174 Common Diseases of the Horse 



This form has not been observed or looked for by horse owners 

 as it should be, and is not detected in the ordinary way, as no con- 

 vulsive movements of the muscles or tail take place when the horse 

 is backed. Should, however, an attempt be made to lift up a fore 

 limb, as though to examine the foot, a most pronounced shivering, 

 which the observer cannot possibly mistake, will occur. At the 

 same time the muscles of the shoulder, neck, and often those of the 

 lower lip, are thrown into a quivering spasm. 



Very considerable difficulty is sometimes experienced when an 

 attempt is made to pick up the legs of a shiverer, and the buyer 

 must always view with great suspicion the animal that will not 

 allow its legs to be lifted. In some cases it is impossible to pick 

 them up without slinging, and as excitement aggravates the disease, 

 the animal, if this is done, usually makes a determined resistance 

 and is seized with violent spasms. If the foot is hit with a black- 

 smith's hammer a similar spasm may ensue. Another method of 

 detecting the disease is by offering the animal a drink of cold water 

 On attempting to drink, particularly if the bucket is placed upon 

 the ground, affected animals will show considerable excitement, 

 will be seized with the muscular tremors, and will shoot their tail 

 in an unmistakable fashion. These symptoms must not, however, 

 be thought to be always constant, as some of the worst shiverers 

 show no excitement whatsoever on being offered cold water or 

 tapped with the hammer. 



Shivering is in every sense a chronic disease, and in the great 

 majority of cases progressive; that is to say, once a shiverer always 

 a shiverer. It may be stated definitely, that any attempt to cure 

 or alleviate the disease is useless. 



On a farm the animal may be found to remain in the same con- 

 dition and become no worse if kept there, but on being brought into 

 the town and put on slippery stones the disease invariably becomes 

 aggravated. Debilitating diseases frequently cause the symptoms 

 to become much more evident. 



After such affections as strangles, influenza, prolonged cases of 

 lung disease, &c., the owner may be astonished to find his horse 

 has developed into a shiverer; no doubt the latent form already 

 existed, or he may have been a slight shiverer before the influenza 

 or other disease occurred. The effects of the illness on the system 

 bring out the already slightly existing or latent shivering. It is also 

 well known that a railway journey has a most marked effect upon 

 a slight shiverer. In the writer's opinion it is never directly re- 

 sponsible for producing the disease, but there is no doubt whatever 

 that not infrequently it tends to develop the latent form ; and many 



