GINGERING — GLANDERS 



and good bone, with action, is the stamp of animal required 

 for gig work. 



Gingering. — The practice of forcing an irritant such as 

 ginger or cayenne pepper up the rectum of a horse in 

 order to make him carry his tail up. (See Fidding.) 



Girth. — The distance a horse measures round any 

 particular part of his body. 



Girth Galls. — See Galls. 



Girthing. — Many people make the mistake of girthing 

 their horses too tightly, the consequence being that the 

 action of the heart becomes affected, and the animal is 

 thereby distressed unnecessarily. On the other hand, loose 

 girths are a very potential source of trouble, so the happy 

 medium should be observed, and, generally speaking, it is 

 safest to rely upon the old rule that the girths are tight 

 enough if two fingers can be squeezed in between them 

 and the horse's belly. 



Girths are usually made of webbing, but occasionally of 

 leather or raw hide. The latter are a good deal used in the 

 Colonies and other places where there is hard work to be 

 done, and saddlers are scarce. They do not, however, commend 

 themselves to riding men at home, but they wear for a very 

 long time and stand the strain put upon them by a buck- 

 jumper better than webbing girths would. (See Girthing.) 



Glanders is an incurable and highly dangerous disease, 

 and it is undoubtedly communicable to man. Fortunately, 

 thanks to efficient legislation, it is on the decline, but, as in 

 the case of farcy, a large number of animals are still annually 

 attacked by it, in spite of the efforts of successive governmental 

 authorities to stamp out glanders altogether. When a case, 

 or even the suspicion of either glanders or farcy occurs in 



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