Common Diseases of the Horse 257 



no difference between the smell outside and inside the stable, and 

 to accomplish this requires ample ventilation and no underground 

 drains inside. Every part of it should be well lighted. Good 

 roomy loose boxes are admirable; the floors should only slope 

 moderately so as not to cause injury to the tendons. 



It is unwise to buy a lame horse except for work on the land. 

 Me would not be sold at necessarily a bad price if there was any 

 chance of him getting sound. It is very unwise to continue to 

 work a good horse that goes lame, as this may eventually result in 

 permanent deformity or disablement. Unless the cause of lameness 

 is perfectly obvious and beyond all doubt, always have the shoe 

 removed and the foot carefully examined. Injuries to the foot are 

 the commonest cause of lameness. Always remember to have the 

 shoes removed periodically; a small sum expended in this manner 

 is infinitely better than allowing the foot to be injured. If a horse 

 that has been standing in the stable for three or four days without 

 exercise is put to full work, he must not be driven at a fast pace at 

 the commencement of his journey, or he will be liable to come down 

 from a disease for which the sudden violent exercise after enforced 

 rest is responsible. Any wound, no matter how trifling it may 

 appear, and particularly if it is in the region of the foot, should 

 never be neglected. It is always wise, and very little trouble, to 

 cleanse or disinfect it. Disinfectants should always be kept by the 

 horse owner ; he will find them useful in scores of ways. 



To restrain a horse for purposes of examination, it is always 

 wise to do so in a gentle manner. Lifting a fore leg up is perhaps 

 the best way, but the lifted leg must be on the same side as the 

 examiner; i.e., a horse can kick as usual with the off hind leg when 

 the near fore is held up. If a twitch is necessary, it should not be 

 Kept on too long, as in a short time all feeling becomes lost, and 

 grave injury to the nose may result. After the twitch is taken off, 

 the nose should be well rubbed with the hand. When an ear is 

 twitched, some of the hair of the forelock or mane should be included 

 in the loop, as it tends to prevent injury to the base of the ear. 



Drenching should never be allowed except under very excep- 

 tional circumstances, and never then unless the owner is present 

 himself. It should never be done in any disease of the respiratory 

 organs, such as sore throat or pneumonia. If a ball cannot be 

 administered, it would be far better for the horse not to receive 

 anything at all than to be drenched. The evils of drenching, par- 

 ticularly when a twitch or loop on the end of a pike is applied and 

 the head held high, consist in the liquid getting into the lungs 

 instead of the stomach, and causing pneumonia. The head should 



