STABLE VICES 341 



serviceable; indeed, some are more or less insane, and when heated or 

 excited absolutely uncontrollable. 



STABLE VICES 



Habit Of Eating the Bedding. Many gross-feeding and voracious 

 horses acquire the pernicious habit of eating their litter, but the vice is 

 not confined to these, for horses with normal appetites in ordinary cir- 

 cumstances readily acquire the custom when their food-supply is unduly 

 restricted, or when the objectionable plan of using damaged hay as litter 

 is resorted to. 



The methods of prevention are various, but, before adopting others, 

 where damaged hay has been used its use should be discontinued, and care 

 should always be taken to see that the food allowance is sufficient. When 

 this is ineffectual the plan sometimes adopted is to tie the horse's head up 

 after feeding, but a much better and equally efficacious one is the use of a 

 muzzle. If this latter be objected to, the best remedy will be the sub- 

 stitution of saw-dust, peat-moss, tan, or other suitable material in place of 

 straw as litter. 



Night Kicking or Stamping in Stable. The habit of stamping or 



kicking at night is a great nuisance, and not infrequently difficult or 

 impossible to rectify. All sorts and conditions of horses are subject to 

 it, but, as might naturally be expected, heavy horses, especially coarse, 

 hairy-legged ones, are the most common culprits. Occasionally a horse 

 kicks on both sides, but the majority kick only on one side. 



Pruritis, or an itching sensation about the limbs, is a common cause 

 of stamping, and in such cases the requisite applications of anti-pruritic 

 remedies generally give relief. 



In other cases no assignable cause is recognized, and despite preventive 

 and curative efforts the habit remains. In all such circumstances the 

 effect of a loose-box should be tried. In this and other complaints a 

 loose-box is frequently effectual when other measures fail. 



When failure follows all other methods, it is claimed that success may 

 be achieved by adopting the use of hobbles. The hobbles are placed on 

 a fore- and a hind-limb of opposite sides, and fixed above the knee and 

 hock respectively, and the connecting hobble-rope is suspended through a 

 ring attached to the lower part of a girth. But this is only to be tried as 

 a last resort. 



Tearing Clothes and Bandages. Horses which tear their clothing 

 are generally at rest, or their work is irregular or intermittent. Those 

 doing hard everyday work rarely practise this annoying and expensive 



