FARCY — FA T 



Farcy is allied to that terrible scourge of the horse world, 

 glanders, but appears in a different form, and it is possible 

 for an animal to suffer from both diseases simultaneously. 

 The symptoms of farcy are a high temperature, accompanied 

 by a swelling of the hind-legs inside the thighs, and the 

 appearance of several small but very painful and hard swell- 

 ings on these parts, and sometimes on the body and neck as 

 well. These swellings, or buds, break in course of time and 

 discharge purulent pus, but show no signs of healing. Nor 

 should time be allowed to them to do so, as farcy is an 

 incurable and highly contagious disease, and the victims 

 of it should at once be destroyed and their bodies either 

 burned or buried in quicklime. A horse suspected of having 

 contracted this disease should be most rigorously isolated 

 until a confident opinion can be formed. (See Glanders^ 



Farrier. — In days gone by the farrier, in addition to 

 attending to the shoeing of a horse, was in the habit of 

 treating him medically if called upon to do so ; indeed, as 

 a matter of fact, horse doctors were generally known as 

 farriers. In modern times, happily for both horses and their 

 owners, the number of properly qualified veterinary surgeons 

 has so largely increased that the farrier is relegated to his 

 proper position. (See Shoes, Shoeing Smith.) 



Fat, like charity, covers a multitude of faults, and hence 

 it is a common practice amongst exhibitors and dealers to 

 overload their animals with a burden of superfluous adipose 

 tissue, which gives them a rotund appearance, and often 

 conceals a blemish. A horse which is fat is always over- 

 worked at a risk of having his wind broken, and naturally 

 is at a disadvantage with animals in proper condition. A 

 course of purging medicine, plenty of work, at not too fast 

 a pace, and a sufficient, but not too large allowance of 

 sound grain and chaff, with a little long hay, is the treatment 

 which should be resorted to to reduce fat. (See Exercise, 

 Feeding.) 



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