IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 217 



In all cases of strains, local bleeding and rest are 

 indispensable ; where the back sinews are affected, 

 rest can only be secured by a high-heeled shoe : after 

 all inflammation has disappeared, absolute rest, even 

 for a considerable time, is requisite to a cure : if the 

 part is enlarged, stimulating lotions, such as harts- 

 horn and oil in equal proportions, and even blister- 

 ing, may be beneficially applied ; I have not, how- 

 ever, much faith in any remedy but absolute rest ; 

 and even after months of quiet, I have great doubts 

 whether severe strains, accompanied as they often 

 are, by a fracture of some ligament, admit of a per- 

 manent cure. In the early stages, an emollient 

 poultice of linseed and bran should be applied to 

 strains of the leg, whatever part of it may be injured, 

 and the horse's diet should be changed. If by this 

 treatment the horse apparently recovers the use of 

 the limb without pain, the high-heeled shoe may be 

 removed, but he should not be put to work for some 

 weeks ; he should be turned into a loose box, or a 

 straw yard, and indeed this should be done in every 

 serious case of local injury or internal disease. 



These general hints may assist a man in directing, 

 or at least superintending, the care of a sick horse in 

 19* 



