[3] Many of the Morgan horses have the steep rump and heavy breast and neck, which indicate a Norman cross on the side of their dams. These have been largely imparted through the French horse in the adjoining Canadian settlements, but none of these are said to have characterized the founder of the race.
They are of medium size, from 13½ to 15 hands high; with a well-formed head and neck; high withers; deep chest; round body; short back; long quarters; broad flat legs; moderately small feet; long wavy mane and tail; presenting altogether the beau ideal of the road horse. They are spirited, docile, hardy, and easily kept. They have an easy, rapid trot, and glide along with a good load, without clatter or apparent effort, at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour.
This family of horses has not of course been bred long enough within themselves, to have attained to the eminence of a distinct breed. They are mentioned, merely as a type of what the serviceable roadster ought to be, and what he may become by the use of the proper instruments for breeding. And if the materials already in our hands are intelligently and perseveringly used, we can produce all we require of horse-flesh.
Besides our unsurpassed blood-horses, we have others derived from various sources, and especially from the different English breeds, all of which are variously compounded, with the first and with each other. On our northeastern frontier, the Canadian prevails, a bastard but not degenerate race, made up of the French Norman and the English or American. At the extreme South and West, we have the horse of Spanish origin, obtained in his domestic state in Florida and Louisiana; and from another branch of the Spanish, are descended the wild horses of Mexico and the more northern prairies. These are diversified in character, and generally possess medium size and merit.
The Conestoga, a heavy roadster, is principally reared in Pennsylvania, and is used for the team and truck. He is an amalgamation of several breeds, but probably owes a share of his character to the Flemish horse, for which there was a decided partiality among the numerous German emigrants of that state.
Several varieties of ponies are to be found in different sections, but principally among the French, the half-breed, and the Indians upon the frontiers, who have bred a stunted race from the Canadian or wild-horse, and such others as could survive the hard usage and scanty winter food afforded by nature and their rude husbandry. Many of these have considerable beauty and symmetry, and are fleet, hardy, and spirited.
The modern Norman, or mixture of the old French Norman draught-horse, (heavy-framed, big-limbed, but stout and hardy,) and the Andalusian, a descendant of the Moorish barbs, has been introduced within a few years, and will unquestionably become a very popular horse for many purposes. He exhibits the qualities of both ancestry in the proper proportions for farm service. He has a thick head; lively, prick ears; short, heavy neck; large breast and shoulders; strong limbs; well-knit back; large quarters, with much wavy mane, tail, and fetlock. Like his French progenitor, he frequently stands low in the withers, which enables him to throw great weight into the collar; and the diminished, flattened leg, the wind and game derived from his Moorish blood, give him much of the capacity and endurance of the thorough-bred.
The English cart-horse has for a long time made up some of the best, heavy dray-horses in the country, and late importations have refreshed the breed with additional choice specimens. The Cleveland bay has been introduced of late, and promises good carriage-horses from our well-spread, sizeable mares. The Norfolk trotter Belfounder was imported many years since, and with our high-bred mares, has produced many choice roadsters and trotters.
The remainder of our horse-flesh deserving of any notice, is chiefly composed of such as are superior in point of blood. The improvement in the American horse, from this source, is conspicuous and decided. Judicious breeders still look for qualities in the descendants, which they sought for in their imported sires, and the infusion of some of the stoutest of the blood is rapidly gaining an ascendency in the general stock. Our intelligent agriculturists should look to this subject closely, and not permit this system to proceed to an extent that may be prejudicial to their value as draught-horses, as has been done in some portions of England and our Southern states.
There is no danger from excess of blood, if it be of the right kind; but it is seldom found combining that fulness and stoutness, and that docility and tractableness of disposition, which are essential to the gig-horse or the horse of all work. Yorke says truly, that "the road-horse may possess different degrees of blood, according to the nature of the country and the work required of him. [He might have added with propriety, and according to the character of the blood.] His legs will be too slender; his feet too small; his stride too long, and he will rarely be able to trot. Three parts, or half, and for the horse of all work, even less than that, will make a good and useful animal." For the saddle only, the high-bred, if not disposed to be vicious, is never objectionable to an enterprising and accomplished rider. His long elastic pasterns, giving easy, flexible motions; his quick and almost electrical obedience when under thorough discipline; his habitual canter and high spirit, always commend him for this purpose.
1. Muzzle.—2. Race.—3. Forehead.—4. Poll.—5. Crest.—6. Withers.—7. Back.—8. Loins.—9. Hip.—10. Croup.—11. Dock.—12. Quarter.—13. Thigh, or Gaskin.—14. Ham-string.—15. Point of the Hock.—16. Cannon.—17. Fetlock.—18. Large Pastern.—19. Small Pastern.—20. Hoof.—21. Coronet.—22. Ham, or Hock.—23. Sheath.—24. Flank.—25. Girth.—26. Elbow.—27. Heel.—28. Hoof.—29. Small Pastern.—30. Large Pastern.—31. Fetlock.—32. Cannon.—33. Knee.—34. Arm.—35. Breast, or Bosom.—36. Point of the Shoulder.—37. Windpipe.—38. Gullet.—39. Jowl.
Some of the prominent external points of a fine Saddle or Gig Horse,
Are, a moderately small head, free from fleshiness; fine muzzle and expansive nostrils; broad at the throat and wide between the eyes, which denotes intelligence and courage; a dished face indicates high breeding, and sometimes viciousness; a convex or Roman nose frequently betokens the reverse; the ears rather long, yet so finely formed as to appear small, and playing quickly like those of a deer; the eyes clear, full, and confident, with a steady forward look. Glancing them backward or askance with a sinister expression, and with none or only a slight movement of the head, is indicative of a mischievous temper.
The neck should be handsomely arched, and fine at the junction with the head, while the lower extremity must be full and muscular, and well expanded at the breast and shoulders. The latter ought to be high and run well back; the withers strong, firmly knit, and smooth; the breast neither too prominent nor retreating, too wide nor too narrow, and supported by a pair of straight fore-legs, standing well apart. The chest should be deep, and the girth large; the body full, and not drawn up too much in the flank; the back short, and the hips gathered well towards the withers; the loins wide and rising above the spine; the ribs springing nearly at right angles from the back, giving roundness to the body. The hips ought to be long to the root of the tail, and the latter may approach to near the line of the back, which is a mark of good breeding.
Both the thigh and hock should be large and muscular; and between the hock or knee and pastern, the legs should be broad, flat, and short; the hind legs properly bent, and all well placed under the body; the pasterns of moderate length, and standing slightly oblique; the hoof hard, smooth, round before, and wide at the heel; the frog large and sound; and the sole firm and concave. A white hoof is generally tender, easy to fracture and to lame, and difficult to hold a shoe.
The draught-horse ought to differ from the foregoing, in possessing a heavier and shorter neck; a wider and stouter breast, and low withers, so as to throw the utmost weight into the collar; a heavier body and quarters; larger legs and feet; and more upright shoulders and pasterns.
Considerations which affect the Value of the Horse.
The color is not material, provided it be not pied or mealy. No better color for horses can be found than the dark bay or brown, with black mane, tail, and legs. But most of the other colors are frequently found with the best horses.
Hard-mouthed horses, when accompanied with great spirit, are objectionable, as they require peculiar bitting and the utmost vigilance.
The paces and action of a horse are important, for if good they give a much greater capacity for performance. Some of these depend on form and structure, and are unchangeable; others are the result of breaking. All horses should be taught to walk fast, as it is their easiest and most economical pace, and it will help them over a great deal of ground in a day, even with a heavy load, and with comparatively little effort. A horse that steps short and digs his toes into the ground, is worthless as a traveller, and suited only to a ferry-boat or bark-mill.
It is important that a horse be good-tempered. If inclined to viciousness, he should be gently yet firmly managed when it is first apparent. A resort to great severity will be justified, if necessary to conquer him; for if once allowed to become a habit, it will be difficult to cure him. Grooms and mischievous stable-boys, frequently do much injury by their idle tricks with horses; and when detected, they should be discharged at once.
Some horses are nervous, easily excited, and start at every unusual noise or object. Others are restive and fretful, and ever anxious to be on the move. Kindness, and firm, yet mild treatment, by which their motions and will are at all times controlled, and their confidence secured, are the only remedies.
Others are inclined to sluggishness. These should have stimulating food, and never be overloaded or overworked, and then kept well to their paces. Whatever they are capable of performing, can be got from them in this way only. Habit has great influence with animals, as with man; and when within the compass of his ability, he may be habituated to any reasonable physical exertion.
Breeding.
Agreeably to the general principles before enumerated, such animals should be selected, as most eminently possess those points which it is desired to propagate, and these, they should not only exhibit in themselves, but should inherit as far as possible, from a long line of ancestry. For the perpetuation of particular points in progeny, it would be safer to rely on the latter quality than the former.
The selection of a mare, relatively larger than the horse, is an important rule in breeding, and it is believed that much of the success of Arabian and other Eastern horses as stock-getters, has resulted from the application of this principle. They possess valuable traits, but condensed within too small a compass. When such an animal is put to a well-bred, larger mare, the fœtus has abundance of room and nourishment to develop and perfect the circumscribed outlines of the male parent, and acquire for itself increased volume and character.
The horse ought not to be less than four or five, and the mare one year older, before being put to breeding. It would be still better to defer it for two or three years, or till the frame is fully matured.
The Gestation of the Mare
Sometimes varies from 44 to 56 weeks, but she usually goes with young from 47 to 50; and it is advisable she should take the horse at a time which will ensure the foaling when the weather is settled, and there is a fresh growth of grass. She will be the better for light working till near the time of foaling, if well, but not too abundantly fed. In a few days after this, she may resume moderate labor; and if not in the way or troublesome, the foal may run with her; but if she is exposed to heating, it should be confined till she cools, as suckling then is decidedly injurious to it.
The mare is in danger of slinking her foal from blows and over-exertion, the use of smutty grain, foul hay, or offensive objects or smell; and when this has once occurred, which happens usually in the fourth or fifth month, she should afterwards be generously fed at that period, and only moderately worked, to prevent a recurrence of the casualty. When liable to slinking, the mare should be removed from others in foal, lest a peculiar sympathy should excite an epidemic.
The Mare comes in Heat
From nine to eleven days after foaling, when she should be put to the horse, if it be desirable to have a colt the following season. She comes round at intervals of about nine days.
Management of the Colt.
The colt may be weaned when five to seven months old; and preparatory to this, while with the mare, may be taught to feed on fine hay, meal, or oats. When taken away, he should be confined beyond a hearing distance of the dam, and plentifully supplied with rowen or aftermath hay, crushed oats, or wheat shorts. It is economy to provide a warm shelter through the inclement season for all animals, and especially for colts, which, with all other young, should have an abundance of nutritious food. They will thus grow evenly and rapidly, and attain a size and stamina at two years old, they would not otherwise have acquired at three.
Castrating.
The colt should be altered at about one year, but if thin in the neck and light before, the operation may be deferred to such time as the requisite development is secured. Few of the French diligence and farm horses, and scarcely any of the Oriental, are ever castrated. They are thought to be more hardy and enduring; but the slight advantage they may possibly possess in this respect, would hardly compensate for the trouble and inconvenience too frequently arising from their management.
The operation should be performed late in the spring or early in autumn, while the weather is mild. If in high condition, the animal must first be bled and physicked. If large and fractious, he must be cast. Some back him into the angle of a worm fence, where he is firmly held by the head with a bridle, and the operator accomplishes the object without any trouble or material restiveness from the animal while standing. The scrotum should be opened on both sides, and the testicles cut, or rather the cord scraped off, which prevents much bleeding. The wound may be dressed with a little lard; then turn him loose in a pasture which has a shelter from sun, wind, or rain. Another method of castrating is by torsion, or twisting.
Docking
Is practised by many, but merely to gratify an absurd and cruel caprice, without a single advantage, and the animal is better in every respect with the tail unmutilated. If done at all, it should be when young, and with a single stroke of the knife, or chisel and mallet; and if the weather be favorable, no further attention is necessary.
Nicking.
This inhuman custom is now getting unfashionable, and we omit any description of it.
Breaking.
While feeding in the stable, the colt should be gently treated, and accustomed to the halter and bit, which prepares him for breaking. If permitted to run with the others while at work, he becomes familiarized to it, and when harnessed by the side of some of his well-trained mates, he seems to consider his discipline rather a privilege than a task. The colt may be taken in hand for breaking at three years of age, and thoroughly broken to light work at four, but should not be put to hard service till six or eight. A due regard to humanity and sound judgment, in thus limiting the burden in his early years, would save much disease and suffering to the animal, and profit to the owner, by his unimpaired strength and prolonged life. The annual loss from neglecting this precaution is enormous, which might be entirely avoided by less eagerness to grasp the substance, while as yet the shadow only is within reach. Many animals are thus broken down at twelve, and are in their dotage at fifteen, while others of good constitution, if well treated, perform hard service till thirty.
Longevity of the Horse.
Mr. Percival mentions one that died at 62. Mr. Mauran, of New York, has a fine gig and saddle horse, now in his 45th year, sound, spirited, and playful as a kitten. He is of a dark brown, with a tanned nose. We never yet saw a horse with a buff or bear muzzle, that had not great endurance.
American Eclipse was successfully covering mares in Kentucky at the age of 32, the result of late and light service till his sinews became fully matured. We have frequently seen a large, compact, flea-bitten horse at work, dragging a heavy load in a single cart, which was formerly used as one of Governor Maitland's coach-horses, and though upwards of 30, he was apparently as sound and vigorous as an overtasked colt of seven or eight.
Feeding.
The vigor and duration of the horse depend much on proper feeding. Like the cow and sheep, he may be made to subsist on animal food, fish, and almost every species of nutritious vegetable. But his natural and proper aliment is the grasses, grain, and roots. In the middle and northern sections of this country, his dry forage is almost invariably good meadow-hay, generally timothy, which is the richest of the cultivated grasses. At the South, this is often supplied by the blades of Indian corn. But in all the states, a great variety of the grasses and clover are used.
When put to hard labor, grain ought always to accompany hay in some form. Of the different kinds of grain, oats are peculiarly the horse's food, and they are always safe, digestible, and nutritive. Barley is the best substitute for it. Wheat and Indian corn are sometimes given, but both are unsuitable; the first is too concentrated, and the last too heating. They ought to be sparingly used, and only when ground and mixed with chaff. The offal of wheat is never objectionable.
Grain is always more advantageously fed when ground or crushed, and wet some time previous to eating; and it is still better when cooked. On both sides of the Mediterranean, in the Barbary States, in Spain, France, and Italy, much of the food is given in small baked cakes, and the saving in this way is much greater than the expense of preparing it.
When confined to dry food, roots or apples fed once a day are always beneficial. They keep the bowels open, the appetite and general health good, and contribute largely to the nutriment of the animal. Carrots are the best of the roots, as besides giving muscle and working power, they, more than any other, improve the wind and prevent all tendency to heaves. They have even been found effectual in removing an obstinate cough. By many of the keepers of livery stables, they are always used, for which purpose they command the same price as oats. Potatoes, parsnips, beets, and Swedes turnips, in the order mentioned, are next to be preferred. Potatoes are improved by cooking.
Mixtures of food are best, as of cut hay, meal, and roots. Old horses, or such as are put to hard labor, will do much better if their food be given in the form easiest of digestion. No inconsiderable part of the vital power is exhausted by the digestion of dry, raw food.
Horses ought to be fed, and if possible, exercised or worked regularly, but never on a full stomach. This is a frequent cause of disease, and especially of broken wind. If their food is given at the proper time, and the horse be allowed to finish it at once, without expecting more, he will lie down quietly and digest it. This will be much more refreshing to him, than to stand at the rack or trough, nibbling continually at his hay or oats. What remains after he has done feeding, should be at once withdrawn.
They should have water in summer three times, and in winter twice a day. Soft or running water is much the best. While working, and they are not too warm, they may have it as often as they desire. Neither should they be fed when heated, as the stomach is then fatigued and slightly inflamed, and is not prepared for digestion till the animal is again cool. Salt should always be within reach, and we have found an occasional handful of clean wood-ashes, a preventive of disease and an assistance to the bowels and appetite.
A The Head.—a The posterior maxillary or under jaw.—b The superior maxillary or upper jaw. A little lower down than the letter is a foramen, through which pass the nerves and blood-vessels which chiefly supply the lower part of the face.—c The orbit, or cavity containing the eye.—d The nasal bones, or bones of the nose.—e The suture dividing the parietal bones below from the occipital bones above.—f The inferior maxillary bone, containing the upper incisor teeth.—B The Seven Cervical Vertebræ, or bones of the neck.—C The Eighteen Dorsal Vertebræ, or bones of the back.—D The Six Lumbar Vertebræ, or bones of the loins.—E The Five Sacral Vertebræ, or bones of the haunch.—F The Caudal Vertebræ, or bones of the tail, generally about fifteen.—G The Scapula, or shoulder-blade.—H The Sternum, or fore-part of the chest.—I The Costæ or ribs, seven or eight articulating with the sternum, and called the true ribs; and ten or eleven united together by cartilage, called the false ribs.—J The Humerus, or upper bone of the arm.—K The Radius, or upper bone of the arm.—L The Ulna, or elbow. The point of the elbow is called the Olecranon.—M The Carpus, or knee, consisting of seven bones.—N The metacarpal bones. The larger metacarpal or cannon or shank in front, and the smaller metacarpal or splint bone behind.—g The fore pastern and foot, consisting of the Os Suffraginis, or the upper and larger pastern bone, with the sesamoid bones behind, articulating with the cannon and greater pastern; the Os Coronæ, or lesser pastern; the Os Pedis, or coffin-bone; and the Os Naviculare, or navicular, or shuttle-bone, not seen, and articulating with the smaller pastern and coffin-bones.—h The corresponding bones of the hind-feet.—O The Haunch, consisting of three portions: the Ilium, the Ischium, and the Pubis.—P The Femur, or thigh.—Q The stifle joint with the Patella.—R The Tibia, or proper leg bone; behind is a small bone called the fibula—S The Tarsus, or hock, composed of six bones. The prominent part is the Os Calcis, or point of the Hock.—T The Metatarsals of the hind leg.
DISEASES.
The list is long and fearful, and even the brief one subjoined, will be found sufficiently great to inculcate the utmost caution in their management. The horse in his natural condition is subject to few ailments. It is only in his intensely artificial state, and when made the slave of man, that he becomes a prey to disease in almost every shape. A careful and judicious attention to his diet, water, exercise, stable, and general management, will prevent many of those to which he is subject.
Glanders.
This is one of the most alarming. The first and most marked symptom is a discharge from the nostrils of a peculiar character. The disease produces inflammation there and in the windpipe, and in aggravated cases passes down to the lungs, which are soon destroyed.
It is propagated by contagion, by exposure in humid stables, and is induced by hereditary indisposition and great exhaustion. Youatt says, there is not a disease which may not lay the foundation for glanders. The poison resides in the nasal discharge, not in the breath. When exposed to it, the mangers should be thoroughly scraped, washed with soap and water, and afterwards with chloride of lime. All the clothing and harness, which may have received any of the contagious matter, must be thoroughly cleansed and baked.
The best preventives are dry, clean, and well-ventilated stables, proper exercise, green food in summer, and roots in winter.
The disease may be arrested in its early stages, by turning the animal on a dry pasture, but it is liable to return on subsequent confinement. Iodine has lately been announced as a remedy, but of the certainty of its effects, we are not aware.
It is generally considered incurable, and when thoroughly seated, it may be deemed an act both of humanity and economy to terminate the existence of its victim at once. This course becomes a duty, from the fact that many grooms, by their attendance on glandered horses, have been affected, and though the disease is, in their case, more manageable, yet it is frequently fatal.
Farcy.
This is intimately connected with glanders, and the diseases frequently run into each other.
Lampas.
This consists in the swelling of the bars of the mouth to a level or even above the teeth. It may occur from inflammation of the gums; shedding of the teeth; a febrile tendency, and from over-feeding or want of exercise. It will generally subside by low dieting and proper exercise; or it may be at once relieved by lancing the bars with a sharp penknife.
Poll-evil.
This arises from some contusion or injury to the head, which produces a swelling that eventually suppurates. The inflammation may be abated, in its earliest stages, by a blister; and in its later, by bleeding, physic, and cold lotions applied to the part. If these are ineffectual, and the swelling continues, it should be hastened by poultices, and warm, stimulating lotions; and when fully formed, the tumor must be opened, so as to permit all the matter to run out. Repeated applications of salt will sometimes cure it.
Heaves.
All those affections, distinguished in the English veterinary works as pneumonia or inflammation of the lungs, chronic cough, thick and broken wind, consumption, &c., are popularly designated as heaves. To some or all of these the horse may have an hereditary or constitutional tendency. Their incipient stages are also induced by a sudden transition from heat to cold, and sometimes from cold to close and hot stables; and by a chilly wind or damp stables, especially after severe exercise. Feeding on musty, dry hay, or on straw, will produce an irritation which may lead to heaves.
Inflammation of the lungs is frequently dangerous, and requires the immediate and full use of the lancet. After the inflammation is decidedly allayed, by copious bleeding, small doses of aloes may be given, and frequent injections of warm soap and water, which should be omitted the moment the feces become soft and approaching to the fluid state. Blistering the sides and brisket, to be often repeated if otherwise ineffectual, must be resorted to. Convalescence should be followed with sedative medicines, and during all the severe stages of the disease, withhold all food, except light gruels after protracted abstinence. As health returns, put the animal out to grass.
Inflammation of the lungs is sometimes succeeded by a chronic cough, and the other maladies enumerated. When firmly seated, it is incapable of removal. Its effects can be alleviated, and with suitable food and treatment, the horse may be made to do much moderate labor for many years, but he can never become sound or sustain great exertion. Equal and proper temperature, moist, stimulating food, and especially carrots or potatoes, and moderate exercise, (but never on a full stomach,) and dry, clean stables, are all the remedies that can be prescribed.
Catarrh or Horse Distemper.
This sometimes attacks the horse in the spring or fall, and is shown by soreness and swelling in the glands of the throat, a cough; difficulty of swallowing; discharging at the nose; and general prostration. It is seldom fatal, if properly managed. Give light bran-mashes, purge thoroughly, and keep warm. If he is violently attacked, he may be bled while fever exists; and blisters or setons may be applied, to reduce the swelling, if extreme. The disease is contagious, and the animal should be at once placed where he cannot communicate it.
Spasmodic Colic.
Symptoms.—The attack of colic is usually very sudden. There is often not the slightest warning. The horse begins to shift his posture, look round at his flanks, paw violently, strike his belly with his feet, and crouch in a peculiar manner, advancing his hind limbs under him; he will then suddenly lie, or rather fall down, and balance himself upon his back, with his feet resting on his belly. The pain now seems to cease for a little while, and he gets up and shakes himself, and begins to feed; the respite, however, is but short—the spasm returns more violently—every indication of pain is increased—he heaves at the flanks, breaks out into a profuse perspiration, and throws himself more recklessly about. In the space of an hour or two, either the spasms begin to relax, and the remissions are of longer duration, or the torture is augmented at every paroxysm; the intervals of ease are fewer and less marked, and inflammation and death supervene. The pulse is but little affected at the commencement, but it soon becomes frequent and contracted, and at length is scarcely tangible.
Among the causes of colic are, the drinking of cold water when the horse is heated. There is not a surer origin of violent spasm than this. Hard water is very apt to produce this effect. Colic will sometimes follow the exposure of a horse to the cold air or a cold wind after strong exercise. Green food, although, generally speaking, most beneficial to the horse, yet, given in too large a quantity, or when he is hot, will frequently produce gripes. Doses of aloes, both large and small, are not unfrequent causes of colic.
In some horses there seems to be a constitutional predisposition to colic. They cannot be hardly worked, or exposed to unusual cold, without a fit of it. In many cases, when these horses have died, calculi have been found in some part of the alimentary canal. Habitual costiveness and the presence of calculi, are frequent causes of spasmodic colic. The seat of colic is occasionally the duodenum, but oftener the ileum or the jejunum; sometimes, however, both the cæcum and colon are affected. Fortunately, we are acquainted with several medicines that allay these spasms; and the disease often ceases as suddenly as it appeared.
Remedies.—Turpentine is one of the most powerful remedies, especially in union with opium, and in good warm ale. A solution of aloes will be advantageously added to the turpentine and opium. If relief is not obtained in half an hour, it will be prudent to bleed, for the continuance of violent spasm may produce inflammation. Some practitioners bleed at first, and it is far from bad practice; for although the majority of cases will yield to turpentine, opium, and aloes, an early bleeding may occasionally prevent the recurrence of inflammation, or at least mitigate it. If it is clearly a case of colic, half of the first dose may be repeated, with aloes dissolved in warm water. The stimulus produced on the inner surface of the bowels by the purgative, may counteract the irritation that caused the spasm.
The belly should be well rubbed with a brush or warm cloth, but not bruised and injured by the broom-handle rubbed over it, with all their strength, by two great fellows. The horse should be walked about or trotted moderately. The motion thus produced in the bowels, and the friction of one intestine over the other, may relax the spasm, but the hasty gallop might speedily cause inflammation to succeed to colic.
Clysters of warm water, or containing a solution of aloes, should be injected. The patent syringe will here be exceedingly useful. A clyster of tobacco-smoke may be thrown up as a last resort.
When relief has been obtained, the clothing of the horse, saturated with perspiration, should be removed, and fresh and dry clothes substituted. He should be well littered down in a warm stable or box, and have bran mashes and lukewarm water for the two or three next days. Some persons give gin, or gin and pepper, or even spirit of pimento, in cases of gripes. This course of proceeding is, however, exceedingly objectionable. It may be useful, or even sufficient, in ordinary cases of colic; but if there should be any inflammation, or tendency to inflammation, it cannot fail to be highly injurious.
Flatulent Colic.
This is altogether a different disease from the former. It is not spasm of the bowels, but inflation of them, from the presence of gas emitted by undigested food. Whether collected in the stomach, or small or large intestines, all kinds of vegetable matter are liable to ferment. In consequence of this fermentation gas is evolved to a greater or less extent—perhaps to twenty or thirty times the bulk of the food. This may take place in the stomach; and if so, the life of the horse is in immediate danger, for the animal has no power to expel this dangerous flatus by eructation.
The symptoms, according to Professor Stewart, are, "The horse suddenly slackening his pace, preparing to lie down, or falling down, as if he were shot. In the stable he paws the ground with his fore-feet, lies down, rolls, starts up all at once, and throws himself down again with great violence, looking wistfully at his flanks, and making many fruitless attempts to void his urine."
The treatment is considerably different from that of spasmodic colic. The spirit of pimento would be here allowed, or the turpentine and opium drink; but if the pain, and especially the swelling, do not abate, the gas, which is the cause of it, must be got rid of, or the animal is inevitably lost. This is usually, or almost invariably, a combination of hydrogen with some other gas. It has a strong affinity for chlorine. Then if some compound of chlorine—the chloride of lime—dissolved in water, is administered in the form of a drink, the chlorine separates from the lime as soon as it comes in contact with the hydrogen, and muriatic gas is formed. This gas, having a strong affinity for water, is absorbed by any fluid that may be present, and, quitting its gaseous form, either disappears, or does not retain a thousandth part of its former bulk. All this may be very rapidly accomplished, for the fluid is quickly conveyed from the mouth to every part of the intestinal canal.
Where these two medicines are not at hand, and the danger is imminent, the trochar may be used, in order to open a way for the escape of the gas. The trochar should be small, but longer than that which is used for the cow, and the puncture should be made in the middle of the right flank, for there the large intestines are most easily reached. It is only when the practitioner despairs of otherwise saving the life of the animal, that this operation should be attempted. Much of the danger would be avoided by using a very small trochar, and by withdrawing it as soon as the gas has escaped. The wound in the intestines will then probably close, from the innate elasticity of the parts.
Inflammation of the Bowels.
There are two varieties of this malady. The first is inflammation of the external coats of the intestines, accompanied by considerable fever, and usually costiveness. The second is that of the internal or mucous coat, and almost invariably connected with purging. The muscular coat is that which is oftenest affected. Inflammation of the external coats of the stomach, whether the peritoneal or muscular, or both, is a very frequent and fatal disease. It speedily runs its course, and it is of great consequence that its early symptoms should be known.
Symptoms.—If the horse has been carefully observed, restlessness and fever will have been seen to precede the attack. In many cases a direct shivering fit will occur; the mouth will be hot, and the nose red. The animal will soon express the most dreadful pain by pawing, striking at his belly, looking wildly at his flanks, groaning, and rolling. The pulse will be quickened and small; the ears and legs cold; the belly tender, and sometimes hot; the breathing quickened; the bowels costive; and the animal becoming rapidly and fearfully weak.
The causes of this disease are, first of all and most frequently, sudden exposure to cold. If a horse that has been highly fed, carefully groomed, and kept in a warm stable, is heated with exercise, and has been during some hours without food, and in this state of exhaustion is suffered to drink freely of cold water, or is drenched with rain, or have his legs and belly washed with cold water, an attack of inflammation of the bowels will often follow. An overfed horse, subjected to severe and long-continued exertion, if his lungs were previously weak, will probably be attacked by inflammation of them; but if the lungs were sound, the bowels will on the following day be the seat of disease. Stones in the intestines are an occasional cause of inflammation, and colic neglected or wrongly treated will terminate in it.
Remedies.—The treatment of inflammation of the bowels, like that of the lungs, should be prompt and energetic. The first and most powerful means of cure will be bleeding. From six to eight or ten quarts of blood, in fact as much as the horse can bear, should be abstracted as soon as possible; and the bleeding repeated to the extent of four or five quarts more, if the pain is not relieved and the pulse has not become rounder and fuller. The speedy weakness that accompanies this disease, should not deter from bleeding largely. That weakness is the consequence of violent inflammation of these parts; and if that inflammation is subdued by the loss of blood, the weakness will disappear. The bleeding should be effected on the first appearance of the disease, for there is no malady that more quickly runs its course.
A strong solution of aloes should immediately follow the bleeding, but, considering the irritable state of the intestines at this period, guarded by opium. This should be quickly followed by back-raking, and injections consisting of warm water, or very thin gruel, in which Epsom salts or aloes have been dissolved; and too much fluid can scarcely be thrown up.
The horse should likewise be encouraged to drink plentifully of warm water or thin gruel; and draughts, each containing a couple of drachms of dissolved aloes, with a little opium, should be given every six hours, until the bowels are freely opened. It will now be prudent to endeavor to excite considerable external inflammation, as near as possible to the seat of internal disease, and therefore the whole of the belly should be blistered.
In a well-marked case of this disease, no time should be lost in applying fomentations, but the blister at once resorted to. The tincture of Spanish flies, whether made with spirits of wine or turpentine, should be thoroughly rubbed in. The legs should be well bandaged, in order to restore the circulation in them, and thus lessen the flow of blood to the inflamed part; and, for the same reason, the horse should be warmly clothed, but the air of the stable or box should be cool.
No grain or hay should be allowed during the disease, but bran mashes, and green food if it can be procured. The latter will be the best, and may be given without the slightest apprehension of danger. When the horse begins to recover, a handful of grain may be given two or three times in the day; and, if the weather is warm, he may be turned into a paddock for a few hours in the middle of the day. Clysters of gruel should be continued for three or four days after the inflammation is beginning to subside, and good hand-rubbing applied to the legs.
The second variety of Inflammation of the Bowels
Affects the internal or mucous coat, and is generally the consequence of physic in too great quantity, or of an improper kind. The purging is more violent and continues longer than was intended; the animal shows that he is suffering great pain; he frequently looks round at his flanks; his breathing is laborious, and the pulse is quick and small, and the mouth is hot and the legs and ears are warm.
Remedies.—Unless the purging is excessive, and the pain and distress great, the surgeon should hesitate at giving any astringent medicine at first; but he should plentifully administer gruel or thin starch, or arrow-root, by the mouth and by clyster, removing all hay and grain, and particularly green food. He should thus endeavor to soothe the irritated surface of the bowels, while he permits all remains of the purgative to be carried off. If, however, twelve hours have passed, and the purging and the pain remain undiminished, he should continue the gruel, adding to it chalk, catechu, and opium, repeated every six hours. As soon as the purging begins to subside, the astringent medicine should be lessened in quantity, and gradually discontinued.
Bleeding will rarely be necessary, unless the inflammation is very great, and attended by symptoms of general fever. The horse should be warmly clothed, and placed in a comfortable stable, and his legs should be hand-rubbed and bandaged.
Violent purging, and attended with much inflammation and fever, will occur from other causes. Green food will frequently purge; and a horse worked hard upon it will sometimes scour.
The remedy is change of diet, or less labor. Young horses will often be strongly purged, without any apparent cause. Astringents should be used with much caution here. It is probably an effort of nature to get rid of something that offends. A few doses of gruel will assist in effecting this purpose, and the purging will cease without astringent medicine.
Many horses that are not well ribbed home (having too great space between the last rib and the hip-bone) are subject to purging, if more than usual exertion is required from them. They are recognised by the term of washy horses. They are often free and fleet, but destitute of continuance. They should have rather more than the usual allowance of grain, with beans, when at work. A cordial ball, with catechu and opium, will often be serviceable either before or after a journey.
Physicking.
When a horse comes from grass to dry food, or from the cool, open air to a heated stable, a dose, or even two doses, of physic may be useful to prevent the tendency to inflammation, which is the necessary consequence of so sudden and great a change. To a horse that is becoming too fat, or has surfeit, grease, or mange, or that is out of condition from inactivity of the digestive organs, a dose of physic is often most serviceable. A horse should be carefully prepared for the action of physic. Two or three bran mashes given on that or the preceding day, are far from sufficient when a horse is about to be physicked, whether to promote his condition, or in obedience to custom. Mashes should be given until the dung becomes softened. A less quantity of physic will then suffice, and it will more quickly pass through the intestines, and be more readily diffused over them.
Five drachms of aloes, given when the dung has thus been softened, will act more effectually and much more safely than seven drachms, when the lower intestines are obstructed by hardened feces. On the day on which the physic is given, the horse should have walking exercise, or may be gently trotted for a quarter of an hour twice in the day; but after the physic begins to work, he should not be moved from his stall. Exercise would then produce gripes, irritation, and, possibly, dangerous inflammation. A little hay may be put into the rack. As much mash should be given as the horse will eat, and as much water, with the coldness of it taken off, as he will drink. If, however, he obstinately refuses to drink warm water, it is better that he should have it cold, than to continue without taking any fluid; but in such case he should not be suffered to take more than a quart at a time, with an interval of at least an hour between each draught.
When the purging has ceased, or the physic is set, a mash should be given once or twice every day until the next dose is taken, between which and the setting of the first, there should be an interval of a week. The horse should recover from the languor and debility occasioned by the first dose, before he is harassed by a second. Eight or ten tolerably copious motions, will be perfectly sufficient to answer every good purpose, although the groom may not be satisfied unless double the quantity are procured. The consequence of too strong purgation will be, that weakness will hang about the animal for several days or weeks, and inflammation will often ensue from the over-irritation of the intestinal canal.
Long-continued custom has made aloes the almost invariable purgative of the horse, and very properly so; for there is no other at once so sure and so safe. The Barbadoes aloes, although sometimes very dear, should alone be used. The dose, with a horse properly prepared, will vary from four to seven drachms. Custom has assigned the form of a ball to physic, but good sense will in due time introduce the solution of aloes, as acting more speedily, effectually, and safely.
The only other purgative on which dependence can be placed is the croton. The farina or meal of the nut is generally used; but from its acrimony it should be given in the form of ball, with linseed meal. The dose varies from a scruple to half a drachm. It acts more speedily than the aloes, and without the nausea which they produce; but it causes more watery stools, and, consequently, more debility.
Linseed oil is an uncertain but safe purgative, in doses from a pound to a pound and a half. Olive oil is more uncertain, but safe; but CASTOR OIL, that mild aperient in the human being, is both uncertain and unsafe. Epsom salts are inefficacious, except in the immense dose of a pound and a half, and then they are not always safe.
Worms.
The long white worm (lumbricus teres) much resembles the common earth-worm, and being from six to ten inches in length, inhabits the small intestines. It is a formidable looking animal; and if there are many of them, they may consume more than can be spared of the nutritive part of the food, or the mucus of the bowels. A tight skin, and rough coat, and tucked-up belly, are sometimes connected with their presence. They are then, however, voided in large quantities.
Remedies.—A dose of physic will sometimes bring away almost incredible quantities of them. Calomel is frequently given as a vermifuge. The seldomer this drug is administered to the horse, the better. When the horse can be spared, a strong dose of physic is an excellent vermifuge, so far as the long round worm is concerned. But a better medicine, and not interfering with either the feeding or work of the horse, is emetic tartar, with ginger, made into a ball with linseed meal and treacle, and given every morning, half an hour before the horse is fed.
A smaller, darker colored worm, called the needle-worm, or ascaris, inhabits the larger intestines. Hundreds of them sometimes descend into the rectum, and immense quantities have been found in the cœcum. These are a more serious nuisance than the former, for they cause a very troublesome irritation about the fundament, which sometimes sadly annoys the horse. Their existence can generally be discovered by a small portion of mucus, which, hardening, is found adhering to the anus.
Remedies.—Physic will sometimes bring away great numbers of these worms; but when there is much irritation about the tail, and much of this mucus, indicating that they have descended into the rectum, an injection of linseed oil, or of aloes dissolved in warm water, will be a more effectual remedy. The tape-worm is seldom found in the horse.
Bots.
While they inhabit the stomach of the horse, cannot give the animal any pain, for they have fastened on the cuticular and insensible coat. They cannot stimulate the stomach and increase its digestive power, for they are not on the digestive portion of the stomach. They cannot, by their roughness, assist the trituration or rubbing down of the food, for no such office is performed in that part of the stomach—the food is softened, not rubbed down. They cannot be injurious to the horse, for he enjoys the most perfect health when the cuticular part of his stomach is filled with them, and their presence is not even suspected until they appear at the anus.
They cannot be removed by medicine, because they are not in that part of the stomach in which medicine is usually conveyed; and if they were, their mouths are too deeply buried in the mucus for any medicine, that can be safely administered, to affect them; and, last of all, in due course of time they detach themselves, and come away. Therefore, the wise man will leave them to themselves, or content himself with picking them off when they collect under the tail and annoy the animal.
Wind-galls.
In the neighborhood of the fetlock, there are occasionally found considerable enlargements, oftener on the hind-leg than the fore one, which are denominated wind-galls. Between the tendons and other parts, and wherever the tendons are exposed to pressure or friction, and particularly about their extremities, little bags or sacs are placed, containing and suffering to ooze slowly from them, a mucous fluid to lubricate the parts. From undue pressure, and that most frequently caused by violent action and straining of the tendons, or often from some predisposition about the horse, these little sacs are injured. They take on inflammation, and sometimes become large and indurated. There are few horses perfectly free from them. When they first appear, and until the inflammation subsides, they may be accompanied by some degree of lameness; but otherwise, except when they attain a great size, they do not interfere with the action of the animal, or cause any considerable unsoundness. The farriers used to suppose that they contained wind—hence their name, wind-galls; and hence the practice of opening them, by which dreadful inflammation was often produced, and many a valuable horse destroyed.
Remedies.—A slight wind-gall will scarcely be subjected to treatment; but if these tumors are numerous and large, and seem to impede the motion of the limb, they may be attacked first by bandage. The roller should be of flannel, and soft pads should be placed on each of the enlargements, and bound down tightly upon them. The bandage should also be wetted with warm water, two or three times a day, for half an hour each time. The wind-gall will often diminish or disappear by this treatment, but will too frequently return, when the horse is again hardly worked.
A blister is a more effectual, but too often temporary remedy. Firing is still more certain, if the tumors are sufficiently large and annoying to justify our having recourse to measures so severe; for it will not only effect the immediate absorption of the fluid, and the reduction of the swelling, but, by contracting the skin, will act as a permanent bandage, and therefore prevent the reappearance of the tumor. The iodine and mercurial ointments have occasionally been used with advantage, in the proportion of three parts of the former to two of the latter.
Inflammation of the Fetlock.
The fetlock-joint is a very complicated one, and from the stress which is laid on it, and its being the principal seat of motion below the knee, it is particularly subject to injury. There are not many cases of sprain of the back-sinew, that are not accompanied by inflammation of the ligaments of this joint; and numerous supposed cases of sprain higher up, are simple affections of the fetlock. It requires a great deal of care, and some experience, to distinguish the one from the other. The heat about the part, and the point at which the horse least endures the pressure of the finger, will be the principal guides.
Remedy.—Occasionally, by the application of cooling lotions, the inflammation may be subdued, but at other times, the horse suffers dreadfully, and is unable to stand. A serious affection of the fetlock-joint demands prompt treatment.
Cutting.
The inside of the fetlock is often bruised by the shoe or the hoof of the opposite foot. Many expedients used to be tried to remove this; the inside heel has been raised and lowered, and the outside raised and lowered; and sometimes one operation has succeeded, and sometimes the contrary; and there was no point so involved in obscurity or so destitute of principles to guide the practitioner.
Remedy.—The most successful remedy and that which in the great majority of cases supersedes all others, is Mr. Turner's shoe, of equal thickness from heel to toe, and having but one nail, and that near the toe, on the inside of the shoe; care being taken that the shoe shall not extend beyond the edge of the crust, and that the crust shall be rasped a little at the quarters.
Sprain of the Coffin-Joint.
The proof of this is when the lameness is sudden, and the heat and tenderness are principally felt round the coronet.
Remedy.—Bleeding at the toe, physic, fomentation, and blisters, are the usual means adopted. This lameness is not easily removed, even by a blister; and if removed, like sprains of the fetlock and of the back-sinews, it is apt to return, and finally produce a great deal of disorganization and mischief in the foot. Sprain of the coffin-joint sometimes becomes a very serious affair. Not being always attended by any external swelling, and being detected only by heat round the coronet, the seat of the lameness is often overlooked by the groom and the farrier; and the disease is suffered to become confirmed before its nature is discovered.
Ringbone.
This is a deposite of bony matter in one of the pasterns, and usually near the joint. It rapidly spreads, and involves not only the pastern-bones, but the cartilages of the foot, and spreading around the pasterns and cartilages, thus derives its name. When the first deposite is on the lower pastern, and on both sides of it, and produced by violent inflammation of the ligaments of the joints, it is recognised by a slight enlargement, or bony tumor on each side of the foot, and just above the coronet.
Horses with short upright joints, and with small feet and high action, are oftenest, as may be supposed, the subjects of this disease, which is the consequence either of concussion or sprain of the pastern-joints. It is also more frequent in the hind foot than the fore, because, from the violent action of the hind legs in propelling the horse forward, the pasterns are more subject to ligamentary injury behind than before; yet the lameness is not so great there, because the disease is confined principally to the ligaments, and the bones have not been injured by concussion; while, from the position of the fore limbs, there will generally be in them injury of the bones to be added to that of the ligaments.
Remedy.—In its early stage, and when recognised only by a bony enlargement on both sides of the pastern-joint, or in a few cases on one side only, the lameness is not very considerable, and it is not impossible to remove the disease by active blistering, or by the application of the cautery; but there is so much wear and tear in this part of the animal, that the inflammation and the disposition to the formation of bone rapidly spread. The pasterns first become connected together by bone instead of ligament, and thence results what is called an anchylosed or fixed joint. From this joint the disease proceeds to the cartilages of the foot, and to the union between the lower pastern, and the coffin and navicular bones. The motion of these parts likewise is impeded or lost, and the whole of the foot becomes one mass of spongy bone.
Enlargement of the Hock.
First, there is inflammation, or sprain of the hock-joint generally, arising from sudden violent concussion, by some check at speed, or over-weight, and attended with enlargement of the whole joint, and great tenderness and lameness.
Remedy.—This, however, like all other diffused inflammations, is not so untractable as an intense one of a more circumscribed nature, and by rest and fomentation, or, perchance, firing, the limb recovers its action, and the horse becomes fit for ordinary work. The swelling, however, does not always subside. Enlargement, spread over the whole of the hock-joint, remains.
A horse with an enlarged hock must always be regarded with suspicion. In truth, he is unsound. The parts, altered in structure, must be to a certain degree weakened. The animal may discharge his usual work during a long period, without return of lameness; but if one of those emergencies should occur when all his energies require to be exerted, the disorganized and weakened part will fail. He may be ridden or driven moderately for many a year without inconvenience, yet one extra hard day's work may lame him forever.
Curb.
There are often injuries of particular parts of the hock-joint. Curb is an affection of this kind. It is an enlargement at the back of the hock, three or four inches below its point. It is either a strain of the ring-like ligament which binds the tendons in their place, or of the sheath of the tendons; oftener, however, of the ligament than of the sheath. Any sudden action of the limb of more than usual violence may produce it, and therefore horses are found to throw out curbs after a hardly-contested race, an extraordinary leap, a severe gallop over heavy ground, or a sudden check in the gallop.
Young horses are particularly liable to it, and horses that are cow-hocked, whose hocks and legs resemble those of the cow, the hocks being turned inwards, and legs forming a considerable angle outwards. This is intelligible enough; for in hocks so formed, the annular ligament must be continually on the stretch, in order to confine the tendon. Curbs are generally accompanied by considerable lameness at their first appearance, but the swelling is not always great. They are best detected by observing the leg sidewise.
Remedies.—The first object in attempting the cure, is to abate inflammation, and this will be most readily accomplished by cold evaporating lotions, frequently applied to the part. Equal portions of spirit of wine, water, and vinegar, will afford an excellent application. It will be almost impossible to keep a bandage on. If the heat and lameness are considerable, it will be prudent to give a dose of physic, and to bleed from the subcutaneous vein, whose course is near it; and whether the injury is of the annular ligament, or the sheath of the tendon, more active means will be necessary to perfect a cure.
Either a liquid blister should be rubbed on the part, consisting of a vinus or turpentine tincture of cantharides, and this daily applied until some considerable swelling takes place; or, what is the preferable plan, the hair should be cut off, and the part blistered as soon as the heat has been subdued. The blister should be repeated, until the swelling has disappeared, and the horse goes sound.
In severe cases it may be necessary to fire; but a fair trial, however, should be given to milder measures. If the iron is used, it should be applied in straight lines.
There are few lamenesses in which absolute and long-continued rest is more requisite. It leaves the parts materially weakened, and, if the horse is soon put to work again, the lameness will frequently return. No horse that has had curbs, should be put even to ordinary work in less than a month after the apparent cure; and, even then he should very gradually resume his former habits.
A horse with a curb, is manifestly unsound, or generally condemned as unsound. Curb is also an hereditary complaint; and therefore a horse that has once suffered from it, should always be regarded with suspicion, especially if either of the parents have exhibited it.
Bone Spavin.
This is an affection of the bones of the hock-joint. Spavined horses are generally capable of slow work. They are equal to the greater part of the work of the farm, and therefore they should not always be rejected by the small farmer, as they may generally be procured at a small price. These horses are not only capable of agricultural work, but they generally improve under it. The lameness in some degree abates, and even the bony tumor to a certain degree lessens. There is sufficient moderate motion and friction of the limb to rouse the absorbents to action, and cause them to take up a portion of the bony matter thrown out, but not enough to renew or prolong inflammation. It cannot be said that the plow affords a cure for spavin, but the spavined horse often materially improves while working at it. For fast work, and for work that must be regularly performed, spavined horses are not well calculated; for this lameness behind produces great difficulty in rising, and the consciousness that he will not be able to rise without painful effort, occasionally prevents the horse from lying down at all; and the animal that cannot rest well, cannot long travel far or fast.
Remedies.—The treatment of spavin is simple enough, but far from being always effectual. The owner of the horse will neither consult his own interest, nor the dictates of humanity, if he suffers the chisel and mallet, or the gimlet, or the pointed iron, or arsenic to be used; yet measures of considerable severity must be resorted to. Repeated blisters will usually cause either the absorption of the bony deposite, or the abatement or removal of the inflammation of the ligaments, or, as a last resource, the heated iron may be applied.
Swelled Legs.
The fore-legs, but oftener the hind ones, and especially in coarse horses, are sometimes subject to considerable enlargement. Occasionally, when the horse does not seem to labor under any other disease, and sometimes from an apparent shifting of disease from other parts, the hind legs suddenly swell to an enormous degree from the hock, and almost from the stifle to the fetlock, attended by a greater or less degree of heat, and tenderness of the skin, and sometimes excessive and very peculiar lameness. The pulse likewise becomes quick and hard, and the horse evidently labors under considerable fever. It is acute inflammation of the cellular substance of the legs, and that most sudden in its attack, and most violent n its degree, and therefore attended by the effusion of a considerable quantity of fluid into the cellular membrane. It occurs in young horses, and in those which are over-fed and little exercised.
Remedies.—Fomentation, diuretics, or purgatives, or, if there is much fever, a moderate bleeding, will often relieve the distention almost as suddenly as it appeared. Mild cases will generally yield to their influence; but, if the animal has been neglected, the treatment must be decisive. If the horse is in high condition, these should be preceded or accompanied by bleeding; but if there are any symptoms of debility, bleeding would only increase the want of tone in the vessels.
Horses taken from grass and brought into close stables, very speedily have swelled legs, because the difference of food and increase of nutriment rapidly increase the quantity of the circulating fluid, while the want of exercise takes away the means by which it might be got rid of. The remedy here is sufficiently plain.
Swelled legs, however, may proceed from general debility. They may be the consequence of starvation, or disease that has considerably weakened the animal; and these parts, being farthest from the centre of circulation, are the first to show the loss of power by the accumulation of fluid in them. Here the means of cure would be to increase the general strength, with which the extremities would sympathize. Mild diuretics and tonics would therefore be evidently indicated.
Horses in the spring and fall are subject to swelled legs. The powers of the constitution are principally employed in providing a new coat for the animal, and the extremities have not their share of vital influence. Mingled cordials and diuretics are indicated here; the diuretic to lessen the quantity of the circulating fluid, and the cordial to invigorate the frame.
Grease.
Swelled legs, although distinct from grease, is a disease that is apt to degenerate into it. Grease is a specific inflammation of the skin of the heels, sometimes of the fore-feet, but oftener of the hinder ones. Bad stable management is the true cause of it. Grease is a local complaint. The heel should be well but gently washed with soap and water, and as much of the scurf detached as is easily removable. An ointment should be applied, to supple, cool, and heal the part.
When cracks appear, the mode of treatment will depend on their extent and depth. If the cracks are deep, with an ichorous discharge and considerable lameness, it will be necessary to poultice the heel. A poultice of linseed meal will be generally effective, unless the discharge is thin and offensive, when an ounce of finely-powdered charcoal should be mixed with the linseed meal; or a poultice of carrots, boiled soft and mashed. After the chaps or cracks have healed, the legs will sometimes continue gorged and swelled. A flannel bandage, evenly applied over the whole of the swelled part, will be very serviceable; or should the season admit of it, a run at grass, particularly spring grass, should be allowed.
The feeding should likewise vary with the case, but with these rules, which admit of no exception; that green food should be given, and more especially carrots, when they are not too expensive; and mashes, if the horse will eat them; and never the full allowance of grain.
Walking exercise should be resorted to as soon as the horse is able to bear it, and this by degrees may be increased to a gentle trot.
From bad stable-management at first, and neglect during the disease, a yet worse kind of grease occasionally appears. The ulceration extends over the skin of the heel and the fetlock, and a fungus springs from the surface of both, highly sensible, bleeding at the slightest touch, and interspersed with scabs. By degrees portions of the fungus begin to be covered with a horny substance, protruding in the form of knobs, and collected together in bunches. These are known by the name of grapes. A fœtid and very peculiar exudation, proceeds from nearly the whole of the unnatural substance. The horse evidently suffers much, and is gradually worn down by the discharge. The assistance of a veterinary surgeon is here indispensable.
Some horses are more subject to grease than others, particularly draught-horses, both heavy and light, but particularly the former, and if they have no degree of blood in them. It was the experience of this, which partly contributed to the gradual change of coach and other draught-horses to those of a lighter breed. In the great majority of cases, grease arises from mismanagement and neglect.
Every thing that has a tendency to excite inflammation in the skin of the heel is a cause of grease. Therefore want of exercise is a frequent source of this disease. When high feeding is added to irregular or deficient exercise, the disease is evidently still more likely to be produced. Want of cleanliness in the stable is a fruitful source of grease. When the heels are imbedded in filth, they are weakened by the constant moisture surrounding them. The absurd practice of washing the feet and legs of horses when they come from their work, and either carelessly sponging them down afterwards, or leaving them to dry as they may, is, however, the most common origin of grease.
When the horse is warmed by his work, and the heels share in the warmth, the momentary cold of washing may not be injurious, if the animal is immediately rubbed dry; yet even this would be better avoided; but to wash out the heels, and then leave them partially dry or perfectly wet, and suffering from the extreme cold that is produced by evaporation from a moist and wet surface, is the most absurd, dangerous, and injurious practice that can be imagined. It is worse, when the post-horse or the plow-horse is plunged up to his belly in the river or pond immediately after his work.