretic, diaphor-

1 to 4 dr.

Calomel (see

chloride

niac

etic and respira-

Mercury sub •

NH4C1

tory stimulant

chloride)

128

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Name

Synonym
and formula

Action

Dose

Name

Synonym
and formula

Action

Dose

Camphor

..

Stimulant to diges

1 to 2 dr.

E ser i ne (see

tive, circulatory

Physostigmine

and nervous sys-

Ether (see jEther

tem. Diaphor-

Eucaine hydro-

g

Local anaesthetic

5 per cent.

etic, diuretic,

chloride

similar to co-

to 10 per

antipyretic and

caine

cent. sol.

antiseptic

(Chap.

Cannabis indica

Indian

Antispasinodic,

J to 2 dr.

XVI.)

hemp

anodyne, hyp-

Eucalyptus oil

Antiseptic

i to 1 i dr.

notic, narcotic

Fenugreek

Stomachic ant

itolioz.

and stimulant

i

stimulant

Canlharides P.

. .

Diuretic and aphro- 5 to 15 gr.

Ferrum (see

disiac. External, ' > Iron)

blister

Cattle acid

, .

Astringent to in

i to 1 i dr.

Capsicum tine.

. .

Stomachic, car-

3 to 6 dr.

testinal tract

minative, stimu-

Gentian P.

Stomachic a n c

i to 1 oz.

lant and tonic.

bitter tonic

Used in tympan-

Ginger tine.

Zingibcr

Aromatic, car-

1 to 2 oz.

ites

minative, tonic

Catechu. F. E.

f .

Intestinal astring-

1 to 3 dr.

and stomachic

ent

Glycerine

1 t

Nutrient and de-

1 to 4 oz.

Chirella linct.

. t

Bitter tonic

4 to 12 dr.

mulcent

Chloral hydrate

f r

Hypnotic and

2 to 5 dr.

H.M.C. (hg os-

t t

Hypo, anesthetic

anodyne

cine, morphine

in conjunction

Chlorinated lime

Valuable disinfect-

and cactine)

with chloroform

ant

Not used alone

Chloroform

CHC1,

General anaesthetic1 3 to 8 oz.

with horses.

Stimulant, tonic,

1 to 2 dr.

Holocaine

Local anaesthetic

1 per cent.

antispasmodic,

for the eye

sol. (see

anodyne and

Chap.XVL)

vermifuge

Hydrargyrum (se

t

Cinchona

t f

Tonic antipyretic,

2 to 5 dr. Mercury)

antiperiodic, and

Iodine tine.

t m

Causes absorption

2 to 4 dr.

antiseptic. Used

of enlargements.

In strangles,

External, blister

pyaemia

and irritant

Cocaine hydro-

. .

Local anaesthetic

2 to 10 gr.

lodoform

(50 per cen

Antiseptic

chloride

u

Cod liver oil

t\

Nutritive, altera-

2 to 3 oz.

Iron and ammo-

Tonic

1 to 2 dr.

tive and diges-

monium citrate

tive. Used in

Iron carbonate

FeCO, Fe.r-

Tonic

1 to 2 dr.

lung diseases

rous car-

Colchicum line.

t f

Cholagogue and

1 to 1 oz.

bonate

diaphoretic. Used

Iron perchloride

Tincture of

Tonic, astringent,

1 to 2 oz.

in rheumatism

tine.

iron, Fed

styptic and stim-

Collodion

Used for covering

ulant

slight wounds

Iron sulphate

Green vit-

Astringent, tonic

1 to 2 dr.

Copper sulphate

CuSO«

Astringent, tonic 1 j to 1 J dr.

riol Fe SO 4

and vermicide

cupri sul-

and antiseptic

phas

Lard

Adeps

Used as a vehicle

Corrosive subli-

in ointments

mate (see Mer-

Lead acetate

Sugar of leac

Astringent, seda-

1 to 1 dr.

cury perchlor-

Pb(C,H302)2

tive and haemo-

ide)

static

Creolin

, f

Valuable anti-

1 to 4 dr.

Lead subacetate

Goulard's

Astringent, ano-

External

septic

solution

extract

dyne and anti-

use

Creosote

, ,

Antiseptic. Used

10 to 30 ;

phlogistic

in diarrhoea, and

min.

Lead oxide

External astring-

for inhaling in

ent. Used in

bronchitis

ointments

Cretan oil

t m

Drastic cathartic, i 5 to 20 M Lime (see Cal-

Irritant to intes-

min.

cium oxide)

tinal tract

Lime-water

Ca(OH),

Used in broken

1 to 6 oz.

Cyllin

Similar in action

1 to 4 dr.

wind, to damp

to creolin

hay, etc.

Digitalin

A. P. of

Heart tonic and

i to i gr.

Linseed art, raw

Emollient and

itoljpt.

digitalis

stimulant

1,

laxative

Digitalis tine.

, ,

Heart tonic and i 2 to 6 dr. j

As a tonic

2 oz.

stimulant. Used

Lobelia, P. or

Diuretic and dia-

j to 1 dr.

when pulse is

F.E.

phoretic. Cath-

weak, small and

artic in large

irregular

doses

Ergot, F. E.

. .

Arrests internal

J to 1 oz.

Lobelia tine, in

Ditto

. oz.

haemorrhage

ether

Ergotin

A. P. of

See Ergot

10 to 20 gr. ,. Lysol or Toxol

Valuable anti-

ergot

1!

septic

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

129

Name

Synonym
and formuli

Action

Dose

Name

Synonym
and formuli

Action

Dose

Magnesium

Magnesia, Antacid and laxa-

1 to 8 dr.

Opium, F. E. 01

Sedative, anodyne

, 1 to 2 dr.

oxide

MgO live

foals

P.

and antispasmo-

Antidote for pois-

2 to 4 oz.

dic. Decreases

oning from min-

horses

action of bowels,

eral and oxalic

heart stimulant,

acids

hypnotic, and

Magnesium sul-

Epsom salts1 Febrifuge

1 to 2 oz.

narcotic. De-

phate

MgSO4 I Laxative

2 to 4 oz.

presses liver and

Male fern, F.E.
Mullein

Anthelmintic
For mallei bacillus
test for glanders

1 tolloz.
i dr. or
2 cc.

brain. Counter-
indicated in brair
trouble and con-
stipation

L

Menthol

Local anaesthetic

Opium tine.

Laudanum

Ditto

1 to 2 oz.

and vascular

Paraffin, hard

t t

For making oint-

stimulant. Used

ments, etc.

on inflamed

Pepsin

Valuable digestive

i to 2 dr.

mucous mem-

Petrolatum (simi-

brane

lar to Vaseline)

Mercury ammo-

White pre- Used externally in

Phenacelln

Antipyretic and

1 to 2 dr.

niate

cipitate skin diseases

anodyne

Mercury iodide

Red iodide

Caustic and blister

(Poison)

Physosligmine

Eserine sul-

Violent and rapid

Hyp., 1 to

of mer-

sulphate

phate

purgative

1 gr.

cury Hgl,

Picric acid

. .

Used in grease, etc.

Saturated

Biniodldo

solution

of in e r-

Piloearpine

t

Purgative ; used

i to 1 gr.,

cury

hydrochloride

in colic

hyp. ; rc-

Mercury per-

Corrosive

Valuable anti-

(Poison)

p ea t e d

chloride

sublimate,

sentic

for 2 or

HgCl, j

3 times, if

Mercury sub-

C a 1 o m e 1, | Cholagogue - pu r-

1 dr.

necessary,

chloride

HgCl

gative. Intes-
tinal antiseptic

Plumbum (see

c v c r v
half hour

Morphine sul-

Morphia.

Anodyne, seda-

Hyp., 2 to

Lead)

phate

A. P. of
opium

tive, antispas-
modic, narcotic

3 gr.
Oral, 3 to

Podophyllum

••

Liver stimulant,
purgative

10 to 30 gr.

Mustard

Sinapis

and hypnotic
External counter-

8 gr.
1 to 1 oz.

Poly-bacterines

(See Chap.
XVII.)

Used in germ dis-
eases

irritant. Seldom

Potash

Caustic

External ; caustic.

used internally,

potash,

Internal : antacid

i to 1 oz.

stimulant, sto-

KOH

and diuretic

6 per cent.

machic, carmin-

sol.

ative, diuretic,

Potassium bicar-

KHCO,

Antacid, stomach-

i to 1 oz.

and aperient

bonate

ic, expectorant

Nitre (see Pot.

and mild diuretic

Nitrate)

Pol. bromide

KBr

Nerve depressor

2 to 8 dr.

\ooocaine

Local anaesthetic

2 per cent.

Pot. chlorate

KC10,

Used for coughs,

1 to 3 dr.

sol., used

sore throats, and

same as

mouth ulcera-

Cocaine,

tion

q.v.

Pot. dichromate

K,Cr,0,

Used in grease

2 to 7 gr.

Nuclein solution

. .

Increases white

i to 1 oz.

External,

blood corpuscles,

1 per

indicated in all

cent. sol.

germ diseases

Pot. hydrate (see

Nux vomica, F.E.

Stomachic, bitter
tonic, digestive,
heart and nerve

1 to 1 dr.

Potash)
Pot. iodide

KI

Promotes absorp-
tion of effused

i to 2 dr.

stimulant

fluids and solid

Nux vomica, P.

Ditto

J to 1 dr.

Pot. nitrate

Nitre, salt-

exudatcs
Alterative, febri-

1 to 3 dr.

Oil of aniseed

Carminative, aro-

10 to 60

petre

fuge and refriger-

matic, stomach-

min.

ant

ic, antiseptic.

KNOj

Diuretic

i to 1 or..

Stimulant to re-

Pol. permangan-

K2Mn2O8

Disinfectant and

spiratory tract

ate

deodoriser

Oil of turpentine

Oleum lere- External : stimu-

Quassia chips

. .

Stomachic, bitter

1 to 6 dr.

binthinse

lant, counter-

tonic and an-

irritant and

thelmintic

antiseptic.

Quinine sulphate

. .

Reduces white

15to40gr.

Internal : carmin-

1 to2Joz.

blood corpuscles.

ative, antitym-

Blood antiseptic.

panitic, antispas-

Tonic and anti-

modic, stimulant

pyretic

and anthelmintic

Quinine-urea

. .

Local anaesthetic

(See Chap.

Diuretic

4 to 6 dr.

hydrnchlnride

XVI.)

130

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Name

Synonym
and formula

Action Dose

t

Name

Synonym
and formula

Action

Dose

Reducing

t t

Valuable antiphlo-

Spirits of nitrous

Sweet spirits

Diffusible stimu-

1 to 3 oz.

gistic

ether

of nitre

lant, carmina-

Saline solution,

Sterile sol.

(See Soda chlor.)

(amyl nit.

tive and anti-

normal

of -85 per

in alcohol)

spasmodic

cent.,NaCl

Starch

A m y 1 u m

Demulcent and

Salol

Phenol sali-

Intestinal disin-

J to 3 dr.

C6H1005

emollient. Used

cylate

fectant. Is not

as a vehicle in

decomposed in

mixing drugs

the stomach

Stovaine

t t

Intraspinal and

5 per cent.

Saltpetre (see

ophthalmic anaes-

sol. (see

Pot. nitrate)

thetic

Chap.

Santonin

, .

Anthelmintic to

15to40gr.

XVI.)

round worm ;

Strepto-bactei-

, ,

Preventive and

(See Chap.

not tape worm

ines

curative treat-

XVII.)

Silver nitrate

Lunar

Irritant and corro-

2 to 6 gr.,

ment of all dis-

caustic,

sive

hyp. ; 4 to

eases caused by

AgNOs

12gr.,oral.

streptococci

Sinapis

(See Mus-

External : rube-

micro-organisms

tard)

facient, stimu-

Strophanthin

, t

Heart tonic. Stim-

Hyp., t to

lant and vesicant

ulant and diur-

i gr.

Sodium bicar-

Baking soda

Antacid. Used in

i to 1J oz.

etic

bonate

NaHCO3

dypsepsia and

Strychnine sul-

A. P. of

Stomachic and

Hyp., J to

flatulence. Has

phate

nux vom-

tonic. Stimulant

2 gr.

no bad effect like

ica

to digestive and

potassium salts

respiratory tract.

Sod. carbonate

Washing

Antacid

2 to 5 dr.

Direct stimulant

soda,

to heart

Na2C03

Sulphur, flowers

S

Mild laxative.

2 to 4 oz.

Soda chloride

Common

Stomachic and al-

i to 1J oz.

of

Used in skin dis-

salt, NaCl

terative. Keeps

eases and rheu-

intestinal worms

matism. Is ex-

away. Large

creted through

doses are laxa-

skin. Used in

tive and cathartic

fumigating

Sod. diborate

Borax

Used in dyspepsia.

1 to 4 dr.

Thymol

Antiseptic

1 to 2 dr.

Na2B4O7

Same (but milder)

Tuberculin

For tuberculosis

i dr. or

action as acid

bacillus test

2 cc.

boracic

Turps (see Oil of

Sod. phosphate

NajHPO«

Used in fractures 3 to 10 oz.

turpentine)

and bone dis- j

Urea hydro-

. .

Local anaesthetic

Hypoder-

eases to build

chloride

mic use.

new bone. Used

Veratrine hydro-

. .

Heart sedative

igr.;keep

in nervous and

chloride

and nerve de-

patient

skin diseases

pressant. Used

walking

Sod. salicylate

• *

Antipyretic. Used

1 to 5 dr.

in rheumatism

for a few

in rheumatism

minutes

and febrile dis-

after-

eases

Woolfat (see

wards

Sod. thiosulphate

Hypo.,

Antiseptic and

i to 1 oz.

Adeps lanee)

NazS.,O3

deodoriser. Used

Repeated

Zinc oxide

ZnO

External astring-

in blood poison-

in i oz.

ent. Used as an

ing

doses in

eye-wash

blood

Zinc sulphate

ZnSO<

Astringent and

J toll dr.

poisoning

styptic

every 15

minutes

508. Strength of Drugs. — The most suitable
form in which to keep most drugs is that of the
fluid extract or in tablets.

For hypodermic use they should be kept in
tablets ; then there is no risk of giving the wrong
doee, as there will be no weighing out to be done.

The dose of the fluid extract is the same as
that of the powder, if there is one.

The dose of the tincture, which is an alcoholic
solution of the fluid extract, is eight times that
of the fluid extract (P.E.).

509. Useful Compounds to be kept in Stock.
1. AMMONIA, dilute liquid.

Liquor ammonia? fortis (-880) . 1 part.
Water . . . . .2 parts.

2. BALL: Aloes. (See Sees. 514-6.)

Barbadoes aloes . . . . 6 dr.
Calomel . . . . . 1 dr.
Ginger, P. . . . . 2 dr.

Petrolatum . . . J dr.

Glycerine, sufficient to make homogeneous mass.

Grind the solids fairly fine in mortar, and then
add the petrolatum and glycerine. Roll in tissue
paper.

3. BALL: Aloin.

Aloin .
Ginger P.
Calomel

2J dr.

I dr.

1 dr.

Mix and put into hard gelatine capsule.

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

131

4. BLISTER. Mercury and Cantharides. (See Sec.

410.)

5. BLISTER. Mercury and croton oil. (See Sec. 410.)

6. BLISTER. Red Mercury. (See Sec. 410.)

7. CARRON OIL.

Raw linseed oil . . . . 1 part.

Lime water . . . . 1 part.

Shake well before using.

8. CONDITION POWDER.

Flowers of sulphur .... 2 parts.
Nitre . . . . . . .1 part.

Fenugreek 1 part.

Gentian . . . . . .1 part.

Iron carbonate . . . . .1 part.

Aniseed, P. ..... 1 part.

Mix well into a powder, and give J oz. twice a
day in the feed.

9. DICK'S LOTION. (See Lotion, White.)

10. ELECTUARY (for coughs).

Pot. chlorate . . . . i dr.

Camphor . . . . J dr.

Pot. nitrate . . . . j dr.

Belladonna, F.E. . . . J dr.

Treacle, about J Ib.

Dissolve the camphor in methylated alcohol ; and
the belladonna in boiling water. Place on the tongue
with a spatula.

11. LIME-WATER. Saturated solution of lime in dis-

tilled water.

12. LINIMENT OF AMMONIA.

Ammonia fort. (NH4OH) . . 25 parts.

Almond oil .... 25 parts.

Olive oil . . . . .50 parts.

Shake well.

13. LINIMENT OF AMMONIA, COMPOUND.
Ammonia dil. . . . .1 part.
Alcohol, meth. . ... 1 part.
Oil of turps. . . . .1 part.
Water, to make 5 parts by volume.

14. LINIMENT OF AMMONIA AND OIL.
Camphor . . 1 oz.
Alcohol, meth. . . . 4 oz.
Liq. ammonia? fort. . . 2 oz.
Oil of linseed . ... 1 pint.

15. LINIMENT OF CAMPHOR, COMPOUND.
Camphor . . . . .1 part.
Ammonia fort. . ... 2 parts.
Alcohol, meth. . . .6 parts.

Dissolve the camphor in the alcohol, and then
add the ammonia.

16. LINIMENT OF OPIUM.

Tine, opium . ... 1 part.
Liniment of soap . . .1 part.
Leave for a few days, and filter through filter-paper >
if a clear liniment is required.

17. LINIMENT OF SOAP.

Soft soap . . . . .2 parts.
Water . . . . .4 parts.
Camphor . . . . .1 part.
Alcohol, sufficient to dissolve the camphor, which

must be dissolved before adding the soap

and water.

18. LINIMENT OF IODINE.

Iodine 2J parts.

Pot. iodide .... 4 parts.

Camphor J part.

Meth. alcohol (10 per cent.) . 20 parts.
Paint on with brush.

19. LINIMENT, strong, for sprains, curb, etc.
Mercury perchloride . . .35 gr.
Pot. iodide . . . . 4 dr.
Iodine . . . . 1 oz.
Water, distilled . . . . 1 oz.
Ether, to make 8 oz.

Paint on with brush. Part must be kept quite
dry.

20. LINIMENT, to ease pain.

Chloral hydrate . . . .1 part.

Camphor . . . . .1 part.
Rub well together in mortar until they become
liquid.

Rub well into part for 10 minutes.

21. LOTION FOR EYE.

Zinc sulphate . . . . 3 gr.

Opium tine. . . . . 4 dr.

Water 1 pint.

22. LOTION, WHITE (DICK'S).

Lead acetate . ... 1 part.

Zinc sulphate . . . . 1 part.

Water . . . . .40 parts.
(If 4 parts oil eucalyptus are added, it is good lo
keep flies off.)

Always shake well before use.

23. OINTMENT OF AMMONIATED MERCURY (white pre-

cipitate ointment).

Petrolatum . . . . 3J parts.

Hard paraffin . . . 1 i parts.

Ammoniated mercury \ part.

Melt the two greases in a tin, stir until cold. Rub
in the mercury with a spatula on a plate.

Good for grease and ringworm ; is scarcely
absorbed by the skin.

24. OINTMENT, BORACIC.

Boracic acid . . . .1 part.

Lard . . . . .9 parts.

Heat, and stir until cold.

25. OINTMENT OF EUCALYPTUS.

Hydrated wool fat . . .5 parts.

Petrolatum . . . . 2J parts.

Oil of eucalyptus \ part.

Mix on glass plate with spatula. Good for sores ;
is a disinfectant.

26. OINTMENT OF IODINE.

Iodine . . . . .1 part.

Pot. iodide . . . .1 part.

Glycerine . . . . .3 parts.

Lard . . . . . .20 parts.

Rub the first three ingredients together in a mortar,
and then gradually rub in the lard.

27. OINTMENT OF IODOFORM, for slow-healing

wounds.

lodoform . . . . . 20 gr.

Oil eucalyptus . . . .30 min.

Acid carbolic . . . .20 min.
Lard 1 oz.

132

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

28. OIL OF MENTHOL.

Menthol 1 dr.

Lard 8 dr.

Mix together and stir until fairly hard.

29. OINTMENT OF ZINC.

Zinc oxide . . . . .3 parts.

Lard . . . . . .17 parts.

Melt together and stir until set.

30. TONIC POWDER.

Iron sulphate
Nux vomica, P. .
Soda bicarbonate
Mix together well.

limes a day on the food, for a week.

31. TONIC POWDER.
Nux vomica, P.
Iron sulphate
Nitre .
Gentian P.

. 1 part.
. 1 part.
. 1 part.
Give 1 dr. (teaspoonful) three

4 parts.
4 parts.
1 part.
4 parts.

Mix well. Give 2 dr. twice a day in the feed.

32. TONIC POWDER.
Tartar emetic
Iron sulphate
Aniseed P.
Gentian P.
Mix well. Give
week.

. 1 part.
. 1 part.
tj parts.
1 \ parts.
J oz. in feed once a day for a

510. Incompatibility of Drugs. — In the past
serious accidents have occurred through certain
drugs being mixed together that are not com-
patible. In some cases nothing very serious
happens, but certain drugs when mixed together
explode, whilst others, though harmless them-
selves, become poisonous when mixed together.

The following list is one of common drugs
that must not be mixed together :

Drug

Must not be mixed
with:—

Result

Sulphur

Tannic acid

Pot. chlorate }

Sugar

Pot. permang.
Silver nitrate

I Glycerine
Pot. ferro-

Explosion.

Pot. nitrate J

cyanide

Dry vegetable

powders

,A11 iodides

Arsenic "j
All alkaloids, as
morphine,
strychnine,

All bromides
Caustic soda
Caustic potash
Pot. carbonate

Insoluble, there-
fore poisoning
is very likely

atropine

Soda carbonate

to occur.

Amm. carbonate

i

Acids, as hydro-

Alkalies, as

Will neutralise

chloric

caustic pot. or

one another.

ammonia

Strong nitric and

With almost

Convert the sub-

sulphuric acid

anything

stance into

something else

511. Antidotes to Poisons. — When a horse is
poisoned, action must be taken immediately. If
possible, it must be ascertained what kind of
poisoning the horse is suffering from. The
poison must be expelled as soon as possible from
the system by purgatives, diuretics and diaphor-
etics. It is not possible to make a horse vomit,
so emetics (as apomorphine) must not be used.
The poison must also, if possible, be chemically
changed to an insoluble or inert substance. The
inflammation (high temperature) must be sub-
dued by sedatives and antiphlogistics. The
internal irritation must be eased by demulcents.
Stimulants must be given to counteract narcotic
and hypnotic effects. Tonics and careful dieting
must be resorted to to restore the tone of the
system.

The following antidotes are recommended for
the more common forms of poisoning. The anti-
dote is always given in a dose far larger than the
normal dose for that drug. In very bad cases
five to six times the normal dose can be given
with safety.

512. Poisons and their Antidotes.

Poison

ACID, CARBOLIC
ACID, MINERAL

ACID, NITRIC AND
OXALIC

ACONITE
ALKALOIDS

AMMONIA
ANTIMONY

ARNICA
ARSENIC

ATROPIN
BELLADONNA OR

ATROPIN
CANTHARIDES
CARBONIC ACID

(CARBON DIOXIDE)
CHLORINE GAS OR

CHORINATED LIME
CHLOROFORM

COPPER SALTS

Antidote

Turps, soda sulphate, castor oil,
strong tea, and coffee.

Water (except for sulphuric),
chalk, soap, magnesia, fol-
lowed by demulcents, seda-
tives, and tonics.

Magnesium or calcium carbon-
ates, followed by demulcents,
sedatives, and tonics.

External and internal stimulants.

Animal carbon (charcoal), caf-
fein citrate (hyp.), ether, and
diffusible stimulants.

Vinegar, oils and demulcents.

Tannic acid, oil purgatives, and
sedatives.

Opium (morphine).

Iron carbonate, iron sesquioxide
(Fe2O3), lime-water, vegetable
tonics ; raw eggs and gruel
every J hour.

(See "Belladonna.")

Opium and cafTein (hyp-)-

Opium ; do not give oils.

Fresh air, oxygen, cold effusions,
and diffusible stimulants.

While of egg, milk, flour, am-
monia, magnesia. Not acids.

Dilute hydrocyanic acid, amyl
nitrite, strychnine, artificial
respiration, and electricity.

Soap, metallic iron, oil purga-
tives, ammonia, demulcents ;
raw eggs and gruel every
1 hour.

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

133

Poison

CROTON OIL

CYANIDES AND
PRUSSIC ACID

DIGITALIS
HEMLOCK

IODINE
LEAD SALTS

MERCURY SALTS

MORPHINE on

MORPHIA
Nux VOMICA OR

STRYCHNINE

OPIUM OH MOR-
PHINE

PHOSPHORUS
PHYSOSTIGMINE OR
ESERINE

PlLOCARPINE

PRUSSIC ACID

STRYCHNINE

SULPHURETTED
HYDROGEN (HY-
DROGEN SUL-
PHIDE) (H2S)

TOBACCO OR NICO-
TINE

YEW
ZINC SALTS

Antidote

Opium, astringents, mucilagin-
ous fluids.

Chlorine gas inhalations, am-
monia, chalk, magnesia, oxides
of iron, cold ablutions.

Tannin, stimulants, aconite
(hyp.)-

Oil purgatives, diffusible stimu-
lants, tannin, atropin (hyp.).

Starch and demulcents.

Magnesium and sodium sulphates,
pot. iodide ; followed by lin-
seed oil, milk, and opium.

Eggs, starch, milk, albumen,
wheat flour in large quantity,
iron sulphide, magnesium sul-
phate, fresh preparation of
iron sesquioxide.

(See " Opium.")

Pot. bromide, chloroform, ano-
dynes and sedatives. Give
chloral hydrate, 4 to 8 oz.
(normal dose, 1 oz.).

Animal charcoal, pot. perman-
ganate ; exercise is most neces-
sary, counter-irritants, am-
monia inhalations, oil purga-
tives, atropin, cailein, and
eserine (hyp.).

Turps, gallic acid.

Atropin (hyp.), chloral hydrate,
stimulants.

Atropin (hyp.).

(See "Cyanides.")

[See " Nux vomica.")

Fresh air, cold effusions, diffusi.
ble stimulants.

Tannic acid, strong tea, purga-
tives, strychnine ; stimulants
internal and external.

Purgatives, mucilaginous drinks
and sedatives.

Milk, white of egg, tannic acid,
and warm water.

513. List of Apparatus kept in a Veterinary
Pharmacy.— One 2-dr., one 4-oz., and one 1-pt.'
glass graduated measures. The cylindrical form
is the best. The most accurate are those marked
outside by hand ; those marked inside are
moulded, and are cheap and inaccurate and
cannot always be kept clean. Clinical thermo-
meter with magnifying scale, to register in
thirty seconds. Pestle and mortar of glass, about
12 in. in diameter, for grinding up drugs into
fine powder. A spatula, and sheet of glass about
18 in. square, on which ointments, etc., can be

mixed. Watch. Bandages, needles and thread
(silk). A hypodermic syringe and needles. Set
of scales. Oral syringe. An enema pump and
tube, a catheter, trocar and cannula. Labels to
label all bottles, packages and tins very care-
fully. (See Sec. 529.)

514. Uses of Purgatives. — To remove accumu-
lation of foods, lessen fermentations, and to
remove toxins from the skin ; to divert blood
from the brain in brain diseases by increasing
blood in the intestines ; to remove fluids from
the system as in dropsy.

Purgation is produced in three ways : by in-
creasing peristaltic action of bowels, i.e. mus-
cular contraction ; by increasing intestinal secre-
tions ; by decreasing absorption of fluid.

In the first method we can cause purgation by
the use of drugs that act on the brain, i.e. on the
nervous centre. For instance, any drug that
stimulates the vagi nerve centre increases peri-
stalsis, or a stimulant to the solar plexus de-
creases peristalsis. An example of the first is
eserine, or croton oil ; of the second, aloee,
rhubarb ; and of the third, Epsom salts (mag-
nesium sulphate).

515. Purgatives are counter-indicated, i.e.
must not be used, in the following cases : —

Lung diseases,
Gastritis and enteritis,
Influenza and high fever,
Advanced pregnancy,
Inversion of rectum or uterus.

A horse has 550 square feet of intestinal
mucous membrane on which drugs can act, or
through which absorption takes place ; there-
fore great harm can be done by the abuse of
drugs.

There are five kinds of purgatives : —

1. Laxatives liquefy secretions and stimulate
peristaltic action, as raw linseed oil, sulphur,
green grass and roots.

2. Simple Purgatives increase secretions and
produce semi-liquid evacuation, as aloes, calo-
mel, linseed oil in large doses, cascara, and
rhubarb.

3. Drastic Purgatives violently increase peri-
staltic action and secretions, as croton oil, jalap,
barium chloride, and eserine.

4. Hydragogue Purgatives prevent absorption
of fluids, as Epsom salts and all laxative salts.

5. Cholagogue Purgatives stimulate liver (and
must be followed by a simple or hydragogue
purgative, to clear small intestines), as calomel,
podophyllin, and sodium salicylate.

516. Notes on Purgatives. — Action is in-
creased if given on empty stomach. Horse must
be prepared on soft food for at least one day
previous to a strong purgative being given,
except in cases of colic, when this is impossible.
An enema should be given to assist in emptying
the large back bowel.

134

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Horses are seldom given purgative salts. If
a ball does not act in twenty-four hours, a pint
of raw linseed oil must be given, and, if neces-
sary, repeated in five hours. Large doses of aloes
produce nausea and colic ; for this reason aloes
is always combined with a stomachic or stimu-
lant, as ginger or nux vomica, to prevent griping.

Much cold water must not be given until the
action of the purgative has partly gone off ;
water should be made tepid. Horses must not
be worked until the action has passed off. Aloes
must not be repeated for at least thirty-six hours.
Linseed oil is safe in pregnancy, diarrhoea, and
dysentery. Carron oil is useful in cases of foals
with diarrhoea. Afterwards horses must be fed
on easily-digested foods, such as mashes, until
action is passed, and then be fed carefully for
a few days.

For Balls, Aloes, and Aloin, see Sec. 509.

A suitable purgative for a few-months'-old
foal which is constipated is rhubarb (rhei), A oz.
to 1 oz.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

517. LIQUID MEASURES. IMPERIAL MEASURE.

60 minims (tt\) = 1 fluid drachm (f3) (fl. dr.).

3 fluid drachms = 1 fluid ounce (fg) (fl. oz.).
20 fluid ounces = 1 pint (O.) (pt.).

8 pints = 1 gallon (C.) (gal.).

518. STANDARD WEIGHTS. At 62° Fahr. and baro-
meter at 30 inches.

1 fluid ounce weighs 1 ounce

Avoirdupois = 437J grains.

1 gallon weighs 160 ounces = 10 Ib.
1 pint weighs 20 ounces = 1J- Ib.
1 cubic foot of water weighs 62J Ib.
1 cubic inch weighs 252 gr.
1 ounce equals nearly 2 cubic inches.

519. WINE MEASURE. American liquid measure.
8 fluid drachms = 1 fluid ounce.

60 minims = 1 fluid drachm.

16 fluid ounces = 1 pint.
8 pints = l gallon (128 ounces).

1 wine gallon of distilled water weighs approxi-
mately 8} Ib.

1 fluid ounce wine measure weighs 454-6 gr.
The wine ounce is larger than the Imperial ounce,
but the wine pint is smaller than the Imperial pint.

520. HOUSEHOLD LIQUID MEASURES.

1 tumblerful = 8 to 10 fluid ounces.

1 teacupful = 5 to 8 fluid ounces.

1 wineglassful = 2 fluid ounces.

1 tablespoonful = J ounce,or4fluiddrachms.

1 dessertspoonful = \ oz. or 2 fluid drachms.

1 teaspoonful = 1 fluid drachm.

1 drop of water = 1 minim (approximately).

521. SOLID WEIGHTS. Apothecaries' Weight.
20 grains = 1 scruple (3).

3 scruples = 1 drachm. (3).

60 grains (gr.) = 1 drachm.
8 drachms or 480 grains = 1 ounce (g).
12 ounces or 5,760 grains = pound (Ib.).
All dispensing is done, and formula are made up,
with this weight.

522. TROY WEIGHT.

480 grains = 1

12 ounces, or 5,760 grains = 1

523. AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT.
16 drachms

437| grains

16 ounces or 7,000 grains
25 Ib. (Canada)
28 Ib. (England)

ounce,
pound.

1 ounce.
1 ounce.
1 Ib.

1 quarter.
1 quarter.
1 hundredweight
(cwt).

= 1 ton.

All drugs are bought and sold by this weight.

The grain of all weights is the same.

480 minims of water weigh 1 oz. avoirdupois =

439J gr., therefore 1 minim of water weighs

a little less than 1 grain.
524. GRAIN MEASURE (or DRY MEASURE).

20 cwt {2'0001b-t
Al-t 2,240 Ib.j

2

pints

=

1

quart.

4

quarts

=

1

gallon.

2

gallons

=

1

peck.

4

pecks

=

1

bushel

(8 gallons).

4

bushels

=

1

sack.

8

bushels

=

1

quarter.

5

quarters

=

1

load.

2

loads

=

1

last.

525. HAY AND STRAW WEIGHTS.

1 truss of old hay =
1 truss of new hay =
1 truss of straw =
1 load

1 load of old hay =
1 load of new hay =

526

56 Ib.

60 Ib. (until Sept. 1st).

36 Ib.

36 trusses.

2,016 Ib.

2,160 Ib.

1,296 Ib.

load of straw
THE METRIC SYSTEM.

Liquid

1 cubic centimetre of water, at 0° Centigrade
and barometer at 760 millimetres, weighs
1 gramme.
1000 cubic centimetres (cc.) = 1 litre.

1 litre = approximately 35 fluid ounces Imperial
= 1| Imperial pints.

Weight
1 gramme (gm.) = 15-432 grains (gr.).

1000 grammes

100
10
1
•1
•01
•001

1 metre is
of the earth.
1000 metres =
100 „ =
10

kilogram (approx. 2i Ib.

avoir.).
= 1 hectogram.
= 1 decagram.
= 1 gram (15-432 gr.)
== 1 decigram.
= 1 centigram.
= 1 milligram (^4-th gr.).
Linear

part of the circumference

1 kilometre (approx. f mile).
1 hectometre.
1 decametre.

1 metre = 39-3708 inches (approx. 1 ^ yards).

•1 ,, =1 decimetre.

•01 „ =1 centimetre (approx. T*0- inch).

•001 „ =1 millimetre (approx. ¥'T inch.)

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

135

527. ENGLISH LINEAR.

12 inches (") = 1 foot (')•

3 feet = 1 yard.
220 yards = 1 furlong.

8 furlongs or 1,760 yards = 1 mile.

|1 hand (used in

4 inches measuring

[ horses).

528. COMPARISON BETWEEN ENGLISH AND METRIC

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
1 Imperial fluid ounce weighs 437^ grains =

1 oz. avoirdupois.
1 gramme weighs 15-432 grains (cc. = cubic

centimetre).
1 Imperial fluid ounce weighs 28-35 grammes =

1 ounce avoirdupois.
1 fluid ounce = 28-417 cc. (Note — this is at

62° F. ; 1 gm. = 1 cc. at 32° F.)
The apothecaries' pound and ounce and the troy
pound and ounce are the same, but are differently
divided.

1 ounce apoth. weighs 31-10 gram. = 480

grains.

1 Ib. avoirdupois weighs 453 6 gram.
1 cwt. weighs 50-8 kilogram.
1 ton weighs 1016 kilogram.
1 grain weighs -0648 gram.
1 litre = 1000 cc., or 1 cubic decilitre =

175-9 pints = 35-2 fluid ounces.
1 cubic centimetre = -061 cubic inch.

1 cubic inch
1 yard
1 mile
1 gallon
1 pint
1 minim
1 cc.

= 16-387 cc.

= -9144 metre.

= 1-609 kilometres.

= 4-546 litres.

= 568-3 cc.

= -059 cc.

= 16-9 minims.

529. Drugs.— List of the most important
drugs that should be kept in the veterinary
pharmacy (see Sec. 513) :

Acid boracic

Acid carbolic

Aconite tine.

Alcohol

Aloes balls (Sec. 509, 2)

Ammonia

Arecolene

Belladonna, F. E.

Calomel

Cannabis indica

Chloral hydrate

Chloroform

Cocaine

Creolin

Eserine

Ether

Gentian

Ginger tine.

Iodine tine.

Iron perchloride tine.

Iron sulphate

Lead acetate

Linseed oil, raw

Mercury iodide blister
(See Sec. 410)

Mercury perchloride

Morphine

Mustard

Nitre

Opium

Pot. chlorate

Quinine sulphate

Reducine

Soda bicarbonate

Soda chloride

Soda thiosulphate

Strychnine sulphate

Turpentine

Zinc sulphate
and

1 oz. hard gelatine cap-
sules.

530. GLOSSARY AND THERAPEUTICAL CLASSIFICA-
TION OF DRUGS.

ABSCESS : a collection of pus in a cavity formed by
the disintegration of tissues.

ABSORBENTS. (See " Desiccants.")

ACRID : pungent, producing an irritation.

ACTIVE PRINCIPLE : the part of a drug or herb that
is responsible for the chief action of that drug
or herb ; morphine is the active principle of
opium.

ACUTE : short and relatively severe ; not chronic.

ADHESION : the abnormal joining of parts together.

ALBUMEN OR ALBUMIN : a protein found in most
animal and vegetable tissues.

ALTERATIVES : drugs that gradually change and cor-
rect the morbid condition of organs, e.g. aloes,
ammonium carbonate, silver nitrate, arsenic,
pot. bromide, dil. hydrochloric, ammonium
chloride, pot. chloras., soda chloride, colchicum,
lead iodide, pot. iodide, magnesium sulphate,
mercury iodide, mercury subchloride, mercury
perchloride, soda phosphate.

ANAESTHETICS : drugs that cause insensibility to pain
and unconsciousness, alleviate spasms and pain,
and relax muscles, e.g. general — ether, amyl
nitrite, chloroform, nitrous oxide ; local — ether,
ethyl chloride, cocaine, eucaine, holocaine, ice,
menthol,novocaine, stovaine, urea hydrochloride.

ANCHYLOSIS : abnormal immobility of a joint.

ANODYNES : drugs that diminish and allay pain, e.g.
aconite, carbolic acid, digitalis, ethyl chloride,
opium, lead subacetate.

ANTACIDS : drugs that reduce aclivity and make blood
and secretions more fluid (useful in fever, rheu-
matism, etc.) : ammonia, ammonium carbonate,
chalk, lime-water, pot. bicarbonate, pot. car-
bonate, soda bicarbonate, soda carbonate.

ANTALKALINES : drugs that increase activity, e.g.
dil. hydrochloric and nitric acids.

ANTEMETICS : drugs that arrest vomiting, e.g. bella-
donna, lime-water, chloral hydrate, chloroform,
magnesia.

ANTHELMINTICS : drugs that destroy, expel, or pre-
vent the return of worms, e.g. aloes, asafcetida,
copper sulphate, iron sulphate, mercury sub-
chloride, quassia, santonin, soda chloride, thymol.
(See " Tamiafuges.")

ANTIDOTES. (See Sec. 512.)

ANTILITHICS : drugs that prevent the formation of
sediment and calculi in the urine, e.g. acetic and
hydrochloric acids, magnesia, pot. carbonate,
soda bicarbonate, soda phosphate.

ANTIPARASITICS : drugs that destroy animal and
vegetable parasites. (See " Anthelmintics " and
" Insecticides.")

ANTIPERIODICS : drugs that arrest intermittent dis-
eases, e.g. arsenic, cinchona, quinine, soda
chloride.

ANTIPHLOGISTICS : drugs that contract inflammation
(see " Sedatives"), e.g. aloes, antiphlogistine, mer-
cury subchloride, reducine.

ANTIPYRETICS : drugs that reduce fever, e.g. acet-
anilid, dil. vegetable and mineral acids, aconite,

136

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

antipyrin, ammonium acetate, camphor, digitalis,
mercury subchloride, magnesium sulphate, pilo-
carpine, pot. nitrate, quinine sulphate, soda
bicarbonate, soda carbonate.

ANTIRHEUMATICS : drugs that relieve rheumatism,
e.g. soda bicarbonate, soda carbonate, soda
salicylate.

ANTISEPTICS. (See Sees. 798-801.)

ANTISPASMODICS : drugs that prevent or allay mus-
cular spasms, e.g. ammonia, belladonna, asafce-
tida, bromides, camphor, cannabis indica, physo-
stigmine, spirits ether nitrate, turps, zinc sul-
phate.

AXTITYMPANITICS : drugs that reduce or prevent
tympanites, e.g. ammonia, ammonium carbon-
ate, carbon, turps, asafcetida.

A. P. : active principle.

APERIENTS : drugs that cause gentle purging. (See
" Laxatives.")

APHRODISIACS : drugs that excite the venereal appe-
tite, e.g., belladonna, camphor, cannabis indica,
iron perchloride, phosphorus, blood and nerve
tonics.

AROMATICS : drugs that counteract griping from
acrid drugs. (See " Stimulants — Stomachic.")

ARTERY : a vessel through which blood passes from
the heart to the body.

ARTICULAR : pertaining to a joint.

ASEPTIC : free from septic material.

ASPHYXIA : suffocation, deficiency of oxygen in the
blood.

ASTRINGENTS : drugs that retract tissues, coagulate
blood, and check secretions, e.g. mineral — alum,
borax, dilute mineral acids, and metallic salts ;
vegetable — acid acetic, acid tannic, acid carbolic,
catechu, cinchona, ergot, opium, turps.

ATROPHY : a wasting of a part.

AUSCULTATION : the act of listening for sounds within
the body, chiefly of the lungs, heart, and womb.

BACILLUS (plural, bacilli) : a rod-shaped micro-
organism.

BACTERIUM (plural, bacteria) : vegetable micro-
organism.

BARS OF MOUTH : that part of the gums between the
incisors and the molars of the horse.

BILE : gal], a greenish-yellow substance secreted by
the liver.

B.P. : British Pharmacopoeia.

BRUSHING : the act of a horse brushing one leg
against another while in motion.

CALCULI : plural of calculus ; an abnormal con-
cretion within the animal body, usually com-
posed of mineral salts.

CANCER : a malignant tumour, chiefly of epithelial
cells.

CANNULA : a tube for insertion into the body.

CAPILLARY : a minute vessel that connects an arteriole
to a venule.

CAPUT : the head or head-like structure.

CARIES : the molecular decay or death of a bone.

CARMINATIVES : drugs that relieve flatulence and
assuage pain. (See " Stimulants — Stomachic.")

CARTILAGE : gristle, a white elastic or inelastic sub-
stance.

CATHARTICS : drugs that increase peristaltic action.
(See " Laxatives," " Drastics," " Cholagogues,"
" Hydragogues.")

CATHETER : a tube for discharging fluids from a
cavity in the body, usually that of the
bladder.

CAUSTICS : drugs that destroy tissue, e.g. strong
acids, silver nitrate, creosote, copper sulphate,
iron perchloride, mercury perchloride, iodine,
potash, zinc sulphate.

CHOLAGOGUES : drugs that stimulate the secretion of
bile from the liver, and cause purging, e.g. aloes,
mercury perchloride, mercury subchloride, podo-
phyllin, soda salicylate.

CHRONIC : long-continued ; not acute.

CLYSTER : an enema ; an injection into the rectum.

CONCAVE : presenting a depressed or hollovr surface.

CONDYLE : a rounded eminence at the articular end
of a bone.

CONGESTION : abnormal accumulation of blood in a
part.

CONTAGION : the communication of disease by
mediate or immediate contact, or by effluvia.

CONTAGIOUS : propagated by contagion.

CONVEX : having a rounded and somewhat elevated
surface.

CONVEXITY : a convex prominence on a bone.

CONVULSION : a violent involuntary contraction of a
voluntary muscle.

CORROSIVES. (See " Caustics.")

COTYLOID CAVITY : a cup-shaped cavity.

COUNTER-IRRITANTS : drugs that irritate and stimu-
late the skin, and thus relieve internal pain and
inflammation. (See " Vesicants," " Rubefacients,"
" Pustulants," "Derivatives.")

CREST : the top of the horse's neck, where the mane
grows.

DECIDUOUS : temporary.

DECOCTION : a medicine or liquid prepared by boiling.

DEFECATION : the discharge of faces from the bowels.

DEMULCENTS : drugs that soothe, soften and protect
mucous membrane, e.g. glycerine, gum, oU.

DEODORISERS : drugs that absorb or decompose foetid
effluvia. (See "Antiseptics," "Disinfectants.")

DERIVATIVES : drugs that stimulate certain parts of
the body to relieve others. (See " Counter-irri-
tants," " Stimulants — External.")

DESICCANTS : drugs that dry up discharge from
wounds and abscesses, e.g. alum, bismuth sub-
nitrate, borax, chalk, chloride of lime, lime-
water, catechu, carbon, Fuller's earth, French
chalk, mercury perchloride, magnesia, lead sub-
acetate, alcohol, zinc sulphate.

DETERGENTS : drugs that cleanse sluggish wounds,
etc., e.g. borax, caustic potash, soap solution.

DIAGNOSIS : the art of distinguishing one disease
from another.

DIAPHORETICS : drugs that increase the exhalation of
the skin, e.g. ether, spirits ether nitrate, ammo-
nium salts, antifebrin, arnica, belladonna, cam-
phor, mercury subchloride, pilocarpine, pot.
nitrate, alcohol, sulphur, turps, veratrine, friction,
warm clothing, hot applications.

DIAPHYSIS : the shaft of a long bone.

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

137

DIGESTION : the process of converting food into
materials fit to be assimilated.

DISCUTIENTS : drugs that absorb tumours and fluid
in the body, e.g. acetic acid, ammonium chloride,
camphor, iodine, pot. iodide, soda chloride.

DISHING : the act of carrying the lower parts of the
forelegs turned out while trotting.

DISINFECTANTS : drugs that destroy micro-organisms
or toxins. (See " Antiseptics.")

DIURETICS: drugs that stimulate the secretion of
urine from the kidneys. Used to reduce fever
and to remove poisons and fluid from the body,
e.g. ether, spirits ether nitrate, aloes, ammonium
chloride, belladonna, cantharides, digitalis, mer-
cury subchloride, magnesium sulphate, potas-
sium salts, sodium salts, turpentine.

DUA.STICS : drugs that produce rapid and plentiful
purging, e.g. aloes, croton oil, mercury sub-
chloride, podophyllin, veratrine, arecolene, pilo-
carpine, physostigmine (eserine).

DRENCH : a liquid medicine or compound that is
administered by the mouth.

ECBOLICS : drugs that contract the uterus (womb —
used at parturition), e.g. digitalis, ergot, purga-
tives, quinine.

EFFLUVIA (plural of effluvium) : ill - smelling ex-
halations.

EFFUSION : the escape of fluid into a part or tissue.

ELECTUARY (see Sec. 509, No. 10) : a powdered drug
made into a paste with syrup, etc.

ELIMINATIVES : drugs that eliminate matter from
the system by increasing the secretions. (See
" Cathartics," " Diaphoretics," " Diuretics,"
" Emetics," " Expectorants," " Galactagogues,"
" Sialagogues.")

EMBRYO : the foetus in its earlier stage of develop-
ment.

EMBRYONIC : pertaining to, or in the condition of
being, an embryo.

EMETICS : drugs that empty the stomach through
the mouth (never used in horses), e.g. apomor-
phine, tartar emetic, copper sulphate, mercury
subchloride, podophyllin.

EMOLLIENTS : substances which soothe sensitive sur-
faces and prevent irritation, e.g. lard, borax, fats,
glycerine, lanolin, oils, poultices, vaseline.

EMPYEMA : accumulation of pus in a body cavity,
especially the chest.

EMULSION : an oily or resinous substance divided and
held in suspension through the agency of a mucila-
ginous substance.

ENEMA : clyster or injection ; the injection of a liquid
into the rectum.

ENZOOTIC : occurring endemically among animals.

EPIPHYSES (plural of epiphysis) : the ends of a long
bone that are separated from the main shaft in
early life by cartilage.

EPITHELIAL : pertaining to, or composed of, epithe-
lium.

EPITHELIUM : the covering of the skin and mucous
membranes, composed of cells.

EPIZOOTIC : any disease which occurs as an epidemic,
rapidly spreading and becoming widely diffused.

ERYTHROCYTES : the red blood corpuscles.

ESCHAROTICS : drugs that produce a scab or sitfast
when applied to living tissue. (See " Caustics.")

EXHILARANTS : drugs that exalt the spirits and thus
increase the functional activity of the whole
body, stimulating heart, nervous system, etc.
(See " Stimulants— Diffusible.")

EXOSTOSIS : a bony growth projecting from the sur-
face of a bone or tooth.

EXPECTORANTS : drugs that increase the secretions
of the bronchial tract (used in sore throats, irrit-
able coughs, etc.), e.g. ether, ammonia, ammo-
nium chloride, aniseed, camphor, eucalyptus,
pot. chlorate, turpentine.

FACET : a small, smooth surface on a bone.

F.E. : fluid extract, a standardised solution of a drug,
in which, as a rule, 1 dr. of the F.E. contains
1 gr. of the active principle.

FEBRIFUGES : drugs that counteract fever. (See
" Antipyretics," " Laxatives.")

FECUNDATION : impregnation or fertilisation.

FERRO-CONCRETE : concrete reinforced with iron rods.

FETID : offensive in smell.

FEVER : a disease marked by an increase of bodily
temperature.

FISSURE : a cleft or groove.

FLESH : muscle.

FOETUS : the unborn in the womb, after the embryonic
stage.

FORAMEN : a hole or perforation, especially in a bone.

FOSSA : a pit, depression, or hollow.

FROG : the triangular pad situated in the posterior-
medial portion of the horse's foot. (See P. 139.)

GALACTAGOGUES : glands that increase the secretion
of milk from the mammary glands. Jaborandi
is a slight galactagogue. Albuminoid and fatty
foods increase the supply of milk. General good
health is of the first importance.

GANGRENE : mortification or non-molecular death of
a part.

GLENOID CAVITY : a pit or socket.

H^EMATINICS : drugs that increase the number of
red blood corpuscles, e.g. iron salts, manganese
dioxide.

HAEMOSTATICS : drugs that arrest haemorrhage (given
in internal haemorrhage), e.g. carbolic acid, dil.
sulphuric acid, tannic acid, gallic acid, adrenalin
chloride, lime-water, catechu, ergot, iron per-
chloride, turpentine.

HEAD (of a bone) : that portion which articulates
with another bone.

HERNIA : the protrusion of a loop of an organ through
an abnormal opening.

HIATUS : a gap or fissure ; the vulva.

HYDRAGOGUES : drugs that produce a very liquid
evacuation, e.g. aloes, croton oil, jalap.

HYGIENE : the science of health and of its preserva-
tion.

HYP. : hypodermic.

HYPODERMIC (injection) : an injection under the
skin.

HYPERTROPHY : an overgrowth of an organ or tissue.

HYPNOTICS : drugs that produce sleep, e.g. pot. bro-
mide, cannabis indicn, chloral hydrate, opium or
morphine, chloroform.

138

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

IDIOPATHIC : self-originated ; neither sympathetic

nor traumatic.

IMMUNE : protected against a disease.
INCUBATION : the period between the implanting of

a disease and its manifestation.
INERT : inactive ; unable to produce disease.
INFECTION : the communication of disease by effluvia
or contact, mediate or immediate.

INFLAMMATION : the condition into which tissues
enter as a reaction to irritation.

INFUSION : the extraction of the active principle of
a substance by the agency of a liquid without
actually boiling.

INOCULATION : the insertion of a virus into tissue in
order to produce a disease.

INSECTICIDES : drugs that kill insects, e.g. carbolic
acid, tannic acid, sulphurous acid, arsenic, cam-
phor, chloroform, creolin, iron perchloride, iodo-
form, iodine, mercury ammoniate, mercury per-
chloride, naphthol, petroleum, turpentine.

INTERDENTAL SPACE : the space on the gums between
the incisors and the molars of the horse's mouth.

IRRITANTS : drugs that stimulate, irritate, and cause
inflammation of the part. (See " Stimulants,"
" Rubefacients," " Vesicants.")

KARYOKINESIS : the changes and division of the
nucleus prior to binary fission in the dividing
of a cell.

LAMINAE (of a foot) : the plate-like projections of horn
that join the horny wall to the sensitive wall
in a horse's foot.

LAXATIVES : drugs that produce gentle purging, e.g.
green foods, aloes, magnesia, magnesium sulphate,
mashes, linseed oil, podophyllin, roots, sulphur.

LESION : a hurt, wound, or local degeneration.

LEUCOCYTE : a white blood corpuscle, lymph cor-
puscle, pus corpuscle, or any colourless amoeboid
cell-mass.

MACERATION : the softening of a solid by soaking.

MALIGNANT : virulent, and tending to go from bad
to worse.

MEATUS : a passage or opening.

MEMBHANA NICTITANS : nictitating membrane, the
" third " eyelid of a horse, that part which is
exposed when the eyelid is inverted during ex-
amination for fever.

MICRO-ORGANISMS : minute vegetable and animal
organisms.

MICROSCOPE : an instrument which magnifies minute
objects for visual inspection.

MICTUHATE : to pass urine.

MORBID : diseased.

MUCILAGE : a gummy or dextrinous substance used
as a vehicle in pharmacy and as a demulcent in
therapy.

Mucous MEMBRANE : an epithelial membrane that
lines the canals and cavities which communicate
with the external air.

Mucus : the viscid watery secretion of the mucous
glands.

MUSCLE : an organ which, by contraction, produces
the movements of an animal organism ; flesh.

MYDRIATICS : drugs that dilate the pupil of the eye,
e.g. belladonna or atropin, cocaine, caffein.

MYOSITICS : drugs that contract the pupil of the eye,
e.g. cannabis indica, opium or morphine, physo-
sligmine or eserine.

NARCOTICS : drugs that produce stupor and sleep,
allay pain, and subdue irritation, e.g. aconite,
dil. hydrocyanic acid, ether, amyl nitrite, bella-
donna, bromides, camphor, cannabis indica,
chloral hydrate, chloroform, digitalis, opium or
morphine.

NAUSEA : sickness of the stomach.
NAUSEANTS : drugs that excite nausea (used in cases
of excitement), e.g. aconite, dil. hydrochloric
acid, aloes, podophyllin.
NECROSIS : the molecular or non-molecular death of

a tissue (generally refers to a bone).
NEURECTOMY : the excision of a part of a nerve.
NEUROTOMY : the dissection or anatomy of the

nerves.

NUTRITIVES : drugs that assist in building up the
tissues of the body, e.g. albumin, glycerine, oil,
milk, malt, white of egg, eggs.
(EDEMA : swelling due to the effusion of watery fluid

into the connective tissue.

(EDEMATOUS : pertaining to, or affected by, oedema.
(ESTRUM : the period of being in season ; the crisis

of venertal excitement.
ORGANIC : pertaining to an organ ; pertaining to

substances derived from living organisms.
OSMOSIS : the passage of a fluid through a mem-
brane.
OSSIFICATION : conversion into, or formation of,

bone.

OSSIFIED TISSUE : one that has become bone.
P. : powder, pulvis.
PARAFFIN OIL : coal oil.
PARASITICIDES : drugs that destroy parasites. (See

" Anthelmintics," " Insecticides.")
PARTURIENTS. (See " Ecbolics.")
PARTURITION : the act or process of giving birth to

the young.

PASSAGING A HORSE : the act of causing a horse to
move in a lateral direction by crossing its legs.
PATHOGENIC : disease-producing.
PATHOLOGY : the science of disease.
PELVIC CAVITY : that portion of the body, situated
posteriorly to the abdomen, which contains the
bladder and rectum, and vagina in the mare,
and through which the foetus passes at birth.
PEPTICS. (See " Stimulants — Stomachic.")
PERCUSSION : the act of striking a part to aid in

diagnosing.

PERIOD OF INCUBATION. (See " Incubation.")
PERIOPLE : the epithelial covering which surrounds
the wall of the hoof, and which should never be
touched by the farrier's rasp.

PERIOSTEUM : the tough, fibrous membrane that sur-
rounds the bone, except where there is articula-
tion.
PERISTALSIS : the worm-like motions by which the

alimentary canal moves its contents.
PERITONEUM : the serous membrane that lines the

abdominal walls.

PHAGOCYTES : cells that destroy harmful germs by
enveloping and absorbing them.

PHARMACOPOEIA, PHARMACY, AND GLOSSARY

139

PHAGOCYTOSIS : the destruction of micro-organisms
by phagocytes.

PHARMACY : the art of preparing and compounding
medicines ; an apothecary's shop.

PHYSIOLOGY : the science of the functions of living
organs and their parts.

PLANTAR CUSHION : the cushion situated directly
above the horny frog of the horse.

PREDISPOSED : possessing a tendency to a disease.

PROCESS : a slender, projecting point.

PROGNOSIS : a forecast as to the probable result of
an attack of disease.

PROTECTIVES : drugs that cover and protect surfaces
from irritating influences. (See " Desiccants,"
" Emollients.") Used as dusting powders on
wounds, etc. ; e.g. collodion, French chalk,
fuller's earth, gelatin, lycopodium, plaster of
paris (CaSO4).

PSYCHOLOGY : the science of the mind.

PTOMAINE : any alkaloidal or basic product of the
putrefaction of animal or vegetable matter.

PUPIL : the opening at the centre of the iris for the
transmission of light.

PURGATIVES : drugs that produce abnormal defseca-
tion. (See " Laxatives," " Cholagogues," " Hy-
dragogues," " Drastics.")

PURULENT : consisting of, or containing, pus.

Pus : a liquid composed of liquor puris, leucocytes,
and pus-producing germs ; the production of
pus-producing germs.

PUSTULANTS : drugs that cause pustules of pus to be
formed on the skin, thus drawing pus away from
internal parts, e.g. ammonia, silver nitrate, croton
oil, mercury, and cantharides blisters.

PUTREFACTION : the decomposition of vegetable or
animal matter, effected chiefly by the agency of
micro-organisms.

QUARTERING A HORSE : light grooming, such as is
done before a horse is exercised.

RAMIFY : to diverge, or traverse, in branches.

RAMUS (plural, rami) : a branch, as of the lower jaw,
or of a vein, nerve, artery, etc.

REFLEX ACTION : any involuntary action produced
by a stimulus that is conveyed to the nervous
system and reflected to the periphery.

REFRIGERANTS : drugs that cool parts, diminish cir-
culation, allay pain, and quench the thirst, e.g.
acetic acid, dil. hydrochloric acid, ether, ammo-
nium chloride, water, chloroform, pot. chlorate,
pot. nitrate, alcohol, soda chloride.

REGURGITATION : the casting up of wind or food
through the gullet (oesophagus).

RESOLVENTS : drugs that dissolve and disperse
tissue. (See " Discutients.")

RESTORATIVES. (See " Tonics.")

RIDGE : a crest or elevated border.

RIGOR: chill or "shivers."

RUBEFACIENTS : drugs that redden skin by their
irritant action, e.g. acetic acid, carbolic acid,
ammonia, camphor, chloroform, croton oil,
mercury perchloride, iodine, alcohol, turpentine,
friction, hot water.

SAPROPHYTES : vegetable organisms that live on dead
vegetable matter.

SCHNEIDERIAN MEMBRANE : the mucous membrane
that lines the nose.

SECRETION : the function or process of separating
various substances from the blood.

SEDATIVES : drugs that diminish the action of the
vascular and nervous system, and allay mucous
membrane irritation. Used in painful abdominal
affections, spasms, coughs, to check secretions of
mucous membrane, and in vomiting. (See
" Anodynes," " Antemetics," " Antiphlogistics,"
" Emollients," " Refrigerants.") Stomachic —
acetanilid, carbolic acid, dil. hydrocyanic acid,
belladonna, bismuth subnitrate, magnesia, opium,
soda bicarbonate, soda carbonate ; Nervous —
camphor, phenacetin, pot. bromide, pot. nitrate,
zinc sulphate ; Vascular — dil. hydrocyanic acid,
aconite, amyl nitrite, cannabis indica, colchicum,
digitalis, ergot, pot. nitrate.

SEMEN : the fecundating secretion produced by the
testes and ejected in coition.

SEROUS : pertaining to, or resembling, serum ; pro-
ducing or containing serum.

SERRATED : having a saw-like edge or border.

SERUM : the clear, liquid portion of blood ; also used
to denote the clear portion of any animal fluid
separated from its more solid elements.

SETON : a strip of silk or linen drawn through a wound
to keep a passage or seton open ; the passage
so formed.

SIALAGOGUES : drugs that increase the secretion of
the saliva, e.g. dil. hydrochloric acid, arecolene,
mercury subchloride, ginger, podophyllin, pot.
iodide.

SOLUTION : a liquid containing dissolved matter. A
saturated solution is one of a substance in water
of such a strength that if more of that substance
be added it will not dissolve.

SPECIFIC : produced by a single kind of micro-organ-
ism ; a remedy specially indicated for a par-
ticular disease.

SPECULUM : an instrument used to hold the mouth
of a horse open while it is being examined,
generally used in dentistry.

SPERMATOZOON (plural, spermatozoa) : the motile
generative micro-organism of the semen which
impregnates the female ovum.

SPINE : a slender thorn-like process of bone ; the
vertebral column.

SPORADIC : not epidemic ; occurring here and there.

STASIS : a stoppage of the flow of blood in a part.

STERILE : not fertile, aseptic, barren.

STIMULANTS : drugs that increase the sensibility of
the nervous and muscular systems, secretions
of mucous membranes, and the functions of the
whole body. Used in loss of appetite, debility,
paralysis, colic. (See also " Aphrodisiacs," " Ecbo-
lics," " Emetics, ""Nauseants.") Diffusible Stimu-
lants.— Exhilaranl and vascular — ether, spirits
ether nitrate, alcohol, ammonia, caffein, cannabis
indica, camphor, chloroform, turpentine ; Nerv-
ous— ether, arnica, belladonna, cannabis indica,
chloral hydrate, ergot, strychnine, friction, elec-
tricity ; Stomachic — dilute hydrocyanic acid,
spirits ether nitrate, ether, ammonia, aniseed,

140

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, x

arnica, asafcetida, chirclta, gentian, soda chlor-
ide, ginger ; External Stimulants — (see " Rnbe-
facients," " Pustulants," " Caustics," " Deriva-
tives,", " Discutients," " Traumatics ").

STOMACHICS : drugs that improve appetite and assist
digestion. (See " Stimulants — Stomachic.")

STRAPPING : thorough grooming, such as a horse
should get after he returns from work.

STYPTICS : drugs that arrest haemorrhage and con-
tract mucous membrane, etc., e.g. acetic acid,
carbolic acid, tannic acid, gallic acid, alum,
collodion, copper sulphate, ergot, iron perchloride,
lead subacetate, zinc sulphate, cautery, cold
applications. (See also " Haemostatics.")

SUBCUTANEOUS : situated or occurring beneath the
skin.

SUDOHIFICS : drugs that increase the secretion of the
sudoriferous or sweat glands. (See " Diapho-
retics.")

SULCUS : a groove, trench, or furrow.

SUPPURANTS : drugs that cause the formation of
pus (see " Pustulants "), e.g. ammonia, croton oil,
cautery, setons.

SUPPURATION : the formation of pus.

SYMPATHETIC : pertaining to, caused by, or exhibit-
ing sympathy ; the sympathetic nerve system,
which includes all the nerves except those of
cranial or spinal origin, which supply the in-
voluntary muscles.

TABLE OF MOLAR : the grinding surface of the molar
tooth of a horse.

TJENIAFUGES : drugs that act on tapeworms, e.g.
male fern, turpentine.

THERAPEUTICAL : pertaining to the art of healing ;
curative.

THERAPEUTICS : the science and art of healing.

THERAPY : the treatment of disease ; therapeutics.

TISSUE : an aggregation of cells, fibres, and various
cell-products, forming a structural element.

TONICS : drugs that improve the quality of blood
and give tone to the nervous, vascular, and
digestive systems. Used in debility, fever, in-
digestion, anaemia, epilepsy. Blood tonics —
arsenic, iron, animal, and vegetable oils, fresh
air ; Nervous tonics — arsenic, silver nitrate,
caffein, cinchona, copper salts, iron salts, digi-
talis, phosphorus, quinine, nux vomica, or
strychnine ; Stomachic tonics — stomachic stimu-

lants, vegetable bitters, mineral and vegetable

acids, pepsin.

TOXICOLOGY : the science of poisons.
TOXIN : any poisonous albumin produced by bacterial

action.

TRAUMATIC : pertaining to an injury.
TRAUMATICS : drugs that are applied to wounds, such

as antiseptics, astringents, caustics, emollients,

protectives, desiccanls.
TROCAR : a sharp instrument used with a cannula for

piercing a cavity wall.
TROCHANTER : a large bony process, such as that

below the neck of the femur.
TROCHLEA : a pulley-shaped prominence on a bone,

such as that on the astragalus.
TUBERCLE : a nodule on a bone ; a mass of small

rounded nodules produced by the tuberculosis

bacillus.

TUBEROSITY : a broad eminence situated on a bone.
TUMOUR : a neoplasm ; a mass of new tissue that has

no physiological use.
TYMPANITES : distension of the abdomen due to the

presence of gas.

ULCER : an open sore other than a wound.
URETHRA : membranous canal that leads from the

bladder to the surface.
URINATE : to void or discharge urine.
VAGINA : the canal from the slit of the vulva to the

neck of the uterus, or womb.

VASCULAR : pertaining to or full of vessels ; well sup-
plied with blood.
VEHICLE : a substance used in making ointments,

liniments, emulsions, etc., such as lard, vaseline,

oil, etc. It is itself inert and is used to produce

the correct consistency.
VEIN : a vessel which conveys the blood towards the

heart.
VERMICIDE : a drug that destroys intestinal worms.

(See "Anthelmintics.")
VERMIFUGE : a drug that expels intestinal worms.

(See "Anthelmintics.")
VESICANTS : drugs that produce blisters or vesicles

of serum when applied to the skin, e.g. acetic

acid, ammonia, cantharides, croton oil, mercury

blisters, turpentine, steam.
VIRULENT : exceedingly noxious.
VULVA : the external part of the organs of generation

of the female (mare).

CHAPTER XI

GENERAL DISEASES : ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS *

531. IN this chapter we consider the commonest
diseases of the horse, with the general causes,
chief symptoms, and the best method of treat-
ment. I neither go into detail nor make mention
of uncommon diseases. The practice of experi-
menting with a horse is a dangerous one, and
therefore it is always advisable to call in pro-
fessional aid when anything serious is suspected.
It is a common practice amongst grooms and
others to " fill " a horse with patent drugs that in
most cases do more harm than good. The fewer
drugs kept in the stable the better. It is im-
possible to lay down hard and fast rules for the
treatment of any one disease, as different practi-
tioners use different methods, and the horse and
its surroundings vary so much as to necessitate
a variation in the details of treatment.

The methods of treatment are those that have
met with the most success in the past few years,
but as new ideas and new drugs are being
brought forward every day, it is impossible to be
absolutely up to date in everything. The pro-
gress made in the manufacture of vaccines has
changed very considerably the treatment of many
infectious diseases.

532. Temperature. — This is taken at the anus
by moistening the thermometer and inserting it
well in. A good thermometer registers in thirty
seconds ; it is safer, however, to leave it in for
one minute. Care must be taken to shake the
mercury down to about 96° before using the
thermometer ; this may be done by holding it
firmly in the hand and shaking it as if trying to
remove a drop of gum from the bulb. Always
wash the thermometer with an antiseptic before
putting it back in the case. The normal tempera-
ture is 100° F., or 38° C. ; in the human being
it is 984° P., or 37° G.

The temperature of a mare may be one-half
to one degree Fahrenheit higher. Young horses
as a rule register a higher temperature than old
ones. The temperature is generally higher in
the evening and lower in the morning. During
work, during digestion, and while in a warm
atmosphere the temperature is higher. Cold
water or a cold atmosphere lowers the tempera-
ture (see Sees. 150-1).

* For Surgical Diseases, see Chapter IX. ; for Diseases of the
Foot, tee Chapter XVIII.

533. The Pulse. — The beats of the heart are
generally taken by pressing the first finger on the
submaxillary artery (glosso-facial), which passes
under the lower edge of the lower jaw bone, just
in front of the expanded portion at the angle of
this bone. (See P. 137.) The artery must be
lightly pressed just inside the hollow between
the rami of the lower jaw. At this point three
vessels pass under the bone, submaxillary artery
in front, submaxillary vein, and Steno's duct
from the parotid gland behind. The first finger
must be used in feeling the pulse. Normal pulse
is thirty-five to forty-five beats a minute. A wiry
pulse is one in which the artery is hard and
small, like a small wire. Normally, the pulse
should be fairly full and quite steady in its
action.

The Heart Sounds. — The cardiac sounds are
taken by holding the ear against the chest just
behind the elbow, with the leg held forward. A
stethoscope should be used, as it is difficult to
hear the heart sounds distinctly with the naked
ear. The true sound is thus : Lubb-dupp-Lubb-
dupp. The first is a long, booming sound, due to
contraction of the ventricle and, simultaneously,
the vibrations of the auriculo-ventricular valves.
The second is a short sound, due to the sudden
closing of the large semi-lunar valves of the
arteries above the auricles (aortic and pulmonary
arteries).

534. Respiration. — A horse breathes normally
when at rest at the rate of twelve to fifteen
respirations per minute. This is counted by
watching the horse's flanks.

The murmur of the lungs is noticed by hold-
ing the ear, or, preferably, a stethoscope, against
the side of the horse's chest. The inspiration is
louder than the expiration. In some cases the
expiration can scarcely be heard. In horses that
are very fat it is difficult to hear the respiratory
murmur. In rare cases this murmur is undetect-
able for no apparent reason. The murmur is
produced by the friction of the air entering the
alveoli. The normal murmur is a soft, moist
purring sound, without any jerks or harshness.
It sounds like the noise made by the air coming
out from a pair of hand bellows when gently
blown. Near to the trachea at the entrance to
the lung can be heard the additional noise of the

141

142

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

bronchi. The murmur ceases before the end of
each expiration ; therefore, each inspiration does
not directly follow the expiration, but each
expiration immediately follows the inspiration.

535. Urine. — Normally the urine of the horse
is cloudy, unlike that of other animals.

The Mcmbrana Nictitans. — This is a piece of
cartilage, covered by mucous membrane, that is
situated inside the eyelid of the horse. The
eye is protected from particles of solid matter
by means of this membrane, which removes such
particles. The eye is also protected by the eye-
lids, which sweep the cornea. Tears also flush
the surface of the cornea, which is covered with
a layer of mucous membrane. Normally this
membrane is pale pink ; in anemia it is white,
and in fever it becomes congested, i.e. red. The
temperature, therefore, can be approximated by
examining this membrane. This is done by
pressing the first two joints of the first finger of
the right hand on to the top lid of the horse's
left eye, and, with the thumb and first finger, the
two lids are drawn apart, thus, as it were, turn-
ing the upper lid inside out, when it can be
examined. The colour of a healthy horse's
membrane should be studied.

536. Tracheotomy. — Whenever the breathing
is very difficult, due to swellings in the throat,
resulting from injuries, etc., and the disease
known as purpura hsemorrhagica, or when a
horse roars badly, tracheotomy should be per-
formed. In many cases it is necessary to save
life. The tracheotomy tube is made aseptic by
being sterilised in boiling water for five minutes.
Cocaine is injected under the skin over the part
of the windpipe that is going to be cut, which
should be approximately on a level with the
withers. A line is cut with a sterile knife down
the middle line on the front of the neck for about
one and a half inches. The knife is then passed
through between two cartilage rings, and cut
up half-way through one ring and down half-
way through the other, taking an elliptical piece
out of each, making a hole a little larger than
the tube. The pieces are removed, the hole is
made free from tissue, and the two portions of
the tube inserted and fastened securely together.
The whole operation takes but a few seconds,
but great care must be taken not to cut through
a ring of cartilage, unless the tube is very large.
The relief given to a half-suffocated horse is
extraordinary.

If a cartilaginous ring is cut right through, it
is liable to contract on healing, and thus lessen
the size of the lumen of the trachea. The tube
must be cleaned twice daily. A 10 per cent, solu-
tion of common salt is very excellent for soften-
ing the discharge, etc., on the tube.

The following is a list of Diseases of the Alimen-
tary Canal from Mouth to Rectum.

537. STOMATITIS.— This is a catarrh and

ulceration of the mucous membrane of the
mouth.

Cause. — Rough food ; use of undiluted, irri-
tating medicines, such as turpentine, chloral
hydrate ; damp and mouldy hay, silage (if too
much fermented).

Symptoms. — Redness of mucous membrane ;
salivation is excessive ; saliva is ropish, hangs
from mouth ; mouth smells fetid ; if bad, the
horse is off feed ; if ulcerated, pustules of pus
will be present.

Treatment. — Remove cause, give soft food,
give laxative. Wash out mouth with diluted
antiseptic solution. Smear potassium chlorate,
dissolved in molasses, on teeth.

538. GLOSSITIS is inflammation of the tongue.
The tongue will be swollen and tender ; other
symptoms same as stomatitis. Treatment same
as stomatitis. If very sore, laxative must be
given per rectum. Keep tongue in mouth by
means of a pouch, etc.

539. PTYALISM, or SLOBBERING.

Cause. — Foreign bodies in the mouth, such
as pieces of wood wedged between the molar
teeth ; clover and other summer herbs ; drugs,
such as mercury. Injuries to lower jaw from
harsh use of severe bits.

Symptoms. — Excessive flow of saliva. Diges-
tion may be affected. If foreign bodies are
wedged in teeth, horse may hold head on one
side.

Treatment. — Examine mouth and teeth
thoroughly, and remove cause. Wash out mouth
with cold water and alum ; change food ; give
tonic.

540. PAROTITIS is inflammation of parotid
gland — mumps. This frequently occurs with
strangles.

Cause. — Tight bearing- or check-rein. Ex-
ternal injury, fermented food, contagion.

Symptoms. — Enlargement below ears on both
sides of the jaw, hard and hot, painful on
pressure. Mastication may be interfered with.
Later, gland becomes soft and fluctuating. Hair
easily rubbed off. Later, swelling points.

Treatment. — Fomentations with poultices, to
aid in pointing. Open swelling, when ready,
and treat wound antiseptically. Give soft feed,
febrifuges and tonics. Afterwards rub on iodine
ointment to reduce swelling, and give potassium
iodide internally.

541. PICA, or DEPRAVED APPETITE.

Cause. — Stomach out of order, lying idle in
warm stable. Common in foals.

Symptoms.— Horse eats its own dung. Foals
nibble their mother's tail.

Treatment. — Prevent cause. Give purgative
and good food.

542. PHARYNGITIS, or INFLAMMATION OF
PHARYNX — SORE THROAT.

Cause.— Contagion, exposure to cold and
dampness, impure air (badly ventilated stables),

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 143

chemical irritants, smoke, bad food, damage
while trying to give a ball.

Symptoms. — Ptyalism may be present, pain if
throat is pressed, dull and sick-looking, some-
times fever. Respiration generally increased.
As horse swallows water it may be discharged
out of nostrils ; will play with water, and not
drink much. Constipation or diarrhoea may
follow. Carries nose extended. May take in
food, chew it a little, and throw it out. Mucous
membrane of nose reddened. Discharge from
nose, at first watery and clear, later thick and
yellow. Dry cough, becomes loose about third
day, caused by extension of inflammation to the
larynx. Respiration varies with fever. Pulse
generally up. Temperature up, except in mild
cases. Recovery generally in six to ten days.
Septica3mia or pneumonia may follow ; abscess
may form in throat.

Treatment. — Pure air, dry and well-ventilated
box stall. Body well clothed, legs bandaged.
Give nourishing, tempting, and easily digested
foods. Isolate. Mild diffusible stimulants and
febrifuges, if horse can swallow ; otherwise,
give hypodermically. Give electuary. Put pot.
chlorate on back of tongue. Give inhalations of
steam and oil of eucalyptus. Pilocarpine is very
dangerous in this disease. Poultice throat in
daytime, hot cotton batton at night. Attend to
bowels. Open abscess externally. Tracheotomy
may be necessary. Examine lungs.

543. DISEASES OF (ESOPHAGUS or GULLET. —
Dilatation and constriction of the gullet are
not common. Generally caused by nervous
affection, irritants or injuries. The symptoms
are choking and uneasy eating.

Treatment.— Sloppy food. If constricted, a
probang should be passed each day down the
gullet, a larger size being used each day. If
dilated, the swellings can be seen externally.
External pressure may do good. Treatment, as
a rule, is unsatisfactory.

Rupture or Laceration.— These are fairly
common.

Cause.— Improvised probang, as whipstock,
and abuse of probang.

Symptoms.— Dull and listless. Respiration
increased. Probable external swelling. Pain
on pressure. Breath becomes fetid later.

Treatment. — Generally of no avail. Put
animal out of misery. In some cases give chloro-
form, and open from outside and sew up gullet.
In paralysis of gullet, give strychnine or nux
vomica, and stimulating liniments on neck. In
spasms, horse holds neck arched as if trying to
vomit. Give chloral hydrate, apply opiate lini-
ment. In inflammation of gullet there is pain on
feeding, and heat will be present. Apply ano-
dyne, liniment, and give mashes and soft food.

544. CATARRH OF STOMACH.

Cause.— Feeding on coarse or unsuitable food,
especially when teething.

Symptoms. — Off feed, diarrhoea, or constipa-
tion. If ulcerated and extensive, horse may try
to vomit, and may bring up mucus covered with
blood.

Treatment. — Remove cause, attend to bowels,
give stomachic. Give linseed oil and good, easily-
digested food. If ulcerated, do not give purga-
tive, but give bismuth subnitrate or lead acetate.
If much blood is coming up into mouth, there is
haemorrhage- of the stomach. Give tincture of
iron, half an ounce, in water as a drench.

545. GASTRITIS, or INFLAMMATION OF STOMACH.
Cause.— Irritants or poisons in stomach, as

copper, arsenic and mercury ; feeding from
yew trees, etc.

Symptoms. — Great pain, almost continuous,
sweating, pulse slow, loss of appetite, dullness.
Eyes stare, great thirst, red mucous membrane,
anxious expression. Temperature up, discharge
of frothy saliva.

Treatment.— Give repeated stimulants and
mucilaginous draughts to stimulate nervous
system. Backrake and give warm enema. Give
antidotes for poisons. (See Sees. 511-2.) Give
anodyne. Drugs given by the mouth will not be
digested. Give raw linseed oil to soothe stomach.
If from yew poisoning, do not give opium.

546. RUPTURE OF STOMACH.

Cause. — Too large feed. Tympanites (bloat-
ing), straining, acute attack of colic.

Symptoms. — Pulse feeble and very rapid,
perhaps 120. Legs cold ; cold sweat. Tempera-
ture up to 106°. May sit on haunches. Difficult
respiration, stiff gait. On giving turpentine,
pain gets worse. May vomit.

Treatment. — No hope ; death in six to eight
hours. Horse falls suddenly. If only one coat
of wall of stomach ruptured, may live several
days.

547. ACUTE INDIGESTION (Engorged Stomach).

Cause. — Overloading stomach with coarse, in-
digestible food. Not masticating food. Hard
cereals, such as Indian corn (maize). Big feed
after a long fast. Change in diet. Getting at oat
bin.

Symptoms. — Generally sudden. Uneasy, off
feed, lies down and gets up again. Gets worse
and worse. Respiration difficult, eructations
(belching) ; later throws himself about and un-
willing to move ; partial loss of control of limbs.
May hide head in manger. Pulse quickens,
according to severity. May snort later, may have
sleepy staggers. Distress greater in evening.

Treatment. — Give boiled food only in small
quantities. Remove cause. Neutralise gases
formed. Give ether and chloral hydrate. Areco-
lene 1 gr., to clear bowels. If much tympany,
use stomach tube, and give liquid ammonia | oz.,
iron sulphate 1 oz., water 2 pints, as a drench.
Hot-water enema every two hours. Nux vomica
F.E. 1 dr.

In Foals.— Caused by mare being kept from

144

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

foal too long, mare tired or hot when foal sucks.
Foal overfeeding, mare in bad health.

Symptoms. — Diarrhoea, faeces are fetid. May
be spells of pain. Loss of appetite. May grind
teeth. May be painful evacuations.

Treatment.— Linseed oil 2 oz., chloral hydrate
i dr., turps $ oz., for two- or three-weeks-old
foal ; double this for six- weeks-old foal. Later
give ammonium acetate, spirits ether nitrate and
spirits of camphor in milk and water. Do not
give gruel. A foal has a dose equal in size to
that of a large dog. A foal's stomach is very
delicate ; it is better to give too little, and to
repeat the dose. If much weakness, give a wine-
glass of port wine or whisky, in water. Hot
fomentations over abdomen, followed by friction.
When he starts to suck again, give foal very
little, and milk the mare by hand. Always milk
a little before foal sucks. Change mare's food,
and give her diuretics.

548. CHRONIC INDIGESTION.

Cause. — Bad feeding, irregular meals, over-
feeding, and not sufficient exercise ; crib biting,
bad teeth, bolting food, worms, mouldy or un-
suitable food.

Symptoms. — Slow pulse, temperature may be
up or down. Capricious appetite, sometimes
eructations. Thirst, bowels irregular. Faeces
hard, fetid, and covered with mucus. If stomach
is acid, horse will lick wall. Elevates head and
turns up upper lip.

Treatment. — Give light, easily digested food
in small quantities five times a day. Examine
teeth ; give aloes ball after two or three days'
preparation on bran mashes. If digestion is
weak, give dilute hydrochloric acid 1 dr., and
pepsin. Afterwards give tonics, particularly nux
vomica.

549. DIARRHOEA. — Diarrhoea is an increased
amount or an increased fluidity of the faeces, due
to accelerated peristaltic action, excessive secre-
tions of glands, or prevention of absorption by
blood-vessels.

Cause. — Nervousness, irritants, worms, rough
food, bad water, irregular or bad feeding,
sudden change of food, potatoes, new hay or
oats. Horses with flat sides are more liable to
this than round-bellied horses.

Symptoms. — Excessive and liquid evacua-
tions. At first, no constitutional disturbance.
Later, may be colicky pains ; pulse may be
weak and rapid, and breathing quickened ;
thirst. Later, loss of appetite. If due to worms,
the diarrhoea will be persistent, coat unthrifty,
irregular appetite, worms in faeces.

Treatment. — Keep warm and comfortable,
and give linseed tea and warm gruel. Give no
cold water. If much pain, give opium, camphor
and spirits ether nitrate. If horse is not weak, a
pint of linseed oil will often stop the diarrhoea.
Do not check it at first, unless result of too
much medicine. When the pain is more easy,

give astringents, such as tannic acid, lead acetate,
copper sulphate, catechu, chalk, etc. ; one pint
port wine is very good. If much continued pain,
apply hot fomentations over abdomen for two or
three hours. If much strain, give enema with
2 dr. opium in it. If due to over-purgation from
medicines, give at once :

Dil. sulphuric acid
Catechu F.E.
Tr. opium
Tr. capsicum
Brandy
Water .

1 dr.

2 dr.
2 ozs.

30 m.
12 ozs.
li pts.

Give as a drench ; later, follow with intestinal
antiseptic, as salol, creolin. If due to feeding
potatoes, give an astringent. Rest comfortably,
and give light food, such as starch and flour
gruel. Small does of tincture of iron or gentian,
or nux vomica and raw eggs. Flour and water
is often sufficient to stop excessive purging.

550. ENTERITIS. — Inflammation of mucous
membrane lining the intestines, usually large
colon ; generally fatal.

Cause. — Weak and washy animals are pre-
disposed. Drastic purgatives, as croton oil.
Feeding on frozen turnip tops, coarse straw,
mouldy hay. Bad teeth. Eating sticks, sand,
weeds ; stagnant water ; exposure to cold when
heated, tired or weak. Bran and cold water ;
extra feed before hard work. Feeding when hot
or tired. May follow colic, diarrhoea or constipa-
tion.

Symptoms. — Dullness, pawing with alternate
forelegs, looking round at sides ; pulse quick,
temperature up, not fluctuating as in colic. Pain
continues, but less violent than colic. Evinces
pain if side is pressed, unlike colic. Later, lies
on back or sits on haunches ; paws with foreleg
continually ; wants to lie down, but appears to
be afraid to. Abdomen tense, cold sweat,
peculiar sighing. In last stage pulse is small and
wiry ; eye bloodshot, cornea glassy ; finally,
quiet, due to partial unconsciousness ; extremi-
ties cold, mouth cold ; may fall suddenly at this
stage. During attack any faeces passed are
generally hard. May try to urinate often ; urine
scanty and high-coloured. If diarrhoea, there is
less hope.

Treatment. — Give opium (to lessen peristal-
sis) 1 dr. and camphor 1 dr. This will also
soothe pain. Repeat in half-dose every two
hours. Backrake, and fill back bowel with
warm water every two or three hours. Apply
blankets soaked in boiling water over abdomen
every ten minutes. Keep warm and comfortable.
Give Fleming's tincture aconite, 10 to 15 minims,
every two hours, and 10-15 gr. calomel every
three hours. If much pain, give morphine 3 gr.
hypodermically. If very weak, give £ pt. port
wine. If horse wishes to ea-t, give handful

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 145

crushed oats and bran. Feed very carefully after
recovery, and give vegetable tonics.

551. COLICS. — Commonest disease horse is
heir to.

SPASMODIC COLIC.— Cause. — Change of food ;
feeding roots ; sudden change in surrounding
temperature ; severe purgatives, if not given
with a carminative ; pea straw ; raw potatoes ;
watering directly after feeding oats and other
grain.

Symptoms. — Pain comes on suddenly, horse
turns head to side, whisks tail, kicks at abdo-
men, throws himself about. Then quiet for a
while. Then pain again. Pulse up to 60 or 80
during attack, normal during intervals. Horse
tries to urinate. A good flow between attacks is
a sign of improvement. Ears and legs generally
normal. Generally eats between attacks. Passes
hard fasces. Diarrhoea is a bad sign.

552. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COLIC AND ENTERI-
TIS.—It is very important that no mistake be
made between the two.

Colic.

Eye bright and clear ;
limbs and ears gener-
ally norm.il.

Paroxysms of pain alter-
nate with freedom from
pain.

Pressure on abdomen
pleases horse. Pulse
nearly normal, except
during paroxysms.

Horse takes no trouble
to protect abdomen.

Enteritis.

Eye dull and bloodshot ;
limbs and ears cold.

Pain continuous, which
may get a little easy
at times.

Pressure on abdomen
causes pain. High
pulse, hard and wiry ;
is constant.

Lies down and rises very
carefully.

553. Treatment for Spasmodic Colic. — Give
carminative. Often gets well of own accord. If
pain bad, give 1 oz. chloral hydrate in i pt.
water, or a capsule, Give ether, brandy or
whisky. Do not give drastic purgatives, but a
laxative to clear tract. Backrake, and give
enema. Pass catheter in case bladder is very
full. If acidity of stomach, shown by horse lick-
ing wall, etc., give soda bicarbonate 1 oz. If no
acidity, ammonium carbonate 1 oz. Do not give
turpentine or strong purgative unless there is no
inflammation. Warm clothing. Allow horse to
roll on soft bed in a roomy box. If very severe,
put hot-water blankets on abdomen. Do not give
arecoleno.

554. FLATULENT COLIC.

Cause.— Fermented foods; sudden change of
food ; not masticating the food ; bad teeth ; bad
digestion ; inferior food, as sour or mouldy hay
or oats; wind sucking. Is more serious than
spasmodic.

Symptoms.— Uneasiness, pawing, looking at
side. Throws himself down and rolls. Pulse
up, abdomen becomes larger and larger, due to
tympanites. Great pain, cold sweats, shows

great anguish. Ears and legs may be cold.
Abdomen sounds resonant, like a drum. No
eructations through mouth, but gas passed per
rectum. Lies down more carefully, and pain is
more constant than in spasmodic colic. Escape
of gas per rectum is good sign.

Treatment. — Act immediately. If bloated
badly, must not be allowed to throw himself
about. Give turpentine i oz. in capsule to arrest
formation of gas. Give cannabis indica. Give
chloral hydrate i oz. If no acidity of stomach,
give 1 oz. ammonium carbonate ; if acidity, give
soda bicarbonate. Pass catheter if bladder is
full. Backrake, and give warm water enema
every half-hour. If badly bloated, use trocar
(see Sec. 501) at once. If pulse very fast, give
aconite ; if only slightly bloated, give eserine
£ gr., or arecolene £ gr. If pulse is feeble, give
strychnine £-1 gr. Keep animal quiet in roomy
box stall, with good thick bedding. Afterwards,
feed sparingly for days. If tympany is very bad,
give the following: iron sulphate i oz., liquid
ammonia | oz., water 2 pts.

555. CONSTIPATION, or IMPACTION COLIC.
Cause. — Overfeeding, not exercising enough.

Paralysis of intestinal tract, indigestion, unsuit-
able food.

Symptoms. — Uneasiness, looks to side, lies
down and gets up. Pain, but not so severe as in
other colics, seldom throws himself about.
Straining to evacuate. Anxious expression.
Pulse and temperature up. Any faeces passed
will be hard, or may be very loose.

Treatment. — Remove cause. Give hypodermic
at once of arecolene £ gr. and strychnine £ gr. ;
repeat arecolene in half an hour up to 4 gr.,
total until action. Give moderate exercise. Give
1 oz. chloral hydrate in capsule (great care must
be taken not to allow the chloral to touch the
horse's mouth, as it burns severely). Give aloes
ball, also cannabis indica. If no action in a few
hours, give linseed oil | pt. every half-hour.
Pass catheter. Give nux vomica tr. \ oz. in
water every two or three hours to increase action
of bowels. Watch for any bad effects on nerves
from the strychnine in the nux vomica, which
will be shown by twitching. This must not be
confounded with trembling of the muscles of the.
shoulders produced by eserine. If pulse very
weak, give aconite. Never give opium or mor-
phine in any form of colic except diarrhoea. If
much tympany, see Sec. 554.

556. COLIC DUE TO WORMS.

Symptoms. — Generally in young horses.
Pains recurrent and not severe.

Cause. — Generally chronic indigestion, un-
thrifty appearance, very anaemic. If obstruction,
pain will be acute and death quickly follow.
May be worms in the ffeces.

Treatment for Worms. — BOTS : The common
hot is the larva of the gadfly (gastrophilus equi).
During autumn and winter expulsion is difficult,

146

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT.

[CHAP.

as the bot has its head deeply buried in the inner
coat of the horse's stomach.

Prepare horse for one week on iron sulphate
1 dr. in feed, morning and night. On day pre-
vious give bran mashes, and at night no hay.
Early in the morning give the following drench :

Linseed oil .

Tr. asafcetida ....

Ether pure 1J oz., or spirits ether

Turpentine . . . . .4

! V pint.
1 oz.
3 oz.
oz.

Give mashes for the remainder of the day, and
on the second day watch the faeces for worms.
After three days continue with the iron, and in
ten days repeat the above course.

As a preventive against bots during the
autumn and late summer horses should be
kept away from pasture. The horse must be
examined on the forelegs, etc., for the minute
yellow egg that the bot fly lays. If any of these
are seen, the leg must be well rubbed every day
with paraffin oil 1 part and sweet oil 2 parts.
Put this also on the legs and around the mouth,
as the bot fly will not settle where this has been
put on.

557. TAPEWORMS (T/ENIA). — Withhold all
food for twenty-four to thirty-six hours in order
to starve the worm, and give turpentine 4 oz.,
male fern i oz., linseed oil i pt.

ROUND WORMS (ASCARIS MEGALOCEPHALA) are
like an earth-worm in shape, are yellowish-white,
stiff, and elastic, six inches to one foot in length,
and are generally found in the small intestines.
In slight cases no discomfort is felt. In bad
cases morbid appetite, diarrhoea, and perhaps
colic.

Give tartar emetic and iron sulphate, of each
\ dr., in food three times a day for a week, and
give smaller feeds of bran and hay. Then pre-
pare for and give drench in Sec. 556.

PIN WORMS (THREAD WORMS, OXYURIS CUR-
VULA) live in the large intestine, therefore treat-
ment through the mouth will have very little
effect. Are 1£ to If in. in length. Tail thin and
whip-like. They do little harm ; may cause
irritation about the dock and cause horse to rub
tail. Yellow eggs may be seen near the tail.

Give, per rectum, warm water enema of 1 per
cent, tobacco or quassia infusion, or turpentine
6 oz. and linseed oil £ gal. Rub a little am-
moniated mercury ointment inside the anus.

STRONGULUS ARMATUS (PALISADE WORM).—
This worm is found in almost any part of the
horse. Commonly lives in the large intestine.
Varies from i to 2 in. in length, and is fa in. in
diameter, reddish-grey in colour, and straight
and stiff. In the adult state it lies in the
colon or caecum. It enters the horse as an
embryo -610 in. in size, gains admission under the
mucous membrane and forms a cyst. It is
sometimes found in the liver, testicles, and even

brain, where it gains its admission through the
arteries. These embryos form into an immature
worm the size of a small hazel nut. After a
period they pass through the arteries into the
intestines and form into mature worms ; some
pass out and some remain and lay eggs. The
symptoms produced by the mature worms are
probably nil, unless the worms are very
numerous, when there will be colic without any
apparent reason, the horse crouching down and
getting his hindlegs under him, showing that
the pain is far back. The danger of the im-
mature worm being present in the arteries is
that rupture of the walls may result, and prob-
able death due to internal haemorrhage. Enteric
apoplexy may result from the intestinal arteries
becoming blocked. This is generally fatal.
Periodic attacks of colic may be produced by this
worm ; an attack may be fatal. The treatment
for the palisade worm when situated in the in-
testines is the same as for round worms.

558. The manure of horses suffering from
worms must always be thoroughly burnt and
never spread in the fields, or the eggs will be
eaten by other horses. The eggs of worms hatch
only in damp places, so horses should be pas-
tured in dry places where there is no suspected
worm infection. Always give horses, at pasture
and in the stable, a plentiful supply of rock salt.
Suspected pastures should be treated in Novem-
ber with lime and salt ; they can be used again
in four months for feed. It is always advisable
to treat horses that have been out to pasture for
worms. In the place of asafoetida, mentioned
above, \ oz. of carbon disulphide (GS;.) can be
given with good result.

Diseases of Liver, Spleen and Peritoneum

559. JAUNDICE (ICTERUS or YELLOWS) is the
commonest of liver diseases.

Cause. — Inactivity of the liver, or obstruction
in the biliary duct, which leads from the liver to
the small intestine (duodenum). As the horse has
no gall bladder, the bile passes directly into the
intestine as it is secreted by the liver. The cause
may be anything that induces inflammation of
intestines, such as feeding on frozen clover, rich
feeding and no exercise. It may result from
influenza, strangles, or other debilitating disease.
The bile duct may be stuffed up with stones
(calculi).

Symptoms. — Mucous membrane of eye and
gums is yellow. Urine high colour, coat dry and
staring. General dullness, loss of appetite, con-
stipation, as a rule, and droppings hard and bad
odour, because there is no bile in intestines.

Treatment.— First ascertain if bile duct is
stopped or liver is inactive. This may be done
by Harley's test, which consists in putting some
of the urine into a glass and adding loaf sugar,
then adding very slowly i dr. concentrated sul-
phuric acid. If there is a scarlet or purple-red

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 147

colour at line of contact, jaundice is due to
obstruction in the duct ; if a brown colour, it
is due to inactivity of liver.

In cases of inactivity of liver, give calomel
1 dr., followed by an aloes ball, and feed on
easily digestive soft foods.

If due to obstruction in duct, do not give
calomel, but give ball of aloes and nux vomica,
and feed rationally. (Many ready-made balls
contain calomel.)

560. HEPATITIS, or INFLAMMATION OF LIVER.
Cause.— Often follows jaundice. Feeding on

ergotised grasses, fermented malt. Generally
fatal if whole liver is involved.

Symptoms.— Dull and languid. Coat staring,
dry, and dusty in appearance. Horse looks to
his right side, pulse quick and weak, appetite
gone, thirst increased, rapid breathing, faeces
devoid of colour and hard. Urine scanty and
tinged in colour. Horse rolls moderately and
gets up again. May be lame in forelegs. Dropsy
of hindlegs and belly may follow.

Treatment. — Careful feeding ; scalded bran ;
also roots and grain fodder. Give cathartic and
nerve stimulants (strychnine); if pulse is quick,
give aconite. Apply counter-irritants over region
of liver. On slight recovery, give pot. iodide
internally. (Liver is at back of diaphragm, more
on right side.)

561. RUPTURE OF LIVER.— May result from a
fall or collision, or from a diseased liver.
Difficult to diagnose. Horse looks to his right
side, pulse irregular and rapidly decreasing.
Head down, internal haemorrhage. Mouth cold
and clammy, legs and body later become cold.
Cold sweats. Mucous membrane blanched. If
very slight, treatment may be of use.

Treatment. — Perfect quietude. Dieting ; in-
ternal styptics, as iron. Mineral acid tonics as
hydrochloric acid.

Gall stones are unknown in horses ; horse has
no gall bladder.

562. SPLENITIS is inflammation of the spleen,
which is situated behind the diaphragm on the
left side of abdomen, on left of stomach. Spleni-
tis is uncommon, and often fatal.

Symptoms. — Like colic, but less alarming in
appearance. Quiet and weak pulse, dullness,
ears droop, head down, respiration increased,
abdomen tucked up. More coma in summer.

Treatment.— Give morphine. Counter-irritants
over spleen. Give cannabis indica and aconite.
Very careful diet.

563. PERITONITIS. — Inflammation of perito-
neum, which surrounds practically all the viscera
in the abdomen and pelvis.

Cause.— Follows other inflammation in abdo-
men, as metritis, enteritis, gastritis, etc. Punc-
tured wounds. Badly-conducted operations,
allowing infection to reach peritoneum.

Symptoms.— Horse turns head towards flank,
does not roll. Great pain, mouth hot, respiration

increased, pulse 60 to 80. Eye a little reddened.
Temperature high, wiry pulse. No peristaltic
action, i.e. absence of internal murmur. Usually
constipation, faeces slimy. Abdomen very tender.
Relaxed anus.

Treatment. — Give tincture opium 2 oz., and
spirits ether nit. 2 oz. Backrake, and warm
enema. Hot water application over abdomen,
and give linseed oil 1 pt.

564. ASCITES, or DROPSY, is a non-inflamma-
tory transudation into the abdomen. Is
uncommon.

Cause. — Often follows diseases of heart,
kidneys and liver, peritonitis and tuberculosis.

Symptoms. — Coat staring and dry. Dull and
languid. Hidebound ; horse is sluggish, pulse
quick and weak, abdomen extended, dull sound
on tapping (not like colic). Appetite generally
good, bowels irregular.

Treatment. — Diet, give diuretics, also pot.
iodide 1 dr. twice a day, also pilocarpine 1 gr.
every two hours. If bad, use trocar. All fluid
must not be drawn off at once ; therefore, do not
puncture too low down. If convulsions present,
stop flow of fluid. Death often occurs from
asphyxia by pressure on diaphragm, and there-
fore on lungs.

DROPSY OF WOMB (UTERINE DROPSY).— Due to
abnormal presence of fluid in uterus, resulting
from perverted secretion. Examine by inserting
greased hand into vagina. The womb will feel
like a cushion. Do not mistake for pregnancy,
when the foetus will feel hard.

Treatment. — Open neck of uterus and allow
fluid to escape. Same treatment as above.

565. ACUTE NEPHRITIS, or INFLAMMATION or
KIDNEY.

Cause. — Chills, sudden checking of sweating,
abuse of diuretics, as nitre ; overdose of turpen-
tine, cantharides, croton oil, etc. Over-ripe
grasses, mouldy or inferior food, too severe
external blistering with cantharides, turpentine,
croton oil. Over-exertion, blows and falls. In
conjunction with anthrax, foot and mouth
disease, glanders and tuberculosis.

Symptoms. — Bladder empty, temperature up,
pulse quick and generally weak, mouth and
nostrils hot, pain and uneasiness. Points nose
at kidneys (just behind saddle on top of back).
Rolls gently, may moan, frequent attempts to
urinate ; urine may be suspended, any passed is
dribbly and thick, due to uriniferous tube casts
and fibrin. Heat around kidneys if hand is
passed in rectum. Constipation, flanks sunken,
abdomen tucked up, often straddling gait,
patches of perspiration on shoulders and flanks.
Later, perspiration may smell of urine ; this is
uraemic poisoning.

Treatment. — Examine per rectum. Massage
all over kidneys and keep body very warm. Hot
applications to region. Induce perspiration by
all means possible. Freshly flayed sheepskin,

148

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

flesh side down, put on for eight hours ; not
longer, or hairs of coat will come out. Oil pur-
gatives, not aloes. Hot water enema. Tine,
aconite. Anodynes (morphine). Sod. hypo-
sulphite is good. Careful diet for several
weeks.

CHRONIC NEPHRITIS.

Cause. — More common in old, hard-worked
and debilitated horses. Exposure to cold, abuse
of drugs, bad food.

Symptoms. — Much milder than acute form.
Urine scanty, high colour. No acute pain, stiff-
ness in regions, passes off on exercise, may
stretch out hindlegs. Falls off in condition, legs
may swell while standing. Dull and sluggish,
pulse slightly up, appetite uncertain.

Treatment. — Remove cause, feed on easily
digested food. Give plenty of good water and
fresh air and gentle exercise.

566. CYSTITIS, or INFLAMMATION OF BLADDER.
— Uncommon.

Cause.— May follow parturition. Exposure
to cold and damp, irritant medicines, abuse of
diuretics, such as nitre.

Symptoms. — Pulse up, fever, pain, mouth
hot, constipation, generally straddling gait.
Frequent urinating, which is a sure sign. Horse
may roll very gently, often stamps feet. Exami-
nation per rectum reveals heat around bladder,
probably pain on pressure. The bladder is
situated under the rectum, on the floor of the
pelvic cavity.

Treatment. — Give febrifuges, inject opium
1 dr. and tepid water into bladder through cathe-
ter. Clothe warmly, especially over loins. Warm-
water enema every half-hour ; keep quiet, give
linseed tea.

567. CATARRH OF BLADDER.
Cause. — Chill, calculi.

Symptoms. — Urine thick and slimy, no symp-
toms of any other disease.

Treatment. — Flush out bladder with 2 per
cent, solution boracic acid. Give pot. chlorate
1 dr. twice a day. A fair-sized horse will hold
over half a gallon in bladder ; hold fluid in for
several seconds, and then let out.

568. DYSURIA, or RETENTION OF URINE.
Cause.— Obstructions in urethra (the tube

that passes from the bladder to the end of the
penis). Damage to penis, paralysis of bladder,
contraction of neck of bladder. May follow
colic.

Symptoms.— Pain and uneasiness, which in-
creases. Violent attempts to urinate. Groans ;
may lie down and get up. Rectal examination
reveals full bladder.

Treatment. — Pass catheter and insert hand,
and press all urine out of bladder. Warm-water
enemas. Give nux vomica i dr., belladonna
F.E. 1 dr. In mare, rub belladonna F.E. around
neck of bladder, which is felt on the bottom of
the vagina about six inches inside the vulva.

569. INCONTINENCE OF URINE (Dribbling).
Cause. — Generally nervous disease, probably

of brain. May follow stringhalt, which is a
nervous disease. Influenza, weakness, feeding
on much sugar, diabetes.

Symptoms. — Dribbling of urine continually.

Treatment. — Remove cause, give mild purga-
tive, good food and strychnine (nux vomica
F.E. | dr. morning and night) for four or five
days. Iodine crystals given in the form of a
bolus often produce good results.

570. DIABETES MELLITUS. — Very uncommon in
horses. Generally unfavourable.

Cause. — May be due to too rich, starchy feed-
ing. Probably from liver disease.

Symptoms. — Debility, depression, weakness,
unthrifty coat, great thirst, appetite much in-
creased, urine has sickly smell and contains
sugar. Test for sugar :

Fermentation Test. — Take a test tube of urine,
add yeast, invert. Carbon dioxide gas will form
in top if sugar is present.

Trammer's Test. — Take two inches of urine
in test tube, add about one-eighth of its volume
soda hydrate solution, then add, drop by drop,
1 per cent, solution copper sulphate. Shake. If
sugar is present, cuprous hydrate will be dis-
solved. Add until this remains precipitated at
the bottom of the test tube. On boiling, top part
of solution goes yellow ; boil more, and it turns
red (cuprous oxide). If too much copper sul-
phate has been added, the solution will turn
black, and experiment must be commenced
again.

Treatment. — Reduce starchy foods, give dilute
hydrochloric and salicylic acid and preparations
of iron.

571. DIABETES INSIPIDUS, or POLYUREA.
Cause. — Bad stable management, dusty or

heated oats. May follow influenza or brain
diseases.

Symptoms. — Weakness, digestion impaired,
colic pains, excessive urinating, excessive thirst
(drinking 17 to 18 gallons of water per day).
Temperature normal or low. No sugar in urine.
Urine is alkaline and plentiful, coat harsh and
staring, much debility, mouth clammy, sour
smell, pulse quick.

Treatment. — Good food. Do not allow much
water ; mix clay in water. Give mild purgative
and lead acetate. Give Lugol's solution (iodine,
pot. iodide, and water) 2 dr. twice a day. If
stomach is acid, shown by regurgitation, give
chalk.

572. AZOTURIA.— Called hsemoglobinuria, but
it is now thought that it has nothing to do with
the blood.

Cause.— Idleness and stimulating diet. Bad
hygiene and want of fresh air predispose horse
to an attack. Heavy horses suffer most and die
more easily from it. More common during raw
cold winter days. Standing for a day or two

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 149

on heavy feed and then given hard work pre-
dispose to an attack.

Symptoms.— Horse goes well at first, then
becomes dull ; later, goes slow, and gets stiff
over hindquarters ; will drag hindlegs, and may
then paw with the forefeet. May be stiff in fore-
legs (caput muscles). Later, staggers, sweats
profusely, and shows great pain, may tremble
and fall down. Muscles over hindquarters are
very hard, pain on pressure generally. Breath-
ing difficult, signs of great nervousness ; may
moan. Urine is colour of tar, due to the colour-
ing matter in the muscles escaping into the blood
and thence into the kidneys ; may be in fore-
quarter only, but very rare. Temperature may
go up to 104° ; pulse always affected, which is
quick, jerky and hard. Mucous membrane red-
dened ; if very bad, may be dirty yellow. Legs
and ears cold. Coma is generally acute. May
recover almost instantaneously. May recur.
May leave partial paralysis.

Treatment. — Keep quiet in big box-stall with
plenty of bedding. Apply hot water over hard
muscles. Do not put into sling. Pass catheter
every four hours. Give purgative at once, areco-
lene 1 gr. hypodermic. Massage gently with
stimulating liniment over hard part. Give plenty
of water and pot. bromide. Keep bowels loose
afterwards. Give adrenaline, if pulse is not full
and quick. Give anodynes and stimulants. After
acute stage give nux vomica F.E. 1 dr., tine, iron
1 oz., soda carbonate i oz., morning and night,
for two or three days, and massage affected
muscles. If paralysis of muscles, give electric
treatment.

Diseases of Heart

573. PERICARDITIS, or inflammation of peri-
cardial sac, which encloses heart, is uncommon.

Cause. — Chill, external injury, blood poison-
ing, swallowing nails, etc. May follow pleurisy,
rheumatism, influenza, tuberculosis, lung
abscess, etc.

Symptoms. — Palpitation of heart. Difficult
breathing, respiration quick ; may be mistaken
for pleurisy. Eyes unnaturally bright. Mouth
hot, ears and legs alternately hot and cold, pulse
generally small and weak ; often a pulse in the
jugular veins, due to valve of heart not closing
properly. Bowels and appetite irregular.

Treatment. — Absolute rest, no excitement or
fright. Cold water irrigation for half an hour
over region of heart (outside sixth and seventh
ribs). Followed by mustard plaster. Give oral
laxative to keep bowels free. Small and re-
peated doses tine, aconite 5 min. Give opiates if
pain bad. Give pot. bicarbonate 2 dr. every two
hours until relief. Pot. iodide helps to absorb
effusion. Never give digitalis if valves of heart
are not working well. Feed very carefully after-
wards, and continue giving pot. iodide until
symptoms of iodism appear.

574. HYPERTROPHY OF HEART. — A hypertrophy
is not in itself a diseased condition, but merely
a part that has increased in size due to increased
work of that part, and, therefore, increased
nourishment.

Cause. — Excessive exercise, as in racehorses.
Valvular defects. May result from tuberculosis
or chronic nephritis.

Symptoms. — Great weakness, pulse strong
and hard, or weak and quick. Pulse in jugular
veins ; may be fainting fits. Throbs of heart
shake the whole body. If compelled to move,
almost suffocates. Respiration quick. If only
slight, as in many racehorses, there will be no
serious symptoms.

Treatment. — If very slight, give horse slow
work. If bad, of little use. Give pot. iodide
2 dr. twice a day, and diffusible stimulants.

575. DILATATIONS OF HEART. — May follow
hypertrophy. Size of heart cavities is increased,
and walls are thinner.

Symptoms and Treatment. — Similar to hyper-
trophy. Horse may sometimes continue at slow
work.

576. RUPTURE OF HEART. — May be the result
of any sudden exertion, or follow any heart
trouble. Death follows instantaneously.

CYANOSIS, or blue disease (very uncommon),
is due to the non-closure at birth of opening in
heart (foramen ovale), which normally becomes
closed. Medicinal treatment is of no use. In
foetal life the foramen ovale is the communica-
tion between right and left auricles. Normally,
this closes at birth, leaving the fossa ovalis.

Blood Vessels

577. ANEURISM OF ARTERY, or DILATATION OF
WALL OF ARTERY.

Cause.— Exertion, fall, blow, weakness.

Symptoms. — Faintness, staggering, difficult
breathing. May fall down, and get up, after
fifteen minutes, apparently all right.

Treatment. — Give lead acetate 1 dr., pot.
iodide 2 dr., twice a day. If possible, operate
under anaesthetic ; ligature artery, and dissect
out the aneurism.

578. THROMBOSIS, or CLOT IN ARTERY.
Cause.— Aneurism, breaking up of a diseased

vessel, heart disease. The block caused by the
clot (thrombus) is generally in femoral artery,
near the front border of the pelvis (where the
artery gives off the profunda femoris and pre-
pubian arteries).

Symptoms.— Sudden and severe lameness,
but not hardened muscles, as in azoturia. Limb
deathly cold. May be sweat patches, due to
severe pain. May suddenly recover. Perhaps
only places toe on ground while pain lasts.
Trembling, quick breathing, may fall down.
Examination per rectum may assist in diagnos-
ing case.

150

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Treatment. — Apply hot water to part imme-
diately ; then vigorous massage with liniments.
Give Fleming's tinct. aconite 20 min., and ano-
dyne to relieve pain. If recovering, rest and
feed well, and give tonics.

Blood Diseases

579. HAEMOPHILIA, or absence of clotting
power in the blood (clotting is caused by fibrin,
formed by action of several ferments in the
blood).

Cause. — Hereditary tendency.

Symptoms. — Excessive bleeding, with no ten-
dency to clot.

Treatment. — Iron perchloride internally.
Arrest blood-flow mechanically.

580. ANEMIA. — Diminution in number of red
blood corpuscles (erythrocytes), and also in
amount of fibrinogen.

Cause. — Haemorrhage, diarrhoea, diabetes,
general ill-health, starvation, bad food, bad
hygiene and contagion.

Symptoms. — Pale mucous membrane ; may
be slate colour inside nostrils (Schneiderian
membrane). Mouth cool, tongue soft, debility,
staring coat. Depraved appetite, pulse feeble,
jerky and irregular, sudden shock causes palpi-
tations. Generally hidebound, easily fatigued,
digestion weak. Gets colic easily, swelling of
legs common.

Treatment. — Good stabling, fresh air and
good food ; gruel, switched eggs, milk, stout. A
fair-sized foal will take a gallon of milk twice
a day. Give foals hypophosphates, and matured
horses iron sulphate, gentian and quinine. If
stomach is acid, give soda bicarbonate. If much
constipated, give only very mild purgative ;
strong purgatives are dangerous. Groom well,
and give arsenic for two or three weeks.

581. LEUCAEMIA, or increased number of
white-blood corpuscles (leucocytes).

Cause. — Unknown ; probably due to disease
of spleen or lymphatics.

Symptoms. — Practically same as anaemia.
Staggering, vertigo. Rapid breathing, if exerted ;
pale mucous membrane, but not slate-coloured
Schneiderian. Pulse very quick, small and
irregular, depraved appetite. Microscopic
examination of blood is surest way of diagnos-
ing case.

Treatment. — Generally useless. Good stabling
and food. Give iron, quinine. The latter reduces
number of white corpuscles in blood.

582. DISEASES OF LYMPHATICS. — Lymphan-
gitis, weed, Monday morning ill, or water farcy.

Cause. — Feeding work-horses on normal feed
during a day's rest. Rye grass, new hay.

Symptoms.— Swelling in one or both hind-
legs. Shivering, early lameness ; later, fever
and fast breathing. Pulse fast, full and strong,
up to 90 ; temperature up to 105°. Constipation

usual, mucous membrane reddened, urine
scanty, generally thirst. If from new hay, there
will be diarrhoea.

Treatment. — Hot fomentations to legs. Give
arecolene ^ gr. every half-hour until passage.
Give stimulants if much shivering. Diuretics.
Aconite if temperature very high. Use pressure
bandages on leg below swelling. Treat care-
fully, and give occasional purgatives afterwards.
Many repetitions of this disease may cause
elephantiasis, when there will be considerable
new tissue formed in the limbs. The best treat-
ment is pot. iodide £ dr., three times a day.

583. ACUTE RHEUMATISM.

Cause. — Cold, damp, draughts (not fresh air).
Rapid cooling when sweating. Hereditary pre-
disposition.

Symptoms. — Generally in single groups of
muscles, as hip or shoulder. Attack comes on
suddenly, great stiffness, muscles may be
swollen and painful ; joints crack on movement.
Affected muscles may quiver. May be swellings
(oedema) under skin. Temperature varies, not
generally high. Pulse up if much pain. In bad
cases, sweating. May disappear in a few days,
or last for weeks, or may suddenly move to
another set of muscles. In horse, generally in
shoulders or loins (lumbago). If in shoulder,
the horse will go better down hill (if lame in
foot, he goes worse down hill). On being backed,
he will drag his foot. Difficulty in turning ;
great difficulty in rising ; may not be able to
rise.

Treatment. — Good stabling and food ; no
draughts. Hot fomentations over part, then
apply liniment of turpentine, camphor and bel-
ladonna. Give veratrine £ gr. hypodermically.
once a day ; later, increase to one or two grains.
Always give gentle exercise after its use, other-
wise do not use it. Give soda salicylate in J-oz.
doses once a day, mild purgatives and nitre. If
constipated, give £ gr. arecolene hypodermically.

584. MUSCULAR DEGENERATION. — May follow
rheumatism, or any injury that has caused a
muscle to remain idle for some weeks. May
follow azoturia. Common in shoulder (caput)
muscles after a sprain.

Symptoms. — Generally atrophy (wasting) of
muscles.

Treatment. — Caffein citrate 3 gr. hypodermic-
ally. Careful diet, tonics, and massage and
electricity.

585. ARTICULAR RHEUMATISM.

Cause. — Generally infection, or same as acute
rheumatism.

Symptoms. — Great fever, up to 106°. Swell-
ing of joints, sudden lameness, joint is hot and
painful and tense. Horse generally stands con-
tinuously ; he groans from pain if he tries to
rise. Pulse, 70 to 80. If acute, rapid wasting
(emaciation). If continued for long, atrophy of
surrounding muscles. May change to another

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 151

joint. Generally chronic, but may go quite
suddenly.

Treatment. — Good stabling and laxative food,
no draughts. Give soda salicylate in large, re-
peated doses, up to 5 oz. a day. Give nitre and
antifebrin in small doses. Local, hot fomenta-
tions and antiphlogistine or reducine. Massage
and electricity. In all cases it may be advisable
to blister the joint.

Diseases of Eye

586. OPHTHALMIA.

Cause. — Hay seeds, chaff and other foreign
substances ; injuries.

Symptoms. — Eye partially closed, swelling,
flow of tears, eye retracted. Conjunctiva red-
dened. Cornea opaque ; white, if severe. If
due to injuries, opacity commences at seat of
injury. May be red spots on conjunctiva.

Treatment. — Examine eye very carefully with
magnifying glass for foreign body. Use cocaine,
and remove any body. Bathe eye with warm
water and milk, if much inflammation, or with
warm solution of boracic acid, 10 per cent. If
ulcer is present, touch with silver nitrate solu-
tion, 1 per cent., in distilled water. Give mild
purgative. If fever, give aconite.

White or blue spots (called albugo and
nebula respectively) are sometimes present on
the cornea of an eye. They are not an unsound-
ness unless they affect the sight. Treatment is
good food and hygiene. Touch with silver
nitrate.

587. PERIODIC OPHTHALMIA.

Cause. — Constitutional disturbance. Injuries.
Bad stable management. Hereditary. Eating
rank grass in marshy pastures. Exposure to
snowstorms or to sun's rays. More common
during period of dentition (two to five years).

Symptoms. — Attack comes on suddenly,
generally during night. Eye retracted a little ;
is very sensitive to light. Pupil contracted.
Cornea opaque at first round outer edge. Whole
eye becomes inflamed, iris becomes yellowish.
Eyes may be affected alternately. After each
attack, sight gets worse and pupil more con-
tracted. Eye sensitive to touch. Horse may
become blind after repeated attacks.

Treatment. — Good food and hygiene, change
of climate. Purgative during acute attack.
Foment as for acute ophthalmia. Put a little
belladonna in eye ; after attack, give iron sul-
phate, nux vomica and a little nitre.

588. AMAUROSIS, or GLASS EYE.

Cause. — Paralysis of optic nerve (second
cranial, nerve). May follow periodic ophthal-
mia.

Symptoms. — Complete loss of vision, large
pupil, round and motionless. Eyelids generally
open. Eye is glassy in appearance.

Test.— Put horse in the dark, and bring a

light close to eye ; there will be no contraction
of pupil.

Treatment. — Keep horse in the dark, and give
strychnine and electrical treatments. Recovery
doubtful.

Diseases of Skin

589. HIDEBOUND is the term given to a horse's
coat when_it is firm and immovable, as though
gummed on lo his body instead of being loose.
It shows bad health, and is generally the result
of bad stable management, bad feeding and lack
of exercise. The cure is good stable management,
grooming, feeding and exercise.

590. NON-PARASITIC DISEASES OF SKIN. — If the
outer skin (epidermis) is alone affected, the
disease is called erythema ; but as the causes,
symptoms and treatment are so similar, ery-
thema and eczema (which is a disease of the
underskin) will be treated together.

ECZEMA is inflammation of the true skin,
underskin or dermis.

Cause. — Pressure, chafing, etc., from saddle
or harness. More general in the young and fine-
skinned horses, especially at change of coat in
spring and autumn. Irritant ointments and lini-
ments. Extremes of heat and cold. Exposure to
wet. Bad cases due to dirt, bad feeding, bad
constitution and certain fungi. Dirty woollen
clothing, want of grooming, constitutional dis-
turbance, causing a check in the perspiratory
glands.

Symptoms.— Number of small nodules size of
small pea. The hairs on these become erect and,
later, knotted. Scabs form, which drop off and
leave bare spots. Itching ; scratching makes it
worse.

Treatment. — Soften the scabs with glycerine.
Then wash thoroughly with tepid water, a little
creolin and castile soap (not soft soap). Dry
thoroughly, and bathe with Dick's white lotion.
If change seems slow, bathe with oil of tar or
5 per cent, solution of dilute hydrocyanic acid.
Change food, and shelter from heat, cold or sun.
Give ball, and then soda hyposulphite. If very
bad, give Fowler's solution of arsenic and sul-
phur. Groom well, and take great care of horse.

591. MANE AND TAIL ECZEMA.

Cause. — Dirt, continuous washing with cheap
irritating soap. Long exposure to rain or cold.
Often a sign of neglect when horse first shows
signs.

Symptoms. — Rubbing of mane or tail, hairs
become matted, and later drop off. Skin is
thick, hard and inflamed.

Treatment. — As for eczema. Do not allow
horses to rub, as rubbing causes most of the
trouble. If above, external applications are no
good ; use 6 per cent, solution of silver nitrate.
Never necessary to clip the hair off unless it has
been neglected for weeks.

152

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

592. GREASE (CRACKED HEELS) or SCRATCHES.—
On back of pasterns and bulbs of heels. Grease
is a term used for badly cracked heels.

Mallenders. — Behind the knee joints.

Sallenders. — In front of hock joints.

All these are forms of eczema. The latter
two are more common in heavy draught horses.

Cause.— Dirt, dust, grit, long exposure to
damp, cold and snow. Wet legs in stable with
draught along floor. Constitutional disturbance.

Symptoms. — Skin red and thickened, little
blisters (vesicles of serum) form, burst, and
leave cracks. Hairs fall out ; later, discharge of
offensive fluid.

Treatment. — Absolute cleanliness. Wash well
and dry thoroughly, without causing any irrita-
tion. If very bad, use carbolic poultice over-
night. Treat externally with saturated solution
of picric acid three times a day. Give internally
as for ordinary eczema.

My experience has been that trimming
horses' heels has not made them any more sus-
ceptible to cracked heels, and that it is better not
to rub the heels when the horse returns from
work with wet heels, but merely to brush off all
the dirt, and to allow fresh air to gain access
to the pores. The natural heat of the body is
sufficient to dry that part. If the part becomes
used to being artificially dried, and is neglected
for once, trouble may result.

Other applications are :

Lead acetate
Zinc oxide
Pot. alum
Glycerine
Water

1 J 07.
ifoz.
1$oz.
2oz.
1 qt.

Shake well, and rub in after thoroughly wash-
ing the part and drying it well. Keep legs out
of dirt and away from draughts, and keep horse
well exercised and on laxative foods.

A good application for bad grease, after
cleaning and drying the part, is zinc chloride
i dr., and water 6 oz. Well rub in morning and
night for about two days. The following treat-
ment will often cure scratches when others have
failed. After washing and thoroughly drying,
apply a dressing of thermofuge, cover with
absorbent cotton wool and bandage. Next day,
wash off, dry thoroughly, and paint with lini-
ment iodine 1 oz., alcohol 8 oz. Paint on twice
a day. Feed horse on easily digested, light food,
and not too much. Reducine will do in the
place of thermofuge ; excellent results have been
attained from the use of reducine.

593. MUD FEVER is eczema of legs and abdo-
men, due to neglect or continued washing.
Horses should be brushed clean when they
return, and not washed, as is so common with
some grooms who are too lazy to use the brush.
Picric acid, or the treatments in last section,
must be used for this disease.

594. WARTS are abnormal growths of the
outer skin (epidermis), often caused by ill health
and neglect. They can be removed by the knife,
ligature, firing-iron, with use of cocaine or
caustics.

The best caustics are nitric acid, silver nitrate
and caustic potash. Change the food.

Parasitic Diseases of the Skin

595. MANGE.

Cause. — A small multi-legged insect, some-
thing like a beetle, measuring 1-iOOth to l-50th
of an inch in diameter. Can be transmitted
between horses, dogs and human beings.

Symptoms. — Itching. The animal shows
pleasure when the parts are scratched. The
parts later become thick, hard, wrinkled, devoid
of hair, and perhaps covered with sores. Crusts
form. The disease takes several weeks to estab-
lish itself properly. The only way to be quite
sure of the presence of the insect is to examine
the crusts with a very strong magnifying glass,
when the movements of the insects will be seen.

Treatment. — Clip the part, burn all the hair
clipped off. Thoroughly wash with castile soap
and dry. The insects must then be destroyed.
In doing this it is very easy to kill the horse as
well, because, if the whole coat is covered with
a drug strong enough to kill the mange insect,
it will also kill the horse. Therefore, only one-
third of the horse should be covered at one time.
Care must be taken that the parts are well over-
lapped, as the insect moves slowly, and that the
horse is not allowed to lie down until the whole
body is treated, nor must he wear the affected
clothes. Clean clothes and fresh bedding must
be used. The horse must be isolated from other
horses. All tools, harness, etc., must be dis-
infected. The old bedding must be burnt, and
the old clothing either burnt or baked for several
hours. The stall must be washed down with
antiseptic solutions, such as whitewash, formal-
dehyde, etc. The best application for the coat is :

Corrosive sublimate
Dil. prussic acid
Water

20 gr.
2 dr.
1 pint

Soak coat well, covering one-third of the coat nt
one time. This is poison. Another good one is :

Sulphur .
Oil of tar
Oil of linseed

2 oz.
2 oz,
1 pint

Heat for an hour in hot water, and thoroughly
shake together. Rub well in.

596. RINGWORM. — Due to a fungus, or
vegetable micro-organism (tinea tonsurans). Is
contagious. Can be communicated between
man, horse and cattle, and very easily between
horses. A saddle or blanket will remain in-
fectious for months if not properly disinfected.

get as much fresh air as possible. Give electuary
on tongue of :

Pot. chlorate .
Camphor
Pot. nitrate
Belladonna, F. E.
Treacle .

£ dr.
4 dr.
I dr.

£dr-
oz.

Dissolve the camphor in a little methylated
spirits and the belladonna in a little boiling
water. Put a little on tongue every two hours
with a spatula.

In chronic, irritable coughs, give morning
and night :

Fowler's sol. arsenic
Pot. chlorate .
Belladonna, F. E. .

I oz.
i oz.

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 153

Symptoms. — The disease spreads in circular
patches, leaving bald places wherever the skin
is attacked. There is generally no inflammation
in horses and no itching. When the patch
reaches a certain size (one or two inches), the
fungus dies, and the hair returns. There is a
form of eczema known as non-contagious ring-
worm, in which the rings grow larger, and there
is itching present.

Treatment. — Isolate horse. If coat is very
long, clip round the patches, and wash
thoroughly with castile soap and warm water
and dry. Apply, twice a day, biniodide mercury
ointment (i to 30 lard), or iodine 10 gr., turpen-
tine 1 oz., or 5 per cent, solution creolin.
Thoroughly disinfect all harness, saddlery, tools,
clothing, burn bedding, and wash down stalls,
etc.

597. LICE are sometimes found on neglected
horses. The insect is about j^th of an inch in
length. It does not attack man. There is a
great itching on the parts affected, chiefly at
roots of tail and mane, shows the hair standing
up, and little casts of skin.

Treatment.— Clip the part, and apply 5 per
cent, creolin, tobacco or carbolic.

598. TICKS.— Horses get these while grazing
in certain places. They should not be pulled
off, but made to drop off by putting a little
kerosene oil (coal oil) or turpentine on to
them.

MITES. — -The host of this insect is the chicken,
pigeon, and other birds, so they will not live
more than two or three days on a horse. They
cause great itching.

Treatment. — Remove cause, and apply 5 per
cent, creolin, tobacco or carbolic.

Diseases of Respiratory Tract

599. LARYNGITIS, or SORE THROAT. — The
causes, symptoms and treatment of this are
practically the same as those for pharyngitis ;
these are both forms of sore throat. Laryngitis
is very much more serious. There will be much
difficulty in drawing in the breath. It may be
sufficiently bad to necessitate tracheotomy being
performed. (Sec. 536.)

600. COUGH or COLD.

Cause.— Chills, neglect, bad health, contagion,
etc.

Symptoms.—- Cough, running at the nose,
fever, dullness, coat unthrifty, off feed. Water
may run back out of nostril as the horse
swallows. Sore throat.

Treatment.— Bran mashes and linseed and
careful stable management. Plenty of fresh air
and good clothing. Give lots of cold water and
a little nitre. Give inhalations of steam from
bucket of boiling water, with 6 oz. turpentine
added. Do not put head in bag, as horse must
u

in the feed.

601. NASAL, GLEET is a chronic and fetid
discharge from the nostrils.

Cause. — Injury to the bony sinuses in the
head. Bad teeth. Cold in the head. More
common in old horses.

Symptoms. — Discharge from the nostril or
nostrils, which is chronic and fetid (bad smell-
ing).

Treatment. — If a sinus of the head is filled
with pus, which will be apparent by there being
no other causes present, the affected sinus will
have to be opened by a professional, and treated
antiseptically. If the cause is a bad tooth, it
must be removed. Syringe out the nostrils every
six hours with a solution of alum and pot.
chlorate. Change feed. Give horse tonic, and
treat very carefully for some weeks.

602. ACUTE ASTHMA (rare in horses).
Cause. — Nervous derangement. May follow

pleurisy, pneumonia. Foul air. Faulty feeding,
as on dusty hay.

Symptoms. — Very difficult breathing, respira-
tions not hurried, expiration is very slow and
difficult ; may be slight nasal discharge.

Treatment. — Careful feeding, sanitation and
ventilation. Give morphine 3 gr., and chloral
hydrate 1 gr. Chloral hydrate may be given in
a pint of water per rectum, the tube being in-
serted well in, and the tail depressed for ten
minutes. Give caffein citrate, 3 gr., hypodermic-
ally. Tincture lobelia 1 oz. is good. Food
should be damped. Do not give too much water
at a time.

603. ROARING, or WHISTLING, is an affection
of the larynx.

Cause. — Due to paralysis or partial paralysis
of the recurrent-laryngeal branch of the tenth
cranial, or pneumogastric nerve. On account of
the left nerve being given off at the base of the
lung, and winding around several vessels (whilst
the right is given off at the first rib), it becomes
more readily injured, thus affecting the left side
of the larynx, allowing the cartilage of the

154

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

epiglottis to obstruct the opening of the glottis,
causing a "roar" on inspiration. Injuries,
tumours or swollen lymphatic glands may
damage this nerve.

Symptoms. — Noise in throat as horse inspires,
due to the glottis being occluded. To test for
roaring, the horse must be galloped and pulled
up fairly sudden, and, if a roarer, the noise will
be heard as the horse inspires.

Treatment. — Good food, slow exercise, and
careful stable management. Give strychnine and
pot. iodide for three days, cease for a week, and
then repeat. In very bad cases, tracheotomy
must be performed by a surgeon.

604. BROKEN WIND, EMPHYSEMA OF THE
LUNGS, HEAVES, or CHRONIC ASTHMA. — A chronic
lung disease, in which expiration is always
longer than inspiration, and the abdominal wall
is brought into play to assist in expulsion of the
air. There is degeneration of the air cells of
the lungs.

Cause. — Bad horsemastership, hard work on
a full stomach, on account of the stomach press-
ing against base of lungs. Hard work when in
bad condition. Fast continual work, such as
racing. The tissues of the air sacs of the lungs
break down and cause much difficulty in breath-
ing. May follow any lung disease that has been
neglected.

Symptoms.— May come on suddenly. Difficult
breathing, especially after work, and worse after
a meal. Wheezy, distressed expiration of air,
accompanied with considerable dilatation of
nostrils. Double contraction of the abdominal
muscles after each inspiration. A weak, sup-
pressed cough, as if the lungs were not strong
enough to force any air out. General health is
nearly always affected. Often passage of gas per
rectum in long-standing cases. May occur in
horses four years of age.

Treatment.— Cannot be cured, but can be
eased. Give green feed and mashes and very
careful diet. Always wet hay with lime-water;
give plenty of linseed oil and tea. Water fre-
quently in small quantities. Give Fowler's sol.
arsenic, 1 oz. per day on alternate weeks. Give
plenty of fresh air. Good hygiene. Give easy,
slow work, and take great care of patient.
Change of climate is generally only hope ; horses
taken from Ontario to Alberta, 3,000 ft. above
sea, are generally practically cured in twelve
months. Make up the following powder :

Iron sulphate .
Nux vomica P.
Pot. nitrate .
P. lobelia
P. gentian
Arsenious acid
P. digitalis

4
4

oz.
oz.

2 oz.

3 oz.

4 oz.
1J dr.
2 oz.

Mix well, and give A oz. on damp feed twice a
day.

605. BRONCHITIS, or INFLAMMATION OF THE
BRONCHII, which lead from the trachea (wind-
pipe) to the lungs proper.

Cause. — Chill, damp ; may follow laryngitis
or other disease.

Symptoms. — Hurried breathing, not painful,
temperature high, pulse quick, mucous mem-
brane of nostrils and eyelids dark red, horse
dull. Dry and painful cough, which becomes
moist and loose, with probable nasal discharge
in three or four days. A gurgling sound can be
heard if the ear is pressed against the side, just
behind the shoulder.

Treatment. — Fresh air, comfortable box-stall,
good clothing, legs bandaged. Mashes and lin-
seed tea. Give digitalis and a little nitre. Give
ball of ammonium carbonate, camphor, bella-
donna, F.E., of each 1 dr. Later, give strychnine
as a tonic. Give inhalations of eucalyptus and
boiling water.

606. CONGESTION OF LUNGS.— The functional
blood-vessels of the lungs become engorged with
blood.

Cause.— Over-exertion, chill after hard, fast
work, bad ventilation. Bad condition predis-
poses a horse to the disease. An over-ridden
horse in the hunting field may suddenly get it,
or may get it after he returns to the stable.

Symptoms.— Horse begins to blow. Later, he
uses every effort to breathe. Forelegs stretched,
nostrils wide, head stretched out, breathing
rapid. Signs of great distress, eyes bloodshot.
Flanks heaving, ears and legs cold, mucous
membrane in nostrils and eyes purple colour,
due to blood not being oxidised properly. Pulse
full, bounding and irregular ; may be bleeding
at nose ; may become insensible. Extremities
cold.

Treatment. — Give fresh air, turn horse to-
wards wind, clothe well, place all four legs in
warm water, and apply hot water or mustard all
over thorax to draw blood away from lungs. If
pulse very fast, give aconite. Afterwards give
tonics and mashes, and a little nitre for several
days.

607. PNEUMONIA is inflammation of the
vesicles of the lungs, caused directly by a
vegetable micro-organism, a streptococcus.

Cause. — May follow other diseases of the
lungs, as congestion. Chill ; and same as would
cause congestion.

TRAUMATIC PNEUMONIA is due to medicines,
etc., getting into the lungs.

CATARRHAL, BRONCHIAL or LOBULAR PNEU-
MONIA.— Bronchioles become clogged with pus
and mucus. As a rule, in small lobes ; may
extend over large area.

CROUPOUS or LOBAR, produced directly by the
streptococcus pneumonife, is acute and febrile ;
inflammation of one or more lobes of the lungs,
together with consolidation.

SPORADIC PNEUMONIA, said to be non-con-

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 155

tagious. Due to cold, exposure, etc., isolated
cases.

CONTAGIOUS PNEUMONIA often appears in an
enzootic form, i.e. localised in one stable or
district. An epizootic form is sometimes ushered
in by pink-eye.

Symptoms. —Dullness, shivering fits gener-
ally. High temperature, quick pulse, respirations
very fast, up to 50. No pain, unless complicated
with pleurisy. Breathing mostly abdominal.
Nostrils distended, eyes bloodshot. Full and
strong cough, which later becomes small.
Mucous membrane of eyes and nostrils con-
gested. On sounding the lung, if in the engorge-
ment stage, there will be a well-marked,
thickened sound, which will disappear when the
second or solidified stage is reached, when the
sound will be absent in the affected part. If
pleurisy present, there is a crackling sound, like
the rubbing together of several hairs between the
fingers. There may be dropsical swellings on
chest, forelegs, abdomen, sheath and hindlegs.
The congested or engorged stage of the lungs
may last only ten hours, or may, later, become
solid from accumulation of blood, and exudate.
The fourth stage is the grey stage, when the
exudate is absorbed. May appear and disappear
in six or fourteen days, if favourable. Depends
on extent and area affected. Tapping will reveal
a duller sound than usual if the case is bad.
Urine generally scanty and high-coloured. Horse
generally stands up all the while with forelegs
stretched out.

Treatment. — An abundance of fresh air is of
the first importance ; a horse will never recover
from pneumonia if kept in many of the stables
that horses live in. Place in box-stall with door
opening to the south ; top half of door should be
open day and night. Screens should be placed
outside to prevent direct draughts blowing on to
the horse. Allow horse to lie down if he wishes.
Warm clothing, stable kept at 60° F. by artificial
means, and not by excluding fresh air. No
draughts. Take chill off water, and give plenty
of it. Keep quiet, give friction to legs for ten
minutes on each leg twice a day, and bandage
with thick flannel. Do not bleed or give purga-
tives. Keep bowels loose with enemas of soap
and warm water. Feed carrots and turnips
(chopped), linseed tea and mashes. If pulse
quick, give Fleming's tine, aconite 10 min. twice
a day. Give the following

Strychnine
Alcohol .
Acetanilin
Water

1J oz.

t dr.

3 oz.

three times a day.

Make up a large quantity to save trouble.
Dissolve acetanilin in alcohol and strychnine in
hot water. Give bacterines. (See Sec. 507.) Give
turpentine 1 oz. in capsule twice a day. Cease

this when urine smells of turpentine. Mustard
should be put over both sides of chest, and
covered with paper, and then with thick
blankets ; do this with both sides, even if only
one lung is affected. (See Sec. 504.) If pulse
improves after a few days, give ammonium car-
bonate 1 dr., spirits nitre 1 oz., belladonna F.E.

1 dr., three times a day. If horse seems hungry,
give handful of crushed oats and bran. When
patient is convalescent, feed very carefully on
tempting and easily digested foods, and give tine,
chiretta 4 dr. and quinine sulphate 30 gr. as
tonic in feed twice a day.

608. PLEURISY. — Inflammation of the pleura,
which surrounds the lungs and lines the inside
of the thoracic cavity.

Cause. — Same as pneumonia ; seldom alone,
but generally in conjunction with pneumonia.

Symptoms. — Shivering fits may appear first.
In early stage crackling sound can be heard if
ear is placed against the horse's side behind the
shoulder, due to the friction against the pleural
sac. High fever, pain rather like colic at first.
Great disinclination to move at all. Affected side
tender to pressure. Abdominal breathing, horse
tries not to move ribs at all. Generally short,
dry, painful, suppressed cough. Often grunts on
expiring and when made to move. After the
worst is over, the crackling sound goes, tempera-
ture drops, and pain decreases. If there has
been any effusion of serous fluid, the breathing
becomes quick, and auscultation will reveal a
sound resembling dropping water, and the lower
part of the chest, on being tapped with the
fingers, will sound dull and full of fluid. The
disease runs through four different stages.

Treatment. — Same as pneumonia. Give also
opium P. $ dr., cannabis indica F.E. i dr., in a
ball. After worst pain is over, give digitalis P.
20 gr., pot. nitrate \ dr., and cantharides P. 2 gr.,
in feed twice a day for a week.

609. TUBERCULOSIS OF LUNGS. — Generally
called consumption. Extremely rare in horses.

Cause. — Contagion ; a vegetable micro-
organism (tuberculosis bacillus). Neglect.
Follows pneumonia and other lung diseases.

Symptoms.— Cough, varied appetite, rapid
wasting away.

Tuberculosis of bowels, spleen, liver, lymph
glands and of the bones and almost any gland of
the body exists, but is extremely rare, in the
horse. The only sure way of diagnosing the
existence of tuberculosis is the tuberculin test,
discovered by Professor Koch, who also first
isolated the T. bacillus, in 1882.

610. Tuberculin Test. — Keep horse quiet.
Take temperature every three hours for twelve
hours. Inject, at the end of the twelve hours,

2 cc. tuberculin in front of shoulder under skin,
not into the muscle. Commence taking tempera-
ture again six hours after injection, and continue
every three hours for twelve hours ; 2° F. rise

156

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

in temperature shows that tuberculosis is present
in some form. If animal shivers, it may be a
sure sign. A sudden rise in temperature is not
a sure sign. The degree of rise in temperature
is not in proportion to the amount of tuberculosis
present. The period of incubation of tuber-
culosis is two to eight, or more, weeks.

Treatment. — Fresh air, isolation, absolute
sanitation. Perfect hygiene and antiseptic pre-
cautions. Give internally, antiseptics, pot.
iodide, and nutritive diet. Give mineral and
vegetable tonics, and quinine, iron and chiretta.

611. INFLUENZA, or PINK-EYE.

Cause. — Directly by a micro-organism, strep-
tococcus.

Symptoms. — Usually ushered in with rigors.
Temperature up to 106°. Coat staring, pulse
quick, eyelids swollen, pinkish colour to eye.
Difficult defsecation, uneasy movements, due to
swollen joints, may be accompanied with lung
trouble. An improvement is generally seen after
three or four days.

Treatment. — Fresh air and very careful stable
management and feeding. Linseed tea and easily-
digested mashes. Bathe eyes, if much swollen,
with 10 per cent. sol. boracic acid and warm
water. If pulse is weak, give digitalis. Do not
give aconite, as it tends to lower the blood
pressure, and thus increase liability of blood
clotting. For this reason antifebrin (acetanilin)
should not be given in large quantities, as it
might cause serious harm, and even stasis of
circulation and death. Strychnine should be
given with it. Give one grain strychnine, hypo-
dermically, in neck, if pulse is weak, first day,
and half a grain on the following days. The
best drench that I know is the following :

Ammonium chloride . . | dr.
Pot. dichromate . . . 5 gr.
Water, sufficient ; three times a day.

The ammonia is a diaphoretic and diuretic,
liquefies mucus, is a heart stimulant, and, if
there is any jaundice present, it is a chola-
gogue. The chromate is a systematic antiseptic
which reaches the whole system through the
blood.

A pint of whisky every four to six hours
should be given in bad cases. Give green grass
and a few crushed oats to tempt the horse's
appetite. I have seen excellent results with
Parke Davis's equine influenza vaccine ; one
tablet being given the first day, hypodermically,
two tablets the fourth day, three tablets the
eighth day, and, if necessary, four tablets on the
twelfth and five tablets the sixteenth day. Each
tablet contains 100 million streptococci equi and
200 million staphylococci. The following drench
may be given as an alternative to the one above :
Gentian, spirits ether nitrate, pot. chlorate, and
quinine sulphate. Excellent results have been
obtained from the use of a strangles vaccine,

prepared from the streptococci equi by Dr.
Evans, of Ottawa.

612. STRANGLES, or DISTEMPER, is a constitu-
tional disease peculiar to young horses, produced
by a vegetable microbe, the streptococcus coryzae.
Characterised by the formation of abscesses in
the space between the lower jaw bones ;
abscesses may appear in other places.

Symptoms. — Generally ushered in like an
ordinary cold. Running from nostrils, pain on
pressure under jaw, perhaps cough, sore throat,
off feed, fever. Later, swelling on the jaw, or
perhaps on other parts of the body. A skin erup-
tion may be present ; the fluid from these
eruptions is infectious. The swellings turn to
abscesses. Period of incubation is generally only
a few days. The abscesses in strangles tend to
point, thus distinguishing them from glanders
abscesses.

Treatment. — Good hygiene, cool, fresh air,
good and careful feeding on mashes. Warm
clothing. Inhalation of steam and eucalyptus oil
and turps, of each 4 oz., in bucket of boiling
water. Do not cover head up, but allow fresh
air to get to nostrils as well. Tracheotomy may
have to be performed if there is danger of suffo-
cation. Foment the abscesses with hot water
until pus forms, then lance. Keep parts syringed
out with antiseptic daily. Swellings will soon
subside. It may be necessary to poultice the
lower jaw with an antiseptic poultice. Do not
give purgative. Keep bowels loose by warm
water and soap enemas. On recovery, give
gentle exercise, feed carefully, and give mineral
and vegetable tonics. The strangles vaccine,
mentioned in Sec. 611, has been used with
success.

613. GLANDERS (sometimes called FARCY).—
Glanders is caused by a bacterium or vegetable
organism, the bacillus mallei.

Cause. — Indirectly, unclean utensils and other
contagion.

Symptoms. — Off feed, watery discharge from
nose, which later becomes thick and dark.
Abscesses form on the lower jaw, with no ten-
dency to point. Skin may become hidebound,
and hair may be easily rubbed off. Later, will
be pimples and abscesses on Schneiderian mem-
brane. The nasal discharge is very infectious,
and has bad smell. Generally no cough ; sore
throat or fever present.

Treatment. — Any suspect must at once be
isolated, inspected, and all bedding burnt ; stall
made quite aseptic, according to veterinary regu-
lations, and all clothing and tools isolated.
Mallein test must be resorted to at once. Keep
hands well soaked with antiseptic while examin-
ing, wear long white coat, and avoid horse blow-
ing any of the discharge from its nose into one's
face, as man readily contracts the disease, which
is generally fatal.

Mallein Test.— Keep horse quiet, take tern-

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 157

perature as for tuberculin test. (See Sec. 610.)
Inject 2 cc. mallein sol. into side of neck under
skin, not into muscle. Afterwards take tempera-
ture every three hours for thirty-six hours, and
watch the swelling on the neck. If horse has
glanders, temperature will rise 2° to 4° F., maxi-
mum in fifteen hours, which will continue for
ten to fifteen more hours. The swelling at the
point of hypodermic injection will become very
large, seldom less than 5 in. in diameter ; it
increases in size up to twenty-four to thirty-six
hours, or even longer. If horse has not glanders,
the swelling will seldom get larger than 3 in. in
diameter, and will be practically gone in twenty-
four hours, and temperature will not be affected.
The period of incubation for glanders is one to
six, or more, weeks.

If the horse has glanders it must be destroyed,
and all tools and clothing destroyed or made
thoroughly aseptic. Other horses that have been
in contact must be isolated and tested. Report
to local authorities. Permanent immunity from
glanders cannot up to the present be acquired,
either by a previous attack or by introduction of
antitoxins, etc. Mallein will in no way make a
horse immune from glanders. A horse may have
chronic glanders for years without having an
acute attack.

614. STAGGERS, EPILEPSY or MEGRIMS.— Sun-
stroke is really a form of staggers.

Cause. — Tight collars, which interfere with
circulation, tight check-reins, exposure to great
heat, sun, etc. Overworking in hot weather.
Another form is caused by engorged stomach.

Symptoms. — Sudden. Horse staggers and
throws head about. Quickened breathing. Per-
haps convulsions and loss of consciousness.

Treatment. — Remove cause. If from collar,
drive with breast collar. Remove all headgear,
and apply ice packs to top of head, or cold water
irrigation. Keep very quiet, and feed and exer-
cise carefully for days. Keep bowels open to
prevent recurrence. If stomach is engorged,
treat with arecolene. Give caffein citrate 3 gr.
hypodermically.

615. SUNSTROKE is a sudden state of uncon-
sciousness.

Cause.~Nea.rly always brought on by con-
tinued exposure to great heat, or to the sun,
while at work. Seldom occurs when at rest,
unless horse is tied out in the open with no
shade and no mane to protect his poll. The un-
consciousness is produced by the shock or the
fatigue causing temporary failure of the heart.
Insufficient water predisposes the horse to the
disease; so does bad ventilation, exposure to sun
rays while in the stable or picketed, insufficient
cooling food, as green food, and too much corn
or heating food, as peas, beans, etc.

Symptoms.— Horse starts off all right, then
becomes distressed, and begins to falter, to totter,
and eventually falls down insensible. He may be

quiet, which is hopeful, or he may throw
himself about in convulsions, being unable to
raise his hindquarters, which will be paralysed.
This paralysis is a distinct symptom of sun-
stroke. The horse is unconscious, which distin-
guishes the disease from azoturia. Respiration
quick and shallow, pulse quick and weak, tem-
perature high. May be sweat on skin. Muscles
may quiver. Eyes stare, but cannot see. Fatal
cases in six hours. Congestion and inflammation
of the lungs may follow when apparently con-
valescent.

Treatment. — Avoid any predisposing causes
as a preventive. Never take a horse out in hot
weather if there is any sign of unnatural breath-
ing or ill-health. Sun-bonnets are of little use
unless they shade eyes and forehead. Give
plenty of salt and water. In a threatened case,
give an oil purgative, and phenacetin 1 dr.
every four hours. Give plenty of green food and
water, and no oats, beans, peas and maize.

Treatment of horse that has fallen.— Apply
cold water from a hose over head, spine, body
and legs. Pack ice between the ears and over
forehead and down crest of neck. Give no
medicines if horse is unconscious. Horse may
recover in an hour or less. Treat afterwards as
for threatened case. On recovering conscious-
ness, give | pt. whisky in 1 qt. water or 4 oz.
aromatic spirits of ammonia. Keep horse
quiet.

616. NAGANA, or TSETSE FLY DISEASE. — Very
uncommon on American continent, but common
in Africa.

Cause. — Directly, by a protozoa, trypanosoma
Brucii, which is carried in the stomach and
salivary glands of the tsetse fly.

Symptoms. — High temperature, 104° to 106°.
Anaemic, due to red corpuscles being destroyed
by the protozoon. Later, swelling of head, legs
and urino-genital organs. Course, about thirty
days.

Treatment. — The best treatment known is
pot. iodide and carbolic internally, followed by
arsenic, cinchona, and careful dieting and
diuretics.

617. LAMPAS, or SWOLLEN HARD PALATE.
Cause. — Indigestion, cutting of teeth, bad

health.

Symptoms. — Swelling on hard palate on roof
of mouth. Off feed. Difficulty in eating.

Treatment. — Do not burn or cut the swelling ;
such is useless and cruel. Give cooling diet,
diuretics and gentle exercise.

618. MELANOSIS. — Caused by a micro-organ-
ism. Is practically entirely confined to grey
horses. Tumours, containing a tarry substance,
appear on the tail or near it, and perhaps on
the sheath and crest of the neck. The hairs on
these parts eventually drop out. These tumours
appear when the horse is turning white, at about
eight to ten years of age. The tar-like material

158

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

seems to be composed of the colouring matter
from the dark grey hairs.

Melanosis is common in India, and I have
seen several cases in England, yet in Canada,
where dappled-grey horses are so very popular,
the disease is not common. Removal of these
tumours by the knife usually does little good.

619. TETANUS, or LOCKJAW.

Cause. — Directly, by a bacterium, tetanus
bacillus, which gains access to an open, neg-
lected wound, where it remains in the damaged
tissue, and there produces a poison (toxin) that
readily spreads throughout the nervous system,
causing tetanic spasm of the voluntary muscles.
In the human subject there are several states,
but in the horse only one, called trismus. (Sec
Chapter XVII.) These germs are present in the
earth, especially in clay and any highly organic
soil. Horse-dung causes them to become more
virulent ; hence, if they gain access to a stable,
they become more dangerous. This bacillus and
the anthrax bacillus are the only two yet dis-
covered that will remain for any length of time
off their host without dying. The tetanus
bacillus is anaerobic, i.e. cannot thrive in the
presence of oxygen. Indirect causes are cuts,
wounds, broken knees that have been neglected
from the first. In some countries (as parts of
Spain and France) the tetanus bacilli are so
numerous in the soil that any wound, especially
a puncture, is a source of great danger.

Symptoms. — Similar to poisoning from
strychnine. Comes on gradually. Contraction
of muscles of expression. Later, the rest of head,
neck, back and tail. Neck ewed, eyes drawn
back. Horse stands with outstretched limbs,
looks nervous and terrified. Breathing quick,
flanks tucked up. Recovery seldom occurs until
after second or third week.

Treatment. — Treat any wound with keenest
antiseptic care, cutting out all unhealthy tissue.
If much toxin has got into the blood, case may
be fatal. Put in dark box-stall, keep absolutely
quiet and away from any excitement. Dust
wound with antitetanic powder and inject anti-
tetanic serum, as follows :

620. Inject hypodermically at once 2,000 to
3,000 ampules (units) of fresh antitetanic serum,
and repeat in twenty-four hours. The dose will
probably make the horse feel sick for a few
hours. I have used this upon horses that have
been badly wounded with rusty nails, as a pre-
caution against tetanus, with splendid results.
In one case a horse had had a rusty nail in its
foot for twelve days, and on removal black pus
came out suddenly. Two injections, as above,
were given with an interval of twenty-four
hours, and the horse was worked, in seven days,
absolutely sound. Of course, there was no proof
that he was going to have tetanus, but there was
a great chance. Give aloes ball and calomel and
laxative food. Give cannabis indica A dr., chloral

hydrate \ oz., and pot. iodide £ dr., in capsule,
every four hours. If the serum cannot be
obtained, inject under the skin 2 per cent, solu-
tion carbolic acid, i oz. every two hours. Do
not excite or try to drench. Give drugs in ball
or gelatine capsule.

621. PARALYSIS. — For paralysis, which be-
comes apparent by loss of control of certain
muscles and no hardness, as in azoturia, the
best treatment, but which may be of no use, are
local stimulants, or even blisters, to the parts,
and electricity and massage. The bowels must
be kept open, and horse carefully fed and
attended to. Give nux vomica F.E. 1 dr. in feed
morning and night.

622. STRINGHALT.

Cause. — A brain affection, generally, but may
be due to pressure on the nerve that leads to
the affected muscle. It affects one or both hind-
legs.

Symptoms. — Raising the leg, or legs, very
high, even when at the walk.

Treatment. — Good feeding and electricity may
do good. As a rule, an operation is necessary,
that of removing part of the tendon of the pero-
neus muscle, which causes the abnormal action
of the hindlegs. Give strychnine.

623. CEREBRO-SPINAL MENINGITIS is inflamma-
tion of the meningeal covering of the brain and
spinal cord. Its method of transmission from
horse to horse is undoubtedly through a micro-
organism, i.e. through the horse eating and
drinking infected food and water.

Symptoms. — Its course is generally acute and
fatal. It is not uncommon in Western Canada
in hot weather. Attack may come on suddenly
or slowly. Unconsciousness, partial paralysis of
the hindquarters, probable pain on pressure
along spine. Head very hot. Horse walks about
with head low, as in a sleep, not knowing where
he is going. Will try to hide head in dark
corner. If given a bucket of water, may suffo-
cate himself by immersing head in the water,
owing to its being unable to swallow ; this may
be first symptom noticed. May walk into a
stream and drown himself. I remember a
large Clydesdale in Manitoba drowning herself
in this way.

Treatment. — Sling horse, if he lies down ;
otherwise let him walk about, if he cannot hurt
himself. Put ice bags to spine. Give purgative
and diuretics. Give strychnine i gr. and canna-
bis indica F.E. \ dr. every four hours.

624. ANTHRAX, or CATTLE PLAGUE (sometimes
called HORSE PLAGUE). — Very rare in horses.
Generally a most fatal disease ; due to the
presence of the anthrax bacillus in the blood,
causing imperfect oxidation of the blood, which
becomes thick and dark. Is very infectious. The
anthrax bacillus, like that of tetanus, will live
in a passive or spore state for any length of time
away from its host ; thus a field in which an

xi] ORGANIC, FUNCTIONAL AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 159

infected animal has died and been opened may
carry the disease to a subject ten years or more
afterwards.

Symptoms.— Temperature up to 107°. Horse
almost suddenly loses appetite, and becomes dull
and weak. Pulse quick and weak, mucous mem-
brane red. Respiration quick, nostrils dilated,
abdominal breathing. Later, horse almost suffo-
cates from want of oxygen. There may be colic
pains, dark nasal discharge, or swelling under
lower jaw. Can be distinguished from lung-
disease by auscultation.

Treatment. — The horse had better be
destroyed, as it will die anyway. Report to local
authorities at once. Under legal supervision, for
experimental purposes, the following treatment
has been tried : Laxatives and stimulants. Soda
salicylate, soda hyposulphite and carbolic acid,
internally ; also injection of anthrax vaccine
" Pasteur." Good water and soft food.

625. BLOOD POISONING : SEPTICAEMIA, PY/EMIA
and SAPR^EMIA. — There are three kinds of blood
poisoning : (1) Where the poison or toxin is
made outside the blood vessels and passed into
the blood, as in tetanus, called sapraemia ; (2)
where the germ is in the blood, and produces a
poison or toxin while circulating in the blood, as
in anthrax, called septicaemia ; (3) where pus-
producing bacteria are in the blood, and may
locate at any place in the body and form multiple
abscesses, called pyaemia (pus-blood).

Symptoms. — Generally results from a bad
wound or abscess. High temperature, great
depression and debility ; swellings.

Treatment. — Attend to hygienic conditions,
clean any wound, and make as aseptic as
possible. Give nutritious diet, pure air, stimu-
lants, as whisky. Give iron sulphate A dr.,
quinine sulphate 20 gr. Give nitre and lots of
cold water to clear blood. I have seen very
advanced cases cured by giving 1 dr. soda hypo-
sulphite every twenty minutes by the mouth.
Afterwards give, tonics.

626. NAVEL ILL IN FOALS (called Omphalo-
phlebitis, or Joint 111). — Caused sometimes by
admission of a micro-organism through the navel
before it has healed up after birth.

Cause. — Being born in dirty stables, instead
of out-of-doors in pasture that has not had navel-
ill foals in.

Symptoms. — Dullness, fever, lameness, soft
swelling over joint, or joints, which becomes hot
and painful. Later these joints suppurate.

Treatment. — Very difficult to get good results.
I have seen scores of foals in the West of Canada
given various treatments. Under the same treat-
ment some recover, whilst others die. Keep up
strength by use of stimulants. Give fresh poly-
bacterines. (See Sec. 507.) Very careful hygiene.
Isolate animal, bathe part, give the mare pot.
iodide. Keep the navel absolutely aseptic and
covered with bandage, which must be renewed

every twelve hours. Nuclein solution has cured
some cases.

As a further precaution, allow all mares to
foal in clean pasture, and keep foal out of doors
for several months ; and, as this period will be
in the fly season, it is absolutely necessary that
brood mares should have long tails.

Diseases of Genital Organs

627. DOURINE, or MALADIE DU COIT (some-
times called Horse Syphilis). — Caused by an
animal micro-organism, trypanosoma equiper-
dum mastigophora.

Symptoms. — Sheath swells ; swelling will
extend along belly to breastbone, and will be-
come cool and doughy. Penis becomes swollen
later, and probably chronic protrusion. Loins
become tender, painful urination. Knuckling of
fetlocks, appetite good, but good food does no
good. Joints crack, temperature a little up.

In mares there will be a discharge from vulva
that will mat the tail, awkward gait, white spots
on vulva. Mortality up to 70 per cent.

Treatment. — Arsenic 1 gr., mercury iodide
1 gr., and pot. iodide 3 dr., every four hours.
Keep all venereal excitement away. Good
hygiene and careful feeding. Wash organs with
1 to 1,000 mercury perchloride.

628. METRITIS, or INFLAMMATION OF WOMB.
Cause. -- Follows parturition. Infection;

general blood poisoning, neglect and dirty
stabling.

Symptoms.— -High temperature (105° or
higher). Loss of appetite, shivering and sweat-
ing, great distress, rapid breathing, straddling
gait.

Treatment.— Give mild purgative, aconite,
belladonna, camphor, opium and chloroform.
Inject into womb every twelve hours a warm
antiseptic solution (1 in 1,000 mercury per-
chloride), followed in five minutes by a thorough
flushing out with normal saline solution ('85 per
cent, soda chloride in water). Hot fomentations
to loins. Keep very comfortable, quiet, feed on
linseed mashes and linseed tea, and keep away
from sexual excitement.

Notes on Parturition

629. PERIOD OF UTERO-GESTATION FOR MARE
(Duration of Pregnancy).— 335 to 345 days (11 to
11$ months). A foal may live if born after ten
months from day of conception.

The duration is generally less in weakly,
poorly fed mares and in old mares. The day of
conception (fecundation) cannot be definitely
decided, because even if the mare has only been
put to the stallion once, the male seed (sperma-
tozoon) may not impregnate the female ovum for
several days afterwards. Spermatozoa have been
known to live in the womb for eight days.

160

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, xi

A mare put to a thoroughbred stallion is
generally longer pregnant than one put to a
common-bred.

630. TABLE OF OESTRUM FOR MARE.

Duration, 4 to 7 days.

Return if not impregnated, 2 to 3 weeks.

Return after parturition, 7 to 10 days.

Several hours before parturition the muscles
over the quarters (gluteal) will sink, due to the
relaxation of the large sacro-sciatic ligaments,
which thus allow the easy passage of the foetus

through the pelvic cavity. After the foal is born,
if the after-birth (placenta) has not come away
clean, it must be carefully removed with the
hand, which must be thoroughly aseptic. The
womb must then be flushed out with i per cent,
creolin. This latter precaution should be taken
in any case.

The navel of the foal should be well cleansed
with a similar solution directly after birth.

Foals should be weaned when 5 to 8 months
old.

PLATE 105

PLATE 106

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The Anatomy of the Tail. Fig. 2 is Drawn to Scale

CHAPTER XII

ANATOMY AND USE OF THE HORSE'S TAIL

631. THE tail consists of a continuation of the
spinal column. It consists of vertebrae, muscles,
ligaments, blood vessels, nerves, fascia, skin and
hair. There are fifteen to twenty coccygeal verte-
brae, which decrease in size until the last two
or three are quite small, round, and resemble
somewhat a spindle. The first four or five are
very similar to the sacral vertebrae. They con-
tain a body, superior or spinous processes, called
spines, and a transverse process projecting from
each side of the body. The muscles, which lie
along the outside of these vertebrae on all sides,
are eight in number. There are four pairs, and
a bundle of muscles on both sides that reach
from one transverse process to the next, called
inter-transversales caudae, which help to keep the
bones together or, singly, to assist in curving the
tail.

632. The eight muscles are : two above (erec-
tor coccygis), that raise the tail, or, acting singly,
help to draw it to one side ; one at each side
(curvator coccygie), that carry it to the side ; two
underneath (depressor coccygis), that depress the
tail, or, acting singly, help to draw it to one
side ; and two situated underneath, outside the
depressors, i.e. on the inferior outward portion
of the tail (the compressor coccygis), which com-
press the tail over the perineum, or, acting
singly, help to draw it to one side. These are
used when the horse compresses his tail with
force.

The erector coccyges have their origin on the
last three sacral spines, and their insertion on
the first two or three coccygeal spines and the
dorsal (upper) surface of all the coccygeal
vertebra.

The curvator coccyges have their origin on the
sides of the sacral spines and the transverse pro-
cesses of the sacral and coccygeal vertebrae.

The depressor coccyges have their origin on
the ventral (under) surface of the posterior parts
of the sacrum, and their insertion on the ventral
surface of the transverse processes and of the
bodies of the coccygeal vertebrae.

The compressor coccyges have their origin on
the large sacro-sciatic ligament inside the pelvic
cavity, and their insertion on the ventral surface
of the first four coccygeal vertebrae.

The tail also contains the superior and inferior
coccygeal ligaments, which run along the dorsal

and ventral surfaces of the tail respectively, and
the intercoccygeal ligaments, which join the
bodies of the vertebrae together. These latter are
thick and elastic, to allow the tail to bend into
fairly sharp curves.

633. There are three arteries that supply
blood to the tail : the two lateral coccygeal
arteries, which are a continuation of the lateral
sacral artery (these divide into two, the superior
branch passing down between the erector coccy-
gis and the transversalis, and the inferior branch
between the transversalis and the depressor
coccygis (P. 106), each supplying twigs to the
muscles and skin), and the middle coccygeal
artery, which either arises from the lateral
coccygeal or from the right or left lateral sacral
(I have seen it arise more often from the lateral
coccygeal), and is not paired ; it passes down the
inferior surface of the tail between the two
depressor muscles.

634. There are five pairs of coccygeal nerves,
five dorsal and five ventral. These unite, form-
ing two trunks on either side, which pass down
the tail. The superior trunk accompanies the
superior lateral artery, and the inferior trunk
accompanies the inferior lateral coccygeal artery.
These four trunks extend to the tip of the
tail, and give off the muscular and cutaneous
nerves.

635. The Panniculus Carnosus. — The panni-
culus carnosus, or fly muscle, is a muscular
layer, varying greatly in thickness, from a very
thin, pale muscle over the face to a thick, dark
muscle of two inches in thickness over the breast,
which extends over most of the body, neck and
head, under the skin. It is very closely attached
to the skin, and only attached in a very few
places to bones, the most important attachment
being on the inner surface of the arm bone
(humerus).

It is divided into facial (head), cervical (neck),
thoracic (chest) and abdominal (belly).

The facial portion extends over the sides of
the jaws, the submaxillary space (between the
lower jaws), and reaches to the mouth.

The cervical originates in a thick muscle at
the anterior end of the breastbone, and extends
over the sides of the neck and becomes embedded
in the levator humeri muscle, which runs up the
side of the neck. The panniculus carnosus does

161

162

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

not extend to the crest of the neck where the
mane will reach.

The thoracic and abdominal portion (known
as the cutaneus maximum) extends over the
whole chest and abdomen, over the forearm
above the knees, and back to the points of the
hips. It does not extend posterior to this, that
is, over the hindquarters, nor around the linea
alba or median line under the belly.

Its action is to twitch the skin and drive away
offending flies, mosquitoes, etc. A few minutes'
study on a hot day in the fly season will give
anyone a good idea of the use of this muscle.
So it will be seen that the hindquarters of the
horse are unprotected from flies, a tail of
sufficient length to reach to the hips being neces-
sary to protect these parts. The mane also is
intended to protect the upper portion of the
neck. I discuss this subject fully in Chapter
XIII.

There is also a thick, triangular piece of fascia
directly over the tail where the horse is unable
to reach. This fascia cannot be penetrated by
the proboscis of a fly. An undocked tail, with
only two or three inches on the end, will reach
very near to the hips, but a docked tail will not.
A tail of sufficient length to reach to the hocks
is necessary, though, to reach the belly and
in between the thighs. This is dealt with in
Chapter XIII.

The skin at the end of the tail is very thick,
being over a quarter of an inch in many cases,
and it is from this alone that the long tail hairs
grow. Therefore, a docked horse will never have
a long tail. I have come across one or two very
rare exceptions with horses only slightly docked.
The hairs on top of the tail are short and finer.
Of course, a longer tail than described above is
better for the horse, as he will be able to keep
the flies from settling on his flanks, back and
abdomen, and be able, probably, to kill those
that do settle, instead of merely driving them
away with his fly muscle.

Flies.

636. Flies are a very active means of spread-
ing infectious diseases; they are filthy, dirt-
spreading insects, and cause no end of worry in
a score of ways during their short life.

Reference to any book on insects will furnish
a good idea of the flies that attack the horse;
they are chiefly of a blood-sucking type, and are
mostly large. Steven H. Terry, in his " Crime of
Docking Horses," illustrates the commonest types
that attack the horse. Some of these flies have
been known to drive docked horses mad, as they
insert their lancets right into the horse's hide
where the tail will not reach, and there suck
blood until they are filled.

637. Below is a list of some of the flies that
worry the horse :

Tabanus equi, T. bovinus, T. autumnalis, T.
bromius, T. morio, T. rusticus, T. fulvus and T.
albipes. These are called breeze flies.

Hippobosca equina.

Simulia reptans and S. maculatum.

Haematopota pluvialis (clegg fly), so called
because it lives on blood.

Chrysops caecutiens (blinding fly).

Stomoxys calcitrans, S. ferox, S. irritans and
S. serrata.

Hydrotoea meteorica (storm fly).

Glossina morsitans (tsetse fly), that causes
nagana. (See Sec. 616.)

Musca domestica (common fly), M. bovina (ox
fly), M. vaccina (cow fly) and M. carnifex (fly
executioner) .

Calliphora vomitoria (blue flesh fly).

Sarcophaga carnaria (grey carnivorous, or
flesh-eating fly), S. magnifica.

Lucilia csesar, L. sericata (causes maggots), L.
macillaria.

Hypoderma equi (subcutaneous bot maggot).

Gastrophilus equi (bot, gad or breeze fly, or
horse bee), G. haemorrhoidalis, G. pecorum, G.
nasalis and G. duodenalis.

638. The common bot is the larva of a gad
fly (gastrophilus equi). This fly lays its eggs on
the horse's forelegs, etc., in the autumn, and in
two or three weeks these eggs hatch and form
small worms that cause irritation ; the horse
licks the part, and the worm gains access to the
mouth, and then to the stomach, where it
attaches itself to the mucous membrane of the
stomach by means of its little hooks. In nine or
ten months, i.e. the following summer, it quits
its hold and is expelled. It then lives in the
ground, is changed into a chrysalis, and after a
month becomes a gad fly. The female fly
becomes impregnated, and lays eggs on the horse
as described above.

The bot fly, or gad fly, has a long quadratal
lancet that pierces the horse's skin, and then a
large sucker thart enters in between the four
lancets and sucks up the horse's blood.

639. Mosquitoes. — The common mosquitoes
are of the genera anopheles, culex, stegomia,
simulium, etc. Some of these attack the horse
and some do not.

All these flies and mosquitoes belong to the
arthropoda phylum or form, and to the insecta
subphylum in the animal kingdom.

Medical science has proved that a great many
diseases, as malaria, Texas fever (in cattle),
yellow fever, etc., are spread by flies ; therefore,
the more flies that are killed the better. If a
horse can kill a fly, or even drive away a bot fly
before it can lay its eggs, it has done a good
turn; a docked horse has very little chance of
driving it away from its hindlegs.

640. The Spread of Disease by Flies.— Having
considered the worry and pain caused to the
horse by the insect world, we will consider

XIl]

ANATOMY AND USE OF TAIL

163

briefly how these pests spread disease. A great
amount of disease is carried on the feet of flies ;
this is not to be wondered at when one realises
how flies delight to visit filthy places, and imme-
diately afterwards to settle on one's food.

Dr. MacMurchy, in the Toronto World,
rightly says that "few people realise what a
serious duty it is to prevent the existence of flies
and to destroy utterly the one or two ' winter
flies' found in so many houses in the winter
months. All garbage must be placed in fly-proof
receptacles, and all manure must be removed
entirely every two or three days. It takes but
eight days for a fly's egg to hatch, and these are
deposited by the million."

The winter flies must be got rid of by leaving
in every room and stable one or two sticky fly-
reels hanging from the ceiling ; all corners must
be swept out in the winter to remove any flies
that may be hidden in such places.

It is acknowledged now that infantile paraly-
sis (anterior poliomyelitis) is spread by the stable
fly (stomoxys). This fly bites an infected person,
and thus conveys the germ to the next person
that it bites.

It seems so foolish for people to leave a few
flies about the house all the winter. It is most
objectionable to have to sit in such houses. I
have found a very large number of such houses,
those that usually are kept in a very hot and
unhealthy condition.

The anopheles is the cause of the spread of
malarial fever. The mosquito bites an infected
human being or animal, and the malaria para-
site, which is a protozoon, or one-celled animal
(these are known as the haemamoeba masti-
gophora protozoa), enters the stomach of the
mosquito. In this stomach, and nowhere else, a
male (microgamete) and a female (megagamete)
unite and reproduce. Here they actually fuse
together and bury themselves as one mass, like
an egg, in the epithelial coating of the stomach.
After a while this egg or ovum divides into a
number of little spores, which each, in time,
break up into a number of tiny elongated rods.
These rods make their way into the salivary
glands of the mosquito. When the mosquito,
which itself is sick with malarial fever, bites an
animal or human being, in order to prevent the
blood from coagulating as it passes up into its
mouth (and thus choking it), it injects some of
its saliva into its victim before commencing to
suck. In this way some of the rod-like organ-
isms in this saliva gain access to the victim. In
their new host they grow into the heemamceba,
eventually giving the host malarial fever.

Fortunately for us, everyone so bitten does
not contract malaria, because in most cases the
white blood corpuscles (leucocytes) in the blood
of the new host devour the invaders.

641. Other Uses of the Tail. — The horse, when
at pasture, stands with his back to the rain or

the cold wind, because he thus protects himself
by means of his tail. A docked horse cannot
protect his bladder and other vulnerable parts
when so exposed to cold and damp. He also uses
his tail, as we do our hands, to scratch those
parts that he cannot otherwise reach. It is sur-
prising how many people with considerable
experience are not aware of the fact that the long
tail is of use to the horse in making quick turns
and in retaining his balance in polo and many
military sports, and also in sword fighting. I
suppose ignorance of this fact can be put down
to the want of minute observation and lack of
horse-sense. I have described in detail the use
of the tail for brood mares at pasture in Chapter
XIII. I was glad to see Farm Life point out the
importance of leaving brood mares their tails,
and advise owners of docked horses not to turn
them out to pasture during the fly season. The
other uses of the tail are fully described in the
same chapter.

642. Fly Nets.— The excuse that the fly net is
all that is necessary for a docked horse is a poor
one, and no observant horse lover could possibly
believe it. Horse nets are common articles used
on well-cared-for, long-tailed horses in Canada,
the United States, India, etc., in the fly season.
I do not mean to assert that fly nets are of
no use on docked horses, but what I mean is
that a net in no way takes the place of a tail,
particularly as it does not reach in between
the thighs, where there is no fly muscle and
where the skin is particularly delicate.

A net on an undocked horse adds decided
comfort to the animal. (P. 104e.) It allows
him to use his tail posteriorly and relieves him
of having to switch it around to either side,
which means that the horse can go along more
at ease, and will not be describing various figures
with its tail when the flies and mosquitoes are
abundant. White cotton sheets are often used
on farm and heavy draught horses in British
Columbia and the great North- West of Canada.

643. The subject of hogging manes is men-
tioned in Section 241. The mane is a valuable
weapon of defence against flies, because the fly
muscle does not extend to the top of the neck.
With the mane the horse has merely to shake his
neck from side to side, and the mane will brush
away any offending insects ; especially is this
necessary at the end of the season, when flies
and mosquitoes cling on very securely. A mane
four or five inches in length is all that is
required. It should be kept thin ; a thin mane
is much cooler. (P. 80a.) The panniculus car-
nosus, or fly muscle, extends almost to a mane of
this length. The forelock serves as a great pro-
tection to the eyes, and for this reason should not
be cut off. The forelock is a beautiful addition
to most horses. (P. 80.) Eye fringes are useful
appendages on the bridle for horses that have
no forelocks. (P. 104d.) These also protect the

164

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

eyes from the strong sun. They are made of
leather or string; the latter keeps softer. If
leather is used, it must be kept quite soft by
continually being well greased. An eye fringe
can be either sewn on to the bridle, or hooked or
buttoned on, or it may be, as in P. 104rf, a
separate brow-band.

644. Fly Whisks.— P. 104rf shows a horsehair
fly whisk which is often carried by a rider in
the fly season in a country where the flies are
bad. They save horse and rider considerably.
They can be purchased for a small sum, either
black or white, or one can be made from the
hair of a dead horse's tail.

645. Fly Papers. — These should be of the
sticky, reel variety, which are far superior to the
poison papers or to the sticky papers. A large
number of reels should be hung in every stable.
The most suitable type consists of about one yard
of sticky paper, an inch in width, that is hung
up to the ceiling and unrolled from its reel. Fly
screens should be used on every window and
door. (See Sec. 366.)

Nicking Tails

646. The vulgar expression "nicking" refers
to the dividing of the depressor, and perhaps
compressor, muscles of the tail, which, of
course, should be done under an anaesthetic.
Nicking was originally performed, and is to-day
chiefly done, for one reason, fashion — to make
the horse carry its tail higher. Most of the
horses that are nicked to-day are the docked
or hat-pegged variety (P. 105), in which case
the underside of the tail is cut across in several
places, and the tail tied up, or even over the
back, for perhaps a week. The inhuman type
of man that practises this is, fortunately, not
common. Hackney admirers have a singular
desire for such specimens of horses as are shown
in P. 105, 1126, 113. The operation, when done
merely for fashion, of course, is illegal. Horse
shows are responsible for a great many of these
tails. I cannot understand how the law allows
such horses to win prizes, or even to enter the ring.

This form of nicking might truly be called
cruel ; a local anaesthetic is seldom used. But
it must be remembered that after the operation
is over, the horse has not lost one of its members,
as it has when it loses its tail. I mean that it
is none the worse, so that the nicking operation
can scarcely be compared with that of docking.
I have often been surprised to see that writers,
not necessarily authorities, have declared that
nicking is more cruel than docking. They
evidently merely consider the operation. Even
so, to have two or three cuts made in one's finger,
or to have the finger chopped right off, and the
stump seared with a red-hot iron, could scarcely
be compared with one another. The chief point
is the loss of the tail in the operation of docking.
A tail to a horse in the fly season is a great deal

more important than a finger to a man. Some
say that nearly all the long, flowing tails we see
in the show ring have been nicked. This is quite
wrong ; as a matter of fact, I find that extremely
few have been.

647. The operation for nicking a long-tailed
horse, as described below, is nothing like as
painful as that for producing the "hat peg" in
P. 113. Only those long tails that are carried
tightly on the quarters are nicked, and these are
uncommon with well-bred horses. If docking
became extinct, nicking would be decreased by
from 80 to 90 per cent.

Dividing the Depressor Muscles

648. I object to the term nicking. As stated
above, this operation is performed sometimes on
horses that carry their tails down tightly, gener-
ally due to coarse breeding. If the operation is
done only for this it is illegal, although it may
be done without any pain, providing a local
anaesthetic is used. There is, however, one
occasion on which the operation can be per-
formed perfectly legally, and that is when a
horse grabs hold of the reins, and then endangers
those driving behind as well as itself.

Nicking in this case is performed, not for
fashion, but to better the horse, lessen the
liability of its being docked afterwards, and, in
fact, make it perfectly safe to drive under all
conditions. I have described in Chapter VI.,
Sec. 270, the correct way of training a horse to
harness so that it will not object to the reins
being held under its tail while going along. This
subject is also dealt with in detail in Chapter
XIII. Fear or nervousness causes 99 per cent, of
those who grab the reins to do so. There are,
however, a very few who will maliciously grab
the reins if they can ; these should be nicked, as
described below, for their own good. Ticklish
mares sometimes have this habit.

My friend, Professor Fowler, one of the lead-
ing authorities on comparative anatomy on the
North American continent, says : " A sure way
of making horses safe that have acquired a bad
habit of grabbing hold of the reins is the per-
formance of a slight operation on the depressor
muscles of the tail. This is not cruel ; it is
done for the horse's good, and not for any silly
fashion. It is soon over, and afterwards the
horse is the better for it."

649. The operation is performed thus : A
drachm of 5 per cent, cocaine hydrochloride (see
Chapter XVI.) is injected on each side of the tail
near the root of the dock. In fifteen minuter
the tail is raised, and one or two transverse cuts
made across each of the depressor musci< or:
each side of the median line close to the ruot of
the dock. There will be no feeling in the tail.
The open wounds are then plugged up lightly
with wet antiseptic cotton-wool, and the tail
wrapped in oil sheeting to keep the wool from

PLATE 107

' How would he like it ? " A Picture Pai'able by Philip R. Goodwin. Through courtesy of " The Graphic.'
Copyright : London Electrotype Agency, Fleet Street

PLATE 108

Some Sketches from Life of the Beauty of the Undocked Tail

PLATE 109

J. J» 2.1 *»i 24., ff X*M Ptg- s a*1 House mu TILA Tta/y.
2.2, 25", 2^, 27» H UM A-NI? n/z ^ HO T> s o^ TI.A i r/n/c- on TK i HHIHC-
THE TAIL, (WITHOUT MUT it- *T/OH) . i3 SHOWS THE HAHC-CIOUS

•P/?/»c-r/ce OF CI.IPP/HC rite, ens Op rue. 2>oc>f F/tae of n*iir-

T«IS AIU^T *E.ve# as. Af-t-auz

The Art of the Docking Advocates. Sketches from Life of Docked Tails ; and Suggestions for
Plaiting and Trimming the Shire Horse's Tail

PLATE 110

: /»s r*£x *"* (r* "-

THty SHOULD ee (SAL A*/ c sj>

Sketches of Three Famous Hackneys, as They are, and as Nature intended They should be

XII]

ANATOMY AND USE OF TAIL

165

becoming dry. In two or three days the wound
is again dressed, and in a couple of weeks will
be quite healed up, leaving a portion of the
muscles divided. The degree to which the
muscles should be divided will depend on the
extent to which the tail is held down by the
horse when he takes hold of the reins. There is
no need to tie up the tail to a pulley or tie it over
the back, as is commonly done even to-day by
some thoughtless persons who perform illegal
operations for horse-show exhibitors.

Straightening " Kinked " Tails

650. A very important point concerning the
above operation is the straightening of a kinked
or crooked tail, or one that is carried to one side
or other. By the above simple operation tails
that have kinks in them can be made absolutely

straight, or a tail that is carried to one side can
be made to hang perfectly straight. If the kink
is small, a slight nick is made on the concave
side of the kink, i.e. on the side towards which
the tail is bent ; if the tail is carried on one side,
the nick is made on the same side near the root
of the dock. The wounds are gently plugged and
the tail is bound and treated similarly to the
treatment after nicking, as described above. After
the operation the horse is none the worse, and,
in fact, is far better, as it is less liable to have
its tail docked. This is similar to a human being
having the squint removed from the eye, and
can scarcely be called an operation performed
for fashion.

In the place of cocaine, the ether spray can
be used for operations for kinks in the tail, as
they are so near to the surface. (See Chapter
XVI.)

CHAPTER XIII

THE GRIME OF DOCKING HORSES' TAILS

651. WE live in a civilised country that boasts
of its modern civilisation, yet allows the repre-
hensible practice of mutilating the horse to
exist. There would, to-day, scarcely be any
necessity to write against this custom, which
was introduced centuries ago by barbarians who
knew no better, had the various hackney and
heavy draught-horse societies done what it was
in their power to do a few years ago, namely,
to forbid docked horses from entering the
show ring, as did the Hunters Improvement
Society. Thanks to this society, the docked
hunter is to-day, in every country, practically
extinct.

Field-Marshal H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught,
Governor-General of Canada, speaking in Ottawa
on this subject, stated: "I think the docking of
horses is a relic of barbarism. It is a shame to
deprive the horse of the tail God has given it."
No doubt these remarks are laughed at by up-
holders of docking, but it should be remembered
that they come from a horseman of no little
knowledge, which cannot always be alleged of
the person who sanctions docking.

652. We will consider the practice systematic-
ally in the following order : The use of the tail ;
the operation ; the reason for and excuses p'ut
forward, namely, cleanliness, strengthening the
hindquarters, safety, appearance, neatness, show
and fashion.

653. The Use of the Tail.— This has been
described fully in Chapter XII., but, to recapitu-
late briefly, its chief use is as a weapon of
defence against flies. The panniculus carnosus
muscle extends all over the horse's body except
the hindquarters, which part is supposed by
Nature to be protected by the tail. In between
the thighs and the portions of the belly between
the stifle joints there is no fly muscle, and the
tail is also supposed to reach here. A tail should
be long enough to reach nearly to the point of
the hip. If the hair is left quite long, this will,
of course, drive flies away that have got their
lancets in deeply, as is not uncommon at the end
of the fly season.

Just over the root of the tail, where the horse
cannot reach, there is a thick fascia that a fly
cannot penetrate. It will, therefore, be seen
that it is not necessary to leave a horse's tail
quite long. When a horse is turned out to

pasture he requires a tail a little below the hock
for comfort, but if it is a little shorter he will
be able to rid himself of most flies that the fly
muscle will not reach. Any observant person
must have noticed how peacefully a long-tailed
horse grazes at pasture, compared with a horse
with the hair banged near the end of the dock
which kicks at the flies that get on the belly
between the thighs. Such a horse, of course,
will soon have a longer tail, as the hair grows
from a natural dock fairly fast.

Here we come to a most important point
which I have impressed upon farmers, through
the columns of various papers, over and over
again. Dr. Rutherford, formerly Veterinary
Director-General of Canada, brought out this
point very strongly while talking to me on the
subject a short time ago. The point is that if
a mare is to be used for breeding purposes it
should, so modern veterinary science tells us, be
turned out to pasture not only after the foal has
been born, but before, as foals born out-of-doors
in fine weather, or even in the snow in Alberta,
are always better for it, and are not so likely to
develop that often fatal disease, navel ill, so
common in some districts.

Now, if a mother is docked, is it humane to
turn her out, seeing that the fly season com-
mences very soon after the time for foaling —
April, May or June? Of course, the practitioner
of docking thinks little about this, and if he
were to he would say, " They are all right ; the
flies won't kill them." In expressing himself
he really shows want of true sympathy for the
horse. If, however — and here is the point. — the
mare, or any other horse which is to be turned
out to pasture, has not been docked, but has
merely had its tail banged (the hair squared off),
as in P. 79, or even as short as in P. 29, the
hair will soon grow again. It will be a few
months before the hair will reach the hocks, and
then there will be sufficient protection to reach
where the fly muscles will not. If, of course,
the horse is going to be used for breeding alto-
gether, the tail can be allowed to grow as long
as possible.

Horse owners have a culpable habit of allow-
ing their grooms to trim their horses' tails in the
spring, i.e. just before the fly season commences,
instead of in the autumn, after the flies have

166

CHAP. XIIl]

CRIME OF DOCKING HORSES

167

gone. In Canada it would have to be late in the
autumn. Then, again, if a horse's tail is merely
banged short, when he is sold as worn out, as
he often is, the new owner, who will not take,
perhaps, the same care of him, can let the hair
grow to its full extent ; but if the horse has been
docked, it has to remain a victim of fly torture
during the rest of its unhappy days. If, again,
it were not docked, the owner could pension it
off in a nice pasture to spend the rest of its life
in peace.

Those who employ docking invariably trim
their horses' stumps to an absurd degree in the
spring, thus depriving them of every little bit of
fly protection that wise Nature has provided, in
spite of the vet.'s knife. Why don't these over-
zealous people leave the hair on the stump until
after the fly season? Then, if they wished, they
could trim to their hearts' desire during the
winter months.

654. A horse in harness does not require a
tail below the hocks, because if it is very long,
as in P. 19e, it will not be of any more use
than if it were as in P. 36d. In fact, if very
long, and the horse is harnessed in close to a
two-wheeled cart, as in P. 29^, he would not
be able to use it so easily as if it were trimmed
out or combed out to reach to the hocks.

Any observant horseman, of course, knows
well the real use of the tail, and it must irritate
such a man to sit behind a bobtail horse when
the flies are about and to see the wretched
animal trying all day in vain to rid itself of flies.
The incessant wagging of a docked tail is, I
think, most painful to watch.

655. Other uses of the tail are described in
Chapter XII., and are as a means of protection
from cold, as a rudder in turning, as an append-
age for scratching parts that itch and cannot be
reached by the mouth, etc.

People too commonly argue that a private
horse is kept in a well-cared-for stable away
from flies, but they misstate the facts. I have
never found such a stable yet. Besides, why
cannot these horses enjoy pasture in the
summer? And why are they generally sold
when too old -to work, and perhaps for ten years
exposed to flies? The general complaint in
livery stables at the end of the fly season,
especially in Canada, is that the docked horses
are the poorest in condition.

656. Mr. Terry, in "The Crime of Docking
Horses," referring to illustrations of flies, says :
" They show the sort of enemy against which the
horse has to contend. Mr. Austin, of the Natural
History Museum, London, has written, and the
department has published, a most sumptuously
illustrated and learned work on British blood-
sucking flies. No one who has turned over these
pages will ever consent to any horse of his being
docked, for the awful nature of these flies and
their weapons will not soon be forgotten."

657. A lover of a horse for the horse's sake
alone will surely lay aside thoughts of fashion
before deciding to involve his noble friend in
such an operation and such a loss merely for a
trifling difference in appearance from his or her
point of view.

Queen Alexandra set an example for other
ladies to follow as regards docked horses, when
she refused to accept a pair of docked horses
presented to -her by some ladies of Ottawa. It
was discovered afterwards that these horses had
been docked by a man in Ottawa without the
consent of the donors. I had the pleasure of
investigating this case. Nothing gave me greater
pleasure than when I heard that he had to buy
another pair at his own expense and ship them
to England. King George also refused to accept
a pair of bobtailed horses sent to him as a
present from Australia.

658. A natural tail need not, and should
not, be left thick and bushy, because it only
tends to make the horse hot and gives extra
weight for him to switch around at the flies.
A tail should be kept neat and fairly thin at
the top, as this will tend to keep the horse cooler.
(P. 166.) Some docked horses have a bunch
of untidy hair hanging from the stump that
keeps them hot, and in many cases the hair is
so much in the way that it is insanitary. Un-
docked tails will never get bushy like this even
if left alone.

No one can call a bobtail shire or Clyde neat
or smart ; in the summer it is very cruel to plait
the hair up, and when it is not plaited it is
extremely untidy, whilst a natural tail cannot be
called untidy. Three summers ago I saw a car-
load of Percherons imported from Belgium
which were almost tailless. The horse dealer
who had bought them told me that he had diffi-
culty in selling them, as farmers could not
plough in the autumn, when the flies were so
bad, because the horses would be kicking at flies
all the time. The exporter in Belgium only con-
sidered his own pocket when he shipped such
horses to Canada, but I do not think he realised
the profits he had hoped for.

659. The polo pony is now allowed its tail.
Besides the usual reasons for leaving it long, it
is of great use for making quick turns. (P. 62.)
The want of knowledge on this point is often
explained by the bad horsemanship one so
often sees in the polo field. The old argument
that the tail gets in the way of the stick has,
I think, become exploded. Even if it were
so, it would not justify permanent mutilation,
as both sides would stand the same chance.

660. The Operation. — Unfortunately, there
are some who, after seeing a horse docked, say
that the animal does not mind it ; they expose
their want of horse knowledge and entire lack
of observation.

Horses do not cry out like dogs, unless they

168

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

are in intense fear or left alone by other horses.
I have seen horses in grave accidents have large
gashes torn in them, and yet to the ordinary
individual they have probably shown little signs
of pain, but to the trained eye there was quite
a different story. The horse's eye should be
watched when the raw end of the stump of a
tail is seared and seared again with a red-hot
iron. The operation, in brief, usually consists
in taking up the hair above the joint of incision
and clipping off a ring of hair around the joint.
The docking instrument is then placed around
the joint, midway between two vertebrae, and
the dock chopped off. The stump is grasped and
seared over with resin and a red-hot iron until
all bleeding is arrested. This sometimes takes
as long as twenty seconds.

A horse does not feel so much the severing of
the tail, because it is done very quickly if done
properly; but, here again, how often is it done
properly? In many cases the tail is chopped off
with an axe or with a large knife. The horse
does, however, suffer pain from the hot iron.
Some show intense pain, others not so much.
It is an extraordinary thing that horses seldom
kick or fight in self-defence when being so
mutilated. I think this is due partly to their
utter surprise at finding their tail ruthlessly
taken away from them, and partly to their prob-
ably being in such fear that they remain more or
less motionless.

People who say that horses are nowadays
docked humanely are mistaken. In the first
place, they may refer to one in a thousand cases,
but certainly no more ; and, secondly, even if the
majority of the operations were properly per-
formed, this would not affect the practices that I
have seen in the remote parts of cities.

In all likelihood these people do not know,
nor do they care, whether such things are done
humanely or otherwise, but what they look for
is an excuse that will make them appear to
others less indifferent than they are. The average
man that docks a horse seems to care little what
method he uses or how much pain the horse
suffers. He considers his own pleasure before
anything else, though in some cases it may be
granted that the evil is wrought for want of
thought. It takes several weeks, and sometimes
months, for the end of the dock to heal up
properly. The wound gradually heals, and the
roasted portion dies and drops off. A tail that
has once been docked, however slightly, will not
grow hair at the tip, but an undocked tail will
always have hairs growing from the actual
end.

If the tail is not properly seared over, the
haemorrhage may recommence, and the red-hot
iron will have to be used again. An English
farmer once told me that he sent his horses out
to plough after having docked them ; and some-
times the bleeding would commence again,

whereupon he had to have them brought in, and
the red-hot iron used again.

P. 106 is a drawing that I have made from
an actual stump that had been previously seared
over with a red-hot iron. This horse was docked
merely because it was going to be exhibited at
a show.

Some advocate using chloroform for docking,
but I do not think that this will in any way
relieve the horse of much pain, because, firstly,
a horse struggles against the chloroform, and,
secondly, the after-pain from the burn is in no
way lessened.

The bleeding is sometimes arrested by tying
a cord tightly around the tail above the point of
incision, but the portion below the string will
eventually die and drop off. The tight string
causes pain.

661. The After-Effects of Docking.— There is
always a danger that trouble may follow the
operation. Hundreds of cases of lockjaw
(tetanus) have resulted in the past from this
needless operation. Gangrene has also been a
very common sequel. When either of these sets
in, as a last hope the stump is redocked, so that
in some cases the horse has practically no tail
at all, but somewhat resembles a Manx cat. As
for fly defence, it has none. P. i20d shows a
pony that was docked by a vet. ; gangrene set
in, and, to save its life, it was redocked. The
number of kickers that have been produced by
this brutal fashion is inconceivable. Scores of
horses have been made to fear burning coals,
red-hot irons, the smell of roasting meat, hot
oil, steam engines, sight of fire, etc., owing to
the intense fear they experienced at the time
that they were docked.

A Percheron horse in Kent was docked when
it changed hands because its new owner thought
that it would look smart. The vet. made a
hopeless muddle of the operation, and the poor
horse got blood poisoning, and remained in a
critical condition for several weeks. At the end
of this time it was redocked, and now it has to
wear a false tail to be shown in the show ring.
I have heard of several horses bleeding to death
after the operation. If I attempted to give
details of a number of horses that have been
ruined in various ways by being docked, I
should fill a large volume. I remember a very
fine hunter, some few years ago, being so much
weakened in the back by the operation that
for ever afterwards it was of no use for jump-
ing. It took a long time to convince its short-
sighted owner of the cause of the horse's failure.

Those who wish to read up this subject in
detail should procure from the R.S.P.C.A., 105
Jermyn Street, London, "The Wanton Mutila-
tion of Animals," by the late Dr. Fleming, C.B.,
LL.D., F.R.C.V.S., etc. (Is. 6d.). He was
formerly the chief veterinarian of the British
Army, and the author of at least a dozen

PLATE 111

UNDOCKED versus DOCKED

is, and b, as She was meant lo be. Photo : G. H. Parsons. c, Registered Hackney

Courtesy: Mr. Wynne. d, A Prize-winning Per-

Stallion in Alberta being ridden from Ranch to Ranch (Undocked).

Examples of Undocked Tails P)ailed-up, which shows off the Quarters

cheron. Courtesy : Mr. Lewis. e, f, g, h. Examples of Undocked Tails P)ailed-up, which shows off the Quarters
just as much as Docking would. Courtesy: e, Mr. Wm. Wilson, Brandon, Manitoba. /, g, Messrs. John Inglis Co.,

Toronto. Photos, c to h, by the Author

PLATE 112

THE BEAUTY OF THE NATURAL HORSE

a, Champion Saddle Stallion " Korosko " (4352), Property of Mr. J. A. P. Ramsdell, Newburg, New York, b, Hackney

Stallion, " Admirable Crichlon." Photo : G. H. Parsons

XIIl]

GRIME OF DOCKING HORSES

169

standard works on the horse. He explains the
terrible tortures the horse had to go through to
satisfy objectionable fashions and foolish super-
stitions.

Good Queen Victoria rewarded Dr. Fleming
for his efforts against the docking craze. I do
not know what her Majesty would have thought
of some of the six-inch "hat-pegs" we see in
the modern hackney ring, horses bred and
owned by people who doubtless deem them-
selves animated by sincere regard for the animals'
welfare.

662. The following paragraphs are taken
from Dr. Fleming's book : " Hartzmann asserts
that during the last century the English cavalry
were several times rendered almost useless from
the losses among the horses, caused by the
attack of flies from which they could not pro-
tect themselves. In 1756 the flies caused so
much trouble among the British dock-tailed
horses at Minden that the battle was nearly lost.
Beringer adds : ' Yet such is the cruelty and
absurdity of our notions and customs in crop-
ping the ears of horses, docking and nicking
their tails.' Percivall, the veterinary surgeon of
repute, asserts : ' The unfortunate creature is
subjected anew to torture, so that there is reason
to believe that many horses are docked thrice.
It would ill become me as a professional man to
decry the operation.'

" Bloomfield alludes to it :

4 In thy behalf the crest waved boughs avail
More than the short-clipped remnant of a tail,
A moving mockery, a useless name,
A living proof of cruelty and shame.
Shame to the man, whatever form he bore,
Who took from thee what man can ne'er restore,
Thy weapon of defence, thy chiefest good,
When swarming flies, contending, suck thy blood.'

"Sidney remarks: 'No carriage horse, nor
pack horse of any kind, can be ranked first class
without a noble tail.'"

Fleming continues : " But the danger of reins
getting under the tails of saddle horses cannot
surely be offered as an excuse. Are our eques-
trians less accomplished and less courageous
than the tens of thousands of horsemen whose
horses' tails almost reach the ground and who
almost live in the saddle? Docking is a mania."

663. Sara Linard reminds us that the custom
of docking has descended to us as a relic of
barbarism, having originated in an era far less
intelligent and human than the present century.
She continues : " In those days the Scripture, ' If
an eye offend thee pluck it out,' was taken
literally ; and, if a tail got in the way, to cut
it off seemed only right. There was no plea for
the poor animal that was trying to ease its
suffering mouth from the jerks of an ignorant
driver."

664. Cruelty of Docking— I remember a
w

doctor in a Canadian city who fancied that a
nice little horse of his would look smarter if
docked. He did the operation himself. The
method adopted need not be explained ; suffice
it to say the horse was utterly ruined, and would
not even allow this man to enter the stable. It
had to be sold, and has ever since been driven
in a grocer's cart.

In India a colonel in the British cavalry,
many years ago, had a number of the troop
horses docked. Some of these stood in pools of
blood afterwards, and some almost died. Does
not this seem almost incredible?

A clergyman, some ten years ago, was dis-
covered trying to dock his own horse with a pair
of scissors. The horse's moans were heard, and
the perpetrator got several months' imprison-
ment.

The above are typical examples of the many
hundreds of cases that I have come across ; to
quote more of them would certainly revolt the
reader.

665. Excuses for Docking. — The usual excuses
put forward are : that the docked tail is cleaner ;
that it strengthens the hindquarters ; that with
a long tail it is dangerous to drive ; it always
has been done, and that it looks smart.

The Cleanliness Excuse. — The foolish plea
has been made that in muddy weather a horse
with a long tail might switch mud on to the
rider or on to someone else. A sportsman would
give three answers to this : (i) If afraid of a
little dirt, do not ride ; (2) plait the tail, as is
now commonly done ; (3) bang the hair short.

I am fully aware that many coachmen and
grooms make the excuse that they have not time
to clean long tails in muddy weather. If long
tails are not even plaited or banged, however
dirty they may get, it takes but a little while
to clean them properly compared with the time
taken to clean one of the horse's four legs. My
advice to those who employ such grooms is to
dismiss them immediately. A lazy man is no
good in a stable. Such an excuse only throws a
useful light on the maker of it.

666. The subject of plaiting and banging has
been discussed in Chapter V. P. 26, 27 show
types of plaiting ; P. 28, 29 show types of banged
tails.

A tail that is well cared for is, of course,
more easily kept clean inside, i.e. at the roots
of the hairs; it should be kept fairly thin, and
not left thick and bushy. (See Sees. 240, 658.)
Examples of well-groomed tails are seen in P
16, 59, 63, 64.

Docked horses seldom look neat, and the
stump-tailed hackney does not belie its woe-
begone aspect. The taste of those who drive
behind some of these is admired by few people.
To dock a shire horse's tail to keep it clean and
then to leave four white legs to grow twelve
inches of hair on them, is an inexpressibly

170

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

ludicrous practice. The latter is responsible for
all kinds of disease, but it is the fashion. How-
ever dirty a tail may get, it is very rare that we
hear of any real trouble. In reality, horses that
suffer from itchy tails are generally well cared-
for, highly-fed ones, the disease being caused by
constitutional disturbance, and not outward
neglect.

667. Excuse that it Strengthens the Hind-
quarters.— The above excuse is worse than none.
The veterinary profession, anatomists and phy-
siologists alike, has declared the utter foolish-
ness of such an excuse. People who are not
over-observant think this is the case even to-day,
because a horse that is docked shows off its
hams (buttocks) more and has the appearance
of being more cobby about the hindquarters.
When I mentioned this matter to Dr. Ruther-
ford, he laughed and said, "Why, you don't
believe it, do you? "

I read a book the other day in which the
writer still accepted this excuse. He declared
that a draught-horse foal, if docked when young,
would grow stronger in the hindquarters. I
only ask those who have studied the anatomy
and physiology of the horse to consider this. I
thought that Fleming and other leading veterin-
aries had settled this years ago. The amount of
nourishment required to supply the end of a
natural tail is minute compared to the large
amount required by the hindquarters, which are
supplied by different arteries. The large artery
that feeds these arteries is one of the largest in
the body, so I do not think it would be taxed
to this extent. I suspect those espousing such
views confound a totally different physiological
function, that, namely, in which one kidney
grows larger when the other has been removed.
This happens because the one has to do the work
of both, whilst in the case of the tail there is
plenty of nourishment to supply the tail and
hindquarters ; besides, if one went without, it
would be the tail, and not the quarters, because
the former is farther from the heart. Might I
ask people with such extraordinary views how
it is that the best standard-breds have better
quarters than most hackneys (P. 19, 112a), and
why Suffolk Punches and the undocked Per-
cherons (P. 112a, 126ft, 140a) have generally
better quarters than the docked Clydes and
shires? Besides, all the best Glydes and shires
in Canada, with a few exceptions, have been
docked when at the age of three or four
years.

The farmer in the States or Canada does not
believe in making his horse hideous to comply
with a barbarous practice, nor of depriving them
and torturing them ; but in every city we find a
few horse-dealers who buy these horses and dock
them. There has been, however, a great change
in the cities of Canada during the past few years.
The average man who buys these horses is not

humane enough to refuse to acquire them, partly
because it is fashionable to exhibit them in the
horse show.

668. The Safety Excuse in Driving. — The
excuse that a long-tailed horse is dangerous to
drive, for fear the tail may get over the reins,
is as superstitious as the excuse that it is danger-
ous to walk underneath a ladder lest it may
fall on the wayfarer. All things are possible.
People who use' the excuse have a limited know-
ledge of what a properly-trained horse is, and of
the methods of training a horse properly. The
rein excuse explodes when we visit the United
States, Canada, India, Russia, Arabia, and other
countries.

By statistics I find that there are 100,000,000
horses in the world ; 25,000,000 of these are in
the United States and Canada ; of these about
99 per cent, are undocked ; and 90 per cent, of
these are used in harness work. This means
that there are over 22,000,000 undocked harness
horses in the States and Canada.

I ask the English coach-driver, who still says
that he must have his horses docked : Are you
a worse driver than your American cousin, or
are you too slow in changing to more humane
and modern customs? I think the latter.

The docked hackney is now driven in the
American buggy ; hence, away must go the old
dog-cart excuse. The dump, tip, or tumble cart
(P. 118e) scarcely exists on the American con-
tinent, yet heavy draught horses, used for show
purposes, are docked. The dump cart excuse
cannot be used.

669. There are Four Important Points :

1. My own experience has been that horses
driven in English vehicles are less liable to get
their tails over the reins ; yet most American
horses, as stated above, are undocked.

2. California has the largest number of
coaches and four in the world, yet docked horses
are forbidden in this State, and the penalty is
two years' penal servitude.

3. Docking is not the way to make a tail safe ;
but the tail of a horse that has learned the habit,
through bad driving, of endeavouring to grab the
reins can be made quite safe by resorting to the
simple operation of dividing the under muscles
of the tail, as explained in Chapter XII.

4. To fit the boot to the foot seems more
humane than to fit the foot to the boot. So that
if there are any kinds of vehicles that are not
safe — which is not the truth — it would be better,
and the only legal method to adopt, to alter
the vehicle by raising the dashboard, or to
have some other arrangement attached to the
harness.

Undocked horses are a dozen times more
common in England now than they were six
years ago ; do we hear of more rein trouble?
Do we ever hear of such trouble in the United
States? Not as often as we used to with docked

PLATE 113

SHOW RING HACKNEYS

a, "Beckingham Lady Grace." /», "Lady Beckingham." Copyright Photos: Sport and General.

Fine horses disfigured and made victims of fly-torture for life: the result of an ignorant fashion introduced centuries ago
by barbarians, and still kept in evidence by a few people. It is inconceivable why the law allows it lo exist

PLATE 114

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GRIME OF DOCKING HORSES

171

horses in England. Most of the rein trouble that
we hear of in England is produced and wantonly
exaggerated by advocates of docking.

670. Are we inferior horsemen to the
Russians, Americans, or South Americans, who
use almost entirely long- tailed horses? The
Russians are supposed to be the finest horsemen
in the world.

I guarantee to drive any of these so-called
unsafe horses as a leader in tandem or four-in-
hand with its tail untouched after a couple of
days' practice, provided that the horse in ques-
tion will go in this position. I have described
fully in Chapter VI., Sec. 270, the method I
adopt to make any horse safe as regards reins.
I remind the reader that, if he trains his own
horses to drive, and sells them as being properly
trained without making sure that they have no
objection to reins getting under their tails, he
will be, firstly, selling horses improperly trained,
and, secondly, culpably negligent.

Besides adopting the method described in
Sec. 270, the following appliances, etc., can be
used to make horses that grab the reins abso-
lutely safe. It is one's duty to resort to such
means, neglect of which is inexcusable. A tail
left quite long, as in P. 146, is far safer for driv-
ing purposes than one that is squared off, as in
P. 29g. P. 256 shows a method adopted to make
a mare that continually grabbed the reins quite
safe. It is the invention of Mr. Horace Barry,
of Limpsfield, Surrey, and consists merely of a
fly or insect net. Mr. Barry writes : " In my
mind there is nothing so graceful as a natural
tail. As to its danger, it is comparatively small,
in my experience. To make it quite safe with
a bad horse I have adopted a safeguard which I
saw in India, and which is, I believe, Australian.
It consists merely of a net. If a horse is properly
broken I do not see why he should mind the
reins under the tail any more than the crupper.
Mine do not, and every now and then I purposely
put the reins under my horse's tail (in the stable
yard before starting, and in other places) to get
them accustomed to the feeling. I do not find any
more difficulty with mares than with horses."

671. P. 118a shows a simple attachment that
is scarcely noticeable (in the photograph it has
been painted in white). There is a strap on each
side passing to the breeching-supporting strap at
one end and to a small strap placed loosely around
the tail at the other. This strap must not be tight
round the tail. The horse can move its tail as
much as it likes, but it cannot grab the reins.

Another method is that of plaiting a small
ring into the hairs of the tail near the splinter
bar, and attaching a loose tape from the ring to
the bar. In summer, of course, this would pre-
vent the horse from using its tail to drive away
flies. Great care must be taken not to unharness
the horse from the vehicle without first untying
the tape.

Another method is to have two small rings
fastened to the harness over the croup, through
which the reins pass ; reins are thus kept from
slipping down the sides of the quarters.

A patent device, known as Harsh's hip strap,
consists of a small stud that is strapped on to
the harness over the croup that prevents the reins
from slipping down the side when they are left
loose, or when the horse is driven with a loose
rein, thus preventing the horse from getting his
tail over the reins when he switches around at a
fly. An arrangement such as this is useful for
some tandem leaders.

672. If, however, the tail does get over, the
horse, if properly trained, as described above,
should take little notice of it, and it is generally
quite easy to draw the reins out again, or one
can lean forward and lift the tail back over the
reins.

I have seldom seen accidents with undocked
tails, but I have seen scores with docked tails.
In fact, whenever a docked horse gets his tail
over the reins, it is almost impossible to free
them. It usually kicks violently, probably re-
membering the operation performed on its tail.

P. 119a shows the long-tailed horse used
in four-in-hands in British Columbia, which is
similar to those used all through the west of
North America. These drivers never seem to
have any trouble, and if asked such a question
they would laugh.

I have noticed a few cases in Canada where
horses had their tails plaited loosely to the ends
of the breeching. This was done because they
had acquired, through being jerked in the
mouth, the habit of trying to grab the reins.
This, of course, would not be done in the fly
season ; other methods would be adopted.

673. Some farmers use the weak excuse that
a long tail is liable to become caught in the
dump cart. (P. 118e.) This is supposed to occur
after dumping the load, when the box of the
cart is brought back to its normal position. If
there is any real danger, then the law should
compel an alteration in the construction of these
carts ; but as they are used without any trouble
in many countries and in many parts of England,
I think that, generally speaking, the excuse is
employed by advocates of docking. At any rate,
a net or screen could be placed on the front of
the cart, just behind the horse, which would
make it absolutely safe.

674. The London Coaching Club has not dis-
played its knowledge of horsemanship in some of
its excuses concerning their "leaders." If they
cannot manage with long-tailed horses, how is
it that coach-drivers can in the West? Are
drivers in London inferior?

675. Smartness. — As regards this excuse, it
is only a matter of opinion : " Beauty is in the
eye of the beholder." One thing should be
remembered by all supporters of docking,

172

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

whether they think docked horses look smart or
not, and that is that humanity and justice stand
ahead of mere looks. A glance through the
photographs in this book will convince one that
there is not all that difference as regards smart-
ness. Personally, I think smartness lies on the
other side. Nature's own design, in 99 per cent,
of cases, cannot be imitated or improved upon.

The average person does not admire a docked
horse. Many people who do admire them think
that docking means trimming the hair.

676. When Nature designed the horse she
gave to various breeds tails of different lengths.
For instance, the cobby type (P. 2Qg) has a
shorter dock, whilst the longer-legged, lighter-
built horse has a longer one. A carefully-bred
horse of any breed has nearly always a com-
paratively short dock ; it is the coarse-bred
horse that has the very long dock. Hence it is
all the more absurd to dock well-bred hackneys,
Clydes, shires, etc. People should realise how
ridiculous they are apt to look perched upon
or sitting behind a horse with a hat-peg tail.
(P. 113.)

" Oh wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us ! "

677. Neatness. — The excuse that docked
horses are neater is again a matter of opinion,
and in no way justifies the existence of the
practice. As a matter of fact, there is no doubt
that a well-kept tail is neater than the average
docked tail we see. The only way to make a
docked tail look really neat is to trim it con-
tinually, but this will deprive the horse of all
fly defence, whilst the natural tail looks neat
whether left long or banged to various lengths.

It is quite clear that the practice of docking
exists in order to satisfy a certain fashion or
whim. This whim is encouraged by un-
principled people, who are found even amongst
horse dealers and horse-show followers.

I think the clearest point that proves that
docking is a mere fashion is that hackneys and
show heavy draught horses, and in some
countries cobs, are the three types commonly
docked. Hunters, saddle horses, carriage horses
and the ordinary grade farm horses are not.
We find harness horses in both groups; there-
fore the rein excuse can be eliminated. In
reality the hackney is generally driven in an
American buggy, a vehicle which is used with
most long-tailed horses in the United States.
Then, again, most of the heavy draught horses
are never driven at all, but are used for breed-
ing purposes, so how can the rein excuse, or any
other excuse, be used? I ask a horse-loving
nation why it allows these horses to be docked?

Realising, therefore, that docking is merely
the result of a fashion, we will consider the
chief culprits.

678. There are three classes who encourage it :

1. Ladies and gentlemen who own private
turn-outs. These people mostly know little or
nothing of the practice. They mean well. I
do not attach much blame to these people
because they drive behind docked horses, but I
certainly blame the dealer that sold these horses.

2. Poor people, who will do anything to
make a little money. Such people we see stand-
ing around sale stables. I do not blame them
so much. They perform cruel operations, not
with the idea of disfiguring a horse, but in order
to make a living.

3. The horse-show man or woman, or horse
dealer. To this type of person, who encour-
ages docking for no tangible reason, I attach
nearly all the blame. They know exactly what
the practice means, and, further, they do every-
thing in their power to encourage it, whilst it is
in their power to prevent it. They know it is
illegal, because they try to hide it.

679. The horse show could be the means of
inculcating kind treatment to horses instead of
encouraging mutilation and other forms of
cruelty as it does to-day. Gross cruelty is prac-
tised by ignorant horse-breakers in preparing
horses for jumping, etc. The Hunters Improve-
ment Society has done enormous good by taking
the stand it did a few years ago, when it re-
quested that all horses shown in their shows
should be undocked. This spread all over the
world. Prince Christian was president of this
society at the time, and it was in great measure
due to His Royal Highness that the motion was
introduced.

People who encourage this practice have been
criticised freely, but not a whit too severely.
The Toronto Evening Telegram said : " Docking
is mainly due to thoughtless people."

The Toronto Daily Star said : " Docking is
largely due to horse show followers with no
knowledge of, or respect for, a horse."

These are the opinions of two leading news-
papers out of at least a score that I have read on
this one point. The breeder would cease to dock
his horses if he knew that the purchaser would
not buy them ; therefore, by refusing to buy
them we help the cause of humanity.

680. These adherents of docking will do
almost anything to gain their end. I have known
of instances where men have damaged purposely
the tail of a horse in order to have it docked. In
truth there is not one in many thousand that gets
its tail damaged accidentally, necessitating am-
putation. Some people like their horses to look
different from the commercial horses on the
street, but surely the difference need not be
made by mutilation. A private turn-out is dis-
tinguished by its appointments, by its harness,
livery, carriage, etc., being well cared for.

Some people drive quite commonplace horses,
but because their tails are docked, imagine their
turn-outs are fine ones. Not only do they expose

PLATE 115

Phot

CRUEL AND INARTISTIC

("Horse \Voi

HUMANE AND BEAUTIFUL

Buffalo

O, Shire Stallion " Rickford Coming King." Copyright Photo : Sport and General, b. Reproduction of a Post Card that

was Sold all over Canada and the States.

It is regrettable that certain horse societies do not follow the humane example of hunter and polo pony societies, instead
of being responsible for hundreds of horses being docked every year :n order to stand a good chance of winning prizes.

See P. 43b.

PLATE 116

THE BEAUTY OF THE LONG-TAILED HORSE
a. Courtesy : Mr. Robert Massie, Toronto. />, Courtesy : Mrs. Massey-Treble, Toronto. Photos : Galbraith

XIIl]

GRIME OF DOCKING HORSES

173

their own want of knowledge, but make the
whole practice ridiculous.

681. The Hackney.— The hackney is really a
most beautiful animal if left as Nature designed
him. (P. 48/i, 49a.) Hackney dockers forget
the following points :

1. The hackney has naturally a comparatively
short dock, and therefore trimming or plaiting is
all that is necessary for those who like a short
tail.

2. He seldom has a kink in his tail or carries
it crooked.

3. He always carries it better arched than
most breeds ; in fact, he is very similar in many
respects to the Arab, which is never docked.
(P. 186, 2ia.)

682. I have seen several pairs of horses be-
longing to private owners in Canada of late, with
one horse docked and the other (a new one) with
a long tail which had been plaited up or banged
short. This shows to the observant horseman
that the owner at least understands the horse's
requirements, and that he places humanity be-
fore fashion or appearance. An obstinate coach-
man, of course, says that he could not possibly
drive an odd pair.

Some people dock a horse and then leave the
hair to grow long. What sense is there in this?
It is often insanitary and irritating to the horse,
because he is unable to keep the loose hairs away
from his quarters. It certainly is not neat.
P. 105, 113 illustrate the tails of some show hack-
neys. Such are hideous ; yet, if the hair is
trimmed right off, the horse has no fly protec-
tion at all over his hindquarters.

683. Scores of horses, especially heavy
draught horses, are docked simply because they
are going to be put in a show, and the fashion
ordains that certain breeds, unless docked, stand
little chance of winning a prize. I received the
following encouraging words from a friend in
the veterinary profession in Western Canada a
short while ago : " You must have done much
good for the horse here, because docking, which
was fairly common while you were practising
with us, is now extinct ; at least, I am thankful
to say we are doing none of it."

Grooms and certain fanatics seem to love to
see the horse's buttocks (the gracilis region
especially) shown off. These people seem to have
no control over their enthusiasm. What the
young lad in the stable is to learn from such
practices passes comprehension.

Great care should be taken, in harnessing
horses into a vehicle, not to harness too far back,
as is so commonly done in England, allowing
in many cases the tail to rub against the front
of the vehicle.

684. Prevention. — Now we will consider the
various ways of stopping this barbarous prac-
tice : by the law, by setting the fashion against
it, and by means of the horse show.

The quickest and easiest way, I think, is to
forbid the appearance of docked horses, except
those that have been docked before a certain
date, in the show ring. If this were done, dock-
ing would rapidly become extinct.

Another way is to adopt the method used in
California, where all horses that were docked
before a certain date are registered in records.
Any horse that is docked must therefore have a
certificate, and when the owner cannot produce
this, it is prima facie evidence that the horse,
as it is not registered, has been docked since
the passing of the law (see Chapter XV.). This
has its disadvantages, as it entails considerable
trouble.

The second way, that of setting the fashion
against the practice, is what has happened in
England and other countries with hunters,
saddle horses, and the better class of carriage
horses, and also polo ponies. This method,
however, is slow, and, of course, there are many
fanatics who do not- change their opinions.
These the law should get at.

685. Now, if horse shows forbade docked
horses from entering the ring — as, practically
speaking, the Hunters Improvement Society did
some six years ago — all horses would be as the
hunter is now — a horse, and not a " fake," as
the hackney is. Fine horses do not require to
be mutilated in order that they should win
prizes. Such a custom might exist amongst
barbarians, but one would hardly expect it to
exist openly in a civilised country, yet it not
only prevails but is encouraged.

The type of person, as a rule, that shows in
these bobtail classes does not rank amongst
good horsemen, and in many cases they are not
very desirable. I was glad to see these classes
poorly patronised at a recent horse show in
Toronto, and the people less interested in them.
Horse show authorities have it in their power to
stop this craze in a few months. The Hackney
Horse Society and the Shire Horse Society
should realise the gross cruelty which they are
responsible for, instead of meeting well-informed
criticism with such inconsequent replies as " The
subject has been ventilated before."

Even if horse shows forbade docked horses
from entering the ring, there would still have
to be close police and S.P.C.A. inspection,
because, as I have already hinted, there are
people who still think that an undocked horse
should not be allowed to live.

Some years ago the Royal Agricultural
Society passed a resolution condemning this
practice, but at the following meeting a small
section of the members, possessed of great in-
fluence, used this influence in getting the motion
voted down. Among them was a man who was
supposed to be a lover of horses, yet his action
led to the defeat of one of the most humane
motions ever proposed in a civilised country.

174

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Hence this person was more or less answerable
for thousands of horses being docked.

686. If people refuse to buy, or drive, or
ride docked horses, dealers will cease to dock
them. Such harmful fashions teach cruel ideas
to the young and have a hardening effect which
goes far to ruin naturally good dispositions.

Docking advocates used to say that hunters
must be docked, etc., but now they have to
change their tune, and urge that hackneys must
be docked.

687. The veterinary profession, I am sorry to
say, is not improved by the existence of such
cruel fashions. Of course, there are scores of
veterinary surgeons who now refuse to dock
horses (see Chapter XIV.), but there are others
who are not wealthy and who are afraid of
losing their practice if they refuse. The
veterinary profession is a most noble one, and
I am thankful to say that there are many in it
who do not countenance the custom of docking
and, indeed, do all that lies in their power to
assist in the restriction of the practice.

If the veterinary colleges, however, were more
strict in granting certificates, there would be
fewer of the type of man who does no credit
to his profession. A great number of vets, have
openly denounced docking in the Canadian and
United States Press, and many have declared that
they have abandoned it for ever. The Ottawa
papers said a few years ago, " The capital is
proud to boast of the fact that three of its lead-
ing veterinary surgeons have openly declared in
the Press that they will not perform the un-
necessary operation of docking horses any
more."

In many parts of the States a good tail adds
twenty dollars to the value of a horse. I have
known of several Americans who have offered
$500 extra for a good English hackney with
a tail.

For a long while the docked horse in France
was known as the English horse ; so the bob-
tail horse to-day is known as the Englishman's
horse in many parts of the United States and
Canada.

688. Dr. Fleming said that horse shows
might be largely instrumental in abolishing
docking by refusing to admit docked horses, or,
at any rate, not awarding them prizes.

Shortly before his death this great surgeon,
while chief veterinary of the British Army, said
in a public speech: "Thus, you see, there is
not only the pain at the time, and for a long
time afterwards, but the operation deprives the
animal of its most important defence against
insects."

The Press in Canada and the United States
has done a great deal of good in denouncing
this cruelty. In England, I am sorry to say, the
Press is much slower in taking the matter up.
I hope, however, that when it does take it up

it will do so thoroughly. But it must not be
supposed that every British newspaper is silent
on the subject. We shall presently see that
powerful protests have emanated from this
source, and who can doubt but that more shall
follow?

689. Our Royal Family has set a sufficient
example to those who wish to be up to date.
Queen Victoria and King Edward both de-
nounced the practice, and used their influence
against it. Queen Alexandra, as stated above,
refused to accept a pair of docked horses, and so,
too, as we have seen, did King George.

Dr. Rutherford, V.D.G., of the Dominion of
Canada, said to me: "The majority of horses
look much better undocked, and the practice is,
after all, only a fashion or fad which can be
abolished without injury to anyone. Not only
is the operation painful, but the subsequent
annoyance and irritation to which docked horses
are subjected in the summer-time from flies,
etc., especially when at pasture, is in itself a
sufficient argument against the practice." This
was published by his request all over Canada
and in other countries.

Mr. Basil Tozer, in the Daily Graphic, in
June, 1912, at the conclusion of an interesting
article on the International Horse Show, said :
"In spite of all that has been said and written
by Walter Winans and by other men whose
opinions command attention against the ridi-
culous fashion of amputating horses' tails and
then singeing the stumps until they look like
hat-pegs, advocates of the so-called docking are
to be seen daily at Olympia. Half a dozen well-
known sportsmen, in a box close to the royal box
on Tuesday night, were discussing this very
point, and the opinion they all expressed was
that animals with their tails chopped off, as are
the tails of Kitty, Why Not, Pat, and a dozen
others, ought, ipso facto, to be disqualified."

A leading article in the Daily Graphic said :
" Not until the horse-owning public insists on
purchasing undocked animals will the practice
be stopped. The subsequent torture endured by
docked horses in the fly season should be suf-
ficient to stop it. Why the stumpy tail should
be thought smart it is difficult to realise. It is
sincerely to be hoped that other societies will
follow the splendid example of the Hunters Im-
provement Society."

The Cavalry Journal stated : " So persistent is
mutilation that some have to make a mental
endeavour to prefer whole tails like that on the
King's horse to the stunted, useless, indecent,
inartistic things like that on the German Em-
peror's horse. The adjective 'smart' is akin to
the German schmerz, i.e. pain. Smart may
certainly be used of docked horses likely to suffer
fly persecution in stable and paddock for twenty
years following the initial pain. Think of
twenty years of pin-pricks. It is the rein danger

PLATE 117

T/iys.

Undocked Horses ; Tails Long, Plaited, or Banged. Courtesy : a, Mr. R. Massie, Toronto. b. Major Bennett,
Kingslon, Ontario, e, f, Mr. P. Cardinal, Ottawa. c, d, g, h, Mr. W. Wilson, Toronto. Photos : a, Galbraith,

Toronto ; Remainder by the Author

DOCKING

O, Patent Strap to Prevent Switching Mare from Grabbing Reins, b, Undocked Tail bent up loosely to Show off the
Quarters Temporarily (it must never be left like this). c, d. Good Horses Disfigured by Mutilation, d. Hackney Pony
" Talke Wildfire." e. The Tip Cart (see Text) and a Suffolk Punch. /, Quarters of an Undocked Horse shown off by
Plaiting, g, Long-tail Six-in-hand, Brandon, Manitoba, h, Undocked Polo Ponies at Hurlingham. Courtesy : a, Slinn-
Shouldis Co., Ottawa. e, Mr. Field, Chislehurst. /, Messrs. John B. Smith Lumber Co., Toronto. Photos : d, G. H.
Parsons. fy, Graphic Photo Union. Remainder by the Author

XIIl]

CRIME OF DOCKING HORSES

175

excuse that is robbing the horse of his first aid,
of his first line of defence against winged
vermin, cold wind, and rain. And let us not
forget that the horse-dealer achieves selling you
your optical illusion (strong hindquarters) at an
enhanced price for a damaged article."

690. I received the following remarks from
the head of one of the largest horse-owning firms
in Canada : " Docking horses of any description
has always been discouraged by me. It is, I am
sorry to say, rather prevalent amongst importers
of heavy draught stock, who think that it adds
massiveness to the appearance."

I have received scores of letters from horse-
men of note, and some of these will be quoted
in the next chapter. As an example of one, Lord
Leigh, a well-known horseman, writes: "I fully
sympathise with your views as to the docking of
horses' tails."

The Toronto Sunday World says, at the con-
clusion of a lengthy article: "With such illus-
trations before one it should not be necessary to
use any further arguments in favour of non-
docking to the people of Canada. But as long
as horse shows consider docked horses eligible
to compete, so long will the practice continue,
unless forbidden by law, as is done in many
of the States."

A noted horseman writes me : " If people
could realise how absurd they look perched be-
hind a horse with a bob-tail, it would have far
more effect than reminding them of the cruelty.
We must remember the type of man that en-
courages this practice."

691. People who dock horses should be
severely punished. Most of them, I find, are
great cowards, and cowards dislike physical
punishment. Small fines, such as magistrates
are too prone to impose, will never meet the
case.

Our Dumb Animals (Boston) says : " From
numerous articles published in the Press it is
evident that the bob-tailed horse is rapidly grow-
ing unfashionable in Canada. The Duke's long-
tailed four-in-hand is, of course, admired by
everyone. Trimming the hair is all that is
necessary for those who like a short tail."

The Rider and Driver (New York) says :
" They are no longer tails, but hat-pegs. This
refers chiefly to the English hackneys."

The Trotter and Pacer (New York) says :
" The custom of docking horses has no justifica-
tion whatever, except a senseless and snobbish
deference to the decree of fashion."

692. The Folly of Docking.— Telling is the
power of ridicule, and one hopes for forcible
support from this quarter. I recollect a man
in Western Canada, unconscious of his own mis-
doings, having a horse docked and driven in
tandem. He thought he would be up to date and
attract attention ; he was not admired, but it
was not until several people told him what a

fool he was that he realised his mistake. " When
in Rome do as Rome does," applies also to other
countries. Many people prefer docked horses
because they have been used to seeing them ; but
they would be just as happy if the practice
became extinct. Anyone who has lived for
long in the United States or Canada and has
noticed the lovely types of undocked horses in
all kinds of vehicles must confess how much
more handsome they are compared with the
poor creatures that suffer from the caprice of
Fashion.

I cannot conceive why some docking advocates
absolutely refuse to own natural horses, and even
despise those who work for a good cause. Be-
cause a poor man imagines he is a king or a
teapot he is confined in an asylum ; but the man
who uses every effort to encourage the wanton
mutilation of an animal is allowed his freedom
in a civilised country. No wonder the American
papers called such people " Anglomaniacs."

A Christian should be satisfied with trimming
the hair. In China, the home of superstition, by
which, in the past, the inhabitants have been
dominated, they now see their folly, and are
giving up two of their degrading customs, foot
binding and opium smoking. These, however,
only affected the people who practised them, and
not dumb animals. When the Chinese realised
their folly, strict repressive laws were passed ;
when we realise ours, we allow the practice to
continue. Some years ago a noted Chinaman
visited England, and on his return home said :
"The ladies wear long tails that are useless and
insanitary, and yet they deprive their horses of
the tail that is of the greatest necessity."

The sight of a horse constantly switching its
docked stump in the fly season and turning its
body into all shapes while endeavouring to reach
flies is a cruel spectacle.

693. Dr. T. C. Evans, D.V.Sc., of the
Dominion Experimental Farm, Ottawa, writes
me : " Docking is an inexcusable piece of bar-
barism, except when the tail is diseased, either
by a pathological growth or by necrosis. The
latter has been caused through grooms and horse
dealers tying up the tail tightly and leaving it
so for several days ; the after-effects are most
distressing."

A docked hackney cannot be turned out to
enjoy pasture in the summer, and just for this
little difference in appearance it has to be taken
in the day, fed, watered, sheeted, and kept in a
stable. I came across a man who told me his
former occupation was that of assisting in re-
docking hackneys in England for the horse
shows.

Imitation hackneys are not at all uncommon,
and the following is an example of what the
modern hackney is responsible for. I heard a
man ask another if he was going to show his
horse, that had high action and a long tail, in

176

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

the coming show. The reply came that he did
not know in which class to show it, whereupon
he was told : " Cut its tail off and enter it in the
hackney class."

Advocates of docking will dock a horse in any
country ; one has only to see the tailless hackney
in fly-stricken countries to verify this. English
and Scottish horse shows are responsible for
the terrible fly torture in Canada and other hot
summer countries, the docked Clyde mare being
one of the worst examples of ignorance, foolish-
ness, and cruelty.

A pair of freshly-docked horses was seen in
Ottawa about eight years ago on the streets with
the wounds dripping with blood. The matter
was taken up and the case prosecuted. A police
inspector came into the office of the Toronto
S.P.C.A. and said that he had just seen a horse
docked, the hot iron applied intermittently for
twenty-eight minutes. This case was also prose-
cuted.

I noticed a sign of modern times in the Ladies'
Field a few months ago. An advertisement read :
" Mare Mona, very smart, bay, undocked, i5
hands, 6 years, quiet to ride or drive, etc."

A well-known London firm of jobmasters,
when they send horses out on hire, request that
the hairs of the tails be neither trimmed nor
pulled.

694. Will such cruelty be left unpunished?
The following examples of retribution over-
taking persons who were guilty of cruelty to
horses may be attributed by some to the long
arm of coincidence, yet I feel they afford an
answer in the negative to the above question.

A farmer in Western Canada was boasting
one day of having docked a number of his Clydes
for a coming show ; that night his wife suddenly
died.

A horse dealer who formerly docked a
number of horses lost his leg as a result of a
kick from one of his victims.

A veterinary surgeon was badly mauled by a
horse whom he had mutilated ; he never re-
covered.

A foreman of a stable had a number of his
horses docked secretly ; three weeks afterwards
his little boy chopped one of his feet off with
an axe.

The proprietors of " Reducine " say : " A man
who docks a horse commits a crime. Every
person who has a horse docked is an accessory
to the crime. Every person who uses a docked
horse is an accessory after the crime, and by his
or her influence stimulates or encourages the
commission of the crime."

695. Since writing the foregoing sections a
Bill has been introduced by Sir John Rolleston
into the House of Commons to forbid the dock-
ing of horses, and supported by a large number
of the leading horsemen in London. Mr. Walter
Winans, the celebrated American millionaire

horseman, has done an immense amount of good
in supporting this Bill by demonstrations in
public with his beautiful long-tailed horses. He
has also had cinematograph photographs ex-
hibited all over London and the provinces, of
the operation of docking, and also films showing
the beauty of a natural tail and the method of
training horses to become accustomed to getting
the reins under the tail. I received a letter from
him in which he stated that the only opposition
he got were rude letters of abuse from men who
believed in docking. This shows the sort of men
who advocate the continuance of this barbarous
practice.

696. By request of the editors of some fifty
of the leading newspapers in the United King-
dom, Canada, and the United States, I have
prepared articles on the subject of docking.
The following section is a summary of the points
brought forward in this chapter, and is very
similar to the articles just referred to. It is
reproduced here by kind permission of the editor
of the Canadian Citizen (Ottawa).

The number of letters I have received from
the Royal Family, notable horsemen, political
personages, and others on both sides of the
Atlantic is sufficient evidence of the influential
opinion against the mutilation of the horse.

Summary

697. Why does a civilised people allow dock-
ing? Anyone who has had much experience,
and who has studied the horse closely, must have
realised how brutal and foolish is the fashion of
docking. In support of a Bill now before the
British Parliament, it is only right and fair to
our friend the horse that a few points should
be brought out, points that absolutely prove that
docking is never necessary (except in one in a
million cases, due to accident), and that its
present existence is due to only one thing, the
show ring, and notably the English hackney,
Shire and Clydesdale show ring. The chief use
of the tail is not as generally known as it ought
to be. There is a fly muscle extending all over
the neck (except at the crest, where the mane
reaches), thoracic region, forearm, the loins and
abdominal region. This muscle (the panniculus
carnosus) does not extend over the hindquarters
posterior to the hips or between the thighs. It
is used whenever the horse wishes to twitch the
skin to rid itself of flies. If a horse is docked, it
can never have any defence from the fly over
the parts mentioned above. If the hair has
only been banged off, as is common with some
harness horses and military horses, the tail will
still reach over the quarters.

It is barbarous to turn a docked horse out to
pasture when the flies are active. The tail that
has been banged, even very short, will soon
grow again ; a docked tail never will. This is
why the veterinary profession, with which I was

PLATE 119

•

Pi 19?.

DOCKING

a, b, Long-tailed Four-in-hands. Courtesy: a, San Francisco S.P.C.A. b, Canadian Pacific Railway Co. (Banff, B.C.)
C, d, The Well-earned Tail. Courtesy : c. Electric Transfer Co., Ottawa, d, Messrs. Thomas Tilling, Ltd., London.
e, The Long Tail in the Fly Season. Courtesy : Canadian Northern Transfer Co., Toronto. /, g, h. Examples of Natural
Tails Plailed-up. Courtesy : /, Elias Rogers Coal Co., Toronto. g, Mr. W. Wilson, Toronto. h, R. Simpson Co.,

Toronto. Photos, c to fj, by the Author

PLATE 120

"PlZOc.

Cf, Showing how a Clyde s Hindquarters are shown off by Plaiting the Tail, b. Undecked F* our-m-hand. ct Hauling Ice
in Alberta, d, A Pony that was Re-docked after the First Operation was not Successful. Courtesy : a, Mr. P. Maher,
Toronto, b, Major-Gen. Sir Wm. Otter, c, Mr. de Reinach, Trochu Valley, Alberta, d, Mr. P. Cardinal, Ottawa.

Photos, a, C, d, by the Author

XIIl]

CRIME OF DOCKING HORSES

177

connected for several years, has advised breeders
of brood mares to spare them their tails, as so
many foals have been killed by their mothers
kicking them, when trying to drive away flies,
while the foal is sucking.

Docking is supported by a few untenable
excuses that can scarcely convince even those by
whom they are advanced. They are used to
support the real reason, smartness, or a curious
ambition to see the horse's hams fully shown
off. Plaiting or banging the hair does this
without resorting to anatomical mutilation.
The excuses which are believed by the inex-
perienced are : cleanliness, strength to hind-
quarters, and danger in driving. The first may
be brushed aside unhesitatingly. Any groom
who would use it should be dismissed. A lazy
man cannot be a good horsemaster. The second
is an impossibility. It would not be used by
anyone who has had any veterinary experience.
Docking really shows off the hindquarters well,
and gives the false idea that they are
strengthened. It is a " fake." Plaiting and
banging will have the desired effect. The third
excuse also explodes, because I find that there
are 23,000,000 undocked harness horses in the
North American continent, and several thousand
fours-in-hand with long tails. The trouble lies
here : there are a few horses that grab hold of
the reins with their tails, the habit being gener-
ally due to jerking the reins or to bad hands.
Such horses, however, can soon be made quite
accustomed to being driven with a tail over the
reins, and will allow the driver to draw the reins
out and put the tail under again whenever he
likes without making any objection. For in-
stance, each day, as the horse sets out, and while
going along, the rein is placed under the tail
and again drawn gently out (without any force),
and in a few days, with the worst cases, the
horse will take no notice. It is the docked horse
that holds its stump down with such force. A
horse that is not trained to avoid this habit is,
in my opinion, a swindle. I have driven the
worst of undocked switching mares as " leaders "
in tandem without any trouble after a few hours'
schooling as above. The man who docks horses
has a great burden of veritable torture resting
upon his conscience. I used to see scores of

draught horses in the fly-pestered West taken
to the veterinary, a few weeks before a show,
to be docked because they were going to be
exhibited. These men are also responsible for
several hundred Percheron horses of matured
age being docked in Chicago about six years ago.
Yet all these stud horses are never employed in
harness, so the rein excuse cannot be used.
Farmers in Canada and the States, as a rule,
will not dock their foals, because no man who
wished to plough or reap in peace would think
of using docked horses in the fly season. It
is the wealthy horse-show exhibitor that has
his horses docked. The third prize at Toronts
in the high-steppers' class in 1913 went to a
long-tailed horse, so it shows that all hackney
judges are not beyond redemption. The English
show is again responsible for such cases as this :
an American judge, who figures in the English
show ring, bought a famous trotting horse for
several thousand dollars, had it docked, nicked
and heavily shod, and has since won a number
of prizes in the hackney classes. Is not this
"faking"? One veterinary I know docked over
forty horses for this purpose. The International
Horse Show has to be credited to a great extent
with the modern hunter and polo pony with their
beautiful long tails, but I regret to say that it is
answerable for a great many horses being docked
in order to compete in Hackney, Shire and
Clydesdale classes. Docking is absolutely un-
necessary, and could be dispensed with for ever.
No docked horses, except for breeding purposes,
are allowed to enter California. Two years'
penal servitude is the punishment for breaking
the law. When shall we follow suit and set an
example to the rest of the world, or "go one
better" by forbidding it by law for ever?

698. Colonel Seely stated in Parliament, in
June, 1913, that as few docked horses as possible
were purchased for the army, and that an order
had been issued that after three years from that
date no docked horses would be purchased by
the military authorities.

Mr. Harris, in the Toronto Humane Pleader,
says : " The army has thus set a fashion in
humanity. We are glad to know that for years
no docked horses have been bought for the
Canadian Regular cavalry."

CHAPTER XIV

OPINIONS OF EMINENT MEN, BOOKS AND THE PRESS ON DOCKING

699. CAPTAIN HAYES, F.R.C.V.S., says: "All
Russian harness horses have long tails, and we
hear of no trouble."

Justice Hawkins (Lord Brampton) said :
" Docking is a painful operation ; I hold a strong
opinion against allowing fashion, or the whim of
an individual or individuals, to afford justifica-
tion for such painful mutilation."

Mr. P. C. Laverton-Harris, Managing Director
of the Toronto S.P.G.A., says: "If the horse,
why not the man? The absence of a tail makes
the horse look ugly and out of proportion. The
Almighty gave the horse the tail for protection
from flies. It is an outrage."

J. Lee Osborn, the well-known horseman,
says : " The thing to aim for is to make the
possession of a docked horse discreditable and
unfashionable."

Mr. Walter Winans says : " When I went to
England I found that horses got into trouble by
getting their tails over the reins. The reason I
discovered was the English custom of docking
horses."

At a meeting of the City Council of West-
minster, not long since, a resolution was moved
to abolish this unbecoming custom.

Mr. Harry Payne, the celebrated horse artist
(P. 65), has done a great deal of good by his
illustrations of the horse as Nature designed it.
He has on several occasions denounced this
fashion.

Dr. A. E. James, the leading veterinarian in
Ottawa, openly declared in the Ottawa Press that
he would not dock any more horses. He says
" that horses look smarter docked is only a
matter of opinion, and that, as far as safety is
concerned, an undocked horse is just as safe as,
if not safer than, a docked one."

Shakespeare, on the beauty of the tail :

" He sees his love, and nothing else he sees,
For nothing else with his proud sight agrees.
Look, when a painter would surpass the life,
In limning out a well-proportion'd steed,
His art with nature's workmanship at strife,
As if the dead the living should exceed ;
So did this horse excel a common one,
In shape, in courage, colour, pace and bone.
Round-hoof d, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long,

Broad breast, full eye, small head, and nostrils wide,
High crest, short ears, straight legs and passing

strong,

Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide :
Look, what a horse should have, he did not lack,
Save a proud rider on so proud a back.
Sometimes he scuds far off, and there he stares ;
Anon he starts at stirring of a feather :
To bid the wind a base he now prepares,
And whe'r he run, or fly, they know not whether ;
For through his mane and tail the high wind sings,
Fanning the hairs, who wave like feather'd wings."

700. Hayes, in "Points of the Horse," says:
"It is a relic of barbarism. The idea that it
improves a horse's appearance is an absurdity,
because mutilation, especially of a very apparent
kind, cannot be an aid to beauty."

General Heath, Director of Remounts, War
Office, says : " I am entirely in sympathy with
your endeavour to put an end to this barbarous
practice."

Professor Beery, the high school riding expert
of Ohio, says : " I am radically opposed to the
inhuman, cruel practice of docking horses."

Professor McGillivray, the famous Australian
horse trainer, says : " Never fancy you can im-
prove on Nature and dock your horses, thinking
they are better with only a stump instead of a
tail."

Francis H. Rowley, President of the American
Humane Education Society, says : " I was the
first person in this country to secure a conviction
for docking horses. I cannot imagine anyone
calling himself humane who would countenance
for a moment such an operation."

H.R.H. Prince Christian said in the Times:
" How would you like to see the winner of the
Epsom Derby pass the post with a bobtail?"

Professor Pritchard, President of the Central
Veterinary Medical Association and of the Royal
Veterinary College, said : " I look upon the
practice as a gross act of cruelty, and, as the
attention of the profession all over the country
has been drawn to the question, I wish to
enter into it completely. The excuses used by
advocates of the practice have no foundation
at all."

701. Dadd, in his book, accounts for the

178

CHAP. XIV]

OPINIONS ON DOCKING

179

practice as the result of want of knowledge and
cruelty.

The Lord Bishop of Toronto writes to me : "I
am glad you are waging war against the practice.
I regard it as a barbarity unworthy of an en-
lightened, not to say Christian, civilisation."

Sir Henry Pellatt writes : " I have always felt
very strongly against this barbarous practice,
one that is entirely unjustified by the results."

Ruskin said: "Without perfect sympathy
with the animals around us, no gentleman's
education, no Christian education, could be of
any possible use."

Sidney Trist, editor of the Animal Guardian,
has written some splendid articles against this
practice.

The American Field says: "The man who
tortures animals is a dangerous member of
society ; he is a degenerate, who would commit
just such crimes upon the human race were it
not for his fear of punishment."

The late George T. Angell said : " I trust that
no person present this evening will ever be guilty
of such a crime against the horse and against
humanity."

At the entrance to the railroad bridge at
Cologne an equestrian statue of the Kaiser was
erected ; the horse has a short tail. Several
American societies sent a petition to the Kaiser
requesting that the horse be made as Nature
designed it, urging upon His Majesty the bad
effect upon the future generation that would be
produced by such a conspicuous object.

Not many years ago the late Duke of West-
minster, at a meeting of the Royal Agricultural
Society, moved that the practice be discontinued.
He was supported by Prince Christian, Sir Nigel
Kingscote, and many other noted horsemen ;
but, in deference to the fashion then prevailing
in England, the great society, whose object is to
improve our domestic animals, decided against
the Duke's humane and sensible proposal, and
endorsed the continuance of a custom as useless
as it is cruel.

Mr. Watts, R.A., in the Times, said: "There
is degraded want of taste ; the harmonious
balance of the beautiful horse, the somewhat
heavy head, must be balanced by a full tail.
Setting aside the disgusting cruelty, this want of
taste which can prefer to see the noble animal
changed by the destruction of the fine append-
age into a thing that resembles the stump of a
worn-out broom ; and this is found amongst the
classes that boast of education and refinement."

Sir Howard Vincent, in the House of Com-
mons, said : " The system of docking causes
enormous suffering to the animals, through their
being unable to protect themselves against the
pest of flies, and it was responsible for a great
share of the mortality among the horses in South
Africa."

The Sporting Editor of the Toronto Sunday

World writes: "The cruelty of docking and its
unnecessary character completely smother any
advantages gained by the practice, if there are
any."

The Rev. J. G. Wood, in Horse and Man,
says : " The result comes from the rivalry of
grooms and coachmen. Mr. Brown's coachman
sees that Lord Kennaquhair's horses have their
tails docked, so nothing will serve him but to
dock his own still shorter."

702. "Aims and Objects of the Toronto
Humane Society " says : " The practice is a
cruelty that lasts through life. The victims can
never afterwards brush away tormenting
insects."

Terry, in " The Crime of Docking Horses,"
says : " Who that saw the modern hackney com-
pared with a fine thoroughbred, and with an
unbiased mind, would hesitate for a second in
saying that the long-tailed horse was a beautiful
object, whilst the docked horse was a mon-
strosity and, in fact, disgusting?"

Professor Alfred Savigear, in " Horsemanship
and Horse Training," says : " Docking is cruel
and brutal, which all who appreciate the horse
and understand him would be glad to see
abolished by law."

W. Smith, in "Uses and Abuses of Domestic
Animals," says : " The operation is absolutely
unnecessary. The President of the Veterinary
College, who has condemned the practice,
demands considerable attention."

Hayes, in "Veterinary Notes for Horse
Owners," says : " Men who dock their horses
merit the contempt of all horse lovers. Apart
from the stud question, a docked mare, especially
when ridden by a lady in a hunting field, is a
disgusting and indecent sight which should not
be tolerated in any decent country."

Basil Tozer, in " The Horse in History," says :
"We need not look into the streets to be con-
vinced that we have not degenerated from our
ancestors, although His Majesty has endeavoured
to prohibit the practice by forbidding docked
horses in his army."

E. S. Hamilton, M.R.C.V.S., in "The Stable
Manual," says : " A most dangerous and bar-
barous disfigurement that still exists in parts of
the country."

703. The Daily Graphic says: "One of the
sights of the City is the . . . Lord Mayor's
four-in-hand, driven undocked and without
bearing-reins."

The Toronto Sunday World says : " The usual
arguments, even to the most minor degree, can-
not be advanced in favour of docking, which is
a cruel fad advanced merely to save labour and
to give the animal a peacocky appearance."

The Ottawa Free Press says : " The practice is
a relic of barbarism."

The Chicago Record Herald says : " A docked
horse is defenceless against flies We should

180

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

have a law similar to that in California, which
imposes two years' pe'nal servitude as a punish-
ment."

The Ottawa Citizen says : " It is a shame to
deprive the dumb animal of what Nature has
given it for a purpose."

The Toronto Globe says : " The contrast be-
tween horses with long silky tails and those of
the hat-peg variety was most strikingly exempli-
fied by some beautiful photographs."

The Toronto Daily Star says : " Docking is
due to horse-show maniacs, with no knowledge
of or respect for the horse."

The Field says : " The barbarous practice of
docking the tail. ... It is not generally realised
that the real use of the tail is as a defence against
flies. The New World is far in advance of
England in this matter."

The Daily Express says : " The practice is
strongly condemned by nearly all horse owners
in Canada and the States."

The Toronto News says : " Prosecute those
who are responsible for such practices."

The Toronto Evening/ Telegram says : " The
practice is mainly due to maniacs."

The Daily Graphic says : " Horses with such
hideous tails resemble hat-pegs more than any-
thing else ; they should be disqualified in horse
shows."

The Ottawa Evening Journal says : " Such
practices can only be classed amongst the work
of barbarians."

The Ottawa Evening Citizen says : " There is
absolutely no reason for the docking of horses'
tails. People think, of course, that a short tail
makes the horse look like a show horse. Hence
the show authorities should look upon the matter
more seriously."

Farm Life says: "The British nation boasts
of its kind treatment of horses, yet it allows such
an abominable fashion as the docking of horses
to continue."

The Daily Graphic says: "Not until the
horse-owning public insists on purchasing un-
docked animals will the practice be stopped."

The Trotter and Pacer (N.Y.) says: "We
have always taken a strong ground against the
fashion, and never have allowed a picture of a
docked horse to appear in our paper."

The Ottawa Free Press says: "Those who
prefer a short tail can, by banging the hair,
satisfy their desires without resorting to
torture."

The New York Evening Post says : " The
horse struggles, and the tail is off. Then the
iron, at a white heat, is applied. . . . After the
horse has been mangled he is allowed to rise—
an entirely different creature. What crimes will
a civilised nation allow? "

The Times says: "The practice is a most
barbarous one, and we cannot conceive how
experienced horsemen can approve of it."

I noticed a recent book on photography where
it advised lovers of Nature, when photographing
horses, to represent the horse as Nature made it,
and not to photograph bobtails.

The Winnipeg Free Press says : " Here it is
frequently done because we used to do it in
England ; and in this country, where mosquitoes
and flies are so agonising, it is horrible to think
what the animals must suffer. It is descended
from an era far less enlightened than the present
one."

The Toronto Sunday World says: "The
practice is not only a senseless one, but cruel in
the extreme. It does not enhance the beauty
of the horse, but rather does it detract from
it."

The Toronto World says : " Pretty well every-
body nowadays agrees that docking is un-
necessary, barbarous and cruel, and yet it
goes on."

704. The Chicago Record Herald had the
following verses by S. E. Kiser :

The horse and the dog had teased a man, and fastened

him to a fence.
Said the horse to the dog, " For the life of me, I don't

see a bit of sense
" In letting him have the thumbs that grow at the

sides of his hands, do you ? "
And the dog looked solemn and shook his head and

said, " I'm a goat if I do."
The poor man groaned and tried to get loose, and

sadly begged them stay.
" You'll rob me of things for which I have use by

cutting my thumbs away ;
" You will spoil my looks, you will cause me pain.

Ah, why would you treat me so ?
" As I am, God made me, and He knows best. Oh,

masters, pray let me go ! "
The dog laughed out and the horse replied, " Oh,

the cutting won't hurt you, you see.
" We'll have a hot iron to clap right on, as you did in

the docking of me.
" God gave you your thumb and all, but still the

Creator, you know, may fail
" To do the artistic things as He did in furnishing

me with a tail."
So they bound the man and cut off his thumbs, and

were deaf to his pitiful cries,
And they seared the stumps, and they viewed their

work through happy and dazzled eyes.
" How trim he appears," the horse exclaimed, " since

his awkward thumbs are gone,
" For the life of me I cannot see why the Lord ever

put them on 1 "
" Still it seems to me," the dog replied, " that there

is something else to do ;
" His ears look rather long to me, and how do they

look to you ? "
The man cried out, " Oh, spare my ears, God

fashioned them as you see,
" And if you apply your knife to them you will surely

disfigure me."

PLATE 121

"THE REIN EXCUSE"

One of the Many Four-in-hands in California. Courtesy: San Francisco, S.P.C.A. />, Tandem of Ponies in India.

The Properly of Capt. A. W. Timmis

PLATE 122

TAILS

O, Mr. Walter Winan's Horses, showing the DocUed Tail, the Banged Tail, and the Long or Swish Tail. Photo : L. N. A.
London, b, Major Brooke's Prize-winning Jumper " Betty." Photo : Gale and Polden, Aldershot

xiv]

OPINIONS ON DOCKING

181

" But you don't disfigure me, you know," the dog

derisively said,
" Why, you bound me fast and trimmed my ears

down close to the top of my head."
So they let him moan and they let him groan while

they chopped his ears away,
And they praised his looks when they let him up, and

proud, indeed, were they.

The New York Herald says: "One of the
fastest trotters ever converted into a high stepper
is Dr. Pitsen. Judge Moore paid $9,000 for this
grand-looking horse, and he is now to be seen
nearly every day in Central Park, docked, nicked
and in heavy harness, with heavy shoes on his
feet."

Dr. A. G. Hopkins writes to Captain Hayes:
" During a winter stay in Chicago standardised
horses with fast records are procured, docked
and their tails set up, and when they get great
growth of foot and heavy shoes, the Anglo-
maniac buys them and shows them in the high-
stepping classes."

The Ottawa Evening Citizen says : " The
capital is proud to boast of having at least three
veterinary surgeons who have refused to perform
the needless and cruel operation."

General Smith, D.S.O., in the Veterinary
Journal, says : " Fashion and appearance take
the place of utility."

The New York Commercial Advertiser says :
" There sit their coachmen, looking down from
their boxes on the lacerated stumps at the one
end of their horses, while the other end is jerked
up in the air."

The Detroit Evening News says : " One of the
worst of all the fashion manias is the docking
of horses, now practised in defiance of the law.
It is the relic of the days when bull-baiting and
dog-fighting were national sports."

The Rider and Driver (N.Y.) says : " It is no
exaggeration to say that some of the tails were
to all intents cut clean off, for not more than
four or five inches of the stumps were left, and
these scraggy stumps were made to look more
absurd by being shaved and heavily singed."
This refers to the International Horse Show.

Our Dumb Animals says : " It is clear that the
owner of such animals does not care one straw
for the suffering of dumb animals."

Farm Life (London) says: "It is surprising
what little attention the protest made by Prince
Christian against the practice has received in the
Press. This is much to be regretted, because it
is only by wide condemnation of this barbarous
practice that the public will be sufficiently
aroused."

The Animals' Friend says : " Let all horse
owners refuse to purchase animals that have
been so mutilated."

The Daily Graphic, in referring to a prose-
cution by the Royal Society for the Prevention

of Cruelty to Animals, London, says: "The
practice is most cruel, and robs the animal of
its protection against flies."

705. Many of the Canadian and United
States papers have had large headings against
this practice, such as : " Duke deplores the dock-
ing of horses " ; " The docking of horses is
childish, and the law should be amended";
" Practice of docking horses severely con-
demned"; "A relic of barbarism."

The Hampshire Chronicle said : " The sale of
these fine, undocked horses resulted in most of
them being disposed of. ... This shows that
undocked horses for hunting command top
prices."

The Sporting and Dramatic News (London)
says : " In the winter, when the long tail is not
required for fly protection, it can be plaited up
to keep it clean. The horse will then not be
deprived of his most essential weapon."

The Toronto Daily Star says : " As long as
show horses are docked, horses will be tortured,
docked, and then nicked. The operation is, how-
ever, nothing compared with the loss of the
tail."

Our Dumb Animals (Boston) says : " From
numerous articles published in the Press, it is
evident that the practice is rapidly growing
unfashionable. The Governor-General of the
Dominion is opposed to it. His long-tail four-
in-hand is much admired by everyone. The
Veterinary Director-General and three of the
leading surgeons of Ottawa have declared them-
selves against the practice. It is certain that the
hat-peg is passing, and that even now it is not
countenanced by owners of fine horses and those
who take pride and pleasure in them and have
the sense to understand their needs."

The New York Bit and Spur says : " It should
be noted that under a new law it will be im-
possible to sell foals of this year in England if
they are docked."

The Times says : " Docking is much less com-
mon than formerly. The courts, indeed, have
held that it constitutes cruelty. It is admitted
that the practice often results in the spoiling of
a good horse. Mr. Walter Winans showed, a
short while ago, that a normal horse was a
guarantee of greater safety for rider and driver."

706. The Reducine Company, of Dublin and
New York City, in a most excellent book, just
issued, on the modern care of horses, says : " We
do not believe in docking horses ; we believe
that God knew how to make a horse. We believe
that the tail is necessary, not only as a protection
against flies, mosquitoes, etc., but to add to its
beauty.

"The dealer can take a bad-tailed horse,
and by docking and other cruel practices make
the horse appear of good breeding. We wish we
could carry every person who reads these lines
with us to Central Park, New York, and show

182

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, xiv

them most of the expensive vehicles. Ladies
riding in most of them, behind long-tailed
horses, they are those of wealth, position, brains
and refinement. This we could show in other
cities. The late Mrs. Eddy's turn-out was noted
for the good taste and elegance of every detail of
its appointments. The horses wore no checks,
open bridles and long tails. She left an influence
over more lives than any American woman since
Harriet Stowe. Mrs. Eddy was one of thousands
of real women of brains and wealth who will
not lend their influence to the senseless and cruel
practice of docking horses. You will see many
flashy turn-outs drawn by docked horses. The
men in these are not of the classes that make the
world better ; they do not turn the wheels of
industry ; they are not called great in any useful,
honourable vocation. The women in these types
of vehicles are only thoughtless ; they do not

mean to be cruel. We know they are very kind-
hearted to their poodles and pugs, also to the
co-respondents. If a horse's posterior was a
thing of beauty and a joy for ever, the excuse
might be offered that a continuous and un-
obstructed view was a pleasure and an inspira-
tion to people who ride behind docked horses.
Don't get an idea that you must have a mutilated
horse to make you appear fashionable. It is
going out of fashion, as it should. Walter
Winans, the Russian-born American millionaire,
whose home is in England, and who is an all-
round horseman, and one of the largest and most
successful exhibitors at international shows, has
done much to stamp out this cruel practice. He
is a personal friend of every European sovereign,
and is a man of many accomplishments. His
opinions are entitled to the highest considera-
tion."

CHAPTER XV

HUMANE EDUCATION— THE LAW
707. " No civilisation is complete that does not tures of God, on the floor of the British House of

include within its sphere of charity and mercy
the dumb and defenceless of God's creatures." —
Queen Victoria.

Of all cruelty, cruel fashions are the easiest
to banish, because they are set generally by
educated people, or at any rate by people who
should know better ; cruelty committed by the
acknowledged upholders of brutal customs is of
course more difficult to abolish.

I cannot emphasise too strongly the necessity
for humane education of children ; for the pre-
vention of, rather than punishment for, cruelty ;
the establishment of animal hospitals, am-
bulances, and humane inspectors who know
their work, and strict prohibition of any
mutilated animal from being shown in the show
ring or any other form of animal show. The
Duke of Connaught, at a meeting of the Ottawa
S.P.G.A., expressed his feelings thus forcibly:
"I hope my presence here will indicate the deep
interest I have in the work of the Ottawa
Humane Society. Surely the objects of this
organisation are such as all of you must feel a
personal interest in. I hope all who are here will
do all they can to advance these objects."

708. Less than a quarter of a century ago the
humane societies of the world were less than
ten. To-day they amount to many thousands.
By teaching kindness to animals these societies
are forming the basis for the reception of re-
ligious instruction and are leading the way to a
higher civilisation.

Bishop Ninde rightly said : " Merciful treat-
ment of animals should be taught from every
pulpit and in our Sunday schools as a most im-
perative Christian duty."

In the heart of Canada and the States, societies
are springing up in the larger towns. For many
years there was no check on the cruelty that one
saw, but now there is a great difference. There
should be greater encouragement from the
officials of these various cities and towns. In the
North-West great strides have been made during
the past few years ; they have to deal in par-
ticular with improper clipping, blanketing,
frozen bits, overloading, and, up farther north,
cruelty to the husky dog.

709. When the great Lord Erskine, in 1811,
appealed for compassion for the humbler crea-

Lords, he was met with nothing but contumely
and insult. When Richard Martin caused the
first Act for the protection of animals to be
passed by the British Parliament in 1822, he was
openly an object of derision, and only a glorious
minority sympathised with his views. When
Henry Bergh first walked the streets of New York
City in 1866 as the apostle of mercy for those who
had received no mercy, he was the constant
object of caricature in the Press, and was sub-
jected even to personal insult. All this was not
to be wondered at. The world had been through
long ages of heedless brutalities wherein the
wanton spirit of the savage in man had been
allowed free play without repression.

The Animal Guardian said : " Humane reform
involving an alteration of the law can only be
carried by votes. To influence votes you must
educate the electors. There are three classes of
people who need to be missioned — the bishops
and clergy, the magistrates, and the local labour
leaders."

710. I have always been horrified at the
cruelty that is allowed to exist in French-
Canadian parts of Quebec. In many cases the
magistrates are totally incapable of dealing with
cruelty. Gross cruelty can be seen any day in
these parts of Canada. The worse type of man is
the coalheaver and the lumberman.

Great good has been done of late by owners
of large hotels, etc., lending their buildings for
humane purposes. For example, the Chateau
Frontenac, belonging to the Canadian Pacific
Railway, at Quebec, loaned part of their hotel to
the Quebec S.P.C.A. The Toronto Horse Show
authorities regularly allow the Toronto Humane
Society to run a tea room during the horse show
in aid of this society.

I have come across several instances where
those who have ill-treated horses have been made
examples of in their neighbourhood. For instance,
the Quebec Humane Society employed as an
inspector an old middle-weight champion. When
he first commenced he set an example to the rest
of the city by inducing a cruel man to fight.
The latter, not knowing who the inspector was,
thought he had an easy task ; but it ended in his
being put into hospital for four months with a
broken nose and jaw.

183

184

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Another example I well remember is that of a
young fellow, who had learnt boxing, jumping
up into a coal cart, and throwing the man back-
wards on to the hard pavement, and so disfigur-
ing him that for many years afterwards there
was very little cruelty seen in this neighbour-
hood. This particular man had cut out the eye
of his horse with the lash of the whip.

The Toronto Open-Air Horse Parade Associa-
tion passed a law that they would not allow any
horses with docked tails to win prizes.

711. The necessity for reform in legislation is
emphasised by many articles that have appeared
in various papers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The New York Times a few months ago devoted
a whole column to the tricks of horse " doping."
It described in detail the cruel methods adopted
by horse dealers to hide lameness and other
defects by dope and by other forms of gross
cruelty, such as laming the other foreleg in order
to make the horse appear sound on both. A Bill
was introduced at Albany, New York, to protect
buyers from frauds of horse dealers, and to save
worn-out horses from torture.

I think one of the worst things which the
British nation allows to exist is the decrepit
horse traffic. Thanks to the hard work of the
R.S.P.C.A. and other societies, this offensive
practice has been greatly checked ; but there is
still much to be done. I refer the reader to
Sidney Trist's excellent book "The Under Dog,"
in which is described in detail this abominable
traffic.

712. I was glad to see the English Press take
up strongly the subject of doctoring horses at the
International Horse Show. The Daily Graphic
had some excellent articles on the cruel practices
of grooms at Olympia. Great credit is due to the
R.S.P.C.A. for their work in showing up these
practitioners.

We must, however, be thankful that the
brutal "sport" of bull-fighting has been
banished from the British Empire. The follow-
ing extract from an article by my twin brother
in the Animal Guardian will suffice to show
what awful cruelty is allowed to go on in Spain.
The article runs : " I can vouch for this. A horse
which had had its belly ripped open by the bull's
horns, and a portion of its entrails protruding,
was kicked and beaten until it hobbled out of
the arena. The entrails were then pushed back,
a piece of cotton-waste stuffed into the wound,
and a few crude stitches put in to hold the
wound together. It was then sent back limping
into the arena to be again used as a target for
the next attack from the bull. I maintain that
there is no ' sport ' in the world where such
wanton cruelty is perpetrated as to the horses in
the Spanish bull-flghts, and yet in other respects
the Spaniard seems to be a true sportsman."

713. The following article from the Canadian
Press will bear repetition : " Always bearing in

mind that in everything prevention is better than
cure, and that the chief object of a humane
organisation is prevention of rather than prose-
cution for cruelty, we should realise fully how
important it is for us to see that the young
generation is taught very strictly the principles
of kindness to other people and animals. Most
people, when they see an act of cruelty, say,
'Why don't they punish him?' They little
realise how much better it would be to educate
those who have to work with horses to the right
way of treating animals. If such people were
taught to treat animals kindly, the law would
serve to remind them not to neglect what they
knew."

An authority on horse matters writes : " Let
fashion raise her voice that dogs' ears be
trimmed to points or horses' tails be converted
into hat-pegs, and fashion followers are willing
to accede. It matters not that a Queen Victoria
or a King Edward or a Queen Alexandra or a
King George and his consort frown upon such
mutilation, with its unavoidable suffering.
Through such mutilation the smart ones are
discourteous to our King and smile at indecency,
but what care they for that?"

Speaking of fashions, I received the following
lines from the well-known horse artist, Mr.
Harry Payne : " It would almost seem that the
cutting fever has spread to the human species
just now, as the present fashion is for all the
men to cut and scrape every hair from their
face, especially the moustache, the one time
much-prized appendage every youth hoped to
grow. They let their hair grow long on the
forehead, so as to allow its being brushed right
back, ending in a fringe at the back of the neck,
greased, plastered and glued down. They culti-
vate a stoop, draw in their chests, round their
shoulders, wear the trousers several inches too
short, adopt a vacuous look, and then they call
themselves ' nuts.' A proud record for the man-
hood of the country to attain."

714. The American papers have done much
good by publishing comic pictures against cruel
fashions. P. 125e shows one of R. P. Outcault's
Buster Brown pictures, in which the inscription
says, " No, dear heart, we will never be civilised
until we have quit slaughtering animals and
birds by the wholesale to adorn ourselves ; when
we throw away the check-rein and quit docking
our horses' tails."

I never so fully realised the brutality of the
docking fashion until I saw the number of
mutilated draught horses in the fly-pestered
North-West, toiling all day in the plough or
reaper, absolutely unprotected from the fly,
merely because fashion demands that these
animals, if they are to win prizes at the show,
must not be as Nature designed them. It is quite
time the legislature of this country passed a
similar law to that of California.

PLATE 123

CHAMPION HEAVY DRAUGHT HORSES

a, Percheron Stallion " Frank J." Courtesy of ihe Owners, Messrs. Upper, North Portal, Saslc. b, Clydesdale Stallion
" Bonnie Buchlyvie," Champion, Royal and other Shows. Photo : G. H. Parsons

PLATE 124

FOR THE DUMB DEFENCELESS

a, Horse Ambulance of the Boston Fire Department. Photo : Geo. Brayton, Boston, Mass. Courtesy : " Our Dumb
Animals." b, Toronto City Police Working with the Humane Society. Photo : Pringle and Booth, Toronto

XV]

HUMANE EDUCATION— THE LAW

185

715. The penal code of California re docking
horses reads :

" The people of the State of California repre-
sented in Senate and Assembly do enact as
follows : It shall be unlawful for any person to
dock the tail of any horse or to procure the same
to be done, or to bring into the State any docked
horse, or to drive, work, use, race, or deal in any
docked horse that has not been registered in the
State.

"Within thirty days after the passage of this
Act every owner or user of any docked horse
shall register it by filing in the office of the
County Clerk ; a certificate shall contain the
name of the owner, together with his address,
and a full description of the colour, age, size and
the use made of such docked horse. The County
Clerk shall number the certificates consecutively
and record the names in a register. He shall
receive a fee of 50c. for doing the same, where-
upon he shall issue the said person a certificate
containing the facts recited in this section, which
upon demand shall be exhibited to any Peace
Officer, and the same shall be conclusive evidence
of a compliance with the provisions of this code.

"The driving, working, keeping, racing, or
using of any unregistered docked horse after
sixty days from the passage of this Act shall be
deemed prima facie evidence of the fact that the
party using such horse docked the tail of such
horse.

"Any person violating the provisions of this
Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour,
provided, however, that the provisions of this
Act shall not be applied to persons owning any
docked pure-bred stallion or mare imported
from foreign countries for breeding or exhibition
purposes, as provided by Act of Congress, and
to docked native-bred animals brought in for the
same purpose, and provided, further, that the
description of each such animal so brought into
the State, together with the date of importation
and name and address of the importer, be filed
with the County Clerk of the county where such
animal is kept within thirty days of the importa-
tion."

The penalty for committing an offence against
the above Act is up to two years' penal servitude.

716. In Montreal a fine of $20 is imposed
upon the perpetrator of this breach of the law.

The Massachusetts S.P.C.A. award the
following sums : A hundred dollars for evidence
to convict any perpetrator within a certain radius
of Massachusetts, and $25 for evidence to convict
anyone in the city itself of a violation of law
by causing any horse to be mutilated for life by
docking. At present the English law could
prosecute for the practice, because it is an offence
to mutilate any animal for the purpose of con-
forming to custom or fashion, but it does not
specify this particular practice. Many of the
other States of the Union have similar laws to
y

that of California, and they see that these laws
are strictly enforced.

717. King George V. accepted the honorary
first vice-presidency of the first American Inter-
national Humane Conference, held in Washing-
ton some few years ago. President Taft was
the honorary president, and opened the meeting
by an address. Dr. W. 0. Stillman is president
of this association.

718. The Protection of Animals Act, 1911, has
some excellent sections. It has a wider control
than former Acts, and allows for more severe
punishment. It gives the court power to destroy
an animal or to deprive the owner of future
ownership. It has some important additions in
respect of the control of knackers, slaughter-
houses and pounds. It forbids the use of dogs
for draught in England. It causes all those who
set traps for hares or rabbits to inspect the same
every day between sunrise and sunset. It gives
far greater power to constables. The court can
direct the employer of the offender to produce
the said man at the hearing of the case.

The following Bills will shortly be introduced
in the British House : the Anaesthetics Bill (see
Chapter XVI.), and a Bill to prohibit the docking
of horses. (See Sec. 695, Chapter XIII.)

719. Mr. P. C. Laverton-Harris, of the
Toronto Humane Society, has prepared amend-
ments to the present British penal code. Some
of the important points brought out in this
amendment I introduced to the Minister of
Justice at Ottawa, and it is to be hoped that
before very long the penal code will be greatly
improved.

The amendments provide that no one may
deprive an animal of necessary and proper food
or water for more than eight successive hours;
that no one may kill any animal in the sight of
any other animal awaiting slaughter ; that no
one may permit any animal to be carried in such
a position or manner as to cause it any unneces-
sary suffering ; that no one may perform any
operation that is not necessary through disease
or accident ; that everyone must provide proper,
efficient and sanitary stabling for any animal
that he or she possesses or is in charge of ; that
no one be permitted to use a captive bird for the
purpose of a target or for any kind of trap ; that
it be unlawful for any person, in the presence
of any pupil, to practise vivisection or exhibit
any animal that has been vivisected ; it makes
it lawful for any constable, peace officer or
humane society inspector to break into any stable
or building in which it is suspected that cruelty
exists ; that any constable, etc., may order to be
removed from work any animal found to be
suffering ; that it be unlawful for anyone to sell
or deal with any grain or seed that has been
rendered poisonous except for bona fide use in
agriculture ; that it be unlawful for anyone to
place any poison on the land or in a building

186

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

where a domestic animal would be able to reach
the same.

720. The Rev. M. J. Savage said: "If I were
a man of means and had a horse I liked, I would
turn him out to pasture in his old age (if he had
a natural tail), or put him in the hands of some-
one who I knew would treat him kindly, or put
him to a painless end myself. I would not turn
him over to end his days in suffering, cruelty
and neglect."

I have often contrasted horses turned away
from a comfortable home to live a miserable life
with hawkers or rag-and-bone men with a
27-year-old horse belonging to Sir Henry Pellatt,
of Toronto, which is pensioned off for life. This
particular horse was the one ridden by King
George when in Canada in 1900.

"Deo dante dedi" can be well applied here.
Brother Carthusians will join with me.

721.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath : it is twice bless'd,

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes :

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown.

SHAKESPEARE.

The cost of unkindness was very aptly
recorded in the New York Record Herald:
"There is a wonderful system of government
that directs the affairs of human beings. If you
do a good act, a good act will be done you. If
you deal out an injustice, you will be afflicted
with like punishment. None can afford to be
unkind, for unkindness always returns, and in
a greater measure." (See Sec. 694, Chapter XIII.)

722.

A man of kindness to his beast is kind,
But brutal actions show a brutal mind.
Remember, He Who made thee, made the brute,
Who gave thee speech and reason, formed him mute.
He can't complain, but God's all-seeing eyes
Behold thy cruelty and hear his cries ;
He was designed thy servant, not thy drudge ;
Remember, his Creator is thy Judge.

The above lines were exhibited in a number
of the cab-stands in London, and, there is no
doubt, did a great deal of good.

I love the hoss from hoof to head :

From head to hoof, and tail to mane.
I love the hoss, as I have said,

From head to hoof and back again.
I love my God the first of all,

Then Him that perished on the Cross,
And next my wife, and then I fall

Down on my knees and love my hoss.
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY in " Our Dumb'Animals."

723. "Now, I say that with cruelty and

oppression, it is everybody's business to interfere
when they see it." — " Black Beauty."

Knowledge alone does not make men better,
but kindness does. Knowledge confers power,
and kindness prevents its evil application, so
both must be inculcated.

A well-known preacher a short while ago
said that the greatest gift was the gift of under-
standing others ; the gift of sympathy for others.

By kind permission of Dr. Francis H. Rowley,
I am able to reproduce the original version of
the " Horse's Prayer," published by the Massa-
chusetts S.P.C.A., and posted up by law in all
the livery and Government stables in that State :

724. "To thee, my master, I offer my prayer;
feed me, water and care for me, and, when the
day's work is done, provide me with shelter, a
clean, dry bed, and a stall wide enough for me
to lie down in comfort. Always be kind to me,
talk to me, your voice often means as much to
me as the reins. Pet me sometimes, that I may
serve you the more gladly and learn to love you.
Do not jerk the reins nor whip me when going
up hill. Never strike, beat or kick me when I do
not understand what you want, but give me a
chance to understand you. Watch me, and if I
fail to do your bidding see if something is not
wrong with my harness or feet.

"Do not check me, so that I cannot have the
free use of my neck and head. If you insist that
I wear blinkers, so that I cannot see behind me,
as it was intended I should, I pray you be careful
that they stand well out from my eyes. Do not
overload me or hitch me where water will drip
on me. Keep me well shod, examine my teeth
when I do not eat ; I may have an ulcerated
tooth. Do not tie my head in an unnatural
position, or take away my best defence against
flies and mosquitoes by cutting off my tail. I
cannot tell you when I am thirsty, so give me
clean cold water often. Save me by all means
in your power from that fatal disease, glanders.
I cannot tell you in words when I am sick, so
watch me that by signs you may know my con-
dition. Give me all possible shelter from the hot
sun, and put a blanket on me, not when I am
working, but when I am standing in the cold.
Never put a frosty bit in my mouth ; first warm
it by holding it in your hands. I try to carry
you and your burdens without a murmur, and
wait patiently for you long hours of the day or
night. Without the power to choose my shoes
or path, I sometimes fall on the hard pavements,
which I have often prayed might not be of wood,
but of such a nature as to give me a safe and
sure footing. Remember, I must be ready at any
moment to lose my life in your service.

" And, finally, 0 my master, when my useful
strength is gone, do not turn me out to starve
or freeze, or sell me to some cruel owner to be
slowly starved to death ; but do thou, my master,
take my life in the kindest way, and your God

xv]

HUMANE EDUCATION— THE LAW

187

will reward you here and hereafter. You will
not consider me irreverent if I ask this in the
name of Him Who was born in a stable. — Amen."

725. The following words are those of
General Sir F. Fitzwygram : "Animal suffering
and a future in prospect for animals must
always, I think, be present to those who make
veterinary science their life's study, as I have
done. It is impossible for the man of average
sensibility to witness their sufferings, to witness
the brutal treatment which they too often meet
with from ignorant and cruel man, without
sorrow, without endeavouring to alleviate their
agony, and to ameliorate their hard fate. It is
justly said to be the type of highest Christian
virtue to do good to those who cannot repay
and who cannot thank you ; then there can be
no higher virtue than the alleviation of animal
pain and suffering."

I know of no greater satisfaction than that of
relieving a suffering animal or of curing a sick
one, and of no greater satisfaction than that of
punishing, for the animal's sake, the perpetrator
of any cruelty practised on the defenceless
creature.

The horse's life is without doubt the most
unhappy one of all animals. He is the victim
of endless labour and fatigue, of endless and
merciless cruelty, and the older he gets, instead
of his trials becoming easier, they become
harder. The rich man, who for the sake of
fashion transforms him into something ridicu-
lous to look upon, has little love for him. He
sells him when his usefulness begins to falter.
The poor man buys him, and with him he tries
to earn his daily bread. Is it not easier for rich
people to save this awful suffering amongst poor
people's horses? Is it not their Christian duty
to do this? Thank God, when the motor becomes
more common, it will diminish the number of
miserable-looking horses that we see daily on
the streets. I cannot close this chapter without
appealing to wealthy people to give what they

feel they can to societies for the prevention of
cruelty to animals. Their kindness assuredly
shall not go unrewarded.

726. Ruskin said: "Can any man account for
all that happens to a cab horse? Has he ever
looked at the fate of one of those beasts as he is
dying? Has he measured the work it has done
and the reward it has got? Has he ever put his
hands on the bloody sores through which his
bones are piercing, and so look to Heaven with
an entire understanding of Heaven's ways about
the horse? Yet the fate of the horse is no dream,
no revelation among the myrtle trees by night.
The dust it lies upon and the dogs that eat it are
facts. And yonder happy person who owned
the horse until its knees were broken over the
hurdles, who sold it to a cab owner as soon as
it was blemished ; yonder happy person, with
an immortal soul, with peace and wealth on
earth, shall this happy person have no stripes? "

NE OBLIVISCAMUR

Only a horse that lies dead in the street

Prone on the pave, 'mid the hurrying feet ;

Only a horse that through sunshine and rain

Toiled for his master and did not complain.

Rough is his coat with each rib showing through,

Scant though his food, he was faithful and true.

Beaten, abused, bearing burdens of pain,

Only a horse and he could not complain.

Who shall dare say such as these have no soul,

Nothing before them, no far away goal ;

No need for toil and no balm for their pain,

Though they are silent and never complain ?

727. ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS

Among the noblest in the land —
Though he may rate himself the least,
That man I honour and revere
Who without favour, without fear,
In the great city dares to stand
The friend of every friendless beast.

LONGFELLOW.

CHAPTER XVI

ON ANESTHETICS AND ANESTHESIA— HUMANE DESTRUCTION

728. The Nervous System.— The living body is
controlled by a wonderful mechanism known as
the nervous system. This system is divided into
two distinct branches : the voluntary branch, and
the involuntary branch or reflex branch. The
latter is responsible for the vital organs continu-
ing in their functional activity day after day.

The whole of this wonderful system is con-
trolled by "minor offices" called local centres,
these being situated in the spinal cord. There is
a local centre for every one of the viscera and
organs in the pelvis, abdomen, thorax, neck,
face, etc. The whole of the blood supply is con-
trolled by local centres which contract and dilate
the minute blood capillaries, and thus regulate
the flow of blood. All these local centres are
controlled by one large centre, the " head office,"
which is called the brain. The brain keeps per-
fect harmony between the local centres ; this
function is known as co-ordination.

By means of co-ordination, blood is distri-
buted as required over the whole body, and
certain organs are not allowed to take too much
blood, thereby leaving other organs bloodless.
But for this main central control the minor
organs might demand all the blood and leave
none for the brain or other important organs,
and consequently cause death to the animal.

After a meal more blood is required in the
stomach and intestines, and the blood supply of
the muscles and brain is therefore reduced ;
hence hard muscular or mental work should not
be allowed while heavy digestion is going on.
Horsemen must remember this, otherwise the
best value will not be obtained from the food,
but serious trouble may result. Indigestion is
the common sequence of neglect of the above
fact.

The control of all internal viscera or other
organs, such as the blood-vessels, etc., is carried
on by the involuntary system, which is known
as reflex action. Every nerve passing from a
portion of an organ to the spinal cord has
another nerve passing back along the side of it.
That passing to the cord is the sensory nerve, as
it carries sensation, and that passing back is the
motor nerve, as it causes motion.

A reflex action takes place in this manner : a
stimulus is given to the receiving surface, that

is communicated to the sensory nerve ; this
passes it to the local centre in the spinal cord,
the cord sends back a message along the motor
nerve, that conveys a stimulus to the active
part to which it is attached, which is called a
muscle fibre. Hence, a sensation felt by the part
causes a stimulus to be given to the muscle of
that part: this is a reflex action. The blood
supply is controlled entirely by reflex action.

The voluntary system is also controlled to a
certain extent by reflex action. The voluntary
system controls all the red, or striated, muscles
(except the heart muscles), and is generally at
the entire command of the individual.

729. The brain and spinal cord, which form
the nervous column, are composed of inner grey
matter and outer white ; the grey is the more
important part. From the brain and spinal cord,
all the way to the tail, numerous nerves, sen-
sory and motor, branch off ; the motor nerves,
strictly speaking, go out, and the sensory come
in.

Nerves are always seen in bundles of minute
nerve fibres, each fibre being a nerve. The
bundles (like telephone cables) vary very much
in size. Sensory and motor nerves are mixed up
in the same bundle.

There are twelve pairs of cranial nerves lead-
ing from the under surface of the brain : three
sensory, six motor, and three mixed.

780. The first (olfactory) controls the sense
of smell ; the second, third, fourth and sixth
control the sense of sight — the third, fourth and
sixth being motor nerves. The fifth (trifacial) is
a very large mixed nerve, and controls most of
the face, mouth and teeth.

The seventh (facial) is a large motor nerve,
and controls the face, ears and part of the teeth.
The eighth (auditory) controls the sense of hear-
ing. The ninth (mixed) controls the tongue and
pharynx. The tenth (mixed) controls the larynx
and neck. The eleventh (motor) passes to muscles
in the neck ; and the twelfth (motor) controls
the muscles of the tongue.

731. Leading from the spinal cord, there are
eight double pairs of nerves in the neck (cervical
region) ; the sixth, seventh and eighth, together
with some of the dorsal nerves, form the brachial
plexus, that sends off the nerves of the fore

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CHAP, xvi] ANESTHETICS— HUMANE DESTRUCTION

189

limbs, which we will consider from the point
of view of local anaesthesia later in the chapter.
In the thorax there are seventeen double pairs
of dorsal nerves, the first and second forming
part of the brachial plexus. Farther back,
towards the tail, there are in the abdomen six
double pairs of lumber nerves, the fourth, fifth
and sixth helping to form the lumbar-sacral
plexus, which sends off the nerves to the hind
limbs. Farther back there are five double pairs
of sacral nerves, situated in the pelvic cavity,
the first, second and third helping to form the
lumbar-sacral plexus. Lastly, there are six or
seven double pairs of coccygeal nerves that
supply the muscles of the tail.

732. P. 137 and 138a show the nerves given
off by the brachial plexus and lumbar-sacral
plexus, and the places where the cocaine, etc.,
would be injected as a local anaesthetic.

As well as the large number of motor nerves
which branch into the hundreds of smaller
nerves, all of which have their own names and
special functions (for instance, the fifth cranial
nerve branches into nineteen main nerves, each of
which subdivides and re-subdivides many scores
of times), there is the sympathetic system, that
assists in controlling the involuntary functions of
the body, and is in immediate contact with the
motor system, briefly described above.

The sympathetic system consists of a double
chain of ganglion bodies extending from the
head to the tail, outside and below the vertebral
column. There are five main groups in the sym-
pathetic system : the cephalic ganglia, in the
head ; the cervical ganglia, in the neck ; the
dorsal, or thoracic, ganglia, in the thorax or
chest, which forms the great splanchnic gang-
lion, solar ganglion and the solar plexus, that
gives off nerve branches to most of the abdominal
viscera ; the lumbar, or abdominal, ganglia ;
and, lastly, the sacral, or pelvic, ganglia.

This chain of ganglia ends just below the
first coccygeal vertebra.

The reader will gather from the above some
idea of the extraordinarily complex nervous
mechanism the horse or human being possesses.
In the horse the motor nerves in the spinal cord
are better developed, whilst in the human being
the brain is better developed. It is easy to realise
how soon the nervous system can be upset and
how difficult it often is to repair nervous dis-
orders or breakdowns.

733. Brief Description of the Nervous Tissue.
— The nerve tissue is divided into a central
nervous system (brain and spinal cord), smaller
centres or ganglia, nerves, and nerve endings
(special senses). In the embryo the nervous
system is formed from the epiblast (or ectoderm).

Each individual nerve consists of a dendrite,
that carries an impulse to the cell body of the
nerve, the cell body (or ganglion cell), and the
neuraxis, that carries the impulse from the cell

body to a muscle, blood-vessel, gland, etc. The
whole is called a neurone.

Those that cause muscular contraction are
called motor, and those that convey sensation are
called sensory. The cell body contains, amongst
other things, minute chromatophile granules,
which, under such conditions as diseases of the
nervous system, poisoning, and excessive fatigue,
disappear altogether.

734. Thus a nerve fibre may consist of a
number of neuraxes, or dendrites, or both. The
cell bodies are situated in the brain, spinal cord,
or the sympathetic ganglia (e.g., solar plexus,
situated posteriorly to the liver in the horse).

The nerve fibres are made up of little fibrils
and neuroplasm, which is the matrix, sur-
rounded by a skin (axolemma). It is often
surrounded again by a medullary sheath and an
outer sheath of Schwann (or neurilemma), and
outside this is Henle's sheath, which is always
present. The medullary sheath is absent at
certain intervals along the nerves, leaving a dip
in the surface, called the node of Randier ; it is
at these nodes that nerve branches originate. A
nerve trunk (which we see if we dissect an
animal, and which rather resembles white cord)
consists of several bundles of nerve fibres, each
bundle being called a funiculus. Each funiculus
consists of a number of nerve fibres in their
respective sheaths. The end of the nerve varies ;
some end like a brush, others in a node.

Brief History of Anaesthetics

735. The ancient writers were aware that
certain herbs had the effect of producing in-
sensibility to pain. Pliny, Galen, Dioscorides
and Isodorus all mentioned that certain roots
and herbs had the power of paralysing sensation
and motion.

In the reign of Henry VIII. a doctor used a
herb, probably mandragora, to cause insensi-
bility to pain. It was also known that the
vapours of certain drugs, as well as the use of
drugs administered orally, had this effect. The
discovery of oxygen by Joseph Priestley (1774)
caused the importance of the inhalation of gases
to be brought to light.

Sir Humphry Davy, in 1799, first discovered
the anaesthetic properties of laughing gas
(nitrous oxide, N20).

Faraday, in 1818, also made some experiments
with sulphuric ether. Progress was very slow.
In 1831, Samuel Guthrie, an American — and in
the same year, Soubeiran and Sir James Young
Simpson (Edinburgh) — independently procured
by distillation a substance from chloride of lime
and alcohol. This preparation was submitted to
Dumas, who called it chloroform (CHC1,), on
account of its similarity in composition to formic
acid.

Jacob Bell and M. Flourens also experimented

190

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

independently with chloroform. The surgeon,
however, is more indebted to Sir J. Y. Simpson
for his valuable research work towards intro-
ducing the general use of anaesthetics.

For many years chloroform was not generally
used, because, as in things of to-day, people who
could not mind their own business and people
who knew nothing of anatomy or physiology
experimented, often with fatal results, upon
people and animals, thus discouraging the use
of this humane discovery, instead of encourag-
ing it.

736. The Use of Anaesthetics. — It is sur-
prising to find what a number of painful
operations are performed upon dumb animals
without the use of anaesthetics — not even local.
It is still more surprising to find that many
veterinary surgeons in different countries do not
know how to administer anaesthetics properly.
I have often heard medical men bring this
point up. Consequently, partly due to want
of knowledge and practice, and partly due to
pecuniary considerations, many veterinarians
prefer to torture dumb animals, instead of per-
forming humane and more scientific operations.
Men who perform vivisection on dumb animals
without anaesthetics really merit punishment.

Anaesthetics, apart from preventing pain, are
of the greatest use in all bone-setting and many
other operations, in that they cause relaxation of
all voluntary muscles. The out-of-date vet., to
save himself a few pence, would keep a horse
in agony for half an hour, and then probably
make a mess of the operation. Had he spent a
small sum on chloroform, he could readily have
charged extra, because the operation would have
been more skilfully performed, and he would,
therefore, have deserved a higher fee. The
dangers of after-effects also would have been
minimised.

737. Dr. T. C. Evans, of the Biological
Department at Ottawa, reminded me the other
day that "the time is past when a veterinarian
restrained his patient with ropes and operated
promiscuously while the massive bone and
muscle writhed beneath the cutting edge of the
knife." Only when under an anaesthetic will all
the voluntary and some of the involuntary
muscles be in a state of relaxation, and only
then will the animal remain motionless and
allow an uninterrupted, scientific operation to
be performed.

Anesthesia and Choice of Anesthetics

738. There are four stages in anaesthesia:
1st. Stimulation, when the animal becomes

excited, which is increased if the anaesthetic is
used too strongly at first, and is much greater
with chloroform than with ether.

2nd. Sedation, or hypnotic stage, complete
calmness, but not insensibility to pain ; the eye-

ball responds to a touch of the finger. While in
this second stage, complete calmness must be
observed, especially with dogs, or the patient
may become excitable (dog howls), and the first
stage will again be reached. With chloroform,
any attempt to operate while in this stage (2nd)
may be fatal by causing reflex action on the
heart. With ether, this danger is not supposed
to exist. The simple operation of extracting a
tooth has been known to kill a man, the dentist
having pulled while the patient was only in the
hypnotic stage, under chloroform. His heart
must have been weak.

3rd. Anaesthesia proper, in which there is
complete relaxation of all voluntary and some
involuntary muscles, complete insensibility to
any pain, and complete loss of consciousness.

4th. Paralysis and probable death ; this stage,
of course, must never be reached.

739. The commonest total-ana5sthetics used
are chloroform, ether, and nitrous oxide, or
laughing gas. The last is not used with horses
or dogs, and is used chiefly for human dentistry,
its action lasting only a few seconds. Chloro-
form and ether are used separately, together, or
combined with alcohol, the latter being known
as the A.C.E. mixture (one part alcohol, two
chloroform, and three ether), which is used with
children and dogs. It is doubtful whether the
alcohol has any real effect other than diluting the
mixture.

In human medicine, chloroform is seldom
given ; the death-rate with it is 1 in 2,500, whilst
with ether it is only 1 in 12,000.

740. Chloroform has a very depressing effect
on the heart, whilst ether has not. In the horse,
however, the heart is not often weak, and,
unless it is, chloroform is used. Ether causes
violent struggling to commence with, which may
do considerable harm. On the other hand, ether
should not be given in lung or kidney diseases ;
ether-pneumonia and uraemia respectively may
follow. Ether may kill an advanced consump-
tive. Chloroform has not the same nauseating
effect that ether has, and for this reason I
strongly recommend it for horses, because a
horse cannot vomit normally. (I have seen a
horse vomit fifteen minutes before death.)
Again, in hot climates ether cannot be used, as
it boils at 98° P. (blood heat of human beings
equals 98°, that of a horse about 100°).

741. In confinement, just previous to partu-
rition, there is far less danger of heart failure
from an anaesthetic, as the heart is always en-
larged at this time and can stand a great shock.

With horses, chloroform is often given, and
when the patient is completely under its influ-
ence the anaesthetic is changed to ether. Chloro-
form must always be given very freely diluted
with air. If the chloroform is given too strong,
suffocation will take place ; this is almost im-
possible with ether. Whichever is used, the

xvi]

ANESTHETICS— HU MANE DESTRUCTION

191

patient must be very gradually brought under its
influence. The patient should pass slowly into
a peaceful sleep without any struggling.

742. Anaesthetising a Horse.— The anaesthetic
should be given on an empty stomach. The
heart should always be examined for signs of
weakness ; if it is found at all weak, ether should
be used, otherwise use chloroform.

The proper way to administer it is to lay the
horse on an operating table or cast it in the usual
way with ropes. It is often given to the horse
while standing, the horse being brought into a
sleepy state, and left to fall on to a very soft bed
of straw provided for the purpose. There is a
certain danger of the fall causing too great a
shock on the heart, although I have never seen
this result. The nostrils, lips, and the parts
round the mouth must be previously greased
with an animal fat, such as lard, to prevent any
of the chloroform from getting on to the skin
and burning it.

743. There are several methods of adminis-
tering the drug. I think the best way, which is
the simplest, is to make a cotton bag or to take
the leg of an old pair of cotton overalls, tie the
end up loosely with a bow knot, cut one small
hole half-way down the bag thus formed, and
place a plug of cotton batton in the bottom over
the part that has been drawn in with the bow
knot. The object of the bow knot is that the
cotton batton can be removed immediately if
required. A piece of cord is then tied on,
making the whole into a nosebag, the cord
slipping over the horse's head.

Some recommend giving a horse morphine
and other similar drugs twenty minutes before
administering the chloroform. Experience, how-
ever, has proved the inadvisability of this. It
only causes more trouble while the patient is
recovering. It is a good practice to give two to
four drachms of chloroform by the mouth as a
drench in a pint of water twenty minutes before
administering. This causes the horse to go under
with far less chloroform, thus lessening the
danger of heart failure.

744. Other apparatus are on the market. A
bucket-shaped nosebag is often used, which has
a side trap to admit air, a tin tray at the bottom
to hold the sponge or cotton batton, and a wire
frame to prevent the horse's lips from touching
the sponge. A proper anaesthetising muzzle,
with tubes and taps leading to it by which the
amount of chloroform and air can be regulated,
is on the market. Messrs. Krone and Sessamon,
of London, have one of this type.

In giving chloroform to a horse on the operat-
ing table, one nostril is generally partly closed
with the hand, whilst the sponge is held a few
inches from the other nostril. On no account
must the one nostril be plugged up. A sudden
inhalation may draw the plug in and cause
suffocation. Always put a pair of blinkers on

the horse, if he is not on the table, to protect
his eyes from dust and other injury. Tan-bark
will do a lot of harm and cause much pain if it
gets into the eye.

745. In using the nosebag or the home-made
cotton bag, the horse, if he is to be ansesthetised
standing, is taken quite quietly and held by a
line or rope on either side by an assistant. The
bag is then put on and drawn up so that there
is very little space between the face and the top
of the bag.

The anaesthetist then drops on chloroform,
drop by drop, through the trap of the nosebag
or the cotton bag itself, great care being taken
that all air holes are fully open to allow the
horse to breathe naturally without drawing in
the sides of the bag at each inhalation. In ten
to fifteen minutes the horse should begin to
sway ; the moment he begins to sway badly the
chloroform-dropping must be discontinued, and
the horse allowed to fall down. When he is
down, his head must be stretched out so as to
give freedom to the throat, and the bag tem-
porarily removed to allow plenty of fresh air,
and then put on again, and anaesthetising con-
tinued.

746. If he can be thrown previously, then
the best method is to use the hand and sponge,
as are used on the operating table ; one nostril
must not be plugged up, but the hand held over
it. On no account must the anaesthetising be
hurried.

Four to ten ounces for an average-sized horse
will be required to put him under. If chloro-
form has been used orally, considerably less will
be required. The horse will soon get into the
second, or hypnotic, stage. He may appear to
be in the third, but by gently raising the eyelid,
if necessary, and touching the eyeball, it will
twitch, showing that he is still in the second
stage.

When there is no reflex action of the eyeball,
the horse is properly anaesthetised. It is now
the duty of the anaesthetist to give sufficient
chloroform to keep him under, and no more. He
is to attend to nothing else. He will have one
assistant if the horse is not on the table.

747. Any uneven or stertorous breathing is a
bad sign, and the nosebag and sponge must be
at once removed. Great care must be taken,
when the horse falls down, that the bag is kept
open, so as to allow plenty of fresh air, or else
removed altogether. Breathing through the
mouth is a very sure sign that there is not
sufficient air. It must be remembered that,
normally, the horse cannot breathe through his
mouth.

A hurried start in giving the chloroform will
often retard progress instead of expediting it.

When the horse is down, the method of lay-
ing a handkerchief over one nostril and pouring
on chloroform drop by drop must not be allowed.

192

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Besides burning the nostrils, some of the liquid
is very liable to get inside them.

The sponge or batton must not be within three
inches of the lips or nostrils. The head must be
kept a little raised, with the nostrils a little
below the level of the head. The pulse must be
continually felt at the submaxillary artery.
Weakening of the heart must be watched for.
Great care must be taken that no dirt gets into
the lower eye. The blinkers must be properly
fitted ; special ones for this purpose can be had.

If the horse is on a table, he must be kept
there securely fastened while he is coming
round. If he is loose in a field or loose box, etc.,
he should be left quite free to recover slowly.

748. The fore arm and shoulder muscles may
quiver as the horse is recovering from the effects
of the anaesthetic. To test if he is recovering
properly, draw back the eyelid, and the pupil
will contract on exposure to light. The horse
must be given water to drink if he wishes it, but
food must be withheld for two or three hours
afterwards. Then he must be fed on warm
mashes for the rest of the day. If there is reten-
tion of urine, the catheter must be passed.

749. When death takes place, it is due to
asphyxia, the heart ceasing to beat after the
lungs have ceased to work ; hence the patient
can often be saved if the chloroform is removed
immediately, and artificial respiration resorted to
for perhaps several hours.

Spirits of ammonia or amyl nitrite should be
given at the nostrils as an inhalant. One to two
grains of strychnine should be injected into
the jugular vein. (P. 137.) Normally, of course,
such a dose would probably kill the horse. Give
also one gallon normal saline solution as an
enema. (Normal saline equals one drachm com-
mon salt to one pint of water, approximately.)

If the horse is not given sufficient air, shown
by laboured breathing or breathing through the
mouth, more air must at once be given, and the
chloroform and bag removed. On no account,
let me repeat, must the anaesthetising be hurried.
The operator must cease to work whenever the
anaesthetic has to be removed or more air has
to be suddenly given, in case consciousness
should partly return. The heart shock in such
cases might be fatal if the operator continued.
This, of course, would not occur with an ex-
perienced anesthetist.

750. Use of Morphine Prior to Chloroform.
— Some surgeons prefer to use morphine or
morphine compounds hypodermically before
administering chloroform. Personally, I think
there is very little gained ; although a horse may
go under more quietly when morphine has been
used, he takes longer to come round. It is
claimed that morphine lessens the danger of
bronchial troubles following anaesthesia.

Four to eight grains of morphine should be
injected hypodermically half an hour before

the chloroforming is commenced. The horse
will be drowsy and will not generally fight the
chloroform so much, although I have known
cases where the fight was increased.

Morphine is given hypodermically to dogs,
about one-sixth of a grain, previous to anaesthe-
tising, to prevent vomiting.

A mixture of hyoscine, morphine and cactine,
called H.M.C. mixture, is made by the Abbott
Alkaloidal Company of Chicago, and is sold in
small tablets in two sizes, containing 1J grain
morphine hydrobromide and 2£ grains respec-
tively. It is better to use this than morphine
alone as a preparation for chloroform. For a
large draught horse the larger tablet is used, one
an hour before and another half an hour before
giving the chloroform. Anaesthesia is prolonged
and the danger of bronchial pneumonia greatly
diminished. H.M.C. can also be used as a local
anaesthetic to allay excitement or to correct the
ill-effects of other drugs. It is used with good
effect on dogs.

751. Anaesthetising Dogs.— Dogs are not often
given chloroform by itself. It is far safer
to use morphine or, preferably, H.M.C. A
solution is made of the latter by using a
tablet containing \ grain (for 15 Ib. dog), and
injected under the skin ; in half an hour a
similar injection is given, which for a short
minor operation will be sufficient by itself. If,
however, a profound anaesthesia (sleep) is re-
quired, it is safer to administer ether, and not
to use chloroform at all. A dog while under
morphine may whine, due to delirium, but it
will be insensible to pain.

With dogs the morphine has a quietening
effect while coming out of the anaesthesia, and
vomiting will be unlikely. The objection to
ether in dogs is its nauseating effect. It must
not be used in lung or kidney diseases.

752. The Animal Anesthetics Act. — It is to
be sincerely hoped that this Bill will success-
fully pass the House, as it is one that fills a
gap that horsemen have for years tried to fill,
and it is also heartily supported by the veterinary
profession. It forbids horses, two years of age
and over, from being castrated without a total
anaesthetic. It forbids neurectomy (removal of
a nerve), enucleation of the eyeballs, trephining,
radical operation for quitter, line firing, opera-
tion for stripping the sole, radical operation for
poll evil, and for fistulous withers without a
total anaesthetic.

It omits to provide for ovariotomy without
anaesthetics, but I believe this omission is being
provided for. It also omits pin-firing, which is
often as painful as line firing.

Local Anaesthetics

753. Again I repeat how shameful it is that
local anaesthetics are seldom used by vets. How

PLATE 127

Two Famous Suffolk Punches, the Property of Mr. Kenneth M. Clark, Sudbourne Hall, Orford, Suffolk, a, " Sudbourne

Lassie," Winner of many Firsts and Champion. b, "Sudbourne Redcup," Three-year Old Champion. Photos kindly

Lent by Mr. R. Gilling, Estate Manager. (Note the natural tails of these Suffolk horses.)

PLATE 128

Two Famous Suffolk Stallions from (he Sudbourne Hall Estate, Orford, Suffolk (Mr Kenneth M. Clark), a, " Sudbourne

Lord," Champion. b, " Sudbourne Beaumonde," Champion

xvi]

ANAESTHETICS— HUMANE DESTRUCTION

193

often have I seen neurectomy, quittor and
operations for seton, removal of tumours, etc.,
castration, straightening of crooked tails (see
Sec. 650), etc., performed without the use of
even a local anaesthetic ! It is a cowardly prac-
tice and foolish to dispense with such aid,
because there is no need to rope a horse down
as if he were a ravaging lion. With local
anaesthetics nearly all of the above operations
can be performed without the use of a single
rope and without the horse feeling pain.

754. The methods of producing local anaes-
thesia are : (1) freezing the part ; (2) injecting a
drug that temporarily kills the nerve ; (3) by
local application of fluids, or by rubbing these
in ; and (4) by electricity.

For the first method, a'n ether spray and
ethyl chloride are used.

For the second, cocaine, eucaine, quinine and
urea hydrochloride, stovaine, and anaesthaine
are used.

For the third, any of the above solutions are
poured on to the part — for instance, into the eye.

For the fourth, a series of electrical impulses
are produced upon the part.

755. Local Anesthesia by Freezing. — If a
very slight local anaesthesia is required, ethyl
chloride is merely poured on to the part drop
by drop, but for deeper effects the ether spray
must be used. The principle is this : an
Apparatus that produces a very fine spray of
ether (similar to the bottle barbers use to spray
the face) is used. When a liquid is forced
through the air in a fine spray it will evaporate
(turn into vapour). When a liquid is trans-
formed into vapour, heat is required to cause
this transformation. Thus, if a liquid in contact
with another body is changed into a vapour, the
heat that it requires for this is taken from the
body with which it is in contact. For example,
one's hand, if wetted and held in the wind,
becomes cold, due to the evaporation of the
water taking heat from the hand.

This reduction in heat is very great, as it
requires 536 times as much heat to change one
volume of water at 212° F. into steam at the
same temperature as it does to raise that volume
of water, say, from 211° to 212°. The figure 536
is called the latent heat of steam or water vapour.

Very volatile liquids, as ether, by evaporating
at a very low temperature — about 84° F. (less
than blood heat) — produce a very much greater
reduction in temperature. If ether is sprayed on
to a part of the body, in a few minutes that part
becomes frozen and insensitive to pain. Of
course, the freezing is quite local.

756. Method of Using Ether Spray. — For
veterinary use the methyl ether is generally
used, as it is much cheaper than the ethyl
ether. The part is clipped free of hair. If only
a cut is to be made in the skin, as in inserting
a seton needle, the part is sprayed in the direc-

tion of the needle until the tissues become quite
hard and the skin appears a peculiar blue colour.
The incision is then made with the seton scissors,
and the spray brought upon the incision for a
minute. The needle is inserted, and the spray
again played over the skin ahead of the point of
the needle. The seton thread is greased with an
antiseptic, so that when it is drawn through it
will cause no pain.

Other small cuts are made in the same way.
In removing a tumour that is on the surface,
the same procedure is resorted to, the spray
being kept well round and over the part to be
cut and well into each incision as it is made,
the knife being only inserted a little way, with-
drawn, and the spray injected, and so on. No
part must be cut unless it is quite hard, show-
ing that there is no feeling. It requires con-
siderable skill to operate successfully in this
way, and if done properly there will be no pain
felt. In large tumours more than one spray will
be necessary to keep the part insensitive.

757. For firing the same is done. Large
patches six inches square have been fired by deep
line firing without the horse having his legs tied
at all and without his feeling any pain. In
using the spray for firing, only the skin is frozen,
i.e. the anaesthetising must not be done too
deeply, as the cooling effect on the iron will be
too great. The local anaesthetic also prevents the
after-pain considerably, which, by the way, ia
the most painful part of firing.

For applying caustics and escharotics, the
ether spray should be used as above, thus remov-
ing all pain.

758. For nerving, the ether spray is of the
greatest use. The operation of cutting a nerve
(e.g. the common operation of radial neurec-
tomy) in the horse is an extremely painful one,
yet how often is a local anaesthetic used? The
incision is made, as above explained, right over
the nerve. There will be no bleeding, because
everything will be frozen. The spray is kept on
until the tissues around the nerve are quite hard.
The nerve is then exposed, and made free from
connective tissue underneath ; the spray is then
kept on until the nerve becomes almost like
metal. The nerve is cut— an inch should be
taken out — and the wound dressed in the usual
manner. Sewing up is not advisable.

Ether spray is also used to detect lameness.
For example, a certain joint, as the knee, is sus-
pected of lameness ; it is made insensible, and
if the lameness disappears it is clear that it was
the knee that caused the trouble.

Internal operations, such as removal of an
obstruction in the caecum, or the passage of the
foetus through the side of the womb when
normal delivery through the pelvis is impossible,
have been carried out with success with the aid
of the ether spray when used very carefully, so
that no part was cut unless hardened.

194

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Ether spray should be used before a trocar
and cannula are inserted, provided there is time.

759. Anaesthesia by Local Infections. — The
second method, that of injecting cocaine, etc.,
is used whenever the operation is near the
surface. The principle is that of numbing the
nerve before it gets to the part — that is, on the
side towards the brain or spinal cord. For this
reason a certain knowledge of neurology
(anatomy of the nerves) is required. P. 137
and 138a show the positions where injections
are made for common local operations.

In neurectomy of the radial nerve, for in-
stance, the injection is made, ten to fifteen
minutes before the operation, over the radial
nerve on both sides of the leg, four to six inches
above the point of incision.

In operations for straightening the tail the
injection is made at the root of the dock, on
both sides, ten to fifteen minutes previously.
Personally, I think the ether spray is better, as
it prevents the necessity for inserting a needle ;
therefore, there is less liability of missing the
nerve, and it is easy to discover when the part
is frozen.

Freshly made solutions of cocaine hydro-
chloride must be used ; old solutions are of no
use. A 5 per cent, solution is generally used,
1 drachm of it for each injection ; 10 per cent,
cocaine should also be rubbed over the place to
be cut. In operating on the side of the body, the
injections should be made on the spinal cord
side in two or three places. For continued local
anaesthesia the doses must be repeated ; larger
doses must not be given at first. The action lasts
from twenty to thirty minutes.

760. The best way is to procure cocaine
hydrochloride in 5-grain tablets ; one of these
added to nearly 1§ drachm of water would make
a 5 per cent, solution. Two tablets added to the
same amount of water would make a 10 per cent.
solution, for external application. For dogs,
always use a 5 per cent, solution. Over-doses
of cocaine produce a toxic effect. If serious,
strychnine must be given.

761. Anseslhaine (Abbott Alkaloidal Com-
pany) is a valuable local anaesthetic, which is
sold in 1 oz. bottles. It has not the toxic effect
of cocaine, and produces local effects much more
quickly: in two to four minutes if applied ex-
ternally as a spray, and in four to six minutes

f injected hypodermically. A solution of anaes-
thaine is equivalent in strength to a 5 per cent,
solution of cocaine.

Quinine and urea hydrochloride is also a new
local anaesthetic of great value. One grain of it
is equivalent to one grain of cocaine ; it is used
in 5 per cent, solutions. It has no toxic effects.
Over-doses produce no harm, except to induce
prolonged anaesthesia. The anaesthesia lasts much
longer, sometimes several hours or even days.
Barker's solution of eucaine is also a valuable

local anaesthetic, which has less toxic effects than
cocaine. Its strength is equivalent to 5 per cent,
solution cocaine. Holocaine and acoine are local
anaesthetics ; they are also antiseptic. Stovaine
and novocaine are used in 1 to 2 per cent, solu-
tions instead of cocaine.

In giving cocaine to dogs, great care must be
exercised. One-tenth of a grain in 5 per cent,
solution is sufficient for hypodermic use on a
small dog, e.g. a small fox-terrier. This should
be repeated if there is no sign of cerebral nervous
excitement.

762. The third method of anaesthetising, by
external applications of the fluids mentioned
above, is also used, but generally in conjunction
with hypodermic injections over the part to be
cut.

This can be resorted to in order to relieve
pain from a bruise or a painful part. The drug
is rubbed in gently to hasten its absorption by
the skin. This method is used for operations on
the eye, such as removal of hay seed, cinder,
cataract, etc.

A 1 per cent, solution of cocaine, using about
one-twentieth of a grain, i.e. 5 minims of the
solution, is dropped into the eye by means of a
dropper or clean fountain-pen filler. The surface
of the eye and a little beneath will be insensitive
when the pupil is much dilated, i.e. two or three
times its normal diameter.

763. The fourth method, that of applying
electric impulses at a very high rate of speed, is
also practised in modern surgery considerably.
The Leduc apparatus produces a hundred electric
impulses to the second. The effect on the limb is
almost instantaneous loss of feeling.

764. Degree of Sensibility. — The sensibility
to pain in animals is less than that in human
beings, it being greatest in the horse and dog.
Next to them probably comes the guinea-pig.
The sensibility to pain in the cow, sheep and
pig is considerably less than that in a well-bred
horse or dog. The better the breeding the
greater the sensibility to pain.

Humane Destruction

765. The destruction of a suffering horse is
very often a matter of considerable difficulty, not
through want of means, but through want of the
knowledge of the method of doing it. If one
knows how a horse can be destroyed painlessly
by means of an ordinary penknife, he may be
able on many occasions to put a suffering horse
out of its misery.

The most humane and the quickest and
cleanest way is that of shooting through the
brain. The layman who has not a thorough
knowledge of the anatomy of the skull should
shoot through the forehead into the lateral ven-
tricles of the brain. P. 138a shows the exact
position for the bullet to enter. Lines drawn

xvi]

ANESTHETICS— HUMANE DESTRUCTION

195

crossways from each ear to the opposite eye will
intersect one another over the forehead. The
bullet should enter at this point of intersection,
and be directed slightly upwards, and on no
account downwards. Death is instantaneous,
but there may be nervous twitching after death.

A bullet put in behind the ear, through the
fourth ventricle of the brain, causes absolute
cessation of nervous twitching, but this should
not be attempted by the amateur. It must be
fully borne in mind that the horse's brain is
between the base of the ears, and not between
the eyes.

The R.S.P.C.A. (Jermyn Street, London) has
invented a humane horse-killer, which consists
of a long handle with a kind of revolver attached
to one end, the whole somewhat resembling a
pickaxe. The handle is held so that one end of
the " pick " is against the forehead, i.e. where
the bullet is to enter. The cartridge is fired by
releasing a spring in the handle.

766. The knife can be used to pith the horse
or to sever the posterior aorta. Pithing causes
instantaneous death. It consists of completely
dividing the spinal cord between the first and
second cervical vertebrae (atlas and axis) ; but
this should not be attempted by anyone who has
not studied the anatomy of these two bones when
joined together, as it is very easy to insert the
knife and not to be able to find the cord. I do
not recommend this method to the layman. An
expert will insert knife, cut the nerve, and with-
draw the knife in one rapid stroke, the horse
dying immediately. A steel dissecting knife,
with a double edge, is the correct instrument to
use for this operation.

I have only pithed a horse once, when the
animal died immediately my knife was in. I
did this as the only means available to put it out
of its misery. I think there are far better
methods.

The posterior aorta is the large artery that
supplies the entire hindquarters and hind-limbs ;
it runs along underneath the backbone on the
left side, passing under the left kidney. The
hand and arm should be greased and inserted
up to the elbow in the rectum ; by placing the
hand against the roof of the rectum the throb-
bing in the artery can be easily felt, and at a
place approximately between the points of the
hips the artery should be cut right across. No
pain is felt, and the animal rapidly dies as if
falling to sleep. The hand must be rapidly with-
drawn to avoid escape of blood. The artery
must not be confused with the vena cava, which
runs along on the other side of the backbone,
and which has no throb in it. This carries the
venous blood back to the heart. I mention this
as a means when no others are available, as
horses are so often left suffering because no one
will put them out of their misery.

767. Prussic acid (hydrocyanic) is sometimes
used to destroy horses. I strongly deprecate its
use, as I know of so many hopeless failures.
Unless the acid is absolutely fresh, it Is of little
use, as it rapidly decomposes. The only kind
that I can recommend is that bought in hermetic-
ally sealed tubes, when it will be fresh. Once
opened, the whole should be used, or the re-
mainder thrown away. It is sold in 2 oz. sealed
bottles, containing 2 per cent. (B.P.) ; once the
bottle is opened, it must not be kept. It should
be squirted into the mouth by means of a syringe
or bulb. It would be safer to use 4 oz., i.e. two
bottles, because the normal dose of prussic acid
for the horse is J to i dr. A 4 per cent, solution
(Scheele's) is also on the market, half of this
amount being required.

Prussic acid is commonly used with dogs ;
1 oz. should be poured into the dog's mouth,
which must be held open with the jaws upwards.
Death is instantaneous.

Chloroform can be used. When the animal
is completely anaesthetised, the air is cut off,
and the animal asphyxiated.

768. Strychnine is also used. A hypodermic
injection of 10 grains strychnine sulphate made
into the jugular vein (P. 137) will cause in-
stantaneous death, but violent reflex struggling
will follow after the horse is really dead. The
jugular vein lies in the jugular groove on
the side of the neck. By pressing the finger
into the groove the blood pressure in the vein
causes the vein to swell up above the finger
towards the head ; the hypodermic needle is
injected into the swollen part. Either side of
the neck will do.

Electrocution is used for dogs and cats and
other small animals, and is a very humane
method of destroying such animals painlessly
and instantaneously. Mr. Harris, of the Toronto
S.P.C.A., has had installed two of the latest
types, one for cats, and a larger one for dogs.

The apparatus consists of a large cupboard
with double sides, top and bottom, and a damp
bed, on which the animal is laid. A metal collar
is placed around the animal's neck. The animal
is placed inside, and a wire hooked to the collar.
The door is closed, and a current of high voltage
is turned on, which makes the animal insensitive
and probably kills it. The current is then
increased in pressure (voltage), to 1,150, to make
sure that life is extinct. After a minute the door
is opened, and the animal taken out.

I do not approve of the lethal chamber, so
popular a few years ago. It consists of a box, in
which the animal is placed, and, after he is
inside, chloroform vapour is introduced, thus
asphyxiating the animal. I conclude by remind-
ing the reader that there is no more humane
method of destroying the horse than shooting it.
I have never seen a case fail.

CHAPTER XVII

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND THE THEORY OF DISEASE

769. Theory and Prevention of Disease. — Disease
(literally, without ease) is defined as " an
abnormal condition of a vital tissue." A diseased
condition, however, must not be confounded
with an abnormal condition of an organ com-
posed of healthy tissue, such as a corn, which
is merely a hypertrophy, due to irritation, or an
enlarged muscle, which is due to excessive
nourishment being supplied to the part, a result
of increased exercise to the part. The tissue
itself, and not only the organ, must be actually
abnormal, otherwise there is no disease. Disease
is caused in two ways : firstly, by a micro-
organism, in which case the disease is said to
be contagious or infectious ; and, secondly, by
other means than such organisms.

770. We will consider the second condition
first, as it does not concern us so much in this
chapter. Diseases produced by non-contagion are
those produced by a breakdown in tissue, due
to excessive strains, by a breakdown in the
nerves supplying the parts, by arrest of blood
supply to the part, and by abuse of habits, such
as use of liquor, smoking, etc. Diseases pro-
duced in this way are paralysis, heart disease,
diabetes, liver disease, various nervous diseases,
etc.

The prevention of such diseases is clearly the
removal of the cause, healthy living, plenty of
good exercise to all parts of the body, absence of
worry, faith in one's own health. The cure is
healthy exercise, fresh air, moderate habits, care-
ful dieting, absence of worry, and faith in one's
own health. I deal with the prevention of
human disease at the end of this chapter.

771. Contagious Diseases. — Diseases produced
by contagion are those that are receiving the
greatest consideration to-day. We will consider
how such are produced, how they are spread,
how they are prevented, and how they can be
cured.

Micro-organisms are of two kinds, animal
and vegetable. The former are called protozoa
(one cell), the latter, bacteria, yeasts, and moulds
or fungi.

The surface of the earth and everything on it,
as well as the atmosphere, is covered or filled
with millions of vegetable micro-organisms. In
fact it would be impossible for life to continue

without these germs. These vegetables are in
reality our best friends, and it is only by accident
that a small percentage (not more than 2 per
cent.) do us any harm.

Bacteria and yeasts carry out one of the most
important functions that exists in the world. All
putrefaction and decay are due to bacteria. Bac-
teria destroy dead bodies, and transform import-
ant chemical elements like nitrogen and carbon
from unavailable combinations into substances
that can be utilised and changed into higher
forms of plant life. Bacteria modify the compo-
sition of the soil and the character of crops, and
are, therefore, of the greatest use to farmers ;
bacteria impart the flavours and the aromas to
butter, cheese, milk, etc. ; bacteria are respon-
sible for the tanning of hides, retting of flax,
and the curing of tobacco.

Vinegar, which is acetic acid, is formed by
bacteria. The chemical equation is as follows :
C2H5 (OH) (alcohol) + 02 (oxygen) = HC2H30,
(acetic acid) + H20 (water).

Lactic acid bacteria eat and digest the acid
and make cheese.

Formerly, ammonia was made by the action
of bacteria on urine, forming ammonium car-
bonate.

Iron is liberated as iron hydrate in some bogs
by bacteria.

The acidity of peptone, an agent in the diges-
tive system, is due to bacteria.

Gelatine is produced partly by the action of
bacteria.

The preservation of many foods is due to
bacteria.

772. Fermentation is due to yeast cells, which
break up the structures that they attack in order
to obtain nourishment for themselves, and in
doing this they cause important chemical
changes to take place. For instance, yeast cells
are present on the outside of all grapes, and
when grapes are put into a vat for the purpose
of making wine, the yeast cells cause fermenta-
tion ; if these cells were not present, fermenta-
tion would not take place. The yeasts convert
all starches into sugar by combining a molecule
of starch with a molecule of water and forming
grape sugar (glucose or dextrose) : C6H1005 +
H,0 = CeH^O*.

196

PLATE 129

T/2.91

TWO BEAUTIFUL CHAMPION SUFFOLK PUNCH STALLIONS

a, " Saturn." fc, " Sudbourne Arabi." Copyright Photos : W. A. Rouen, London. (Tail of the latter is plaited-up

and quite natural.)

PLATE 130

a. Two-year-old Champion Clydesdale Slallion " Royal Guest." Owned by Messrs. A. and W. Montgomery.
Courtesy: "Canadian F'arm." />, Champion Percheron Stallion " Thor," American Bred. From the " Standard Cyclopaedia

of Modern Agriculture "

CHAP, xvn] BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND DISEASE

197

Yeast cells are a little larger than most
bacteria.

Moulds and fungi decompose dead matter
underground and inside trees, where bacteria,
etc., cannot gain access. Mushrooms are a form
of fungi. The fermentations of sauerkraut and
those of bread, etc., are due to yeasts.

Vegetable micro-organisms are not alone in
helping along daily life, because protozoa carry
out their portion of work ; they eat up bacteria
after the bacteria have done their work. Pro-
tozoa are found in all waters and in grass, hay,
etc., and in any infusion of grass, hay, herbs,
plants, etc. The chalk cliffs of Dover, England,
are composed of millions of fossilised protozoa,
showing that these cliffs were once inundated.
It will be understood from the above remarks
what an important part micro-organisms play
in the routine of daily life independently of that
of producing disease.

773. A very short while ago it was considered
that bacteria were necessary for the actual
existence of life, but it has of late been proved
in the Pasteur laboratories that chickens can
live, and live abnormally well, in an atmosphere
absolutely free from micro-organisms, and on food
also free from any microbe. Whether inverte-
brates can live without bacteria is doubtful.
Grass-eating animals (herbivora), which devour a
great deal of cellulose, require bacteria (bacilli
colli) in their stomach to assist in digesting the
cellulose.

But even if all animals, vertebrates and in-
vertebrates, could live without microbes, plants
could not, and the lowest forms of life could not,
so that our food supply would soon become
exhausted.

774. Protoplasm is the substance of which all
cell life is composed. When any animal or
vegetable dies, it is split up by bacteria, etc.,
into its original elements. Plants have a power,
in the presence of sunlight, by means of the
chlorophyll (the green colouring matter in
plants) that all plants contain, of building up
protoplasm again from the elements that they
collect from the air. In this way the elements
are used over and over again to form animal
life.

An animal dies, and is decomposed by bac-
teria, who eat some of the elements and liberate
the rest. They themselves may be eaten by pro-
tozoa. Plants gather some of the elements and
reform protoplasm. Animals (e.g. cattle) eat the
plants, we eat the cattle, and thus obtain proto-
plasm. Again, fish eat protozoa, we eat the fish,
and thus obtain more protoplasm. We also
require starch and fat besides protoplasm ; these
substances we get from plants. Plants have the
power to produce starch and fat from the
elements. By plants are meant all grasses,
herbs, cereals, etc.

775. The micro-organisms that live on dead

material, as described above, are called sapro-
phytes.

Those that live on living matter, such as
worms, mistletoe, certain ivies, etc., are called
parasites ; they do not necessarily kill, but live
on the living matter in order to exist.

There are others, called infective agents,
which have not yet learned to live without doing
harm to living tissue ; these cause disease.
Vegetable infective agents attack animal tissue
mostly, whilst animal infective agents (harmful
protozoa) attack animal and vegetable tissue.

It is difficult to differentiate between living
and dead material, because when an animal dies
there is at the moment of death only a very
small portion -of his body really dead — for
example, all his muscles, if healthy, remain alive
until decomposed by bacteria, whilst iron, sugar,
etc., are dead materials. The best definition of
dead and living material, I think, is the follow-
ing : living material can construct more material,
e.g. more protoplasm and more fat can be
formed from the elements by protoplasm and
fat respectively ; dead material cannot construct.

776. This construction is carried out by
agents, know as ferments (enzymes), that are
always present ; these ferments do not them-
selves become used up. Thus, a bacterium
attacks a piece of muscle ; by means of the fer-
ment it breaks up the elements and digests those
that it requires, and liberates the rest into the
atmosphere in the form of gases. The process is
the same whether it lives on dead or living
material.

All infective agents, i.e. all micro-organisms
that produce disease, whether vegetable or
animal, are called pathogenic (disease-produc-
ing), whilst those that do not produce disease are
called non-pathogenic.

Pathogenic micro-organisms, or microbes,
have not yet been discovered that will produce
disease in every form of life ; in fact, most
pathogenic microbes produce disease in only one
or two varieties of hosts. For instance, those
that produce disease in mammals, as a rule, do
not in cold-blooded animals, and vice versa.
Some are restricted to sheep, some to dogs,
whilst some are restricted to a certain kind of
tissue, e.g. the liver. The typhoid bacteria when
swallowed by a man produce disease, or may
do so, but if swallowed by a horse or ox have
no effect, as a rule. Thus, e.g. an organism that
is pathogenic to some animals or to human beings
is non-pathogenic to others and plants. There
are other factors in the patient that affect the
pathogenicity of a microbe, as age, hunger and
thirst, fatigue, exposure to extremes of heat or
cold, unsuitable diet, general health, nervous-
ness, condition of blood, the habits of life, etc.
Then, again, the pathogenicity of a microbe
depends upon its virulence and upon the number
that gain access to the body.

198

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

777. We will now briefly consider the various
forms of micro-organisms :

Animal, called protozoa.

Vegetable : bacteria, yeast and moulds or
fungi.

Bacteria are divided into : (a) bacilli, or
rod-shaped (as those of tuberculosis, anthrax,
tetanus) ; {b) cocci, little spheres, which are of
different forms, diplococci (as in pneumonia),
tetracocci, sarcinse, staphylococci (as in abscesses)
and streptococci (as in abscesses) ; and (c)
spirilla, or spirals (as in syphilis).

Bacteria, etc., are able to reproduce asexually,
i.e. without different sexes having to unite, very
quickly by merely increasing in size, and then
dividing into two. The rod-shaped bacillus of
tuberculosis divides into two rods in half an
hour under favourable conditions ; thus, if we
start with one bacillus, and place it on a suitable
medium, as broth, in one hour there would be
four bacilli, and in 32 hours there would be
approximately 10,000,000,000,CX)0,000,000,000,000
bacilli, providing that each microbe formed into
two at the end of half an hour ; but, fortunately,
such an occurrence would be most improbable.
Some bacteria multiply in five minutes.

778. The study of bacteria is generally looked
upon as an easy task. Many imagine that all one
has to do is to take a high-power microscope and
place some infected matter under it, and then
to view at leisure the thousands of microbes
wriggling about under the lens. Such is not the
case, and far from it. The difficulties that beset
the bacteriologist are countless, and it has truly
been stated that there is no science with greater
difficulties to overcome.

Briefly, bacteria, etc., are studied in the
following way: an infected substance is taken
and diluted considerably with freshly sterilised
distilled water (all vessels used must be pre-
viously sterilised) ; then various aniline stains
are used upon this infected solution, thereby
staining different bacteria different colours. After
years of study it has been discovered that various
bacteria "take" various stains, and thus, by
repeated staining and unstaining, we can eventu-
ally produce a certain stain in one form of
bacteria (the form that we suspect is present in
the solution) that will stand out distinct from
all others. In this way we can ascertain not only
f that particular form is present, but can study
it after we have found it. The presence of some
bacteria is detected by the actions they have on
different sugars.

Again, we might have a certain matter that
was suspected of containing bacteria. What we
have to do then is to cultivate the growth, i.e.
produce a culture. We take the suspected matter
and put it into a suitable medium, such as broth,
blood serum, agar, gelatine, potato, milk, starch,
jelly, etc., and keep the whole free from atmo-
spheric impurities at a certain temperature for

a day or so. At the end of this time we shall
find that large colonies, many visible to the
naked eye, have been formed, and we are then
able to study these colonies either as a whole or
by making dilute solutions of them.

If we place a dilute solution of the original
matter into a thick solution of gelatine, for in-
stance, and form a culture, we shall find that
each individual bacterium, etc., has formed its
own gigantic culture, without being able to move
on account of the stiffness of the medium. Thus
we can take these cultures separately and
examine each one, by diluting it several hundred
times and then staining it, and find what par-
ticular bacteria each culture consists of. The
reason of the dilution to such an extent is that,
unless the solution is diluted to a required
amount, it will be impossible to see anything
through the microscope that will furnish us with
the information required.

779. Methods of Admission into the System.
— Pathogenic microbes enter the system in
various ways — through the respiratory tract, the
alimentary canal (from mouth to anus), the
genital organs, the mucous membrane of the eye,
the navel (umbilicus), abrased skin, and any
form of wound or bruise.

The virulence and even the pathogenicity of
a microbe often depend on the manner in which
it enters the system ; thus the bacterium of
Asiatic cholera is far more dangerous if eaten
than if injected under the skin, whilst, on the
other hand, the typhoid bacillus can be fed to a
rabbit without doing any harm, but if injected
under the skin is nearly always fatal. It must
be remembered that anything in the stomach or
intestines is as much outside of the system as if
held in the hand, because it must be absorbed
through the intestinal walls before it is in the
system ; thus many of the harmful germs that
we eat never gain access to the system. As stated
above, the health of the animal governs so much
the likeliness of any eaten bacteria doing any
harm.

780. How Pathogenic Microbes Produce
Disease. — We now come to the important ques-
tion of how these various pathogenic animal
and vegetable microbes produce disease.
There are several ways in which disease is
produced.

Briefly they are as follows : (a) by forming
chemical poisons (toxins) and emptying this into
the blood ; (ft) by moving in the blood and form-
ing poisons ; (c) by destroying cells of the tissue
without producing free toxin in the blood ; (d)
by destroying the blood corpuscles.

Protozoa (animal microbes) produce diseases
mostly by entering the blood and destroying the
red corpuscles. Such diseases as malarial fever
(see Sec. 640), sleeping sickness, Texas fever in
cattle, maladie du colt in horses, surra in sheep,
etc., are examples of those produced by protozoa.

XVIl]

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND DISEASE

199

These microbes are larger than bacteria, and are
in some cases larger than the red blood cor-
puscles, which, in the horse, measure less than
•rcnnj in- m diameter.

Bacteria, as stated above, produce disease by
forming a poison known as a toxin. If the toxin
is produced outside the system and injected into
the blood, as in lockjaw (tetanus), it is called
an extra-cellular toxin ; if produced inside,
as in anthrax, it is called an intra-cellular toxin.
There are two varieties of bacteria forming the
intra-cellular toxin : those like anthrax, which
spread over the whole blood system ; and those
like tuberculosis, which locate in certain glands
and remain there.

781. Bacteria vary in size, but the average
size of a bacillus is TWISTS- in- m length and
TvoffT;"1' m diameter. Thus it will be seen how
much* smaller they are than red blood corpuscles.
The reader might reasonably ask how animal
micro-organisms are distinguished from vege-
table. As a matter of fact this is a difficult
question to answer, because in some forms of so-
called vegetable microbes there is more motion
and more animal signs than there are in many
forms of animal microbes. For instance, the
spirillum bacterium, that is supposed to produce
syphilis, looks just like the little worm-like
animal (equiperdum trypanosoma mastigophora)
that produces maladie du coit in horses, wrongly
called horse syphilis for this reason. Yet the
former is a vegetable and the latter an animal.
Again the rod-shaped bacillus (vegetable) that
produces typhoid has numerous little wriggling
legs (flagella), and yet many of the trypanosomes
and other protozoa are far less like animals to
look at under a high-power microscope with,
say, 2,000 diameters magnification.

The real difference between vegetable and
animal microbes seems to be that the vege-
table microbe digests its food externally, thus
liberating at once all the useless elements and
assimilating only those that it can make use of ;
while the animal microbe, like all animals,
digests its food internally, and afterwards assi-
milates the useful elements and excretes the
useless ones.

782. Pathogenic animal microbes are also
distinguished from bacteria, yeasts, and fungi in
that they generally live in two distinct hosts —
the one in which they produce the disease (e.g.
the horse, in the disease known as nagana,
common in South Africa) ; and the other in
which they generally breed (a fly or mosquito,
e.g. the tsetse fly). The peculiarity of these
flies is that they alone are able to reproduce
in their stomach these protozoa, and after a
certain period, when they bite an animal, they
inject into that animal some of the virulent
protozoa. So that most protozoa, unless in com-
pany with one particular kind of fly, are unable
to produce disease. Hence it will be seen that

the way to get rid of these diseases is to destroy
the disease-producing fly or mosquito. This is
what is being done now in many parts of the
world, e.g. Malta, South Africa, and South
America. (See Sec. 640.)

783. Some non-pathogenic bacteria (sapro-
phytes) produce certain poisons called ptomaines,
and it is possible for a sufficient quantity of these
to be produced in the intestinal tract to cause
harm to the animal or person. However, most
so-called ptomaine poisoning is now put down
to pathogenic bacteria and not to the production
of ptomaine poisons. The toxins produced by
pathogenic bacteria are of a most poisonous
nature. Here is a comparison with other
poisons :

Fatal dose for adult man, strychnine . J grain

„ ,, cobra venom -,L fj

,, „ tetanus toxin

(lockjaw). -^ „

One of the peculiarities of toxins is that they
have the power of producing antitoxins when
injected into suitable animal bodies. This dis-
covery was one of great importance in the pre-
vention of disease.

784. Some of the commonest diseases pro-
duced by bacteria are the following : tuber-
culosis, tetanus, anthrax, influenza, glanders,
pyasmia, septicaemia, diphtheria, typhoid, pneu-
monia, syphilis, gonorrhrea, etc.

Although in some of the following diseases
the presence of certain bacteria has been sus-
pected, up to the present time the specific cause
has not been isolated : scarlet fever, mumps,
smallpox, measles, whooping cough, yellow
fever, spotted fever, foot-and-mouth disease, and
chicken-pox.

785. How Microbes Enter the Internal
System. — In Sec. 779 an idea is given of the
various ways in which bacteria enter the system.
It is possible, but very exceptional, for bacteria
to enter through hair follicles and sweat glands ;
but if the animal is healthy, the tissues under
the skin will prevent this invasion ; resistance is
also increased by the antiseptic properties of
lymph.

Generally speaking, bacteria reach the walls
of the intestines, i.e. the mucous membrane, by
gaining entrance with the food eaten by the
animal. When there, they must actually get into
the circulation by entering in between the cells
of the tissue ; the healthy state of the tissue
affects this considerably. They can also get in
by passing in with globules of fat that pass
through little openings that receive these
globules. Non-fatty material enters the circula-
tion by a diffusive process known as osmosis,
which is very similar to the way water passes
through the porous parts of a filter. Thus, fat
is a decided assistance to the admission of
microbes, and, therefore, septic milk (milk con-

200

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

taining poisonous microbes) is far more danger-
ous than septic water, as milk contains minute
globules of fat.

Microbes may reach the air sacs of the lungs.
Here they have very little difficulty in passing
into the circulation by the lung capillaries. In
the same way they may pass through any
mucous membrane, which may be reached by
way of the genital organs, the navel, the eye,
etc. Skin, as long as it is healthy, will not
admit the passage of bacteria, but directly it
becomes cut, bruised or burned the reverse is
the case.

From the above remarks the reader may
wonder how it is that every animal and person
has not always some disease, there being no
doubt that we are in constant contact with
millions of pathogenic organisms almost every
day of our life.

786. How the System Fights Against Microbes
that Produce Disease. — Firstly, many portions of
the body prevent the entrance of microbes.
Unbroken or undamaged skin is an impossible
barrier. Lymph is an antiseptic. The sub-
cutaneous tissues prevent admission, partly
mechanically, by forming fresh tissue. Mucus,
which is present on the mucous membrane of
the respiratory tract, etc., is an antiseptic. The
mucus, by continually moving, prevents a per-
manent lodgment. Perspiration is a slight anti-
septic; the conjunctiva of the eye is protected
by irrigation ; the lachrymal secretion (tears) is
slightly antiseptic, eyelashes and eyebrows and
hairs in the nostrils also assist. The tiny hair-
like cilia in the nasal passages and windpipe are
continually waving towards the nose and mouth
respectively, the cilia in the womb are continu-
ally waving towards the exit ; saliva is slightly
antiseptic (although a healthy human mouth
may have as many as fifty kinds of bacteria in
it at the same time). Air, as it enters the lungs,
is filtered from bacteria by the cilia and wet
mucous membrane of the nasal passages ; hence
the necessity for always breathing through the
nose.

Bacteria which pass through these traps are
probably caught before they reach the minute
air sacs of the lungs. The gastric juices in the
stomach are antiseptic. Nervousness affects the
supply of these juices very considerably, and
thus nervous people often pick up diseases
through nervousness. Bile is slightly antiseptic.
The juices in the intestines, however, are very
slightly, if at all, antiseptic ; in fact, the number
of bacteria in the intestines increases from the
stomach to the end of the large intestine (colon).
If the tissue is quite healthy, the presence of
these microbes does no harm ; thus pus-produc-
ing streptococci and other germs are always
present in large numbers, and typhoid bacilli
may be present in large numbers without ever
affecting the system.

The case of a cook in New York City having
been in the best of health, but having had
typhoid bacilli inside her in large quantities for
two years, is one instance of such possibilities.
This woman, on account of her being unclean
in her habits, caused about 200 cases of typhoid
fever and twenty deaths before anyone suspected
that she was the cause.

Thus it must be clearly understood what an
important part good health plays in the pre-
vention of germ disease.

787. After the germ has reached the system,
i.e. the blood circulation, it meets with two most
important enemies : the one, the white blood
corpuscle ; the other, chemical poisons (poisons
that either kill the microbe or else chemically
destroy the toxin produced by the microbe).
White blood corpuscles (leucocytes) are, strictly
speaking, the scavengers of the body, and are,
therefore, called phagocytes. Their chief func-
tion is to devour foreign bodies, such as bacteria.
Then, again, the system contains certain anti-
toxin poisons that destroy certain bacteria, or
destroy toxins produced by bacteria. Thus one
animal would possess one antitoxin and another
would possess another, and, therefore, one
animal might be immune or safe from contagion
to one disease, whilst another animal might
contract it.

788. Immunity from Disease. — Immunity can
be natural or acquired. As stated above, certain
animals and certain races are naturally immune
against certain diseases ; thus vertebrates are
generally immune against invertebrate diseases,
and cold-blooded animals immune against warm-
blooded animal diseases. Individuals also
possess striking immunity from certain diseases.

Acquired immunity is of two kinds : active
and passive. Active immunity is due to direct
participation of the microbe concerned ; for
example, the inoculation, by means of vaccina-
tion, of the microbe of cowpox, which produces
a mild form of smallpox.

Passive immunity, on the other hand, necessi-
tates no active generation of the disease in
question, but consists in introducing chemicals
(antitoxins) into the system that make that
system immune against that particular disease.
For example, diphtheria is prevented by the
introduction of diphtheria antitoxin ; lockjaw,
by the introduction of antitetanic toxin. Passive
immunity, however, is not so permanent as
active immunity, and in most cases disappears
rapidly.

789. Active immunity may be produced in
the following ways :

1. By introducing living bacteria of full viru-
lence in a small quantity, which is gradually
increased. The disease is thus produced in a
mild form, which apparently produces anti-
toxins and makes the subject immune after-
wards.

PLATE 131

a, "Baron O'Buchlyvie," Champion Clydesdale of the World. Photo: A. Brown, Lanark, Scotland. b, Champion
Suffolk Punch Stallion " Easlon Duke," owned by the Marquis of Graham. Copyright Photo : Sport and General

PLATE 132

TYPES OF HEAVY DRAUGHT HORSES

a, Percherons in Alberta, b. Percheron Stallion "Quintin, " owned by Mr. Marten, Kingston, Ontario. c, "The
Bruce,'* Champion, Winnipeg Show. Courtesy : "Canadian Farm." dt Courtesy : Dominion Transport Co., Toronto (Cana-
dian Pacific Railway). Photos, b, d, by the Author. e lo h. Courtesy: Col. Wm. Hendrie, Hamilton (Grand Trunk

Railway Co.). Photos : W. James, Toronto.

XVIl]

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND DISEASE

201

2. By introducing living bacteria that have
been made much less virulent.

Passive immunity may be introduced in the
following ways :

1. By introducing dead bacteria into the
system. This has been done in immunising
people against typhoid, cholera and plague. The
chemicals contained in the dead microbes are
evidently the cause of immunity.

2. By introducing bacterial chemicals secreted
by bacteria while living, as in the case of
diphtheria antitoxin.

3. By introducing chemicals produced by
dead bacteria.

4. By introducing bacteria or bacterial
chemicals (vaccines) that have nothing to do
with the production of the disease, as is done
in immunising animals against anthrax.

790. Bacterial Vaccines.— PL bacterial vaccine
is a liquid suspension of the killed culture of
bacteria or germs. These vaccines are prepared
in a bacteriological laboratory by growing, in
a suitable medium, the bacterial organism
associated with the particular disease. These
cultures are then killed at their minimum
thermal death point, after which the vaccine is
standardised according to dosage, and a very
small amount of preservative added to ensure
sterilisation of the product. Finally, the vaccine
is tested upon healthy guinea pigs. If these
remain well after injection, the vaccine is con-
sidered safe for use.

The scientist Metchnikoff discovered that
when a germ entered the animal it caused a
local irritation that attracted large numbers of
white blood corpuscles to the part. These cells
are able to pass through the walls of the
blood vessels. They are antagonistic to the
invading germ, and, providing the germs
are not too numerous, will completely destroy
them.

Professor Wright showed that the serum of
blood contained a substance which, in the pre-
sence of a germ, reacted upon the white cor-
puscle, making it more active. This action is
known as "opsonin" (Greek for "prepare for").
He also demonstrated the value of the opsonic
index in determining the state of active im-
munity. He showed that when an emulsion of
killed bacteria was injected into the blood of an
animal suffering from the analogous disease, the
white corpuscles became very active and were
able to destroy three or four times as many
germs as they could previous to the animal
receiving the vaccine.

Dr. T. C. Evans, B.V.S., of the Experimental
Laboratories at Ottawa, tells me of an instance
of a little girl who owned a small pony. The
pony contracted glanders and was destroyed.
The child developed a chronic infection which
resisted all medical treatment. A pure culture
of glanders was isolated from an ulcer in the

2 A

child's leg, and a bacterine was made from rt.
After a few injections with it the case made a
complete recovery. Glanders is usually fatal in
the human being.

The time is at hand when modern sanitation
and modern business will unite to sweep diseases
away and assist the laboratory-worker to bring
successful results from his hard labours in the
preparation of these bacterial vaccines.

791. Of late a great number of new vaccines
have been made for the prevention and cure of
infectious diseases. One has been used for
several years for anthrax and black-leg.

Dr. Evans has successfully made a vaccine
against that common disease strangles. Splendid
reports have been received regarding the im-
munisation and therapeutical treatment with this
vaccine. This vaccine has also been used with
great success in influenza. I have had occasion
to see the results of its use. Evans has treated
several cases of severe quittor in the horse, by
preparing an autogenous vaccine from the germs
isolated in the actual case.

There are many conditions where a vaccine
can be used in the scientific treatment of infected
wounds of the horse : for example, indolent
abscesses, infected nail pricks, fistulous withers,
poll evil, scratches, etc., and all wounds that are
slow in healing through bacterial infection.
Much useless pain from operations could thus be
avoided by the timely and judicious use of
bacterines.

The Japanese scientist Hideyo Noguschi has
made some wonderful discoveries in quite
recent times. It was he who discovered the
real cause of tartar on the teeth, called gingiv-
itis, or, more properly, pyorrhoea alveolaris ; it
is a minute microbe. He also isolated the germ
of infantile paralysis and is preparing a vaccine
against it. (See Sec. 640.) He also showed that
the negri bodies are the real cause of rabies.

Noguschi also isolated the germs that cause
locomotor ataxia (tabes dorsalis) and relapsing
or intermittent fever. Both of these are caused
by a minute bacterium, a spirillum.

792. It will thus be seen that in reality a
pathogenic microbe has quite a number of
battles to fight before it can settle down quietly
in its host.

Let us consider, for example, the journey of
a typhoid bacillus. The microbe gets into a
piece of food that is ready to be eaten through
the cook not being scrupulously clean. It passes
into the mouth and manages to escape all its
enemies, as mucus, saliva, etc., then passes into
the stomach ; but, on account of its being em-
bedded in some hard substance, it escapes the
hydrochloric acid in the stomach and also any
other of its enemies. It reaches the intestines,
where it has to fight against the mucous mem-
brane of the walls, and, after a great struggle,
gains access between two cells in a piece of tissue

202

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

that is not in perfect health, and eventually
gets into the blood. Here it meets even more
formidable enemies, because it has to face a great
number of very large white blood corpuscles
many times bigger than the microbe itself. We
will suppose that when it reaches this stage it
has been multiplied to several thousand bacilli,
sufficient to attack the white blood corpuscles.
It happens that the system is in bad health, and
that its white blood corpuscles are few in
number and are not in a fit state to fight ; also
that there are very few antitoxins in the blood
and, generally speaking, through the ill-health
of the animal or person, these microbes win their
battle, i.e. typhoid fever is contracted. It is
interesting to know how these white corpuscles
are often beaten. They destroy germs by eating
them, but when germs are very plentiful they
often over-eat themselves to such an extent that,
as it were, they drop some of these germs, being
unable to hold them, and thus allow them to
continue their destructive existence.

793. Other Means of Destroying Disease
Microbes. — Having considered the means Nature
adopts to resist disease-producing animal and
vegetable organisms, we will consider what other
means there are of fighting these microbes. It
has been found that they can be killed by various
means, such as intense cold, heat, fresh air,
sunlight, pure water, and various chemicals, and
also by starvation. Anything that will destroy
pathogenic germ life is known as a germicide,
antiseptic, or disinfectant.

794. The manner in which antiseptic agents
destroy germs varies considerably ; for instance,
distilled water will destroy bacteria by causing
them to swell and burst ; a solution of common
salt in water, stronger than a normal saline
solution (which is -85 per cent.), will do the
opposite ; it will cause them to lose their water
(that is in the protoplasm), and thus cause them
to shrivel up. Sunlight causes most germs to
shrivel up, and oxygen destroys many of them.
Most antiseptic chemicals have a chemical action
with them which causes death. Microbes are
starved by being removed from their host ; for-
tunately most bacteria, when entirely removed
from their host, can only live a few hours, and,
if in fresh air or sunlight, perhaps only half an
hour.

But it must be remembered that in this case
they must be removed from their host, because
a scarlet fever microbe can undoubtedly live for
many weeks on a piece of the skin of the patient,
and the tuberculosis bacillus can live for weeks
on the sputum of a patient. Hence the grave
danger of consumptives spitting anywhere except
into antiseptic cuspidors, etc.

795. There are, however, two species of bac-
teria that do not die when removed from their
host: those of lockjaw (tetanus) and anthrax.
These are both bacilli. They have a little spore

attached to one end that possesses the power of
making the rest of the bacillus virulent when-
ever it comes in contact with animal tissue (such
as an open wound). Thus a tetanus microbe
may lie in a dormant state for years and years,
and yet, on coming in contact with the open
wound caused when a horse falls and cuts its
knees, it becomes virulent and produces the toxin.
This production of poison is not instantaneous,
because, if the horse is taken home and the wound
thoroughly syringed out with an antiseptic, the
dangers of lockjaw are slight. It is a marvellous
thing that dust procured from the tombs of Egypt
which had not been opened for two thousand
years contained anthrax and tetanus bacilli
that produced, after suitable cultivation, these
diseases in animals.

796. Certain pathogenic microbes, as stated
before, are found in various quantities almost
everywhere where there is animal life. Those of
typhoid, pneumonia, and diphtheria are the
commonest. But these harmful microbes are
only found in large quantities on, in, or near an
infected animal or person, i.e. on the articles
handled by the patient, or the excreta, in the
sputum, etc., and not on things that have not
come in contact with an infected person or
animal. Thus, if we want to collect some
tuberculosis germs, we do not collect air from a
room or the dust from the street, because our
chances of collecting any would be small ; but
we would go to the sputum of a patient. Again,
for diphtheria we collect it from the throat of a
diphtheria patient. Air in a room, if very foul,
will contain a great number of bacteria attached
to the particles of dust, and so dust on a street
pavement will contain consumptive germs if con-
sumptives have been spitting into the street.
But under strict hygienic conditions the number
of pathogenic bacteria in the atmosphere would
do us no harm. The percentage of harmful
bacteria in the air varies very considerably. The
percentage of all kinds of bacteria also varies ;
this depends to a great extent on the number of
particles of dust in the air. Thus there are more
bacteria in the city air than the country, and
very few in mountain air, whilst the air in
mid-ocean and on high mountains is free from
germs.

797. There are thousands of bacteria in every
grain of soil ; uncultivated sandy soil contains
over 60,000 bacteria per grain, whilst highly
manured soils may contain 100,000, and sewage-
contaminated soils as many as 7,000,000 per
grain. The majority of these bacteria are non-
pathogenic, and without them agricultural cul-
tivation could not exist. Water, again, may
contain several thousand bacteria per cubic
centimetre. Pure spring water, after standing
in a flask at a certain temperature, may contain
several thousand bacteria per cubic centimetre,
but may be absolutely harmless to drink. The

XVIl]

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND DISEASE

203

only water that is dangerous to drink is that1
which contains freshly added typhoid and other
pathogenic germs due to pollution from sewage,
etc. The presence of thousands of bacteria per
cubic centimetre, which is generally accepted as
proof of dangerous water, is no proof at all,
because it furnishes no evidence whatsoever of
the presence of pathogenic germs. In fact,
typhoid, cholera, and other disease microbes live
for only a very short while in water, and for this
reason a large volume of water — e.g. a large
river — purifies itself in its course of perhaps a
hundred miles. Harmful water must contain
colli germs or typhoid germs, as a rule.

Most of the diseases in plants are due to
bacteria. The commonest are : Pear blight, wilt
disease (in pumpkins, cucumbers, etc.), brown
rot (in tomatoes, potatoes, etc.), black rot (in
cabbage), basal stem rot (in potatoes), and
yellow disease of hyacinth. All the foregoing
are produced by bacilli.

798. In the following section is a list of anti-
septics and disinfectants. Disinfectants can be
used either in the blood to destroy bacteria in
it, as quinine, turpentine, etc. ; or in the intes-
tines, as salol ; or in the stomach and mouth, as
alcohol, ether, etc. ; or externally. This last
method is one adopted in aseptic surgery and in
the general prevention of the spread of con-
tagious diseases, and is the one that concerns us
most here.

The term "antiseptic" really refers to those
agents that prevent the growth of micro-organ-
isms, but it is frequently used in the same
sense as the term disinfectant. The term
" disinfectant " refers to those agents that
actually destroy microbes. It is clear, therefore,
that only the more powerful of antiseptics are
really disinfectants, i.e. a disinfectant must also
be an antiseptic, but an antiseptic is not neces-
sarily a disinfectant.

If an infected substance is acted upon by a
true antiseptic, the microbes are prevented from
growing, and in time will die (with the excep-
tion of anthrax and tetanus bacilli). The period
during which they will live depends on their
surroundings ; therefore, if they are exposed to
healthy surroundings, they may only live a few
hours.

Antiseptics

799. (Those marked (D) are disinfectants as
well. Those disinfectants specially recommended
as being quite safe and reliable under most con-
ditions are printed in capital letters.)

Practically all disease-producing microbes
are destroyed if boiled in water at atmospheric
pressure (bar. 30 in.) for three minutes. This
process, known as sterilisation, is the surest
method of making instruments and vessels
aseptic, because it is difficult to be sure that

Antiseptic

Acid acetic
Acid boracic

ACID CARBOLIC

pure (D) (see Sec. 801)
Acid chromic (D)
Acid cresylic (D)
Acid hydrochloric dil.
Acid nitric (D)
Acid salicylic (D)
Acid sulphuric (D)
Acid sulphurous (D)
Acid tannic (D)
.(Ether (D)

Alcohol (D)

Calomel (see Mercury

subchloride)
Charcoal or carbon

(wood or animal) (D)
Chinosol
Chloral hydrate
Chlorinated lime (D)

Chlorine gas (D)

Chloroform

Copper sulphate (D)

Corrosive sublimate
(see Mercury per-
chloride)

CREOLIN (D)

Cresol (D)

Creosote (D)

CYLLIN (D) (con-
tained in Jeyes'
fluid)

Earth (soil) (D)
Ether (see jEther)
Eucalyptus oil (D)

Formalin (D)
Freezing
Fresh air (D)

Glycerine

Hydrogen peroxide (D)

Hydroquinine
Ichthyol (D)
Iodine

lodoform (D)

Iron sulphate (D)
Iron, tincture of
Izal (D)

Strength and form used

Pure.

As a dusting powder or in

sat. solution.
3 to 5 per cent. sol. will

destroy any microbe.

Used internally.
Used internally.

Used internally.

also

Used internally, and

in surgical soaps.
60 per cent, is equal to 3

per cent, carbolic

pure.

acid,

Used in filters, etc.

1 per cent, for wounds.

Used internally.

Valuable disinfectant for

closets, etc.
For disinfecting rooms.
Used internally.
Used in water purification.

3 to 5 per cent, solution.

3 to 5 per cent.

3 to 5 per cent.

1 to 2 per cent. ; 15 times
as powerful as pure car-
bolic in its action on
bacteria.

Used in inhalation and in
wound dressing.

Valuable in agricultural
work.

Is not a means of disin-
fecting.

Oxygen destroys most bac-
teria.

1 to 10 water ; for open
joints and abscesses.

Used externally in ring-
worm, etc.

Valuable as a dusting pow-
der for wounds.

1 to 3 per cent.

204

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Antiseptic

Jeyes' (see Cyllin)
Lead subacetate (sugar

of lead)
LYSOL or Toxol (D)

Menthol

MERCURY PER-
CHLORIDE (corro-
sive sublimate) (D)

Mercury subchloride

(calomel)
Naphthaline
Petroleum
Phenacetin
Potassium bichromate

(D)

Pot. chlorate

Pot. nitrate

Pot. permanganate (D)

Quinine (D)

Salol (phenol sali-

cylate) (D)
Sanitas powder or oil

(D)

Sodium chloride (com-
mon salt) (D)

Sod. bicarbonate
(baking soda)

Sod. hyposulphite
(hypo) (D)

Sod. salicylate

Sodium sulphite (D)

Sugar

Sun light (D)

Tannoform
Toxol (see Lysol)
Thymol (D)
Turpentine (D)

Vinegar (see Acid

acetic)
Zinc chloride (D)

Zinc oxide

Zinc sulphate (D)

Strength and form used

Used in lotions.

1 per cent, for surgical use.
Very suitable for sur-
gical use.

2 to 5 per cent, for instru-
ments, drains, etc.

Used in ointments.

Very valuable for all ex-
ternal purposes. 1 to
500 is very strong. 1 to
1,000 for wounds. Is
poison.

Used internally, and in
thrush.

For closets, urinals, etc.

Used for skin parasites.

Valuable disinfectant when
in a solution the colour
of claret.

Used internally.

Intestinal antiseptic, is not
digested in the stomach.

Sick room or closet dis-
infectant.

Good antiseptic for gar-
gling, etc.

Is same strength as boracic
acid.

Used internally in blood
poisoning, etc.

Used internally.

Used internally.

Very quick and powerful
destroyer of most germs.

Valuable for internal use to
prevent action of ferments.

Used in lotions ; 1 to 10

water.

Used in ointments.
Used in lotions.

every little crevice is reached by an antiseptic
agent, as creolin, carbolic acid, etc. Cotton
wool is a filter to microbes, so that if a bottle
which is free from microbes is loosely plugged
with cotton wool it will remain practically
sterile.

800. As oil is a protective agent to bacteria,
carbolised oil should never be used.

The most suitable liquids to be used for dis-
infecting purposes and for dressing wounds are :
the coal tars (creolin, cresol, Jeyes' fluid, izal,
lysol), mercury perchloride, and carbolic acid.
Carbolic acid by itself is not suitable for surgical
work, as it has an anti-healing action on the raw
tissue.

The most suitable powders for surgical pur-
poses are: salol, boracic acid, iodoform. Salol
is, of course, a reliable disinfectant, but it is
expensive. For disinfecting purposes in closets,
stables, etc., chlorinated lime, Jeyes' powder
(cyllin), potassium permanganate, and Sanitas
powder are the best. Jeyes' powder is the safest
disinfecting powder on the market that I have
had anything to do with, because its base is
lime, which is itself an antiseptic. Cyllin has no
action upon the lime, whilst the lime has a very
high capacity for absorbing ammonium sulphide
— (NH4)2S— and other bad gases. The disinfect-
ing power of cyllin powder is several times
greater than that of carbolic powder, and all
the carbolic in most carbolic powders is not
available' on account of the base retaining some
of the acid itself.

801. Commercial Carbolic Acid. — I do not
recommend this as a reliable disinfectant,
because it generally contains over 90 per cent, of
tar acids that are only very slightly soluble in
water. Some forms of commercial carbolic acid
are only soluble in 500 times their own volume,
i.e. a saturated solution would be one in 500.
This as a disinfectant would be of little com-
mercial value. Ordinary creolin (commercial) is
soluble in 50 to 100 times its own volume of
water; thus we can produce a 1 to 2 per cent,
solution, which is sufficiently strong for ordinary
surgical purposes and, as a rule, for general dis-
infecting. But there are times when we require
stronger disinfectants for rapid use, such as
when disinfecting diseased tissue or septic
utensils. The method generally adopted is the
production of stronger solutions by forming
saponiferous or soapy emulsions. Lysol and
cyllin are two very excellent forms of emulsified
coal tars.

Pure cyllin is fifteen times as powerful as
pure carbolic acid and is very much more soluble
than creolin. Strong solutions, however are
not necessary, 1 to 2 per cent, being generally
sufficient.

Lysol is soluble in almost any quantity of
water. Very strong solutions can therefore be
made. Five per cent, is all that is required for
cleansing septic utensils, instruments, etc. ; i per
cent, for surgery. It is particularly suitable for
surgical use in parturition, because it is a soap
as well as a disinfectant. It also dissolves grease
and mucus very readily, and therefore rapidly
comes in contact with all microbes.

PLATE 133

/ i

PERCHERON-BRED HORSES

a, l>, Shedden Forwarding Co., Toronto (G.T.R.). c, 1,900 Ib. Percheron. Courtesy: "Polly of the Circus" Co. d,

Beautiful Pair of Percherons of the R. Simpson Co., Toronto, e. Courtesy : Firstbrook Box Co., Toronto. /, Brandon

Brewing Co., Brandon, Man. g, Imported Belgian Percheron. Courtesy: St. Ann Ranch Trading Co., Trochu V»lley,

Aha. h, Belgian Percheron. Courtesy : The Repository, Toronto. Photos by the Author

TYPES OF HEAVY DRAUGHT HORSES

a. Prize-winning Shire. Courtesy : Mr. N. J. Holmes. b, C, Canadian Northern Transfer Co., Toronto, d, Shedden
Forwarding Co., Toronto, e. Dominion Transport Co., Toronto. Photos, b to e, by the Author

XVIl]

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND DISEASE

205

The Aseptic Treatment of Wounds
and Aseptic Surgery

802. From the foregoing remarks on the
cause and prevention of disease it will be clear
to the most unscientific mind that successful
surgery is impossible, except by occasional good
luck, unless aseptic methods are resorted to.

When Lord Lister first suggested the idea of
using certain drugs to fight germs in surgical
operations he was ridiculed, and, in fact, it
was not until he had shown to many eminent
medical men that operations which had pre-
viously been impossible could be performed if
the use of these drugs were resorted to that any
attention was paid to his teaching. However,
directly this fact became widely known, surgery
was revolutionised. In short, Lister showed to
the world that by the use of solutions such as
carbolic, coal tars, etc., surgery could be prac-
tised without any risk of death from blood
poisoning.

At this time the exact reasons were unknown,
although it had been suggested for over two
centuries that disease-producing organisms did
exist. Later, however, Louis Pasteur, who has
been rightly called the true founder of bacteri-
ology, brought before the world the results of
his wonderful bacteriological researches. Lord
Lister himself, in 1892, acknowledged to Pasteur,
"Truly there does not exist in the entire world
any individual to whom the medical sciences
owe more than they do to you. Thanks to you,
surgery has undergone a complete revolution,
which has deprived it of its terrors and has
extended almost without limit its efficacious
power" (Jordan's "Bacteriology").

There is room for a great deal of improve-
ment in this direction in the manner in which
many operations are performed upon animals.
Great risks-are run daily, yet if an owner loses
a valuable horse he is assured by the operator
that it could not have been helped ; whilst in
reality the horse would probably not have died
if aseptic surgery had been resorted to. It is a
case of " where ignorance is bliss."

Modern schools, however, are teaching the
latest methods of aseptic surgery, and we look
forward to the time when the old-school methods
will become obsolete.

803. Wounds. — There are four types of
wounds : cut, tear, puncture, and bruise.

Cut wounds are those which have a clean,
sharp edge, the blood-vessels being cut straight,
and not jagged ; these wounds heal very quickly
if the two surfaces are brought near together.
The old idea, however, that two clean-cut
surfaces, when brought together, would unite
spontaneously is incorrect.

Torn wounds, which are made by hooks and
blunt instruments, do not heal so quickly,
although they generally bleed less. The exposed

surfaces are stretched, and portions of them have
to be removed or fall off before the wound heals.

Punctured wounds are generally deep and
small, and are therefore dangerous because infec-
tion enters deeply into the system. A nail prick
from careless shoeing is the most common form
of punctured wounds.

Bruised wounds are the commonest and most
serious that we meet with in horses. They are
difficult to heal. Such examples are bruises from
falls, broken knees, harness and saddle galls,
treads, quittor, brushing, over-reach, etc. In a
bruise the skin may or may not be broken ; but
it must be remembered that germs can enter
through bruised tissue, although not as easily as
through an open wound.

804. Method of Healing. — Wounds heal by
each surface throwing out material, called
granulations, which gradually fill up the wound ;
this material is not the same as flesh, but is a
temporary substitute. On the top of this a sitfast
(scab) forms. After the wound has healed up
the granulated material gradually shrinks up,
drawing the original edges of the wound
together, and the sitfast comes off. Eventually
tl e granulations are entirely absorbed (in most
cases), and the flesh becomes as it was before
the wound was made. As a rule, however, a
permanent mark is left on the skin, and the coat
of a horse does not grow normally over the place
where the wound was. White hairs usually
grow on these places. The benefit of the sitfast
is that it acts as a preventive against the ad-
mission of germs ; hence it is wrong to pick it
off, and specially to do this with unclean fingers,
as is so commonly done.

Aseptic Treatment of Wounds

805. In treating wounds it must be clearly
understood that all we have to do is to assist
Nature to heal. We have to remove all foreign
substances present and prevent the admission of
further foreign substances which would hinder
Nature's work. The treatment of wounds is
quite simple if this principle is understood. As
long as live microbes are present in the tissues
of a wound it will not heal.

First, we must arrest the bleeding, which is
done by styptics, pressure, cold applications,
cautery, ligature, or by actually closing the
artery or vein with artery forceps. Bleeding will
not stop of its own accord unless the blood is per-
mitted to clot ; the chemical changes that go on
before the blood clots are very complicated.
Broadly speaking, the fluid portion of the blood
(plasma) consists of serum and fibrinogen. When
tissue is exposed to the atmosphere, very com-
plex chemicals are produced which, when they
come in contact with this fibrinogen in the blood,
produce fibrin, which is clot. This production
of clot takes about two minutes. If it took

206

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

a much shorter time to form, the dangers of
internal blood clotting would be very great.
Thus it will be seen that time must be allowed
for bleeding to cease by clotting.

Before arresting the bleeding we must remove
all dirt from near the blood-vessels so as to be
sure that no foreign matter will be enclosed in
them. A good flow of blood will always clean
the vessels, so when there is a good flow of
blood there is less danger of infection. In stop-
ping the blood flow it is useless and dangerous
to plug the wound up with cloths, because we
only increase the temperature of the part and
encourage continued bleeding. If we cannot
apply pressure to the artery on the heart side of
the wound, we must cut down on to it and take
hold of it with forceps. In small, deep punc-
tures, if there is much bleeding, after the wound
has been thoroughly syringed out with anti-
septics, antiseptic double cyanide compressed
gauze should be rammed tightly into the wound ;
this will not allow bleeding to continue. Stuffing
a wound with cotton wool and rags will not, as
a rule, stop bleeding.

If the artery can be reached it is either tied
with aseptic silk or closed with artery forceps,
which are kept on for a few minutes to allow tiie
blood inside to clot, and then carefully removed.
If, however, the bleeding is slight, as is the case
in many flesh (muscle) wounds, no attention
need be paid to it until the whole wound has
been thoroughly cleaned.

Cleaning a wound consists in removing by
knife, or a stream of liquid, all visible foreign
matter, cutting off ragged bits that tend to do
harm, and then making it aseptic by free syringe-
irrigation with a suitable antiseptic, which must
not be too strong. (See Sec. 799.) Then, if
bleeding continues, the surface can be syringed
over with an astringent, such as a 10 per cent,
solution of tincture of iron (1 tincture to 10
water).

806. Although the wound may be absolutely
clean at this period, it must not be closed up,
but left open, as the formation of pus is sure
to continue ; for this reason the wound must be
only covered sufficiently to keep dirt from getting
in, and must be dressed night and morning.
Rest must be obtained to assist in healing.

A most important point is that of securing
proper drainage, which consists in having a free
downward exit from the lowest portion of the
wound. If the bottom of the wound does not
drain of its own accord, a hole must be made as
an outlet and a suture (strip) of aseptic linen
must be passed through the hole to keep the
passage open. If perfect drainage is not ob-
tained, pus will lie in the bottom of the wound
and cause blood poisoning. Healthy wounds
always heal from the back, or bottom, but if
neglected, or the mouth of the wound is allowed
to close too soon, pus may become enclosed, and

the wound will have to be reopened. The wound
must never be allowed to heal except from the
bottom or back, so that it gradually closes
together until the edges unite. Pus is produced
by pus-producing bacteria (streptococci and
staphylococci), which are always present in the
air, except where the air is absolutely pure.
They produce pus by forming ferments that dis-
solve albumen and mucin, etc. After dissolving
these materials they decompose them into less
complicated materials and eventually into their
original elements — nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen, sulphur, etc.

807. In very large wounds, or those in which
the skin is badly torn, stitches of surgical silk
are used to draw the edges together ; but the
wound must never be closed entirely ; an open-
ing at the bottom for drainage must always be
kept, and one at the top communicating with it,
into which the antiseptic solution can be forced.
It is often necessary to leave a drainage-tube in
the wound.

In syringing out a wound, considerable force
should be used in order to reach any microbes
that might be embedded in the tissue. In most
cases stitches are unnecessary, and the wound
will heal up of its own accord as long as we
syringe it out night and morning with an anti-
septic solution and then with an astringent. In
human practice, of course, it is so much more
easy to make wounds aseptic, to have aseptic
surroundings, and therefore to keep wounds
closed, but with horses it is always risky. Much
the best results are always obtained by leaving
the wounds open, except where large muscles
are widely separated.

808. When a horse has been wounded for
some little time and the wound has been exposed
to infection, there is the possibility of tetanus
(lockjaw) germs having gained admission to the
wound. If they have only been in a few hours
they can be destroyed by the use of antiseptics
before they have produced the tetanic poison.
But if they have been in the wound for several
hours or even days, their poison may have
already got into the system. In such cases it is a
very wise procedure to give the horse at once an
injection in the neck of 3,000 ampules of fresh
anti-tetanic serum, and to repeat this in twenty-
four hours. I have never known of a horse
contracting lockjaw when the serum has been
injected before any outward signs of lockjaw
have appeared. (See Sec. 620.)

809. Sewing Wounds. — If stitching is re-
sorted to, specially curved surgical needles —
which have been sterilised and soaked for five
minutes in an antiseptic solution other than corro-
sive sublimate — and sterilised silk are used. In
horse wounds the best method is to put a single
stitch through both edges at least half an inch
from the edge, and to draw the edges of the
wound nearly together, and then to tie the ends

XVIl]

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND DISEASE

207

of the thread with a double reef knot, then to
make another similar stitch two or three inches,
as the case may be, from the first. As few
stitches as possible should be used. This method
is far superior to that of sewing continuous
threads as a tailor does in mending a tear in a
garment.

810. Bandaging Wounds. — It is generally
highly inadvisable to put bandages over wounds.
In some cases this is necessary, but drainage-
tubes must be put in, or else the bandages or
dressing must be removed every twelve hours
and the wound thoroughly syringed out and re-
bandaged. If a wound must be covered to keep
dirt out, a light sheet dipped in antiseptic solu-
tion should be put over it, then a waterproof
sheet over that.

If it is required to prevent a wound from
healing too quickly for various reasons, as for
the purpose of maintaining internal drainage,
wet antiseptic cotton-wool pads should be
applied to the wound and covered with air-tight
sheets. Sometimes it is necessary to dust a
wound with a powder such as boracic acid or
iodoform ; this will keep flies off and also pre-
vent foreign matter from lodging in the wound.

811. Antiseptic Precautions in Operating. —
All instruments that are not already cleaned
must be scrubbed with aetherial antiseptic soap
(the ether dissolves any grease). Then they must
be sterilised immediately before the operation for
five minutes in boiling water. The operator
must wear a clean, white, long overall coat, and
have his shirt and other coat sleeves turned up
inside this coat. A table or tray that is abso-
lutely clean must be used to rest the instruments
on. A glass sheet that has been scrubbed and
disinfected is best for this. The operator's hands
(especially nails) must be thoroughly scrubbed
in hot water and aetherial antiseptic soap for
several minutes with a hard nail-brush. A clean
basin of 5 per cent, solution of creolin, lysol,
toxol, or Jeyes' fluid, must be ready, with plenty
of aseptic cotton wool for mopping purposes.
The instruments, syringes, needles, etc., must
be ready and lying on a towel that has already
been sterilised and soaked in an antiseptic. The
animal is given an anaesthetic or local anaesthetic
by an assistant, or by the operator, who should
wear gloves. The part to be cut, and for a
space of several inches around it, is shaved,
and scrubbed for three to five minutes in the
same way as were the operator's hands.

Sponges should not be used, as it is im-
possible to keep them clean, but aseptic cotton
tufts should be used which should be destroyed
afterwards.

Corrosive sublimate (mercury perchloride)
must not be used to disinfect metal, as it will
corrode it.

812. The operator must take the greatest care
that his hands touch nothing that has not been

made antiseptic ; he should have an assistant
who has similarly prepared his hands and who
takes the same precautions as he does, while
another assistant should attend to the chloro-
form, etc. If the horse is under chloroform there
is no need to hurry, as all voluntary muscles will
be relaxed, and by taking one's time a very
scientific operation is more likely to be per-
formed. Most bad and hurried operations that
end in blood poisoning are the result of the
operator not using chloroform, a question of
being penny wise and pound foolish, or, per-
haps, ignorance of the method of administering
chloroform.

While the operation is being performed,
whatever it may be, it must be borne in mind that
an exit must be allowed from the wound through
which pus, etc., can drain after the animal is in
its normal position.

After some operations — which do not consist
in removal of internal abscesses, etc., and where
no pus-producing microbes gain entrance, due to
most careful precautions — it will be safe to close
the wound up altogether, keeping aseptic dress-
ings on the outside of the opening for several
weeks until the hole has healed over.

After any operation the temperature of the
horse must be watched for days, because a
sudden rise in temperature will reveal blood
poisoning, whereupon the wound will have to
be opened and attended to, and suitable internal
remedies given at once. (See Sec. 625.)

Some Notes onthe Prevention
of Human Disease

813. I feel that a few hints on the preven-
tion of human disease will not be out of place
in this chapter. Anyone who has studied higher
medical and veterinary science must realise what
appalling ignorance is daily displayed in the
knowledge of the spread of disease. If only a
few fundamental principles were observed by
every individual, the worst diseases that exist
to-day would soon become practically non-
existent.

Consumption (tuberculosis of the lungs) is
easily spread by consumptives expectorating on
the streets and floors. Consumptive people often
seem to be the worst offenders in this objection-
able and dangerous habit, because habit it
merely is. They should expectorate into vessels
filled with antiseptic solutions and nowhere else.
If they spit on the floor or street, the microbes
settle on pieces of dust, etc., and when the
moisture surrounding them dries up, the septic
particles of dust may enter the lungs of a person
who is predisposed to the disease. Such infec-
tion might have no effect on most people, but
sooner or later a predisposed person may become
infected.

Consumptives should also cough into hand-

208

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

kerchiefs that have been previously soaked in
antiseptic ; by using their hands as shields when
' coughing they are liable to transmit the microbes
to others when shaking hands, as these others
may apply their fingers directly to their mouths.
In the same way consumptives, by not taking
precautions, can leave virulent sputum on door
handles, car rails, etc. If these little precautions
were only taken, the dangers of contracting
/disease by handling articles and then licking
one's fingers would be very small ; and probably
those who were predisposed, or who were not in
good enough health to fight the disease germ,
would escape getting sufficient into their system
to do them harm.

814. I do not think that consumption is in-
herited as a rule, i.e. that the new-born babe of
consumptive parents is born with the germ in
its system. I do not see how the tuberculosis
bacilli that are in the lungs of the mother, and
not generally in the blood, can possibly get into
the foetus. If, however, the mother had tuber-
culosis of the womb, the microbes might pass
through the cells with the nourishment. Chil-
dren are, however, born with syphilis in their
system.

In most cases there is no doubt that the new-
born babe is free from the tuberculosis germs,
but it is predisposed to them by having a weak
chest, throat, etc., and therefore will very rapidly
contract the disease. Now this babe from birth
is exposed to millions of the germs in the house,
in the bed, and on the articles that it plays with,
and even in its mother's milk. .So no wonder
the poor child gets consumption afterwards.
Had it been taken from its mother at birth, and
had its weak parts (lungs, etc.) been developed
later by the modern methods of physical culture,
there is no reason at all why it should not be as
healthy as any other.

If people who are predisposed to disease and
who are in bad health would really try to
develop their weak organs by modern physical
culture, they would be able to fight disease. I
do not mean weight-lifting or turning somer-
saults, or anything like that, but the gymnastics
which develop every organ of the body.

The fresh-air cure for consumption is almost
useless in many cases unless the patient is first
taught how to use his lungs. Deep breathing is
the secret of healthy lungs and general good
health. While exercise is being taken, deeper
and slower breathing must be practised, and not
fast, short breathing. This can easily be
acquired. Everybody should devote ten minutes
to breathing deep, slow breaths in through the
nose and out through the mouth every morning
and night.

The Medical Times, a short time ago,
demonstrated the importance of inhaling through
the nose for half a dozen times at intervals of
half a minute. A full inhalation should be

taken, and the nostril kept closed with the
fingers for fifteen seconds to force the oxygen into
the air sacs of the lungs. The article further ex-
plained that this must be done immediately
before retiring to bed, doing nothing more before
lying down ; by this means the habit continues.
The window, of course, must be open.

Other exercises should also be done to develop
the chest, such as raising oneself from the floor
by the arms, as in Swedish drill, twenty times
every morning.

815. In order to destroy any bacteria in the
air sacs of the lungs, the lungs must be opened
right up by deep breathing. Horse-back exercise,
if one keeps his shoulders back and does not
stoop like a jockey, is the most healthy exercise
in the world. Not only is it the finest medicine
for the liver and bowels, but it exerts a wonder-
ful effect on the whole system.

A few pounds or dollars spent on horses will
save many more on doctors' bills. Next to riding
comes motor driving, providing the speed is
temperate.

People with weak chests, especially broad
shoulders and shallow chests, should not go into
sport that tends to cramp the chest, such as
much cricket, billiards, etc. ; the latter, of
course, is also less healthy, as it is indoors.

Everyone should sleep with his window open
at night, however cold it may be outside. If one
is brought up used to this no harm will result,
and it is one of the secrets of good health.
Architects should be far more particular in the
way they design windows and ventilators, and
the law should make it compulsory that storm
windows (as used in cold countries in the winter)
should be made so that at least one large pane
will slide open.

816. Worry has a great deal to do with
disease ; some people imagine they have got all
kinds of diseases. If they participated in

. healthy exercise and had more faith in their own
health in many cases they would be far more
happy and keep well. Taking patent medicines
continually is a dangerous habit ; many of them,
indeed, are worthless, even if they do no harm.
In many cases bad illnesses of long standing are
cured by belief that a certain doctor or drug is
going to do good.

Homoeopathy has cured thousands of sick
people ; yet what else than faith has cured
these? The drugs used in homoeopathic treat-
ment could not do any physiological good ; their
strength sometimes is only one-thousandth of
that of a normal dose.

Greatest antiseptic precautions should be
taken in handling the clothes and bedclothes of
diseased patients. A free use of antiseptics must
be practised in a patient's bedroom. Sputum of
consumptives and the excreta and urine of
typhoid patients must be put into vessels con-
taining 5 per cent, creolin, or carbolic, etc.

PLATE 135

a. Champion Suffolk Stallion " Sudbourne Peter," 3955. Winner of Five Championships. Courtesy of the Owner, Mr.
Kenneth M. Clark, Sudbourne Hall, Orford, Suffolk. Photo: Sport and General. b. Farming in Scotland. Photo:

Chas. Reid, Wishaw, N.B.

PLATE 136

SOME FINE TYPES OF UNDOCKED DRAUGHT HORSES

a, b, Brandon, Manitoba. Photos by the Author. d, Champion Team of the Star Brewery, Cambridge. Photo:

Maddison and Hinde, Huntingdon

XVIl]

BACTERIOLOGY, ANTISEPTICS AND DISEASE

209

I do not believe in taking much medicine ;
often medicine is better left alone. When one is
really sick it is better to send for the doctor —
provided he is one in whom the patient has
faith. If he loses faith in his doctor he had
better go to another at once.

I have been more than surprised at the in-
formation I have received from many sanatoria
relating to the insanitary precautions taken by the
nurses, doctors, and attendants in these places.
Several people who have been to sanatoria have
told me of instances that I could hardly believe.
Highly undesirable conditions exist in many
casea, such as patients who are only slightly
consumptive, or who are suspects, having to
use the same drinking utensils as bad cases, and
having to sit next to them at meals, or to sleep
in the same room, etc.

817. Disease germs are not, as some suppose,
found hanging about everywhere, waiting to
attack human beings and animals. As stated in
the early part of this chapter, their existence
is a mistake, and they only occur in dangerous
quantities where they have been left by infected
patients. It is a deplorable fact that lower types
of human beings, as well as many educated
people, do not take any precaution to guard
against other persons contracting their diseases.
Their carelessness is most indiscreet. It is
always advisable to be clean in one's habits, to
take ordinary precautions against coming in
contact with disease. Certain precautions can
always be observed. It is dangerous to rub one's
hands over dirty seats in public waiting-rooms,
etc., and then to lick one's fingers. It is not wise
to lick stamps or envelopes that have been left
lying about in public places, especially as gum
is a good medium for the growth of bacteria.
The gum used on stamps should be antiseptic.

Speaking-tubes are most insanitary, especially
as it is generally necessary to blow into the tube
at one end. Public telephones are fairly safe as
long as the speaker does not put his mouth into
the mouthpiece, which, by the way, telephone
companies ask you to do. If a consumptive has
been blowing small particles of sputum into the
mouthpiece and afterwards one speaks as
directed, " close to the mouthpiece," one stands a
good chance of breathing in a good many germs.

The German physician, Dr. Friedman, has
lately discovered a serum, produced from the
turtle, which he claims to be a cure for tuber-
culosis. Its chief use is supposed to be in cases
of surgical and not pulmonary tuberculosis.

818. Most diseases are contracted from what
we eat, and not from what we breathe. Diseased
people, by dirty habits, leave infected matter
about, and this may reach our food. The baker
may handle bread with dirty hands. If the
butcher does this, however, there is less danger,
as the meat is made safe later by cooking.

Dry breath, even from a consumptive, is
2 B

generally harmless. But consumption may be
caught by coming in contact with the drops of
moisture that fly from the mouth of the con-
sumptive while speaking or coughing. We do
not pick up a disease, as a rule, by walking
through an infected hospital, especially if we
breathe through the nose, but we are far more
likely to do so by handling the beds and door-
knobs and licking our hands afterwards, or by
getting our clothes infected while in contact with
infected clothes. Of course, in dirty towns
where there is a great deal of dust flying about
as compared with a modern hospital ward, there
is great danger of breathing in germs of disease.
For this reason doctors and nurses who attend
plague districts in China, etc., always wear anti-
septic shields, which are absolutely germ-proof,
over the mouth and nose.

819. Dirty water should not be drunk, and
food should under no circumstances be left ex-
posed to flies, which are great propagators of
disease. Fly screens should be used everywhere,
especially in the kitchen, dining-room, and
closet. (See Chapter XII.) One's hands should
always be washed before a meal and before
attending to food, as when cooking. Money
should never be held in the mouth, and the prac-
tice of licking the finger while counting dirty
bank notes is dangerous. Finger • sponges, as
used by bank clerks, should be soaked in a
solution of corrosive sublimate (1 to 1,000), be-
cause if they are soaked in ordinary water the
sponges soon become hives of germs.

As most tuberculosis in man is not that con-
tracted through the lungs, but through what we
eat, and in great part through milk, all milk
should, by law, be sterilised. Consumption —
i.e. tuberculosis of the lungs — is seldom con-
tracted from cow's milk, but most surgical tuber-
culosis is. The number of cows that have con-
sumption is enormous, the reason being that the
cow is an abnormal animal which has developed
into a milk-producing machine, and nearly all
its vitality is used up in working this machine,
and therefore it cannot easily resist disease
germs.

Milk is a very good bacterial incubator. It
should never be left uncovered and exposed to
the air. Milk that has been boiled will become
contaminated with bacteria more quickly than
that which has not, because the friendly germs
have been also destroyed.

820. Dog fanciers are very careless in the
way they allow their pets to lick them on the
face and to dip their noses into water-jugs from
which they will drink themselves.. This is ex-
tremely dangerous, because a dog will dip its
nose into any filth that it may come in contact
with. A horse, on the contrary, will not.

Cats are very liable to tuberculosis, so strange
cats should not be kissed or allowed to lick one's
hands.

210

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, xvii

821. Syphilis is most certainly inherited ; I
mean that babes are born with the syphilis bac-
teria in their system. For this reason parents
suffering from the disease should, by law, be
prohibited from having children. Consumptives
ought not to have children either, but, if they do,
the babes should be separated from the parents
and brought up in healthy surroundings ; then
there will be less likelihood of the weak-chested
child developing consumption.

Dr. Napheys, in his " Physical Life of
Woman," expresses himself very strongly on
this point when he says, " When there exists any
contagious disease, refusals are, of course, valid
and often a duty to the unborn." Yes, indeed, a
duty to the unborn.

822. Drink is, of course, the curse of to-day.
Drinking is a disease. To ask the real drunkard
to stop drinking would be as foolish as to tell
a consumptive that he hadn't got the disease.
The only cure for such cases is to resort to medi-
cinal cure ; many valuable cures are now known
to the medical profession.

Deplorable family miseries result from this
curse. Alcohol to the temperate person is
most valuable when an emergency demands it,
whilst alcohol to the drunkard is worse than
useless. I do not believe in teetotalism, because
at times I think one benefits by a slight stimu-
lant; for instance, anaemic people benefit from
wine. Anyone who has a strong will of his own
can take such things in moderation ; it is the
weak-willed individual who cannot control his
desires. The offsprings of drunkards are often
insane.

823. Excessive Smoking Causes the System
to be Unable to Fight Disease. — Excessive use of
tobacco also does much harm. Lungs are put in
a good state to receive tuberculosis ; the heart is
weakened and often diseased ; the larynx is
often chronically inflamed.

Inhaling tobacco smoke is a poisonous habit
and a dangerous one. Moderation in everything
and absence of mental worry will tend to pro-
duce good health.

More exercise and an abundance of fresh air,
and less stuffy theatres, tea-rooms, and unven-
tilated offices, will produce healthier people.

824. Schools of physical culture should be
organised all over the country, and a few years
of military training is an excellent thing to make
young men physically fit. Discipline will not do
anyone any harm.

If more money were spent on teaching a
nation physical work, discipline, honour, etc.,
there would be less money required for the
police, police-courts, lunatic asylums, prisons,

etc., and a nation's young would grow up honest
and healthy.

825. The importance of washing one's fingers
after handling anything that might be infectious
cannot be over-estimated. Dr. Helen MacMurchy
wrote some very interesting words in the Toronto
Sunday World a short time ago on this subject.
She said : " Alcohol is not the only enemy we
may put into our mouths to steal away our
brains and strength. Keep your hands clean,
and you will avoid many infections. The hand
that writes these things carried the typhoid
bacillus to the writer's mouth fifteen years ago.
The hand that holds the newspaper in which
these words are printed may do the same thing.
Children are infected by each other's saliva.
They put their fingers to their mouths and noses,
and then they kiss each other. Pencils, books,
pens and toys are exchanged and carried in
the hands after being put in or to the mouth.
Disease is thus directly transmitted. Do you
ever turn the leaves with a moistened finger?
Do you not use these fingers for handling dirty
articles?

" The two classes of people who should be
most particular about the care of their hands are
those who cook and those who attend the sick.
Do everything you can for the sick, and do not
be afraid to do anything for the sick, but do not
inhale the direct breath of the sick, and always
wash your hands after attending the sick. Even
touching the bedclothes of an infectious patient
means that your hands require to be washed.
There are ten sources of infection on every
human being ; two thumbs and eight fingers.
From hand to mouth, this is the main infection
route."

It is commonly acknowledged now that most
diseases are carried by the fingers to the mouth,
and only exceptionally by the breath. A close
study of bacteriology, and even of the notes at
the beginning of this chapter, will convince the
reader how easy it is for germs to be transmitted
by the fingers from handles, street-car rails,
money, dirty books, shaking hands with con-
sumptives, etc., to the mouth, and how compara-
tively difficult it is, by breathing, for the germ
to enter the lungs and cause harm.

Cancer, according to Dr. Fibiger, of Copen-
hagen, is due to a microbe. This microbe is
supposed to be transmitted externally by im-
proper washing of the face and hands, and by
eating raw foods that have not been properly
cleansed. Metchnikof says : " Hereditary cancer
is a myth ; if cancer finds several victims in the
same family, it is because their hygiene is
equally bad."

CHAPTER XVIII

ON SHOEING AND CARE OF .THE FEET

826. THE STRUCTURE OF THE FOOT. — The horse's
foot consists of the hoof and its contents. These
contents are the coffin or pedal bone, the navi-
cular bone, the small pastern bone and the lower
end of the large pastern bone, the ligaments of
the joints, the synovial membrane and synovia,
the lower ends of the perforans and perforatus
tendons, blood-vessels, nerves, lateral cartilages,
sensitive laminae, sensitive sole, plantar cushion,
coronary substance, and the perioplic ring.

Thus the hoof is the horny box enclosing the
soft structure and the bones. It consists of wall,
bars, frog and sole. (P. 138, 139.) The wall is
divided into toe, quarters and heel. The bars
are formed by the walls turning in at the heels ;
these bars do not meet by about £ in. at the front
of the frog.

827. Wall. — The outside of the wall is
covered with an epithelial skin (periople) which
grows downwards from the perioplic ring.
This is Nature's protection to the hoof ; it pre-
vents the hoof from drying up and becoming
brittle. Hence the common fault of farriers
rasping the outside of the hoof is absolutely
wrong, and should never be allowed, even at
the toes. The hoof grows downwards from the
coronary band, and takes eleven to thirteen
months at the toe and six months at the heel to
grow from top to bottom. The hoof does not
grow from the sensitive wall. The wall is
thickest at the toe, where the wear is greatest,
and thinnest at the heel, to allow of greater
elasticity. The thick toe is also necessary, as it
is used in propulsion, the toe being the last part
of the foot to leave the ground. The elasticity
of the heel is also increased by the presence of
more moisture in the horn.

The wall is composed of minute fibres that
extend downwards and forwards (hence a
quarter crack, or toe crack, extends downwards
and forwards). Each fibre starts at the coronary
band, and, if this band is cut or destroyed, the
hoof will not grow down again below this part.
Nature, however, produces a kind of horny
substance as a substitute. In quittor operations
(Sec. 436) the greatest care must therefore be
taken not to damage the coronary band. The
outer part of the wall is drier and harder than
the inner, due to exposure to air. This is neces-

sary to resist wear, hence this part should never
be rasped.

If the hoof is partly removed, Nature sends
out a secretion temporarily to protect the sensi-
tive structure until the hoof has grown down
again. A nail cannot, of course, be driven into
this temporary structure. As the inner wall of
the foot is more vertical and bears more weight,
there is greater thickness of hoof at this part
than on the outside of the foot.

The sensitive laminae are attached to the walls
of the pedal bone, and are very freely supplied
with blood and nerves. Hence great pain results
from foot injuries, and blood poisoning is more
liable to occur in the horse's foot than in any
other part of his body, except his lower jaw.
The function of these sensitive laminae is to join
the pedal bone to the hoof, and thus they bear
most of the weight on the leg ; they also nourish
the horny hoof. The growth of the hoof is in-
creased by applying stimulants (as cantharides
blister) to the coronary band, or coronet, just
above the hoof.

828. Sole. — The horny sole is similar in
structure to the wall, but grows downwards
from the sensitive sole, which is attached to the
pedal bone. It is slightly arched. The horny
sole takes six months to grow. In health it
should be firm, and not spongy. The sole must
never be pared away ; only jagged pieces should
be removed by the farrier. Under the weight of
the body the sole becomes slightly flatter.

829. The Bars. — These divide the sole from
the frog. Between them and the frog, on each
side of the frog, is a groove or commissure, that
leaves room for the expansion of the frog when
it is placed on the ground. The bars grow down
from the sensitive sole. They must never be
pared away ; they should be kept lower than
the sole. Contracted heels are very rare with
good bars. Their function is to support the wall
at the heels and to prevent contracted heels.
They increase the bearing surface of the wall
and allow for expansion of the heels at each
step.

830. The Frog. — This is a wedge-shaped
portion of hoof situated between the bars. It
grows downwards and forwards from the sensi-
tive frog. It takes two months to grow down.

211

212

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

Its function is to bear weight, to prevent slip-
ping, to prevent shocks by acting as a cushion,
and to expand the heels whenever the foot is
brought to the ground ; therefore it should
always be on the ground (except in navicular
disease). On its under surface is a groove called
the cleft, which runs along the median line of
the foot ; this groove should be shallow and
rounded. Its purpose is to increase the mobility
of the frog and to decrease the liability of slip-
ping. At its base (back) are two bulbs, called
the bulbs of the heel.

The frog is much softer and more like a
cushion than the hoof walls and sole. . It con-
tains water and some oil, and its fibres are
wavy, causing it to be more elastic. If a horse
stands on a dry floor for long, the frog becomes
too hard. A horse in motion normally brings
his heels to the ground first, but in navicular
disease he may bring the toe down first. The
frog must never be cut, only jagged pieces being
trimmed off.

The heels spread every time the frog comes
to the ground ; hence high calkins, which keep
the frog off the ground, tend to cause contracted
heels and diseased feet. The frog should touch
the ground every time the foot is brought to the
ground. The grooves on each side of the frog
allow for its expansion.

831. The sensitive frog is situated imme-
diately above the frog and below the plantar
cushion ; it is situated between the retrossal
processes of the pedal bone, and is similar in
shape to the under-surface of the frog ; the frog
grows from it.

The plantar cushion, or frog-pad, is situated
between the lateral cartilages and above the
sensitive frog, and is composed of a network of
fibrous bands, having the interstices filled with
elastic tissue. The plantar cushion prevents jar
or concussion, and also plays an important part
in the action of the foot. The frog below it must,
therefore, touch the ground.

832. Lateral Cartilages. — On each side of
the pedal bone, i.e. on each wing, or basilar pro-
cess, of the pedal bone, is attached a plate of
cartilage. These are situated just inside the
wall of the hoof. They support the heels and
give elasticity, allowing the heels to expand
whenever the plantar cushion expands. They
are not very vascular, and they therefore very
easily become diseased, producing quittor, and
they may even become ossified, producing side-
bone. (See Sec. 432.)

They are joined together by inelastic fibres
that pass through the plantar cushion, thus pre-
venting the heels from spreading too much.
The lateral cartilages form an elastic wall to the
posterior part of the foot and give attachment to
the sensitive laminas.

As the foot expands, the lateral cartilages
prevent any disturbance between the sensitive

and insensitive laminae. They also, while in
motion, assist the circulation in the veins
situated within their structure.

833. Mechanism of the Foot. — When the
horse's foot is brought down the heel normally
touches the ground first, and therefore great
concussion is brought upon the heel, which is
not transmitted through the limb. This concus-
sion is overcome by the elasticity in the fetlock
and pastern joints ; the compression and lateral
expansion of the sole, and therefore the descent
of the pedal bone ; the compression and lateral
expansion of the frog, sensitive frog and plantar
cushion, and, finally, the expansion of the heels,
due to the expansion of the plantar cushion.

The expansion of the frog widens the bars
and the expansion of the plantar cushion widens
the lateral cartilages, i.e. increases the width
between them.

Apart from the perfect shock-absorbing and
non-slipping mechanism of the frog when it
touches the ground, the foot cannot keep healthy
and remain uncontracted at the heels unless this
expansion takes place freely. Hence the great
importance of not allowing any horse to have its
frog interfered with, as is so outrageously and
commonly the case with many farriers.

This expansion of the foot allows it to " give,"
instead of offering resistance as anything solid
would. This " give " is sufficient to prevent
fracture. A bar shoe in no way affords the
required pressure on a horse's frog. The only
justifiable occasion when a high-heeled shoe
should be used is to relieve pain in navicular
disease by relieving frog pressure, and for the
purpose of temporarily removing the strain off
the back tendons, or suspensory ligaments, after
a sprain.

834. PRINCIPLES OF SHOEING.

Rasping. — The primary essential of good
shoeing in all cases is that the outside of the wall
be not rasped. As explained in Sec. 827, if
the periople on the outside of the foot is rasped,
the hoof becomes hard and brittle. If merely the
edge of the toe is taken off, called " dumping,"
then the bearing surface on the ground is made
smaller, and the ends of the fibres are exposed,
as Nature requires they should not be. Farriers
rasp the foot to save trouble ; they fit the foot to
the shoe instead of the shoe to the foot.

835. Paring. — Great care must be taken to
make both the feet of the same length when
paring the foot, as is usually done when the
horse is re-shod, or at any rate once a month.
Every time a foot is re-shod the walls will have-
grown to a certain extent since the foot was last
shod ; this extra growth, but no more, has to be
rasped or pared away. This is done by paring
the under-surface of the wall only with the
farrier's knife, and then making the surface quite
level with the rasp. On no account must any
part except the under surface of the wall and any

PLATE 137

Diagrams showing the Nerves of the Limbs, Position of the Jugular Vein, Submaxillary Artery and Brain

PLATE 138

a. Showing the "Points" (or Hypodermic Injections (see P. 137). Courtesy: "Our Dumb Animals," Boston, Mass.
t>. The Ground Surface of a Healthy Foot, with Shoe on. c. The Type of Shoe used in Winter in Canada. The Blunt

Calk is on the Inside. Photos, b, C, by the Author

XVIIl]

SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET

213

jagged pieces of the frog, bars or sole be touched.
If a clip is used on the shoe (Sec. 846), only
sufficient of the wall should be cut out to fit it.
When the foot is placed on a plane it must
lie absolutely flat and even, with every portion of
it touching the plane. The walls must be pared
and rasped underneath so that when the foot is
on the ground the angle of the wall is 45° in the
fore feet and 50° in the hind feet, i.e. at the toe
of the foot. To prevent the wall from chipping
at the bottom, a rasp must be run round the
outer edge, just to remove the sharp edge and
no more, before the shoe is put on.

836. The Conformation of the Foot.— Small
feet do not stand hard work, especially with
farm horses ; on the other hand, if they are too
large they will probably be coarse and deficient
in toughness and strength. Healthy feet will
always be in pairs, i.e. both fore and both hind
alike. It is, therefore, generally easy to discover
a contracted heel by comparing it with the
opposite foot. The existence of odd feet is nearly
always a sign of disease.

The practice of leaving the heels too high is
quite wrong and most injurious, as it tends to
reduce frog pressure and increase concussion on
the limbs. On the other hand, if the toes are
left too long, there is a tendency to cause extra
strain on the back tendons of the foot. (P. 139.)
This shows approximate angle of the toe and
height of the heel, heels too high, and heels too
low. As feet vary as much as, or more than,
other parts of the horse, it is impossible to
specify any one type of foot, and most foolish to
attempt to make all horses' feet of the same shape.

837. Expansion of the Heel. — As explained
above, the foot expands slightly every time the
frog is brought to the ground ; hence the neces-
sity for not having nails near the heels of the
foot. The top surface of a shoe at the heel
always becomes worn a little and appears bright
if the foot is healthy and the frog in contact with
the ground. This worn portion on the shoe is
due to the expansion and contraction of the heels
at each step.

838. Shoeing. — Horses should either be re-
shod, or have their shoes removed and feet
trimmed and shoes put on again, once a month.
In Canada in winter, when horses wear spikes
or calkins to prevent slipping (P. 138c), the
shoes get very little wear, and very often the
owners neglect to send their horses to the forge
every month. Light shoes will wear away in
two or three weeks on very hard macadam
roads if the horse is doing much work.

In shoeing a horse it must always be well
treated, and thus made to associate shoeing with
pleasant things. If this is done he will not
object to being shod, and the work of the farrier
will be made very much more easy. (See
Chapter III.)

889. Shape of the Foot.— The fundamental

principle is that the upper surface of the shoe
should be quite flat, and not "seated," i.e.
with a bevel on the inner edge. (P. 139.)
The whole of the surface should bear against
the under surface of the wall of the hoof. The
width of the shoe (known as the web) should,
therefore, be exactly the width of the weight-
bearing wall, so as not to touch the sole and not
to leave any of the wall unsupported. This
width is approximately f in. for most horses.
The practice of seating shoes should never be
allowed. The thickness of a shoe (i.e. the
weight of a shoe) should be sufficient to last
about five weeks — that is, for one week longer
than the period for using the shoe — and, there-
fore, this will vary with the work and roads.

For fast work the shoe should be as thin as
possible, whilst for slow work, with heavy
horses, extra weight will not matter so much.
Heavy shoes on horses only tend to tire them
sooner, as the horse lifts unnecessary weight
every time he raises a leg. The practice of shoe-
ing with heavy shoes is carried on with hackneys
in order to make them lift their feet higher than
is natural. The high stepping of standard-breds
is, as a rule, natural, as I do not remember ever
seeing one of these with heavy shoes. (P. 43.)
The practice of heavy shoeing merely to give a
showy effect is cruel and contrary to good horse-
manship.

840. A shoe should be made of the best
wrought iron. Most shoes nowadays are made
by machinery, and merely fitted by the farrier.
But every farrier should practise continually in
the making of shoes by hand, as it is an art
that soon dies with lack of practice. For light
racing shoes steel is used in order to get
sufficient strength into a small amount of
material.

The weight of an ordinary riding shoe should
be between 9 oz. and 16 oz., but those of carriage
horses should be a little heavier— up to 24 oz.
in heavier types. Very heavy draught horses
sometimes have shoes up to 7 Ib. in weight; on
the other hand, light ponies and horses for
special work have shoes of 6 oz., or even less.

The under surface of the shoe should be flat
and on a level plane, except when it is " ful-
lered." The fuller consists of a groove running
round the under surface of the web a little
nearer the outside than the inside. (P. 138c.)
Fullering is done in order to diminish the risk
of slipping, as the bearing surface on the ground
consists of two narrow webs instead of one
broad one, as is the case when there is no fuller.
The length of the s-hoe should be the exact length
of the wall ; if longer, it is apt to be torn off,
and, if shorter, the ends are liable to press into
the foot and produce corns. For this reason it is
safer to make them longer than shorter. If the
heels of the fore feet are too long, they may
cause capped elbows.

214

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

841. Fitting the Shoe. — After the foot has
been prepared as described in Sec. 834 et seqq.,
the type of shoe most suitable is chosen, and
heated to a bright red heat. It is then placed
close to the under surface of the foot to ascertain
approximately how its shape requires to be
altered to fit the foot. It is bent as nearly
as possible to the shape of the foot on the anvil,
and again tried. This is repeated until it seems
to fit well. The heels of the shoe are now cut
off to the right length. The contraction that takes
place when the iron cools must, of course, be
allowed for. Each time the hot shoe is compared
with the foot it should not be held against the
foot, or it will burn the foot too much ; but
after the shoe has been made to fit well, and
the nail holes made, it is heated to a dull red
heat, and held for a few seconds only against
the foot, thus momentarily burning the uneven
portions of the foot away, making the fit more
perfect. This also has the beneficial effect of
making the contact surface waterproof. Con-
tinued burning must never be allowed, as it
damages the structure of the foot.

After this final fitting, of course, the shoe
must not be altered in shape in any way. On
no account must the red-hot shoe be used to
burn down the wall, as is not uncommonly done
by lazy farriers. The inside of the foot may be
permanently damaged thereby ; at any rate, the
hoof will be damaged.

842. Nails. — Only sufficient nails should be
used to hold the shoe in place. This number, of
course, will depend on the size and weight of
the shoe, the kind of work, the action of the
horse, the toughness of the wall, the accurate
fitting of the shoe, and whether the wall has
been rasped and the clenches interfered with, as
is so frequently the case. Nails must never be
near the heels nor at the toes.

Five nails (three on the outside and two on
the inside) are sufficient for the fore-shoes, and
six (three on each side) for the hind-shoes.
Heavy draught horses usually have seven (one
more on each side) on the fore-shoes and eight
on the hind-shoes. It is far better to use few
nails, and to examine the nails and shoes care-
fully every day, than to fill the foot with nails.
The fewer nails used the better will be the con-
dition of the foot. Nails must be of the toughest
iron procurable, and should stand being bent in
a vice backwards and forwards four or five times
without breaking. Most nails are now machine
made, and are very good ones too ; consequently,
making nails by hand is very little practised.

The holes in the shoe should be made fairly
small, and the nail should fit exactly into each
hole. Nails should, therefore, be fitted to each
hole before the shoe is put in place. If the nails
are loose in the shoe, however tightly they may
be clenched, there will be certain movement
between the shoe and foot.

843. I strongly recommend Alfred W.
Knight's (of 4 Upper St. Martin's Lane, London)
patent safety horse nails. From experience, I
find the chief advantages they possess over the
ordinary flat nail are : that the shank of the nail
is curved in cross section, i.e. concave on the
side towards the centre of the foot and convex
on the outside ; that with these nails there is
no necessity to bend the nails lengthways, as
is often done with flat nails ; that the clenches,
having ribs on each side, are extremely strong ;
that there is never any necessity to make a
notch under the clench, and the nails need not
be clenched so tightly ; and that the dangers of
nail pressure are very greatly lessened. The
nails are slightly more expensive, but the slight
difference is easily outweighed by the saving in
nails and the lessened chance of losing shoes,
and they are far more humane.

The R.S.P.C.A. says about these nails, "There
is no necessity for curving or bending longways.
The inward bending pressure from the flat nail,
that often causes lameness, is avoided, and the
horse works with more comfort and freedom."

844. The nail holes in the shoe must not
be too near the toe, because the heads will wear
off too quickly, nor must they be too near the
heels, as explained in Sec. 837. (P. 1386, c.)
The nail holes must be a little nearer the outside
than the inside of the web.

The fit of the nail is made more secure if
the holes are countersunk with a rectangular
counter-sinker on the ground surface of the shoe.
In fullered shoes the holes should be counter-
sunk just a little, and the heads of the nails, as
a rule, are buried deeper into the web, the fuller-
ing allowing for this. There is not much object
in leaving the heads of the nails projecting below
the shoe, as they so rapidly wear off.

If rose-headed nails (P. 139) are used, they
project, of course, farther out and, while they
last, act as a protection against slipping. The
ordinary countersunk-headed nail is the best. It
should be fitted practically flush with the lower
surface of the shoe in a fullered shoe, and only
project about one-eighth of an inch with a non-
fullered shoe.

Fullering is often objected to because it
lessens the wearing surface of the shoe, and it
also causes the nail heads to fit less securely on
account of there being only two sides of the
head, instead of four, in contact with the shoe.
The fore-shoes of saddle horses are usually
fullered.

845. Before punching the holes in the shoe,
any weak part in the hoof should be noticed,
because nails must only be driven in where the
wall is perfectly sound. The nails must be
driven in with the bevel side of the point
(P. 139) inside, i.e. towards the centre of the
foot. This prevents the nail from being driven
into the foot and causing a " prick." The centre

XVIIl]

SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET

215

nail should be held at about right angles to the
under surface of the foot while it is being driven
in, the toe nail with its head away from the
centre of the sole, and the heel nail with its head
towards the frog. This will cause them to come
out in line. They must be so held that their
points will come through the wall about one
inch above the bottom of the wall. This can
be done after a little practice ; but if it is found
that a nail comes a quarter of an inch too high
or too low, it should be left, because if another
hole is made close to the original it may give
way.

When each nail is driven through, it should
be driven right home. The claw of the hammer
is then used to twist the point of the nail over,
and the point is twisted off by turning it in
a rotary movement. Care must be taken that
at least one-eighth of an inch is left sticking
through the wall to form a sufficiently strong
clench to hold the nail in.

After all the nails are thus driven in tightly
and clenched, they are again hammered in to
make sure they have not become loose. The head
of the pincers or other tool is held against the
head of each nail while the clench is hammered
down tight on to the wall. The practice of rasp-
ing a groove under the clench should be for-
bidden, as it tends to weaken the hold of the
nail ; but if the clench, after it has been securely
hammered down, projects too much, causing
it to catch in anything, it should be lightly
touched with the rasp, but on no account heavily
so as to weaken it. The rasp should not be
drawn round the edge of the wall to make the
foot look " neat," as is often done, because, how-
ever neat this may appear to some, it becomes
covered up directly the foot gets dusty or dirty.
The outside of the wall must never be touched
with the rasp.

Shoes will practically never be lost if the
above simple rules are strictly adhered to.

846. Clips (P. 139).— These consist of a
portion of the front of the web of the shoe
being forced up by the farrier, while the shoe
is being made, to afford a firmer holding
between the shoe and foot. The wall is pared
out to fit the clip, which must be as small as
possible in order to avoid the necessity for
paring away much of the hoof, and also to avoid
lessening the bearing surface of the hoof too
much. A clip, if used, is generally made at the
toe for fore-shoes and one on each side of the
toe for hind-shoes. They are used more in
artillery and heavy draught horses, and are not
necessary in saddle and carriage horses.

847. Removing Shoes. — Before any attempt
is made to draw a shoe off the foot, the head of
each nail must be sharply tapped home, and
every clench must be cut off with the buffer.
The shoe should then be drawn a little out with
the pincers, first drawing at the toe, and next at

the two heels. The shoe should then be ham-
mered on again, when each nail head will pro-
trude sufficiently for it to be withdrawn carefully
with the pincers. The practice of wrenching off
shoes is dangerous, and seldom saves time, but
very often causes a great deal more trouble in
the end.

848. Calkins. — These consist of projections
on the wearing surface of the shoe on both heels.
They are generally used on heavy draught horses
to prevent slipping. (P. 132e.) I object to their
use, unless made very short, because they tend
to keep the frog off the ground. They also tend
to raise the heels too high. For this reason
they should be made of steel let into the iron
shoe, because then they can be short and wide,
and will not wear at all rapidly. The use of
calkins in winter is described in Sec. 852.

849. Tips. — These are shoes of half the
ordinary length, or not more than half, which
cover only the toe and fore part of the quarters
of the hoof, leaving the heels and rear part of
the quarters bare. They should be tapered off
towards the rear so as to afford a level surface
against the ground from toe to heel. With their
use the dangers of contracted heels, diseased
frogs, slipping, etc., are greatly reduced, and the
only objection to their use is that, until a horse
is used to wearing them, hard roads and stones
will damage the unprotected parts. For unpaved
and stoneless trails, as we see in Alberta, for
example, they should be used in preference to
whole shoes. Heels and frogs rapidly become
stronger and better fitted to resist hard work if
tips are used, but of course, at first, care must
be taken not to go over stony or hard roads.
Two nails are generally sufficient on each side,
i.e. four in all.

850. Bar shoes have a small bar passing
from heel to heel under the frog, and are only
used to relieve some other portion of the foot
from pressure, as in corns, etc. They do not,
however, in any way compensate for want of
proper frog pressure. Continual use of these
will cause contracted heels. When used, great
care must be taken that the nails are not near
the heels. (Sees. 833, 837.)

Rocking shoes, as the name implies, are made
with thick quarters and thin toes and heels, i.e.
with a rocking wearing surface, but level upper
surface. They are used to relieve the foot in
laminitis, etc.

851. Feathering. — Feather - edged or
" Knocked-up " Shoes (P. 139). — Feathering con-
sists in narrowing the web on the inside of the
shoe. This is done to prevent " brushing," or
" speedy cutting," etc. Many horses that do not
" brush " at all are shod in this manner as a
precaution. The hind feet, as a rule, are the
only ones that are shod with feathered shoes.

Concave. — A shoe is said to be concave when
its inner border is bevelled, so that the top of

216

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

the web is broader than the bottom, or wearing
surface. (P. 1386.) A hunter's shoes are often
slightly bevelled, as it helps the horse to draw
the foot out of the sticky ground and lessens the
chance of the shoe being pulled off. Concave
shoes should be used on the fore feet of all horses
that " forge," otherwise concaving only makes
the wearing surface smaller.

852. Roughing or Sharpening for Winter
Wear. — This consists in either screwing in
screws to ordinary shoes or in making special
shoes. In England, where one day is frosty and
another wet during the winter months, shoes are
punched and drilled ready to receive little
roughs, or sharp-headed screws. The best form
of screw for this purpose is one that is made of
good steel and has its centre harder than its out-
side, allowing it to wear more on the outside
than the centre, thus keeping the point always
sharp. A make, the " Neverslip," which claims
the above properties, is on the market.

In Canada, directly the winter — which, as a
rule, lasts from three to four months, or longer
— threatens, most horses are shod with winter
shoes. P. 138c shows a typical saddle-horse
shoe for winter purposes ; this will also do for
light harness horses. It has a sharp calkin on
the outer heel and toe and a blunt calkin on the
inner heel, making the bearing on the ground
level ; the calkins should be of steel, let in, so
that they need not be too long.

A certain amount of frog pressure is main-
tained on account of the horse treading on snow
most of the while ; but the web, which gets
practically no wear, can be made thinner, so
as to bring the frog as near to the ground as
possible. These shoes must be removed every
month, the foot dressed, and the shoe refitted.
As a rule, shoes will last two or three months
in the snow, and, therefore, can be refitted
several times. For heavy horses three larger
calkins can be used. I have ridden for several
winters almost daily along the snow- and ice-
covered asphalt pavements on young horses, and
have never had a horse slip down when wearing
the type of shoe shown in P. 138c.

Ice-race shoes generally consist of wedge-
shaped calkins at the toe and both heels, fitted
either transversely or longitudinally at the heels.
The American or Canadian ice-shoe has generally
one broad wedge at the toe and one transverse
wedge (i.e. across the web) at each heel.

853. Pavements. — From the point of view
of wear of a horse's legs, the softer or the more
muddy the roads are the better ; but for draught
horses, the harder and the more level the roads
are the easier is the draught. For this reason
saddle horses are best kept on the grassy sides
of country roads, and the roads themselves
should be macadamised. Macadam roads, of
course, would not wear sufficiently well in a
city, and it is the city pavement that meets with

so many objections. On hills, smooth pavements
are not at all suitable for horses ; cobbles make
the best pavement.

On level or nearly level streets two kinds
of pavement are used : tarred wood blocks or
Limmer asphalt. In London the former is
largely used, whilst in Toronto and most Cana-
dian and United States cities the latter finds
favour. Wood is easier for the horse's feet, but
is not so lasting, is not so easily kept clean, and
is more slippery after a little rain.

Limmer asphalt is very hard for the feet in
winter, but is softer in very hot weather. In
frosty weather it is extremely slippery until
sufficient snow has fallen to give it a footing.
On the whole, I believe wood is the better for
horses, as it is so much softer ; but for level
running and for motor traction, the asphalt is
the better. Both wood and asphalt are easily
repaired where small patches have become
worn.

The practice of allowing oil to drip from
motor engines on to the pavement is very
dangerous, and has in the past caused scores of
horses to slip. This practice should be prohibited
by law. Many cities in the States have by-laws
compelling all motors to carry dripping-pans
under the engine to collect grease and oil, and
thus eliminate the danger that the horse is sub-
jected to. The crown grade on streets should
be lowered, and the free distribution of sand in
slippery weather should be generally enforced.

854. Common Faults in Shoeing. — Besides
those already dealt with, as rasping the outside
of the wall, rasping a notch for the clenchers,
rasping the clench, and paring the frog or sole,
etc., there is the common fault of lowering the
wall too much, so as to cause the inner edge of
the web to press against the edge of the sole.
The wall should be left a little below the sole.

Dumping, as explained in Sec. 834, consists in
making the shoe a little smaller than the foot
and rasping the wall to fit the shoe — a most
contemptible and injurious practice. American
farriers generally use seven or eight nails, even
for light horses ; these are often necessary on
account of the manner in which they rasp the
walls and reduce their holding power.

Excessive burning is another common fault,
which is done to save trouble and with the inten-
tion of getting a good fit. The opposite, as a
matter of fact, is the result, because the excessive
heat causes the horn to become so brittle that
it is unable to bear weight. Slight burning for
a very few seconds, as explained in Sec. 841,
will, however, do no harm and will make the
ends of the fibres waterproof. Excessive burning
also makes the foot harder for the farrier next
time he shoes the horse ; brittle horn is hard to
cut.

855. Pricks. — Pricks consist of injuries to
the highly vascular, sensitive laminas from nails

PLATE 139

TOO

HE£ L. S TOO i.0

Too HICH.

A vesy w/?o/vs

T/CE .

Toe 3>t/M7>e:z> TO FIT

FOOT TO SHOE IA1&T£A3>

OF FITT/HG shoe TO FOOT

CLIf».

Co/vc A YE.

Diagrams of the Foot, Shoes and Nails

PLATE 140

I I I

TWO CHAMPION HORSES

a, " Marjorie," Grey Percheron, the Properly of Messrs. W. E. & R. C. Upper, North Portal, Sask. b. The Unbeaten

Clydesdale, "The Dunure." Photo: G. H. Parsons

XVIIl]

SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET

217

being driven too far inwards, i.e. towards the
centre of the foot. If the instructions laid
down in Sec. 844 are carried out, there is little
danger of pricking a horse. Some walls are
very thin, and special care must be taken. A
study of P. 139 will show that the thickness
of horn is never very great, necessitating every
nail being driven in with much care. Many a
horse has been totally ruined by being pricked.
When a horse is pricked he will generally
flinch ; the nail must be at once withdrawn.
There will be a little blood on the end of the
nail. The horn must be pared away until the
seat of the injury is reached, and a drop or two
of pure carbolic acid, or 50 per cent, solution,
must be syringed, by means of a hypodermic
needle, right into the bottom of the wound. A
tuft of aseptic cottonwool can be plugged in to
keep dirt from getting in. The wound must be
re-dressed every four hours. Blood poisoning,
lockjaw, etc., may very easily follow a neglected
prick.

856. If the nail has been in a few hours,
or the district is one in which lockjaw (tetanus)
is common, the horse should be treated at once
with anti-tetanus serum, and again the following
day. (See Sec. 620.) Whenever a nail is drawn
put of a foot, either one that has been driven
in the wrong place by the farrier or one that has
been picked up accidentally by the horse, and
it is seen that the nail has been in a considerable
distance, the foot must be pared away to the
sensitive part. A probe must then be used to
reach the bottom of the hole, or a hypodermic
needle may be used for this. When the hole is
found, the carbolic must be injected as described
above. This must be done with force right to
the bottom of the hole. This will cauterise the
surface of the wound and destroy all septic
matter. The horse will give a jump as the car-
bolic touches the bottom of the wound, which is
a sure test that the needle is in the right place.
The depth that the needle is to be inserted must
be compared with the length of the nail that
was drawn out. Many cases of tetanus have
resulted from farriers cutting a bit of the sole
or frog away and plugging the hole up with tar,
thus closing in all germs.

If the nail has been in long enough to allow
the foot to swell, after treating as above, it will
be necessary to apply a hot antiseptic poultice at
once, and to repeat it in a couple of hours, in
order to draw out the poison. Upon the first
signs of swelling about the fetlock, the anti-
tetanus serum must be used, and repeated the
following day, as described above.

Presses or Binds. — These are caused by the
nail being driven in very near to the sensitive
wall, but not actually into it. The result is a
bruise of the sensitive laminae. The horse will
show it either by a flinch or else by going lame
after shoeing. The nails must be withdrawn

2C

one by one to ascertain which is causing the
trouble. If there is no blood on the nail points,
it is clear that there is not a prick. On removal
of the nail that presses, the trouble will gener-
ally right itself of its own accord ; if very bad,
the horse should not be worked for a few days.
As the farrier withdraws the nail that causes
the trouble, the horse will generally flinch
slightly, so it is easy, as a rule, to discover which
nail it is.

857. Forge Tools. — The anvil, which is
familiar to everyone, is the most important tool
for fitting or making shoes.

The fire tongs are used to hold the shoe in
the fire, and have long handles ; the shoe tongs
are used to hold the shoe at the anvil while it
is being shaped.

The turning hammer, weight about 4 lb., has
one flat and one convex face, and is used on the
anvil. The sledge hammer, weight 9 lb., is used
by an assistant, the striker, to weld metal and
to cut or mould the bar in making shoes.

The concave tool, or swedge, and other shap-
ing tools are held in place by the farrier while
the striker hammers the bar of iron into the
mould.

The fuller is a blunt chisel, with a wooden
handle, resembling a hammer, that is hammered
into the web by the striker as the farrier draws
it around the web.

The pritchel, or counter-sinker, is used to
punch the holes for the heads to fit in accurately.
The stamp is used to punch the holes right
through the web. The pritchel and punch must
be the exact shape of the nails used bo ensure
accurately fitting nails.

858. Shoeing Tools. — The shoeing hammer
has a small head and bent claws, and is used
for driving and clenching nails.

The buffer is made of steel, about 5| in. long,
has a point at one end to punch out broken
nails, and a chisel at the other for cutting off
clenches. Pincers are used for drawing nails,
and also as a buffer held against the heads while
the clenches are hammered down tight.

The drawing knife has a curved blade, and
is used to pare the wall and to remove ragged
bits of horn. It must be of best steel and kept
very sharp. The rasp has one half on one side
file cut and the remainder coarse cut. It should
be 16 in. long and of the best steel.

859. Faulty Feet.— Flat feet are large, have
very sloping walls in front, low heels, and flat
and generally thin soles.

Narrow feet are the opposite : small, have
upright walls and high heels. Plat feet are pre-
ferable to narrow feet, as they generally have
large frogs, whilst narrow feet generally have
very small frogs. Natural flat feet must not be
confounded with feet that have been incorrectly
pared by the farrier, as described in Sees. 835
and 854.

218

Diseases of the Hoof

860. Diseases of the internal bony structure
of the foot have been dealt with in Chapter IX.
We will here consider the external diseases of
the foot and diseases of the sensitive laminae.

FORGING, or CLICKING.

Cause. — A horse generally strikes the inner
edge of the ground surface of the web of the
forefoot with the toe of the hindfoot on the same
side, as this foot is raised from the ground,
while trotting. This is often due to the walls
not being properly pared down or to careless
driving or riding.

Treatment. — Rasp the top of the hind-shoes
and shorten them. Shoe the forefoot with con-
cave shoes. Drive or ride horse carefully and
in a collected manner. Pare the walls properly,
i.e. shorten the toes if they have grown too long.

861. STUMBLING.

Cause. — Horse catches toe of shoe on ground
as he turns the toe forwards to place foot on
ground. Often due to careless driving or riding.

Treatment.— Shorten toe of shoe and make it
much thinner than rest of web. Drive or ride
horse carefully and in a collected manner.

862. CONTRACTED HEELS.

Cause. — Result of thrush (Sec. 871) ; going
on toe, as is done in navicular disease and
certain forms of lameness ; malformation, and
generally want of frog pressure, due to erroneous
shoeing and the abominable practice of paring
away the frog.

Symptoms. — The frog is quite narrow, and
not wide and healthy looking, as in P. 1386 ;
the heels are quite close together.

Treatment. — If there is thrush, treat accord-
ingly. Obtain frog pressure at all costs. Allow
full expansion of the heels.

863. CORNS. — A corn in a horse is very
different from that in a human being. In the
former it is the result of a bruise to the sensitive
laminae; in the latter it is the result of inter-
mittent pressure on a part of the foot. A corn
is a hypertrophy or an abnormal growth of
tissue that is not diseased.

Cause. — Horses with weak heels and flat soles
are more subject to corns ; bad shoeing ; fast
work on hard roads ; stepping on sharp stones,
small pebbles, etc. ; small stones working into
the heels of the shoe when they are " sprung " ;
paring away the bars ; heels of shoe too short ;
large calkins ; paring away too much of the
walls at the heels.

Symptoms. — Horse may not always be lame
from a corn. The lameness gets worse as horse
works. A few days' rest may temporarily re-
move the lameness. Horse may point the affected
foot when standing, or stand very uneasily, if
both forefeet or hindfeet are affected. They
rarely occur in hindfeet. The corn usually
occurs on the internal portion of the sole near
the heel, owing to there being greater weight on

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

the inside and owing to the inner wall being
more upright.

Treatment. — Remove shoe, and pare enough
of the horn out to get access to the corn. If
there is any suppuration, the wound must be
treated as for pricks. (See Sees. 855-6.) If odour
is bad, probably pedal bone is diseased, so any
diseased bone will have to be removed under
chloroform. If the wound is troublesome, anaes-
thetise foot with cocaine, and insert red-hot iron
to burn the diseased parts. Watch for signs of
quittor. (Sec. 436.) After wound has healed, or
if there is no suppuration, shoe with three-
quarter shoe, so that there is no web under the
heel near the corn, and put bar across frog to
keep weight off seat of corn. If there is a corn
on both sides, shoe with a tip, and extend a bar
from the toe across the frog.

864. SANDCRACK. — This is a fissure in the
crust or wall that runs in the direction of the
fibres.

Cause. — Generally due to weakness in foot or
constitutional disturbance. More common in
flat feet. May be the result of rasping the walls.

Symptoms.— There may or may not be lame-
ness. A fissure or groove, perhaps very slight
at first, appears in the wall running downwards
and slightly forwards ; may be at the top or
may not reach up to the coronet.

Treatment. — If there is lameness, poultice
with antiseptic poultice (Sec. 503) for a few
days. Thoroughly syringe out the fissure. If
it does not extend to coronet, rasp a deep nick,
about 1 in. long, horizontally above the fissure,
remove shoe, and pare out a semicircular groove
on ground surface of wall to take weight off
the fibres, which extend from the fissure to the
shoe ; then replace shoe. If the fissure is at the
top of the foot and extends to the coronet, rasp
or burn with wedge-shaped iron a V large
enough to enclose the fissure inside the V. The
tops of the V must reach the coronet. The foot
must be anaesthetised with cocaine. (Sec. 759,
et seq.) If the fissure extends the full length
of the wall, little holes must be made on each
side, about 1 in. from fissure, and iron staples
hammered in to hold the wall together. Ground
surface of wall pared as above. If fissure
reaches coronet, horse must not work until the
horn has grown at least one inch below coronet,
when a horizontal nick must be made to prevent
the crack from running up. Wherever the fissure
is, the growth of horn must be stimulated by
blistering coronet with a good cantharides
blister.

865. SPLIT HOOF.— Split hoofs may be due
to concussion or external injuries. As a rule,
the split starts at the bottom, and extends only
for a short way up. It may be horizontal ; in
this case use clenches. Treat split hoof as
described for sandcrack. (Sec. 864.)

866. FALSE QUARTER.— This is a depression

xvin]

SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET

219

extending in the direction of the fibres from the
coronet. It may appear at any place, and is due
to injury to the coronet, as quittor, tread, or
other external injury.

Treatment.— Blister the coronet ; this is the
only hope. Take precautions, as for sandcrack,
to prevent the hoof from splitting at the weak-
ened spot. Give the horse easy work.

867. SEEDY TOE is similar to false quarter,
except that the depression is inside instead of
outside the wall. The cavity is filled with a soft,
cheesy, crumbly material.

Cause.— Result of laminitis or perhaps same
as false quarter. Continued strain, continual
standing.

Symptoms. — The end of the depression will
be seen when the shoe is removed. There will
be lameness, and if the portion outside the tissue
is tapped it will sound hollow.

Treatment.— -If due to laminitis, treatment
for this alone would be useless ; therefore, treat
for laminitis. Pare away all the loose horn until
all signs of the original crack are removed. The
foot must be first anaesthetised with cocaine ;
then make the wound thoroughly aseptic with
turpentine, and not with water solutions. Next
apply the following dressing over the pared-out
part to keep moisture away :

Oil of turpentine.
Oil of tar .
Fish oil

1 ounce
1 ounce
4 ounces

Shake well, and apply it night and morning.
This is an excellent dressing for brittle feet.

868. INFLAMMATION OF CORONET. — Very un-
common in horses, fairly common in asses. The
cause is probably due to constitutional disturb-
ance, to a nervous disorder, or to external
injury.

Symptoms. — The hoof becomes like the bark
of a tree, and splits, pieces breaking off.

Treatment. — Dress the foot with coal tar and
fish oil. Pare away all affected horn. Attend
to horse's diet. Rest the horse on soft bedding.

869. BRITTLE FEET are generally constitu-
tional. Some horses, however healthy, have
brittle feet. Working and standing on hard, dry
ground tend to make feet brittle. Most patent
dressings are injurious, and may cause feet to
become brittle.

Treatment. — Obtain frog pressure, and rub
in daily dressing as for seedy toe. (Sec. 867.)
Stand on clay floor in stable and work on soft
ground. Small washers can be used under the
nail clenches to prevent the clenches chipping
the wall.

870. TREADS consist of injuries to the foot
due to the shoe of one of the other feet treading
on it. The term is generally applied to a wound
on the coronet.

Treatment.— Syringe out wound, and treat

aseptically. Apply a little iodoform and tannic
acid. If healing is slow, apply weak cantharides
(1 to 20 lard) blister round the tread, on coronet.

871. THRUSH.

Cause. — Want of proper use of the foot ;
dirt ; neglect. Always a sign of bad stable
management or bad shoeing, as improper par-
ing, contraction, high-heeled shoe. If from
neglect, it is due probably to manure, combined
with ammonia, clogging in the grooves in the
foot. Horse not using frog in navicular disease.

Symptoms. — Bad smelling secretion comes
from the cleft or commissures of the frog. This
secretion originates from the plantar cushion.

Treatment. — Remove with paring knife all
rotten horn. Clean foot thoroughly, the clefts
right to the bottom, and syringe out with strong
antiseptic, or, better still, apply calomel well
rubbed in. Plaster tar and tow over this to keep
it in. Shoe properly, and keep stables clean and
dry. Obtain frog pressure. Keep clefts plugged
up with calomel for several days and covered
with tar. Calomel is rather expensive, but is by
far the best drug to use. A mixture of iodoform
and eucalyptus oil (1 in 8 oil) is a good dressing
if calomel cannot be obtained.

872. CANKER is really a diseased condition
.of the sensitive sole and plantar cushion, and

has the appearance of a bad chronic condition
of thrush. It comes on slowly and does not
show much sign of pain. The disease is prob-
ably due to micro-organisms.

Treatment. — Remove the shoe, anaesthetise
the foot with cocaine, and remove all diseased
portion of the horn with a knife. Syringe the
whole of the exposed sensitive and horny parts
with a 25 per cent, solution of carbolic acid for
five minutes, then allow to dry for fifteen
minutes, and apply calomel. This must be
blown right into the sensitive structure. Cover
with aseptic cottonwool and suitable bandages.
Repeat the carbolic (10 per cent, only) and calo-
mel every twenty-four hours. Keep stable floor
scrupulously clean, attend to diet, and give mild
purgative, and rest horse on soft bed. Obtain
good frog pressure afterwards, and keep feet
thoroughly washed morning and night.

873. ACUTE LAMINITIS, or FOUNDER, or
FEVER IN THE FEET. — For pumice, see "Chronic
Laminitis," Sec. 874. The acute form is acute
inflammation of the sensitive laminae of the foot.

Cause. — Defective feet and hereditary ten-
dency predispose horses to the disease. More
common in forefeet. Concussion. Exposure at
a slow pace for many hours on hot roads. Rasp-
ing the walls, paring frog and sole. Excitement,
indigestion, overwork, continual standing. Over-
feeding, with insufficient exercise. Flat feet are
a predisposing cause.

Symptoms. — Very sudden. Horse goes lame
and seems incapable of moving. Generally in
left and right foot together. Great heat in the

220

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP, xviu

feet. Horse bears most weight on his heels.
Great pain. Temperature high. Pulse quick,
full, and hard. Respiration increased, like con-
gestion of lungs, for which it is often mistaken.
Horse unwilling to move.

Treatment. — Give a pint of linseed oil, and
warm water and soap enema. On no account
give a strong purgative. Apply pressure band-
ages below the knee or hock. Remove shoes
carefully, and pare walls to allow as much
weight as possible on the frog ; do not touch
frog. Give gentle exercise a few times a day, if
horse will move ; otherwise, leave him alone.
Feed on laxative diet, grass, etc., and make horse
lie down, if he will.

When not lying down, stand him in cold
water, and on no account poultice foot or stand
in hot water, as this will draw more blood to
the already inflamed tissues. Pass catheter, as
horse may withhold urine. If colicky pains, give
cannabis indica F.E. i dr.

Broad web shoes, with leather or rubber pads
next to the foot, should be used for a few weeks,
and the web should be thin at toe and heels to
form a rocker-shaped shoe, which will ease the
horse.

Prevention. — Exercise horses on board ship or
on a long train journey, and sling them occa-
sionally, if they will not lie down, to relieve
weight on feet. After much standing, as on
board ship, put horse into loose box for a week.
A few miles' walking after two or three weeks
on board ship may bring on laminitis.

Laminitis is not uncommon after parturition.
After a foal is born, if the after-birth (placenta)
does not come away clean from the mare in three
or four hours, it must be removed very carefully
with the hand, the hand and arm being made
thoroughly aseptic with lysol solution and in-
serted right into the womb (uterus). The womb

must then be syringed out with corrosive subli-
mate (1 to 2,000), followed immediately by a
thorough flushing with normal saline solution.
This changes the poisonous mercury perchloride
(corrosive sublimate) into mercury subchloride
(calomel), which will do no harm, but will
act as a slight laxative. Laminitis is very
liable to occur again. On no account must a
strong solution of the mercury be used in this
case.

874. CHRONIC LAMINITIS.

Cause. — Due to repeated attacks of acute
laminitis (founder), when the union between the
sensitive laminae and the horny wall becomes
partially destroyed. If this is very bad the toe
of the pedal bone (os pedis) may touch the sole,
a condition which is known as pumice.

Symptoms. — Horse is lame and tries to bear
all weight on the heels and keeps feet as much
as possible to the front (the opposite to navicular
disease). When moving, horse will take short
steps. The slope of the wall at the toe is con-
cave instead of straight. The wall of the toe
near the ground will be thick; sole, flat; horn,
brittle and weak ; frog, healthy and large, due
to increased work on it. Work increases the
lameness (opposite to navicular disease). There
will generally be the regular rings of horn pro-
jecting around the outside of the wall. Dishonest
horse dealers rasp these rings away.

Treatment. — Obtain frog pressure. Lower
wall at heels to bring more weight on to the
heels. Use rubber or leather between shoe and
foot. Shoe must not touch sole. Heels of shoe
must be thinner and broader. Blister coronet
with mild cantharides ointment (1 to 24 lard) ;
feed on laxative food, and give gentle work on
soft ground, on no account on hard. Give good
soft bedding, and, if heat in feet after work,
stand for two hours in cold water.

PLATE 141

Sketches showing the Brutality and Foolishness of the Tight Bearing-rein, and the Mechanics of the Bearing-rein

PLATE 142

BEARING; REINS

a, Single Action. c, Double Action. d, e. Overhead Check-rein. /, Side Check-rein. b, g. The Free Neck.
!»01MeSy\i/ *V ^ C' Bryson> Ottawa- b, Mr. G. Field, Chislehursi, Kent. c. Messrs. Wimbush and Co., London.
a. Mr. W. I. Elder, Brandon, Man. e, Mr. Wm Ferguson, Brandon. /, Mr. Guess, Kingston, Ont g Col. Hall,
ronto. h. The Toronto Humane Soc. (Mr. R. Craven). Photos, a, b, d to g. by the Author. c, Glover

CHAPTER XIX

THE USE AND ABUSE OF BEARING-REINS

875. THE American overhead check-rein (P.
141, 142e) is, I consider, a brutal and injurious
appliance, and is most certainly in opposition to
the correct driving of a properly mouthed horse.

It causes the horse to point his nose, to
become ewe-necked, and to hold the bit in the
corners of the mouth instead of against the bars ;
in fact, it ruins the horse's mouth in every way.
It is absolutely impossible with its use to mouth
a horse ; consequently, it is not surprising to
find that most buggy horses have no "mouths."
Apart from this, the overhead check-rein causes
various diseases. (See Sec. 883.)

It was introduced into England, but, in the
few instances that were discovered, the users
were prosecuted, because the R.S.P.C.A. re-
garded its use as cruel.

876. The check was invented for the trotter
and pacer on the race track, and used with the
idea of supporting the horse's forehand while in
motion, similar to the way that a flat-race jockey
holds on to his horse's mouth, and also to pre-
vent a horse's head being drawn towards its
chest when the driver stops it from " breaking."
I have officiated on some of the large race tracks
on the American continent, and I have always
noticed that the overhead check is removed from
the back pad immediately the race is over. It
is not used for show or fashion, and the horse is
not left standing for hours with his head
checked up, as private carriage horses often
are.

If, from the commencement of a horse's train-
ing, the driver supports its forehand with the
reins, and not the overhead check, there is no
doubt that the race-check could be dispensed
with in many cases. This has been tried by
many large racehorse owners in America with
very successful results. To tie one part of an
animal to another surely cannot have the same
effect as that of tying the animal to an outward
point, the driver's hands.

877. The side bearing-rein is the only kind
that should be permitted off the race track.
(P. 143d.) I am glad to say that even this is
rapidly taking the place of the overhead check-
rein on the race track. When the side rein is
used for ordinary driving it must be used quite
loosely (P. 49ft), so that the horse may, when
going up hill, lower his head so that the poll of

his head is as low as his withers. When the
driver is always sitting behind the horse, as in
private carriages, there is, as a rule, no reason
at all for using the bearing-rein. On the race
track it has been found that several horses have
almost suffocated themselves by getting their
heads down while in motion ; the check-rein in
these cases has allowed freer use of the horse's
lungs and larynx. So in cases like these the
rein should be used.

But with ordinary driving horses the driver
supports the horse's forehand, if necessary, from
his seat. Bad drivers think it horsemanlike to
drive with a tight bearing-rein. As a matter of
fact, a poor driver is considerably helped with
the check-rein, and therefore it would be to his
credit to drive without it, because difficult horses
may cause an indifferent driver considerable
trouble if this mechanical assistance is not used.
Most advocates of bearing-reins are poor drivers
and have bad " hands " ; if they had good hands
they would understand the harm bearing-reins
generally do.

But with delivery horses, as in P. 49£>,
where the horse is left standing unattended, a
loose check-rein is often advisable to prevent the
horse from getting his head down and eating
grass or snow, and possibly treading on the reins
and causing further trouble. The loose check-
rein (which must not be the overhead check)
will allow the horse full freedom in lowering
his head when pulling up hill, but will stop him
from getting his head down and getting into
trouble.

878. Thousands of horse-power of energy
are lost daily by the use of bearing-reins of
various kinds. The London Anti-Bearing-Rein
Association has done a great deal of good in
stamping out the tight bearing-rein on carriage
horses. These are only put on for show and to
help the mutton-fisted coachmen. The society
has also been the cause of many large horse-
owning firms in England giving up the use of
the bearing-rein or hame-rein. The London
omnibus and cab companies never used these
appliances, because they wished to get as much
as possible out of their horses, and they well
knew that a bearing-rein would hinder them.
Of course, there are horses that require them
loosely for the first day or two of their training,

231

222

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

and also those that have become so accustomed
to them that at first they will go badly without
them.

879. The excuse made by some that the
bearing-rein prevents stumbling is made for this
reason : while the neck is held up, the levator
humeri muscle — which passes from the top of
the head and neck to the arm (humerus) above
the elbow— causes the arm, or foreleg, to be
drawn more forward ; this would, therefore,
lessen the liability of that leg catching on the
ground and causing a stumble. Now, in the case
of a horse that carries his head very low, a
bearing-rein, to keep his head up a little, may
prevent stumbling ; that is, provided the horse
has been so badly mouthed and placed that his
driver is unable to make him hold his head up
by means of the reins. Now, supposing the
horse does stumble, as he often does with a tight
bearing-rein on — showing that its use is not
worth much — the animal cannot recover himself,
because he has no lever to bring into immediate
action to throw his body up again. If his neck
is free, and he stumbles, down goes his head
and up goes his body, a simple law of mechanics
brought into play instinctively.

This is too often shown by a checked-up
horse invariably breaking his bearing-rein when
he stumbles ; if he does not break it, he generally
falls and remains on the ground a helpless mass.
At any rate, he gives himself a painful jerk in the
mouth, and the fool of a driver checks him up
higher next time. I acknowledge that the leva-
tor muscle does draw the leg more forward at
every step, if the head is held up, but surely
common sense will tell us that the same muscle
will thus prevent the leg from completing its
full stroke backwards, i.e. underneath the horse.
And if a horse, while stepping with long strides,
has his forelegs suddenly checked as they reach
the back end of their strokes, a tendency either to
hinder the animal or even cause him to fall will
result.

880. In training a horse, the better the skill
of the trainer the less will he require to use
mechanical means to "place the horse correctly."
Stumbling is generally the result of the horse not
being properly balanced, and this is generally
the fault of the trainer. One of the first objects
to be aimed at in training a young horse is to
place his head. Good hands will do this without
useless aids.

Compare the graceful necks in P. 34a, b,
53, 142^ with the necks in P. 141, 143, etc. The
use of the bearing-rein will always tend to
harden a horse's mouth. The ignorance of many
drivers who use these articles is shown by the
way they jerk the horse in the mouth every time
they wish to accelerate his speed. How would
they like to receive a jerk in the mouth every
few minutes, even when they were doing their
best?

881. The name- rein is used on draught
horses (P. 143a), and consists of a short rein
similar to that used on a saddle horse. More
horse-power is lost by the abuse of this rein
than of any other. Its use is similar to the use
of the loose side bearing-rein as explained in
Sec. 877 — that is, to prevent the horse from
getting his head down and eating the crop, while
reaping, or the grass, etc., when left standing.
This is very necessary in the case of the horse
in a reaper that is next to the uncut oats, to pre-
vent him from nibbling at these all the time. But
in most cases the drivers do not use common
sense, and, because they have these reins, think
they must be used tightly, as in P. 1436, thus
hindering the horse very greatly and causing
much loss of energy, and therefore loss of money
from the owner's point of view. These heavy
horses must be allowed, while drawing a load
up a hill, to lower their heads almost to the
ground, otherwise not only are they less able to
make progress, but they will be very liable to
do serious harm to their backs through having
to pull the load without being able to put their
weight in the place that mechanics demands it
should be. The foolishness of these reins when
used tightly cannot be understood by owners of
horses, or they would never allow their use.
The only way to be sure that they are not used
tightly is to forbid their use altogether, except
in the rare case of the outside horse in reaping,
for example.

In Scotland the hame-rein is practically
unknown. P. 1436 should be carefully studied
by the reader ; it is quite clear that the hame-
rein should never be used unless very loosely,
and even then unhooked altogether when ascend-
ing a steep hill. If the horse's neck is free, he
can pull a greater load, he can pull it faster, he
will not fatigue himself, and he will not cause
himself physical harm. Is not this economy?
Apart from all this is the question of cruelty ;
but, unfortunately, certain people consider this
point last.

882. In Russia, where trotting horses are so
popular, the overhead check-rein is not generally
used ; and the Russians are the finest horsemen
in the world. Why are these reins used so much
on the American race track? Neither mechanical
contrivances nor fashionable torture can restore
lost spirit to a horse ; no remedy exists but care-
ful treatment and proper encouragement. There
are few, unfortunately for the horse, that are
able to exercise the necessary remedies.

Professors Fleming, Pritchard, Axe, Walley,
McCall, Mayer, McGill and others have written
condemning any check- or bearing-rein unless
very loosely worn (and then their use is un-
necessary with most horses). Professor J. A.
McBride has written largely on the evil effects
tight checks of any kind have on the circulation
of the blood.

xix]

BEARING-REINS

223

883. Diseases Caused by Check-Reins. — The
diseases caused by tight bearing- and overhead
check-reins are so numerous that a volume
could be filled in dealing with them. The more
common ones are : parotitis, pharyngitis, laryn-
gitis, various diseases of the oesophagus and
trachea, diseases of the tongue, teeth and lips,
injuries to the gums, roaring, poll evil, fistulous
withers, sores under the tail, disorders of the
brain, cerebro-spinal meningitis, etc. Over a
thousand veterinary surgeons have signed a
protest that the tight bearing-rein is painful,
useless and conducive to disease. A book pub-
lished on this subject in London, containing the
names of some six hundred members of the
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons who de-
nounce the use of the rein except loosely in rare
cases, is well worth reading. It contains full
particulars of diseases and evils which arise
from the use of the bearing-rein, diseases which
have been discovered in great measure by years
of experience in the post-mortem house and
dissecting-room, as well as through connection
with a horse insurance company.

884. Thanks to the London Anti-Bearing-
Rein Association, the bearing-rein has been dis-
continued by all the London railway, tramcar,
omnibus, cab and brewery companies, and by
H.M. mails and parcels post. The hame- or
bearing-rein has been discontinued by 21 London
borough councils, 88 county and borough coun-
cils of England, and about 120 urban councils.

885. The Mechanics of the Bearing-Rein. —
In Chapter VII. the abuse of the bit has been
discussed, and a few words on the mechanics
of the bearing-rein will be suitable here. Fig. 3,
P. 141, shows the horse in comfort, with a free
neck and"reins pulling in a direction as nearly
at right angles to the bars of the mouth as
possible. Note the arched neck ; a horse cannot
be driven correctly unless his head is properly
placed and neck arched so that the lower
jaw will respond to the touch on the reins. Dis-
comfort is opposed to all correct mouthing,
horsemanship, humanity and common sense.
Many owners of carriages know no better ; the
coachman is to blame because, in most cases, he
says the horses cannot be driven without these
reins. With the simple single-pulley bearing-
rein, as in Fig. 2, P. 141, the force at the back
pad is equal to that on the horse's mouth. Let
anyone try to unhook the strap at the back pad,
and he will realise the amount of pain the horse
suffers from the force of the strap on his mouth.
If the horse stumbles, several hundred pounds
are momentarily transmitted to the bars of the
horse's mouth. The bearing- rein often breaks,
and many of these reins will support a steady
load of nearly half a ton, so the reader can
imagine the pain that the horse has to bear.
Fig. 1, P. 141, shows the modern bearing-rein
of the double-pulley type. As shown in the

diagram (Fig. 7) on the same plate, the force at
the bars of the mouth will always be double that
at the back pad, neglecting friction, which in
this case would increase the force. The pull on
the top of the head will be equal to that on the
back pad. These two forces will act together
on the horse's sensitive mouth. This type of
bearing-rein, however loosely worn, should be
forbidden by law, because, if the horse stumbles,
he receives exactly double the jerk on his mouth
that he would receive were the simple bearing-
rein used.

886, Briefly, the use of the bearing-rein
should not be allowed except to prevent horses
left unattended from getting their heads down
and walking on the reins, or to prevent horses
in the harvest field from lowering their heads
and nibbling at the crop. In these cases it
must be only tight enough to prevent the horse
from getting his head right down. A moderately
tight bearing-rein is therefore never of any use
except, perhaps, in the early part of a horse's
training, to assist in placing the horse's head.
The extent to which this is used depends on the
ability of the trainer. It is always more to the
credit of a driver to drive a horse without a
bearing-rein at all ; the more troublesome the
horse the greater will be the credit due to the
driver. Drivers should remember this. Tight
bearing-reins, hame-reins, and overhead check-
reins are never necessary, with the possible ex-
ception of a fairly tight overhead check-rein on
the race track on horses that are liable to get
their heads down and suffocate themselves when
at full speed.

887. Opinions of Others on Bearing-Reins. —
Dr. Fleming, F.R.C.V.S., C.B., LL.D., etc., late
chief veterinarian of the British Army, gave the
following reasons why a tight or moderately
tight bearing-rein should not be used :

"1. It is an unnecessary expense to pur-
chase it.

" 2. It adds to weight of harness and time
required to clean it.

"3. It spoils the appearance of the horse, and
largely detracts from his free and graceful move-
ments. (See Plates.)

" 4. It wearies the head and neck of the horse
by the constraint and unnatural position in
which they are fixed.

"5. The long, continual pressure on the jaw
tends to give the animal a hard mouth, and
therefore renders it less obedient to the driver's
rein.

" 6. It does not prevent stumbling ; on the
contrary, it predisposes the horse to fall, and
with much more severity than if it were not used.

"7. In hot weather or during extreme exer-
tion it may directly or indirectly produce an
attack of apoplexy, probably terminating in
death.

"8. In heavy draught, in addition to the

224

MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT

[CHAP.

torture it occasions, it causes a large proportion
of the horse's power to be lost, from the animal
being unable to get its head and neck down,
and thus to throw more of its weight into the
collar.

"9. The powerful muscles that pull forward
the shoulders and, indirectly, the fore-limbs,
and which are attached to the head and neck,
are by it placed in the least favourable position
for exercising their function, so that the horse's
action, as well as its speed and strength, are
impaired by this mechanical disadvantage.

" 10. It causes pain and distress in breathing.

" 11. It tends to distort the upper part of the
windpipe and cause roaring.

" 12. It frets the temper of nervous and excit-
able horses, and shortens the lives of all."

888. The late Professor Axe, of the Royal
College of Veterinary Surgeons, said : " It is
responsible for poll evil, abscesses, sprung knees,
paralysis, and disorders of the brain and
muscles."

Wm. Pritchard, President of the Royal
College, says : " An act of great cruelty is daily
perpetrated, and often by good people who know
not what they are doing."

Senator Stanford, a well-known American
horseman, some years ago abolished the use of
the overhead check-rein on his racehorses.

John Splan, in " Life with the Trotters,"
says : " A great many people think that a trotting
horse should be driven with an over-check. I
used to have this opinion, but know now it is
a serious mistake. I have seen one or two horses
choked to death with their use."

Professor Norton Smith, the noted horse
trainer, said : " The overdraw check should be
prohibited by law."

Dr. McEachran, P.R.C.V.S., says: "Never
cause pain and discomfort by bearing-reins ; the
overhead check is a disgrace to civilisation."

H. W. Herbert, in "Hints to Horsekeepers,"
says : " The check-rein or bearing-rein is a mis-
take in harness invention ; it holds the head in
an unnatural, ungraceful and uncomfortable
position ; it gives the mouth a callous character,
and entirely destroys all chance of fine driving."

Sir Arthur Helps said : " Whenever I see a
horse suffering from a tight check-rein I know
the owner is unobservant, ignorant or cruel."

Charles Sheard, M.D., M.R.C.S., says: "I
can testify to the cruel barbarity imposed upon
horses by the over-check. It should be con-
demned by law."

J. Algernon Temple, M.D., says: "The over-
check-rein is both injurious and barbarous, and
ought to be prohibited by law."

Wm. Mole, M.R.C.V.S., says: "If horsemen
could see and understand the effect of its insidi-
ous work on the respiratory organs and glands
of the neck, they would cease to use them."

Dr. Rutherford, formerly Veterinary Director-

General of Canada, writes : " Except on a few
vicious and otherwise uncontrollable horses, and
on some which, through bad training, have
become habituated to it, I consider it not only
useless but cruel."

Dr. James, of Ottawa, writes : " I consider it,
when applied tightly, as it usually is, to be most
cruel, causing interference with the proper
action of the organs of respiration and locomo-
tion."

Dr. Harris, of Ottawa, • says : "They are pro-
ductive of disease, and greatly hinder horses
from employing their full strength."

A Glasgow man was heard to say : " We
dinna use them. You winna get half their
power with them crimped up so."

The Daily Graphic said : " One of the sights
of the City is to see the absence of bearing-reins
on the beautiful, long-tailed four-in-hand of the
Lord Mayor."

889. New York Life says: "To the kind-
hearted amongst horse owners, and those with
independence or standing enough to do as they
please, a little enlightenment on the subject
would do much good. How soon the small fry
would follow suit if a score of prominent people
would condemn its use ! "

The Lancet says : " We are glad to find that
this needless and mischievous piece of harness
is being discarded by the best drivers. Whether
on grounds of policy or of humanity, a system
which has conclusively been shown to be in-
jurious, and to produce an ungainly, exhausting
and unsafe carriage of the head, is likely to be
given up."

The Toronto Mail says: "The Toronto
Humane Society is to be congratulated in the
effort it has made to abolish this senseless and
cruel piece of harness."

The Duohess of Portland, the well-known
horsewoman, says : " For some time I have
thought the evil consequent upon the abuse of
this rein only required to be pointed out to
owners of horses to induce them to dispense
with them altogether."

E. P. Flower, in "Bits and Bearing-Reins,"
says : " A horse in harness without a bearing-
rein has free command of its limbs under the
direction and control of its driver. If the driver
has good hands, the horse yields a prompt
and ready obedience, and a most perfect sym-
pathy exists between him and his master. A
slip or stumble is not likely to occur, and, should
it happen, recovery is easy."

890. Land and Water says : " We do not
mean to say that coachmen should be flogged the
way they flog their horses, but we do say that
if their masters took the trouble to see that they
obeyed their orders with regard to the bearing-
rein, horses would be far less fretted and would
last a great deal longer."

The Spectator says : " A large number of self-

PLATE 143

The Bearing Rein ulearies our necks - Frets our
Tempers Causes Disease- Do relieve us of it.

WISE* HUMANE. VULGAR* CRUEL.

ANTI-BEARING-REIN ASSOCIATION, ANIMALS' FRIEND" OFFICE. LONDON.

BEARING-REINS

a, Hame Rein Loose. b, Hame Rein Tighl. c. No Hame Rein, no Blinkers, and a Patent Spring in the Trace to

Absorb Shock, d, " Rest lor the Coachman, but not for his Horses." Photos by Mr. C. J. Davies, Lindfield, Sussex.

e. One of the Many Excellent Posters of the Anti-Bearing-Rein Association, London

PLATE 144

O, The Beautiful Thoroughbred " Wiidfowler," Winner Si. Leger, 1898. Photo: G. H. Parsons. b. H.M. King
George V. and H.R.H. ihe Duke of Connaught, Governor-General of Canada, riding in Hyde Park, London, on Their

Way to Inspect the Household Troops

xix]

BEARING-REINS

225

made rich men, having no knowledge of horses,
allow their horses to rest completely in the hands
of their coachmen and grooms who use this
unnecessary appendage to the detriment and
discomfort of the animals."

An American paper says : " There was a long
line of carriages in front of the building, and
many of the horses were suffering most intensely
from tight bearing-reins, while their owners
were weeping over the woes of the animals of
the poor inside the building."

The Evening Standard says : " Not only are
such fashions cruel, but their adoption spoils
good horses and indicates that the coachman
knows little of his business."

The Times says : " Many are the evils of this
bearing-rein, especially when coupled with one
or other of the atrocious bits now in use."

891. Lord Portsmouth says: "I never allow
bearing-reins in my establishment, nor did my
father before me ; I am sure they are useless
and cruel."

The late Baroness Burdett-Coutts said :
"Their use shows a want of information and
knowledge of a horse."

The Duke of Westminster said : " I would
venture to appeal to owners to give express
directions to their coachmen to loosen these bear-
ing-reins."

Lord Leigh, the well-known horseman,
writes : " London horses are much to be pitied ;
the use of the bearing-rein is stupid and cruel."

John Wesley, who read Homer's " Iliad " and
" Odyssey " on horseback, stated that the reason
his horse never stumbled was because he left
the reins hanging loose on the neck.

Sir Francis Head says : " The bearing-rein is
an unnecessary, inexcusable and barbarous piece
of cruelty. No horse can be properly mouthed
or driven unless the rein is extremely loose."

The following is reproduced by kind per-
mission of Mr. J. A. Livingston, proprietor of the
Canadian Sportsman, Grimsby, Ontario.

" The most noble animal in God's creation,
The pride and boast of every nation ;
From birth to youth, when kindly reared,
He's petted, loved, by all endeared.
With few exceptions, if truth be told,
He's often worth his weight in gold.
From youth to age he'll do his part
With all his might, or break his heart.
He's fought our battles, won our race,
When kindly urged will go the pace.
The friend of King, of Prince, or Tsar,
But does not like a motor-car.
With champing steel and restless paw.
He waits outside his lordship's door ;
Eager to start with dashing speed,
The cruel whip he does not need.
When kindness greets his listening ear,
He'll safely take you far and near.
With mournful pride and pluming crest,
He takes us to our final rest."

EQUUS EST.

2 D

INDEX

[Numbers with P. preceding them refer to photos or drawings in the plates. Other numbers refer to sections, not pages.]

ABBOTT ALKALOIDAL Co., 750, 761

Abscess, 444 et seq.

Abuse of drugs, 531

Achilles, 10

Acids, 507

Acknowledgments, 5

Across country, 84

Action, 486, P. 43, 44

, freedom of, 84

of drugs, 507

Acts for protection of animals,

718

Affection, 41, 53
African horses, 25
Age of horse, 471
Aids, 85, 86, 330 et seq.
Air, composition of, 361

space required, 362

Albumen, 370
Alcohol, action of, 37
Alexander the Great, 11, 28
Alexandra, Queen, 657
Alfalfa, 137

Alfred the Great, 18

Alimentary canal, 105

Amaurosis, 588

Amble, 341

Ambulance, horse, P. 124a

American breeds, 23

liquid measure, 519

Ansemia, 580

Anaesthesia, stages of, 738
Anesthetics Act, 752

— , choice of, 738 et seq.

, history of, 735

, local, 753 et seq.

— , use of, 736 et seq.
Anaesthetising, 742 et seq.

— dogs, 751

Anatomy of back and forehand, 294
et seq.

of tail, 631 el seq.

Ancestors of the horse, 32
Aneurism, 577

Angell, Geo. T., 701
Animal Guardian, 709, 712
Anterior, 403
Anthrax, 624, 795
Anti-bearing-rein Association, 884
Antidotes to poisons, 511, 512
Antiphlogistine, 445
Antiseptic drinking troughs, 153^

390

Antiseptics, 798-801
Anti-tetanic serum, 620
Apothecaries' weight, 521
Apparatus in pharmacy, 513
Appetite, 138

, depraved, 541

Approaching a horse, 291
Arab, character of, 28

Arab horses, 21, 22, P. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10,
11, 18, 19, 92, 93

mares, 26

, origin of, 15

Arabia, early, 16, 17

Arm, 478

Arresting bleeding, 805

Arteries of tail, 633

Articular rheumatism, 585

Ascitcs, 564

Aseptic surgery, 802, 811

Associations, 46, 68 et seq.

Assyrians, 9

Asthma, 602

Astride riding, 338, P. 63

Author's introduction, 1 et seq.

Avoirdupois weight, 523

Azoturia, 572

BACK, 481

, anatomy of, 294 et seq.

, conformation of, 302

, sprain of, 425

tendons, 419

Backs, sore, 320 et seq.
Bacteria. (See also Microbes)
— , action of, 771

, admission of, 779, 785

, size of, 781

, study of, 778 et seq.

Bacteriology, 769 et seq.

Balling, 496

Balls, 509

Bandages, 217-9, 404, 405

use of, 219, 404, 405, P. 22e, f

Bandaging wounds, 810

Banged tails, P. 28, 29, 79, 80

Banging the tail, 239

Barb, African, 25

Barley, 115

Baron O'Buchlyvie, P. 131 a

Bar shoes, 850

Bars of the foot, 829

Barrel, 481

Batton, 253

Baulking, 73

Beans, 118 '

Bearing-reins, 875 et seq., P. 141-3

, mechanics of, 885

, opinions on, 887 el seq.

, use of, 886

Bedding, 221 et seq.

down, 225

Bedouin Arab, 26

Beery, 81, 700

Bend Or, P. 15a

Beringer, 17, 662

Bill against docking, 695

Bishops, 701, 708

227

Bites, 455-6

Bits, 286-8, 346-7, P. 33a, 72a

, curb, 350 el seq.

Bitting, 70, 89

, theory of, 350 el seq.

Black Beauty, 723
Bladder diseases, 566 et seq.
Blanketing in the open, 214
Blankets, 212-4

, saddle, 316

Bleeding, 805
Blinders, 287
Blinkers, 75, 287
Blistering, 408-9
Blisters, 410
Blood, 358 el seq.

circulation, P. 71

poisoning, 625, 808

vessels, diseases of, 577

Bloomfleld, 662

Boadicea, 15

Bolting food, 145

Bone diseases, 426 et seq.

, histology of, 401 et seq.

Bonnie Buchlyvie, P. 123b

Bot fly, 638

Box-stalls, 385

Brain, 37, 729

Bran, 121

Breast cloths, 285

collars, 279

Breath, 818
Breathing, 786
Bridle lameness, 396
Bridles, 286
Bridling, 70, 89
Brittle feet, 869
Broken wind, 604
Bronchitis, 605
Browbands, 286
Bruises, 446
Brushes, use of, 195-7
Brushing, 447

manes and tail, 201, P. 22

Bucephalus, 11

Bulk in food, 141
Bull fighting, 712
Bullet places, P. 138a
Burns, 454
Bushel, the, 113

JULIUS, 14
Caesaresco, 41
California penal code, 715
Caligula, P. 58
Calkins, 848
Camp, horses in, 179
Camphor liniment, 404
Canadian breeds, 23

228

INDEX

[Numbers with P. preceding them refer to photos or drawings in the plates. Other numbers rejer to sections, not pages.]

Canadian Citizen, 696

Cancer, 825

Canker, 872

Cannon, 479

Cannula, 501

Canter, 341 el seq.

Cappadocian, 26

Captive animals, 899

Carbolic, 801

Cardiac cycle, 460

Care of horse on march, 173

of saddlery and harness, 292-3

while driving, 261-2

Caressing, 67

Carron oil, 454, 509

Carrots, 122

Catheter, passing of, 502

Cats, 820

Cavalry Journal, 689

Cavesson, P. 31

Ceilings, 372

Cell, animal, 104

Celts, 17

Cerebro-spinal-meningitis, 623

Chaff, 111

Character, acquired, 44

Chargers, P. 59

Check ligament, sprain of, 420

Check-reins, 875, P. 141-2

Chestnuts, 191

Chemical composition of animal body,

104

Chemicals, 507
Chicago papers, 703-4
Chinese, 692

horses, 28

Chloroform, 739, 767

, recovery from, 747-9

Chop, 126, 142

Christian duty, 725, Chap. XIV.

, Prince, 2, 700-1

Circulatory system, 358, P. 71
Circus horse, 89, 91
Cleaning grain, 126

wounds, 805-6

Cleanliness, 825

Cleveland Bays, P. 46, 47, 94

Clicking, 860

Climate, suitability of, 31

Clipping horses, 231 el seq.

, time for, 236

poodles, 903

Clips on shoes, 846
Clothing, 211
Clover, 136

Clydesdales, P. 123, 130-2, 140

Coach driving, 265

Coaches, 21

Coach-houses, 375

Coaching, 674

Coat, horse's, 188, 210

signs, 57

Cocaine, 759
Cold, 600

bits, 350

Colic and enteritis, 552
, constipation, 555

due to worms, 556 el seg.

, flatulent, 554

, spasmodic, 553

Colics, 551

Collar injuries, 276

Collars, 273-5

, breast, 279

Colour, 487

Combs, curry, P. 24 a

Company, 103

Composition of animal body, 104

Composition of vegetable food, 107
Compounds, 508
Conceit, 53
Concrete, 376
Condition, 158 el seq.

, bad, 148

powders and foods, 163, 509

Conformation, 475 el seq., P. 95-101

of back, 302

of foot, 836, 859

of saddle horse, 345

Congestion of lungs, 606
Conjunctivitis, 586

Connaught, Duke of, 651, 707, P. 14a

Consumption. (See Tuberculosis)

Contagious diseases, 771, Chap. IX-

Contracted heels, 862

Contusions, 446

Cooking food, 106

Copying others, 54

Corn, Indian, 114

Corns, 863

Coronet, inflammation of, 868

Cough, 600

Courageousness, 54

Cowards, 59

Cracked heels, 592 >

Creolin, 799-800

Crib-biting, 465

Crime of docking, 651 el seq.

Crooked tails, straightening, 650

Cropping ears, 22, 892

Cruelty, 2, 3, 18, 21, 97

of horse-dealers, 98

Croup, 482

Crupper, 281

Cups of teeth, table of, 473

Curb, 422

chain, 286, 353

Curry combs, P. 24a
Cyanosis, 576
Cyllin, 799-800
Cystitis, 566

DAMP, 379

Dan Patch, P. 9a

Dark stables, 75

Darley Arabian, 21

Dealers, 98

Death from anaesthetics, 739, 749

Decrepit horse traffic, 711

Dermis, 188

Destruction, humane, 765

Detroit papers, 704

Diabetes insipidus, 691

mellitus, 570

Diarrhoea, 549
Dictionary of terms, 530
Diet when sprained, 412
Digestive organs, 103

process, 104

Discipline, 824
Disease, 103

, production of, 780, 817

, spread of, by flies, 640

, theory of, 769 et seq.

Diseases caused by bacteria, 784

of hoof, 860 et seq.

of mane and tall, 245

of skin, 245

, organic or general, 537

Disinfectants, 798
Dislocations, 678
Dismounted training, 85

Disobedience, 58, 62
Disposition, 84
Distal, 403
Distemper, 612
Disuria, 568
Docility, 54
Dock, 483

, length of, P. 29

Docking, 651 et seq.

after-effects, 728

— — and nicking, 646 el seq.

Bill in House, 695

excuses, 665 et seq.

, folly of, 692

horses, 22, Chap. XIII., P. 105-

123
, important points against, 669

operation, 660

opinions, Chap. XIV.

, prevention of, 684

— , reasons for, 652

, summary of, 697

, will such be punished ? 694

Doctoring horses, 711-2
Dog, The under, 711
Dogs, 820

, anaesthetising, 751

Dongola, 25

Doors, 374

Doping horses, 711-2

Dorsal, 403

Dosage, 506

Doses, 506-8

Drainage, 377-8

Drains, 226

Draught, theory of, 247, P. 32

Drenching, 497

Dressing wounds, 805 et seq.

Drink, 823

Drinking fountains, 152-3

Driving, 261 et seq., 877, 878

excuses for docking, 668-73

reins, P. 33

Dropsy, 564
Drugs, 507

abuse of, 531

administering, 498

important, to be kept, 529

incompatibility of, 510

methods of introducing, 493

notes on use of, 494-5

strength of, 508

Dry measure 113, 524
Drying a horse, 196, 220

Duke of Connaught, 651, 707, P.

14a

Dumb-jockey, 290-1
Dump cart, 272, 283
Dumping feet, 834
Dung, 108, 369

, weight of, per diem, 224

Dust in hay, 133

Duty, Christian, 725, Chap. XIV.

E

EAR, 55, 476
Ears, hair in, 235
Eczema, 245, 590-1
Education, humane, 707 tt seq.

of children, 707-8

Edward, King, 689
Eel, The, P. 40b
Egyptian horses, 25
Elbow, capped, 443
Electric shocks, 457

INDEX

229

\Numbers with P, preceding them refer to photos or drawings in the plates. Other numbers refer to sections, not pages.]

Electrocution, 768
Electuary, 509
Emphysema, 604
Enemas, 499
English breeds, 23
Enteritis, 550, 552
Entraining horses, 181
Epidermis, 186
Epilepsy, 614
Ergot, 116
Ergots, 191
Erskine, Lord, 709
Eruption of teeth, 471
Erythrocytes, 781
Ether, 739

spray, 755 el seq.

Etymology, 33
Eucalyptus oil, 445

Evans, T. C., 693, 737, 790-1
Eveners, 256

Examination for lameness, 414 et
seq.

of horse, structural, 476

Exercise, 58, 160, 165, 369
, bandages for, 169

— , hurrying at, 170
Exfoliation ol skin and hair, 193
External applications, 456

surface, 403

Extinguisher, fire, 383
Extracts, fluid, 507
Eye, 56, 476

diseases, 586 et seq.

fringes, 397, P. 104

FAECES, 369

Faith, 491

False cantering, 344

quarter, 866

Farcy, 613
Farm Life, 703
Fashions, 713
Fatigue, 166

Faults in shoeing, 854
Fear, 75 et seq.

, prevention of, 78, 86

, signs of, 77

Feathering, 851

Feed, proportions of, 141

Feeding, 121 et seq., 728

after clipping, 235

after foaling, 146

on board ship, 183

on the march, 174, 175

on train, 182

principles of, 142-4, 160

special cases of, 145

Feet brittle, 869

faulty, 859

fever in, 873

stopping the, 227

Fermentation, 772
Fetlock, 479

sprain, 418

Fever, mud, 593
Field, 703

Figures, weights, and measures, 529

Filled legs, 209

FiUis, 40, 41

Fineness of mouth, 350

Finland horses, 30

Fire brigades, P. 55, 56

extinguishers, 383

precautions, 182, 226, 383

2 D*

Firing, 408, 411, 757

First continent to produce horse,

25

Fistulous withers, 300, 453
Fitzwygram, Gen. Sir F., 725
Fleming, Dr., 661-2, 688, 887
Flemish horses, 30
Flies, 636-8, 656

, destruction of, 640

Floating teeth, 467
Floors, 376
Fluid extracts, 507
Fly nets, 642, P. 104

papers, 645

screens, 366

sheets, P. 104

whisks, 397, 644, P. 104

Foaling, feeding after, 146
Foetal life, 403

Food, bulk in, 141

, composition of, 106

, digestibility of, 108

, functions of, 107

— — •, suitability of, 108
Foot, care of, 200, 370

dressing, 228

, mechanism of, 833

, shape of, 480, 836, 839, 859,

P. 139

, structure of, 826

Forage, stowage of 149

Forearm, 479

Forelock, 237, 643

Forging, 860

Formulae of drugs and chemicals, 507

Foundations, 379

Fountains, drinking, 152, 153

Four-in-hand driving, 265

Fours-in-hand, P. 34-36, 38, 40,

120

Fowler, Prof., 648
Fracture of foot bones, 461

of leg bones, 460-1

of pelvis, 462

of ribs, 462

of tail, 462

— , physiology of, 459
Fractures, 458 et seq.
Freedom of action, 84
French Canadians, 710

horses, 30

Frog of the foot, 480, 830
Frost bites, 194, 455
Frozen bits, 356
Fullering, 840

GALLOP, 341 et seq.

Galls, care of, 323

Gaskin, 484

Gastritis, 545

Gauls, 9

Gear for training, 290-1

Genital organs, diseases of, 627 et seq.

Geology of horse, 32

George, King, 657, 689, P. 23, 78

German horses, 29

Germicides, 798-9

Gifts, 710, 720, 725

Girthing up, 318, 322

Girths, 318, 322

Glanders, 613

Glands of skin, 188

Glass eye, 588

Glossary of terms, 530

Glossitis, 538

Glycogen, 104
Gradation in training, 83
Grain measure, 524
Grant, General, 269
Graphic, 689, 703-4
Grasses, 135
Grazing, 129
Grease, 197, 592
Greeks, 9, 14
Green food, 128
Greylight, P. 21a
Groom, time to, 205 '
Grooming, 186 et seq., 195

, examining for good, 206

, good, 168

Grooms, 207

Gruel, 125

Grunt, 56

Gullet, diseases of, 543

H

HA.BITS, 64, 66

Hackney, the, 681, 693, P. 48, 105,
112, 113

, unmutilated, 704, P. 48

Hsemaglobinuria, 572
Haemophilia, 579
Haemorrhage, 805
Hair, 190
Halliburton, 167
Halters, 289
Halts, 173
Hame rein, 880
Hames, 275
Hands, 328, 330, 348
Harley's Test, 559
Harness, care of, 292-3
, fitting of, 280

horses, 271, P. 34-49

injuries, 284

rooms, 375

Harnessing up, 70, 283, 286
Harris, 698, 699, 719
Hartzman, 662

Haunch, 482
Hay, 131 et seq.

and straw weights, 525

, composition of, 132

, examination of, 134

, saving of, 133

Hayes, Captain, 408, 699-700
Hayes' bandages, P. 22e, f
Head, 476

, placing of, 330, 347, 476

Healing wounds, 804
Health, 103
Hearing, 39
Heart, 358 et seq

beats, 533

, diseases of, 573 et seq.

Heat, action of, on coat, 210
Heating, 382
Heaves, 604
Heels, 187

• , contracted, 92

, expansion of, 833

Hepatitis, 560

Herodotus, 9

Hidebound, 589

Hind foot, 485

Hind-legs, 484-5

Hints on driving, 261 et seq.

Histology of animal cell, 104

History, 6 et seq.

of anaesthetics, 735

Hock, 485

230

INDEX

[Numbers with P. preceding Uiem refer to photos or drawings in. the plates. Other numbers re/er to sections, not pages.]

Mock, capped, 442

, strung, 423

Hogging manes, 241, 643
Homer, 8
Homoeopathy, 816
Hood for mane, P. 22b
Hoof. (See Foot)

, diseases of, 860

, split, 865

, structure of, 826 et seg.

Horse at liberty, 92

car, palace, P. 89b

, native ol forest, 22

parades, 711

shows, 679-80, 685, 792

" syphilis," 627

Horse's prayer, 724

weight, distribution of, 303

Horseback exercise, 815
Horsemastership, 177
Hospital for horses, first, 12
Household measures, 520
Humane destruction, 765, 813 et

seq.

pleader, 698

training, 80

Hunters, P. 66-68, 76, 77
Hygiene, 226

Hypodermic injections, 493, 498, P
w 137, 138

1

ICELAND horses, 30
Iceni, 15
Icterus, 559
Ignorance, our, 65
Imagination, 42, 58
Immunity, 788-9
Imperial measure, 517
Improvements to old stables, 385
Impurities, 368
Incompatibility of drugs, 510
Indian horses, 28
Indications, 85-6, 303 et seq., 337
Indigestion, acute, 547

, chronic, 548

Inferior surface, 403
Influenza, 611
Inhalation, 493
Injuries, reporting, 102
Instinct, 52
Intelligence, 40-1
Internal surface, 403
International horse show, 697
Intestines, inflammation of, 550 el
seg.

of horse, 515

Intratracheal injections, 493
Intravenous injections, 493
Inunction, 493, 500
Italian horses, 29
Izal, 799-800

JAMES, Dr., 699, 888
Jaundice, 559
Jealous, 53
Jeyes' fluid, 799
Jockey, dumb, 290-1
Joe Patchen, P. 19f
Joint ill, 626
Joints, 399
, open, 451

Joints, stiff, 434

Jugular vein, P. 137

Jumping, 326 et seq., P. 73a, 91a

KICKING, 69, 464

Kidneys, diseases of, 565, 570-1

Kildare, P. 59a

Kindness, 722

King, the, 657, 689, 713, 717, P. 23a, 78a

Kinked tails, straightening, 650

Knee, 479

Knees, broken, 450

Knight's shoe nails, 843

Kochlani Arab, 26

LADIES riding, 338-40
Lameness, 396 et seq., 414 et seq.

and exercise, 414

and shoeing, 415

, detection of, 414 et seq.

Laminitis, acute, 873

, chronic, 874

Lampas, 617

Lateral cartilages, 832

Leading, 84

into stable, 230

Learning, rate of, 63
Legs, care of, 209

, use of, 330 el seq.

Lending horses, 172
Lessons, length of, 84
Lethal chamber, 768
Leucaemia, 581

Ley hay, 131

Liberty, at, 92

Libyans, 8

Lice, 597

Licking one's fingers, 825

Ligaments of tail, 632

Ligamentum nuchae, 298, 452

Light, 371

, action of, on coat, 210

Lightning, 457
Lime-water, 509
Linard, Sara, 663
Linear measure, 527
Liniment, mercury-iodide, 412
Liniments, 407, 509
Linseed, 119
mash, 120

tea, 120

Lister, Lord, 802

Liver, diseases of, 559 et sej.

Loads, 259

Local anaesthesia 753

Lockjaw, 619

Loft, the, 391

Loincloths, 215, P. 23a

Loins, 481

Longfellow, 727

Loose-boxes, 385

Lord Bryson, P. 19d

Lotions, 509

Lounging, 82-3

Love, 41, 53, 722

Lucerne, 137

Lung diseases, 604 el seq.

murmur, 534

Lungs, the, 358 el seq.
Lymphangitis, 582
Lysol, 799-800

M

MACEDONIANS, 9
Maize, 114
Majestic, P.43b
Maladie du coit, 627
Malaria, 640
Malformations, P. 77-9
Mallein test, 613
Mallenders, 592
Mane and tail eczema, 591

, brushing, P. 22c

, care of, 198-9

diseases, 245

hood, P. 22b

, re-growing, 242

Manes, 241, P. 80

, hogging, 643

, trimming, 643

Mange, 245, 595
Manger, 389
Mangers, cleaning, 140

March, care of horse, on return, 176

— , care on, 173
Mare, oestrum of, 630
Marriage, 821
Martingales, 354-5
Mash, bran, 121

, linseed, 120

Massachusetts S.P.C.A., 716
Massage, 193, 209, 217-9, 404, 408
McEwen, 90
McGiUivray, 81, 700
Meals, length of, 144
Meat, 108
Measure, dry, 113
Measures, 517 et seq.

- fluid, 506
Mechanics of bearing-rein, 885

of draught, 247 et seq.

Mechanism of foot, 833
Medicine on board ship, 183
Medicines, 507

, use of, 490

Melanosis, 191, 618

Megrims, 614

Mcmbrana nictitans, 535

Memory, 50, 51

Meningitis, 623

Mercury, 799-800

Mercy, 721

Metchnikoff, 790

Metric system, 526

Metritis, 628

Microbes. (See also Bacteria)

, admission of, 779, 785, 792

, destruction of, 793 et seq.

• , where they are found, 796-7

Micro-organisms, 777
Military horses, P. 79, 80

training, 824

Milk, 819

Mind, 40
Mites, 598
Molasses, 124
Montreal S.P.C.A., 716
Mosquitoes, 639
Motion, excitability to, 43
Mountebank, the, 91
Mounted warrior, 14
Mouth, 476

, fineness of, 350

, teeth in the, 472

Mouthing, 326
Mud fever, 593
Mules, 177

Murmur of lungs, 534
Muscle, 166, 398

INDEX

281

[Numbers with P. preceding them refer to photos or drawings in the plates. Other numbers refer to sections, not pages.]

Muscle, histology of, 398
Muscles of tail, 632
Muscular degeneration, 584
Music, 88
Mustard, 505
Muzzle of horse, 39
Muzzles, 895 et seq.

N

NAGANA, 616, 782

Nail holes, 844-5

Nails, shoeing, 837, 842-3, P. 139

Nasal diseases, 601

Navel ill, 626

Navlcular disease, 435

Neck, 477

Necrosis, 299

Neigh, 56

Nephritis, acute, 565

, chronic, 565

Nerve tissue, histology of, 733 et

seq.
Nerves, P. 137, 138a

of tail, 633

Nerving, 758

Nervous system, 728 et seq,

Nets, fly, 642

Neurectomy, 758

Newcastle, Duke of, 20

Newmarket, 20

New York papers, 703-5

Nicking, 646

— and docking, 646 el seq.
Nictitating membrane, 535
Nitre (saltpetre), 162
Noguschi, 791
Norman horses, 18
Normans, 18
Norwegian horses, 30
Nosebags, 145
Noseband, 286
Nostrils, 476
Numnahs, 308-9

OATMEAL, 125
Oats, 109

, crushed, 112

, defects in, 110

, measuring, 113

Obedience, 60 et seq.

Observation, horse's power of, 47

Obstinacy, 54

(Esophagus, diseases of, 543

CEstrum of mare, 630

Ointments, 509

Old horses, 720

receipts, 492

stables, 385

Omphalitis, 626
Open joints, 451
Operating, aseptic, 811
Operation of docking, 660
Ophthalmia, 586-7

Opinions on bearing-reins, 887 et sea.

on docking, Chap. XIV.

Ottawa papers, 703

Our Dumb Animals, 691, 704-5,

722

Outward signs, 55-7
Over-eating, 139
Overloading, 260
Overreach, 449

PACES of the horse, 341, P. 75
Pacing, 341

horses, P. 9a, 38a, 44a

Pack animals, 177

Paint, 336

Palace horse car, 395, P. 89b

Pannels, 309-10

Panniculus carnosus, 635

Papers, fly, 645

Paralysis, 621

Parasites, 775

Parasitic skin diseases, 595

Paring the foot, 835

Parotitis, 540

Partitions, stall, 387-8

Parturition, 629

Pastern, 479

Pasteur, 773, 802

Pasture, 130

Patella, 484

, dislocation of, 463

Patent medicines, 491

Pathogenic microbes, 776

Pavements, 853

Payne, Harry, 699, 713

Peas, 118

Peat moss, 223

Pellatt's, Sir Henry, stables, 395, P. 88

Pelvis, 482

Penal Code, 715

Penis, washing of, 205

Percherons, P. 81, 83, 123, 126

Percivall, 396, 662

Perforans and perforatus tendons, 419

Period of pregnancy, 629

Periosteum, 299, 401

Peritonitis, 563

Persian horses, 28

Persimmon, P. 19f, 93«

Perspiration, 186-9

Peter Shales, P. 48h

Pharmacopoeia, 507

, 'notes on, 505

Pharyngitis, 542
Photographing horses, 474
Physiological action of friction, 459

action of purgatives, 514

Pica, 541
Picketing, 179
Pietro, 92
Pink eye, 611
Pithing, 766
Plague, horse, 624
Plaiting, 243-4, 455

, points to be remembered, 244

Plaits, P. 26, 27, 30, 51, 117

Plans of stables, P. 84-7

Plantar cushion, 831

Plaster of paris, 460

Pleasure, 47

Pleurisy, 608

Pliny, 15

Plutarch, 11

Pneumonia, 607

Poisoned wounds, 808

Poisoning, blood, 625, 808

Poisons and their antidotes, 511-2, 783

in the system, 167-8

Poles, 255, 258

Poll Evil, 452

Polo ponies, 659, P. 21, 61, 62

Polyurea, 571

Port, the, 352

Position of weight of horse, 303

Posterior, 403

Potatoes, 122

Poultices, 503

Prayer, the horse's, 724

Precautions against fire, 383

Pregnancy, 629

Presses, shoe, 856

Pressure bandages, 404 et seq.

, saddle, 304

, , test for, 314

Prevention of docking, 684

of microbic invasion, 786

Pricks, nail, 855-6
Pritchard, Prof., 700
Proprietorship, 177
Protection of Animals Act, 718
Protein, 104

Protoplasm, 774
Proximal, 403
Prussic acid, 767
Psychology, 37 et seq.
Ptyalism, 539
Puffed legs, 209
Pullers, 268, 348
Pulse, 533
Pumice, 874
Punishment, 71, 336-7

and fear, 73-4

Purgatives, 514 et seq.
Pyaemia, 625

QUACK medicines, 491
Quarter, false, 866
Quittor, 436

RACE clothing, P. 25a
Racing, early, 20

, first, 9, 15, 17, 19

Rarey, 81

R.G.D. horses, P.79, 80

R.C.H.A. horses, P. 79

Reactions, 64 el seq.

Rearing, 333

Receipts, old, 492

Record paces, 342

Rectal injections, 499

Reducine, 694, 706

Reflex action, 728

Refractory, 59

Refusers, treatment of, 332

Reins, check or bearing, 875 el seq.

, method of holding, 264, P. 33, 72

under tail, 270

, use of, 262, 329

Removing saddle, 176

shoes, 847

Respiration, 534
Respirations per minute, 534
Respiratory system, 361 et seqt

tract, diseases of, 597

Rest, 166

when sprained, 412

Rheumatism, 370, 583-5

Ribs, 296, 481

Rice, 123

Rider and Driver, 691

Rides, long distance, 171

Riding, 326 et seq., 336 et seq., 346, 815

astride, 338 et seq

over bridges, 334

with two hands, 331

Ringbone, 431
Ringworm, 596

232

INDEX

[Numbers with P. preceding them refer to photos or drawings in the plates. Other numbers refer to sections, not pages.]

Roan Barberry, 19
Roaring, 603
Robe on horse, P. 24b
Rock salt, 126
Rolleston, Sir John, 695
Rollers, 214
Rolling, 220
Romans, 16
Roofs, 372
Roughing shoes, 852
Rowley, 700, 723
Rubbed tails, 246
Ruby R., P. 38a
Rugs, 212-4
Runaways, 266, 349
Running water, 389
Rupture of heart, 576

of liver, 561

of stomach, 546

Ruskin, 726

Russian horsemanship, 882
Rutherford, 689
Rye, 116

S

SADDLE fitting, 207 et seq., 314
- galls, 294, 320-1, 323

horse, 345

, position of, 317

, removing, 176

Saddlery, care of, 292-3
Saddles, P. 74

-, first, 16

, storing of, 306

, structures of, 307

Saddling, 304-6, 319

Saline solution, normal, 628

Sallenders, 592

Salt, 126

Saltpetre (nitre), 162

Sandcrack, 864

Sanfoin, 137

Sanitary paint, 380

Sanitas, 799-800

Sanitation, 226, 550 et seq.

in camp, 180

on board ship and train, 182

Saprophytes, 775
Savigear, Prof. Alfred, 702
Schooling, 84
Scratches, 197, 592
Screens, fly, 366
Scythians, 11
Sea, horses at, 181 et seq.
Seating, 839
Seats, 324 et seq.
Seedy toe, 867
Senses, 38

Sensibility, degrees of, 764
Septicaemia, 625, 808
Serous swellings, 441
Serum, anti-tetanic, 620
Scsamoid bones, 479
Sewing wounds, 809
Sexual intercourse, 821
Shakespeare, 699, 721
Sharpening shoes, 852
Sheath, 483

, washing, 205

Sheets, 211

Shins, sore, 433

Ship, horses on board, 181 el seq.

Shires, P. 105, 115, 134, 136

Shocks, 457

Shoe fitting, 841

Shoe material, 840

, putting on, 845

Shoeing faults, 854

pricks, 855-6

, principles of, 834 et seq.

, time for, 838

tools, 857-8

Shoes, P. 138

and lameness, 415

, examining, 229

, , before riding, 331

, first, 12, 17

for winter, 852, P. 138

, wear of, 173

Shooting a horse, J65
Shortage of war horses, 19
Shoulder, 273, 478

sprain, 424

Shoulders, sore, 268
Shouting, 48
Showing a horse, 230
Shying, 66, 262
Side bone, 432
Side-saddle riding, 338-41
Sidney, 662

Six-in-hand, P. 38c, 136a
Skin, 188

diseases, 245, 589, 595

• — — , thickness of, 74
Skuthorp, Prof., 81
Slings, 394

Slobbering, 539
Smelling, 39
Smith, Captain, 689
Smoking, 823

• in stables, 226, 383

Snake bites, 456
Snapping, 465
Sociability, 53
Soil, 379, 797
Sole of hoof, 828
Sore backs, 320 et seq.

shoulders, 437

shins, 433

- throat, 597

Spanish Armada horses, 20

horses, 18, 19, 25, 29

Spavin, bog, 438

, bone, 429-30

Spearmint, P. 15b

Speedy cut, 448

Spleen, diseases of, 562

Splenitis, 562

Splint, 427-8

Sporting and Dramatic News, 705

Sprains, 397, 404, 417

, treatment for, 421

Spread of disease by flies, 646
Sprung-hock, 423
Spurs, first, 14

, use of, 336-7

Stable logs and chains, 392-3

plans, P. 84-87

vices, 464

Stables, P. 88, 89
Stage coaches, 21
Staggers, 614

Stains, removal of, 202

Stall, in the, 101

Stalls, 385, 387-8

Standard weights, 518 el seq.

Stephen, L., P. 14b

Stimulants, external, 407

Stings, 456

Stomach, diseases of, 544 el seq.

Stomatitis, 537

Stopping the feet, 227

Stowage of forage, 149

Straightening crooked tails, 650

Strains, 397

Strangles, 612

Straw, 222

Streets, 853

Strength of drugs, 508

Stringhalt, 622

Structural examination of horse, 476

Strychnine, 456, 768, 783

Stumbling, 862, 879

Subcutaneous injection, 493

Submaxillary artery, P. 137

Suffolk Punches, P. 127-129, 131, 132,

135
Sugar, 124

tests, 570

Summary of docking, 697
Sunstroke, 615
Superior surface, 403
Superiority, 58

Surgery, aseptic, 802 el seq., 811
Surgical diseases, 417 et seq.
Suspensory ligament sprains, 417
Sutures, 806
Swedish horses, 30
Swimming horses, 185, P. 73c
Sympathetic system, 732
Synonyms of drugs, 507
Synovial enlargements, 437

TABLES of teeth, 471-2
Tacitus, 15
Tactile hairs, 235
Tail, banging the, 239
, care of, 198-9

diseases, 245

eczema, 591

- — - guard, 216

, plaiting the, 243

signs, 57

, straightening the, 650, 759

, the, 483 et seq., 631

, thinning the, 240, 658

, training horse to allow reins under

270

, use of, 635, 641, 653, 655

-, value of, 687

Tails, rubbed, 246
" Talking " horses, 86
Tandem driving, 265
Tartary horses, 24
Tasting, 39
Tea, linseed, 120
Teasing, 90
Teeth, examining, 468

, floating, 467

, neglected, symptoms of, 467

, number of, 469

, period of eruption, 471

, the, 466 el seq.

Temperature, 382, 532
Tendons, 479

, back, 419

Terry, 702

Test for bladebone and loin pressure,

314-5

Harley's, 559

mallein, 613

sugar, 570

Trommer's, 570

tuberculin, 610

Tetanus, 619, 795, 808
Theory of bitting, 350
Therapeutical classification of drugs,

530

INDEX

233

[Numbers with P. preceding them refer to photos or drawings in the plates. Other numbers refer to sections, not pages.]

Thermometer, 532
Thigh, 484

straps, 213-14

Thinness, 148

Thinning the tail, 240, 658
Thoroughbred, the, 25, P. 8, 12-17, 19,

20

Thoroughpin, 439
Throat, sore, 599
Throat-lash, 286
Thrombosis, 578
Throwing a horse, 413
Thrush, 871
Thucydides, 12
Ticks, 598
Tiles, 376

Times, The, 701, 705, 894
Tinctures, 507
Tips of shoes, 849
Tobacco, 823
Tongues. (See Poles)
Tonics, 509
Tools, grooming, 208

, shoeing, 857-8

Tooth, the, 469-70
Toronto, Bishop of, 701

Humane Society, P. 99

papers, 703-5

Tozer, Basil, 689, 702
Traces, 248, 256, 282
Tracheotomy, 536
Train, horses on, 181
Trainer, character of, 80
Training, advanced, 93-4

gear, 290-1

— horse to allow rein under tail,

270
, principles of, 79 el seq.. 336,

346

Transport, 181
Treads, 870

Treatment of sprains, 421
Trees, whiffle, 256
Trembling, 57
Tricks, 94
Trimming, 234-5
Trist, Sidney, 701, 711
Trocar, 501
Trot, 341 el seq.
Trotter and pacer, 691
Trotting horses, P. 9, 14, 18-20, 40, 112
Troughs, drinking, 152, 390
Troy weight, 522
True cantering, 344
Tsetse fly disease, 616
Tuberculin, 610

Tuberculosis, 609, 794, 813-4, 819
Turkish horses, 29
Turkoman horses, 29

Turning, 343

Turnips, 122

Tying horses up, 84, 267-9, 392-3

Types of harness horses, 271, P. 34-49

of vehicles, 272, P. 34-57

U

UNDER Dog, The, 711

Underfeeding, 148

Undocked horses, statistics of, 668

United, cantering, 344

Unsaddling, 304-6

Urea, 369-70

hydrochloride, 761

Urine, 369-70, 535
U.S. Cavalry, P. 60
Use of bearing-rein, 886

of spurs, 336-7

of tail, 597, 635, 653-5

Uses of medicine, 490 el seq.
Utero-gestation, 629

VACCINES, 790-1
Vehicle for drugs, 493
Vehicles, types of, 272, P. 34-57
Ventilators, 362 el seq., 367
Ventral surface, 403
Vertebra, 295, 297
Veterinary pharmacy, drugs and ap-
paratus in a, 513, 529

profession, 687

Vices, 464

Viciousness, 45

Victoria, Queen, 661, 689, 707

Virgil, 8, 13

Voice, 48, 86

W

WALK, 341 et seq.

Walking exercise, 161-2

Wall of hoof, 827

Walls, 373

War, care of horses in, 177

Warts, 594

Washing mane and tail, 198-9

one's fingers, 825

Water, 154

, passage of, 157

, running, 156, 389

troughs, 152, 390

Watering, 150 et seq.

Watering, physiological principles of,
151, 155 etseq.

utensils, 152

Waterproof sheets, 211
Weaning foal, 630
Weeds, 135

Weight for tying up, 269, P. 36h

Weights and measures, 748 el seq.

Wheat, 117

Whiffle trees, 256

Whipple collar, 277

Whips, 263

Whisks, fly, 397

Whistling, 603

Whitewashing, 380

Wicked horses, 49

Winans, Walter, 695, 699

, , horses of, P. 43, 44, 122

Wind, broken, 604
Windgalls, 437, 440
Windows, 365, 374
Wine measure, 519
Winnipeg papers, 703
Winter, care of horses in, 204

flies, destruction of, 640

floors, 376

shoes, 852

Withers, 298
Wolsey, 19

Womb, inflammation of, 628
Wool clothing, 212
Work, 165, 370

after feeding, 142-4

World, Toronto, 690
World's speed records, 342
Worms, 556 et seq.

, prevention of, 556-8

Wounds, 444 et seq., 803 et seq.

, bandaging, 810

, cleaning, 805 el seq.

, sewing, 809

Wright, 790

XENOPHON, 10, 12, 14

YEASTS, 772

Yorkshire boot, 447, P. 22g

ZOOLOGY of the horse, 34

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