68 THE HOUSE BOOK. 



Never put lard or vaseline or other greasy sub- 

 stances in the sheath. If a mare has a heavy 

 cold or is feverish let her go over to another 

 heat. She will rarely get with foal when in 

 such a condition, so the service will most likely 

 be wasted. 



Many stallions fall into the habit of mastur- 

 bation. Prevention is far better than cure, and 

 the best preventive is work and the constant 

 companionship of man. Horses are unlike 

 bulls, rams and boars ; it is hard to catch them 

 at it. If a horse is under suspicion but can not 

 be detected, clean every particle of bedding out 

 of his stall and stay with him for eight or ten 

 hours. Then close him up and leave him by 

 himself for a little while. If he is abusing him- 

 self the evidences will shortly be visible on the 

 clean floor of the stall. Once the habit is con- 

 tracted it is practically impossible to put a stop 

 to it. It is common among race horses and all 

 other horses that are idle and alone most of the 

 time. Many different kinds of shields to pre- 

 vent the extrusion of the penis are on the mar- 

 ket, but I have little faith in any of them. Some 

 men have reported success gained by slipping an 

 ivory ring over the gland at the end of the 

 penis, just tight enough to prevent erection, 

 but not tight enough to shut off circulation. 

 Others have reported failure and a few disas- 

 ter. I do not like it. If it is desired 

 to try the ring on a horse which has 



