DEBILITY — DIABE TES 



wants is to be regarded vvith suspicion, as he is usually 

 unscrupulous and as often as not as bad a judge as his 

 unfortunate client. 



Debility. — When a horse is delicate by nature or is 

 suffering from the effects of exhaustion it is necessary that 

 his strength should be kept up by attention to his feeding 

 and comfort. A shy feeder is usually more or less a victim 

 of debility, and his appetite will require tempting. In all 

 cases, however, it should be remembered that it is not a 

 wise thing to place too much food at a time before a sick or 

 debilitated horse. A few mouthfuls every now and then 

 is quite enough to commence with, and it may be neces- 

 sary to give him these from the hand without placing the 

 food in the manger at all. (See Prescriptions, Restoratives, 

 Tonics.) 



Dentistry, — It is, of course, entirely beyond the power 

 of a non-professional man to attend to his horse's teeth 

 properly, but it cannot be too strongly impressed upon 

 owners that it is necessary for the mouths of their animals 

 to be examined from time to time. If this precaution is 

 neglected, indigestion and other troubles may ensue, and a 

 great deal of suffering be inflicted upon the horse. There 

 can be very little doubt, too, that the tempers of some animals 

 have been completely ruined, owing to the torments they 

 have endured from decayed or broken teeth. (See Age.) 



Depth of Body. — The place to measure this from is the 

 centre of the back. (See Depth of Chest.) 



Depth of Chest. — This can be measured by running a 

 tape round the body from the withers in as direct a line as 

 possible, and dividing the amount of inches by two. 



Diabetes may result from improper feeding and indiges- 

 tion, bad hay being often the cause, but the disease is happily 

 not a common one in England. 



lOI 



