Common Diseases of the Horse 243 



Diarrhoea 



Simple diarrhoea may be due to a variety of causes, the chief of 

 which are improper feeding. In a secondary degree, cold and wet 

 may be also cited. Sometimes the mare has an over-abundant 

 supply of milk, and the foal will engorge itself; or the mare will 

 perhaps be taken away, and it will not get its regular allowance, 

 thus again running the risk of engorgement. At other times, the 

 mare will be worked and allowed to come in sweating, or be worked 

 without a sufficiently nourishing diet, and the milk will be altered 

 in quality. Again, improper feeding takes place when the foal is 

 allowed a diet which it is incapable of digesting at so early an age, 

 in the shape of too large quantities of hay, oats, or other corn feeds; 

 or when through hunger or depraved appetite the straw bedding is 

 eaten. The health of the mother is also an important factor, and 

 any unusual departure from it will affect her milk, and conse- 

 quently be unfavourable to her progeny. 



Treatfnent. — The simpler the better. An ^gg beaten up with 

 the shell, and repeated in three hours if necessary, often has the 

 desired effect; or it may be followed by a little ginger in the 

 brandy and port wine, with a little flour or starch gruel. A dose 

 of castor oil may be necessary. 



Constipation 



This has been already briefly alluded to in previous pages, 

 and the methods recommended should be first of all tried. If the 

 enemas fail, a purgative is necessary, and for this purpose 2 oz. 

 of castor oil, or 4 oz. of olive oil, or raw linseed oil may be given. 

 If colic is present, the pain may be relieved by 15-drop doses of 

 chlorodyne, given every three hours. 



V. SHOEING AND ITS ACCOMPANYING DISEASES 



In considering the diseases due to shoeing, either by bad work- 

 manship or direct injury, it is necessary to briefly glance at the 

 structure of the horny part of the foot. This consists of three dis- 

 tinct parts, which may be separated from each other by soaking the 

 dead foot for a fortnight or so in water. They consist of: (i) The 

 wall, which is the part seen when the foot is at rest upon the 

 ground, forming its front and sides. It grows from a sensitive 

 elastic band which is stretched round the top of the hoof at the 

 coronet, where the skin and horn meet. Any injury to this secret- 

 voL. III. 49 a'- 



