DISEASES OF THE HORSE 81 



Treatment : Give two to four ounces of Epsom Salts 

 in hot wheat bran mashes every morning. Feed as much 

 sloppy food as possible, vegetables, etc. Avoid feeding 

 dry woody hay, as it irritates the intestines and aggra- 

 vates the disease, 



SWEENEY 



(Atrophy) 



Cause : An ill fitting collar, one tug longer than the 

 other, striking an object when pulling, like a stone or a 

 corner of a building, slipping, kicks, or the animal may 

 have a splint, sprain, ringbone, sidebone, coffin-joint 

 lameness, curb, corns, stifle lameness, in fact anything 

 that tends to make an animal favor the use of certain 

 muscles. It is not a disease, just a lack in the develop- 

 ment of the muscles, which waste away or shrink when 

 not used as nature provided. For instance, perhaps you 

 have had or have seen persons that had a fractured leg 

 or arm and on account of not being able to use the leg or 

 arm the muscles wasted away (Atrophy), until they were 

 usedjnormally for sometime, when the muscles again came 

 back to their normal size. 



Symptoms: First locate the cause. The animal may 

 be very lame although I have seen Sweeneys where lame- 

 ness was very hard to detect, being those which were 

 usually due to ill fitting collars. Eemember you can have 

 a Sweeney of the hip as well as the shoulder, and keep 

 in mind the above mentioned causes. 



Treatment : When you have an animal affected with 

 Sweeney, find the true cause and remove it if possible. 

 Unless the Sweeney is an old chronic one, it is success- 

 fully treated with Aqua Ammonia Fort., four ounces; 

 Turpentine, four ounces; Sweet Oil, four ounces. Mix 

 and apply well over wasted muscles once a day. If the 

 application is too irritating, as some horses have thin- 

 ner skins than others, it is advisable to add more Sweet 

 Oil than above mentioned. 



