582 THE HORSE. 
cord so short that the strain is partly taken off the tongue, and then 
holding the ball in the right hand with the fingers inclosing it like a cone, 
and, the arm bare, it should be rapidly carried to the back of the mouth 
and deposited there, holding the head up till it is seen to pass down the 
gullet. Cautious grooms use a balling iron, which gags the mouth and 
protects the arm, but a handy man will have less difficulty in introducing 
his hand than in inserting the gag, unless the horse is a determined biter, 
when it may be absolutely necessary. In that case the gag is insinuated 
with as much ease as a bit in a flat direction, and the handle being 
suddenly depressed, the mouth gapes and the teeth cannot be brought 
together. Then holding its handle together with the halter in the left 
hand, the right easily introduces the ball into the pharynx. 
IN GIVING A DRENCH, two persons are necessary, the operator standing 
at the right shoulder, while the assistant is ready to steady the head and 
aid him on the left. The operator raises the head with his left hand 
beneath the jaw, and with his right he forces the lip of the horn into the 
side of the mouth, and, raising the small end, pours the contents in. If 
the horse is violent, a twitch must be placed on the nose, and held by the 
assistant. The horn must not be passed far into the mouth, or any 
unnecessary violence used, for fear of producing a cough ; in which case, 
the hand must be instantly lowered. A neglect of this precaution will 
probably cause some of the liquid to pass into the larynx. 
CLYSTERS 
ARE MOST VALUABLE AGENTS, if properly administered. The best syringe 
for the purpose is Read’s, by which any quantity may be thrown up ; and 
in colic, some gallons of warm water are sometimes required to produce 
the desired effect. For an ordinary opening clyster, a handful or two of 
common salt may be dissolved in five or six quarts of warm water. 
BACK-RAKING 
Is EFFECTED by passing the greased hand and arm into the rectum, and 
withdrawing any hardened feces which may have accumulated there. 
When the quantity of these is great, the hand must be passed several 
times, until it cannot reach any more. Whenever physic is given to an 
unprepared horse, as is sometimes necessary in severe disease, this pre- 
caution should never be neglected. Mr. Gamgee, of Edinburgh, is of 
opinior. that this operation is more safely and easily performed by the aid 
of instruments, supporting his views by the assertion that the introduction 
of the hand gives unnecessary pain. On one or two occasions I have 
certainly seen a shoulder of mutton at the end of a human arm, and this 
would perhaps cause some little difficulty ; but no hand of average size is 
nearly so large as the mass of dung usually passed ; and those who are 
not above doing a dirty job when duty requires it, well know by experience 
that the hand and arm may be passed to the shoulder without giving any 
pain whatsoever. Instruments are useful when they cannot be dispensed 
with, but they are always liable to cause laceration. 
