MOUNTED INSTRUCTION 75 



Their action is in this way facilitated and intensified. Those that are 

 without any disagreeable taste or smell are readily eaten with the 

 feed or taken in the drinking water. When placed with the feed they 

 should first be dissolved or suspended in water and thus sprinkled on 

 the food. If mixed dry, the horse will often leave the medicine in the 

 bottom of his manger. 



Balls are preferred to drenches when the medicine is extremely disa- 

 greeable or nauseating; when the dose is not too large ; when the horse 

 is difficult to drench or when the medicine is intended to act slowly. 

 Always loose the horse before attempting to give a ball ; if tied, he may 

 break his halter and injure himself or the one giving the ball. 



The tongue must be firmly grasped with the left hand and gently 

 pulled forward ; the ball, slightly moistened, is then to be placed with 

 the tips of the fingers of the right hand as far back in the mouth as 

 possible. As the tongue is loosened it is drawn back mto the mouth 

 and carries the ball backward with it. 



The mouth should be kept closed for a minute or two. We should 

 always have a pail of water at hand to ofifer the horse after balling. 

 This precaution will often prevent him from coughing up the ball or 

 its becoming lodged in the gullet. 



Pastes: They are intended, chiefly, to act locall}^ upon the mouth 

 and throat. They are given by being spread upon the tongue, gums, 

 or teeth with a wooden paddle or strong, long handled spoon. 



Liquids : Liquids may be given as drenches when the dose is large, 

 or they may, when but a small quantity is administered, be injected 

 into the mouth with a hard rubber syringe or be poured upon the 

 tongue from a small vial. When medicine is to be given as a drench we 

 must be careful to use water or oil enough to dissolve or dilute it 

 thoroughly. Insoluble medicine, if not irritant or corrosive, may be 

 given simply suspended in water, the bottom to be well shaken immedi- 

 ately before given the drench. 



The bottle used for drenching purposes should be clean, strong, and 

 smooth about its neck ; it should be without shoulders, tapering, and 

 of a size to suit the amount given. 



If the dose is a small one the horse's head may be held up by the left 

 hand, while the medicine is poured into the mouth by the right. The 

 left thumb is to be placed in the angle of the lower jaw, and the fingers 

 spread out in such a manner as to support the lower lip. Should the 

 dose be large and the attendant unable to support the head as directed 

 above, the halter strap or rope may be fastened to the nose band and 

 thrown over a limb or beam. Another way of supporting the head is 

 to place a loop in the end of a rope and introduce this loop into the 

 mouth just behind the upper front teeth or tusk of the lower jaw, the 

 free end to be run through a pulley, as before described, and held by an 

 assistant. It is never to be fastened, as the horse might in that case do 

 himself serious injury. The head is to be elevated just enough to pre- 

 vent the horse from throwing the liquid out of the mouth. The line of 

 the face should be horizontal or only the least bit higher. If the horse 



