OF FARRIERY . 



31 



consider his physic not to be sufficiently strong, 

 and sliould increase my next dose accordingly ; 

 for, in general, the first dose of physic operates 

 the most ; I, therefore, increase the second 

 dose a little, if I think necessary, and, particu- 

 larly if I do not exactly know the constitution 

 of the Horse, it being safer to under-do than 

 over-do it ; and by the second dose I can 

 pretty well judge what his constitution will 

 bear, and, of course, proportion the dose ac- 

 cordingly. 



On the other hand, it sometimes happens, 

 that physic is too powerful, owing to various 

 causes, sometimes the constitution or habit of 

 the Horse's body ; it may, at the time of ad- 

 ministering physic, be weaker than at other 

 times ; and sometimes the drugs may be of a 

 deleterious nature, or a mixture of all the 

 odments the shop can produce, melted to- 

 gether, which is exceedingly injurious: in 

 these cases, you will observe the Horse only 

 partially purge, accompanied by a kind of in- 

 voluntary discharge, and running down his 

 hind quarters underneath, and all down his 

 hocks and legs in a continual wet and slimy 

 condition : you must mind and keep the Hoise 

 still, and take great care he does not at tliis 

 period take cold, wiping him as dry and 

 clean as you possibly can. The evacuations 

 being of a very sharp and acrimonious nature, 

 if you find the purging does not abate in its 

 due course of time, proper remedies must be 

 given, or the bowels may become so much 

 irritated, that superpurgation may be the con- 

 sequence. The best thing you can give him is 

 rice gruel, which is made in the following 

 manner : — take a large tea-cup-full of rice, put 

 it in a good sized saucepan, and boil until the 

 rice is perfectly soft, with two quarts of water. 

 If the whole of the water be ab-orbed by the 



rice, put in two quarts more, and when this 

 boils, take it off the fire, and strain it through 

 a piece of tamis, squeezing the rice as much 

 as you can. When this is done, break up 

 your rice as fine as possible, and put it back 

 into the gruel ; when at a proper heat, give 

 the Horse about half, and in about an hour tlie 

 remainder. You must desist from oivins: him 

 bran mashts, but give him dry and strength- 

 ening food, if he will eat; if the first quantity 

 of rice gruel does not have the desired eflect, 

 repeat it. You may improve this gruel by 

 dissolving an ounce of gum arable, and give 

 with it, which will tend to remove the irrita- 

 bility, and, at the same time, strengthen the 

 stomach, if impaired by the excessive opera- 

 tion of the purging medicine. When the 

 purging has been thus excessive, I should let 

 a clear week elapse from the time the dung 

 was set, before I gave another dose, to let the 

 stomach and intestines recover their lost tone, 

 occasionally giving the dissolved gum-arabic 

 in his water, which will greatly assist that 

 purpose. You must, consequently, be mindful 

 that your next dose must be less in quantity. 



Horses having gone through their physic, 

 you proceed, by proper exercise and d'et, to 

 get tiiem into wind and condition for hunting. 

 Your physicking now has taken between three 

 and four weeks, to get the Horses cleansed 

 from their soft foggy food, and now, about the 

 same space of time is allowable to get the 

 fle.sh firm, the coat clean, the limbs strength 

 ened by exercise, and the wind improved by 

 suitable management of diet and exercise foi 

 that purpose. 



As you have been at so much pains to 

 cleanse the body of soft and foggy food, you 

 must now be careful that nothing but clean 

 wholesome food shall be given the Horse. 



