*4 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



putting her to the horse, she should be 

 brought into the most perfect state of 

 health, not over-fed, or loaded with fat, 

 or in a pampered state, but by judicious 

 exercise and an abundance of nutritious 

 food and grooming, she should be in the 

 very best condition. Fifth : During 

 gestation she should have generous and 

 nourishing, but not heating diet. For the 

 iirst three or four months she may be 

 ■worked moderately, and even to within a 

 few weeks of her foaling she may do light 

 work with advantage to her system. 



HORSES, Feeding, directions for. — 

 With regard to mere farm-horses, it is 

 usually the habit to feed them entirely on 

 hay or cut straw, with now and then a 

 mash, giving them little or no oats or corn. 

 It is certain, however, that this is a mis- 

 take. That the value of the work which 

 the horse can do, and of the horse him- 

 self, arising from his improved condition 

 and increased endurance, will be materi- 

 ally increased by the diminution of the 

 quantity of the cheaper and less nutritious 

 food given to him, and the addition of a 

 smaller or larger portion of the more nu- 

 tritive grain, which furnishes stamina and 

 strength in a degree greatly in excess of 

 its own increased value, may be assumed 

 as facts. 



Slow- working horses do not, of course, 

 require so much nutriment of a high 

 quality, as those which are called on to 

 do quick work, and perform long dis- 

 tances ; but, as a rule, all animals which 

 have to do hard work, and much of it, 

 must necessarily be so kept as to have 

 hard flesh, and they cannot be so kept 

 unless they are fed on hard grain. 



HORSES, how to Judge and Select- 

 Having found a horse whose exterior 

 conformation, size, and apparent strength 

 seem suitable to your purpose, we will 

 now proceed to give such information as 

 will enable the buyer, by careful examina- 

 tion, to recognize those defects, blemish- 

 es, symptoms, and appearances which 

 latent disease and injuries assume, and 

 thus prepare him to detect the multitudin- 

 ous impositions which have been resorted 

 to by the lower class of dealers, to dis- 

 guise indications of unsoundness. 



Unless proper precaution is used in the 

 examination of horses for purchase, the 

 law will not protect a man for the conse- 

 quences of his own neglect; and it has 



been held that a warrantry against appar- 

 ent defects is bad in law, the purchaser 

 being expected not only to possess ordi- 

 nary skill, but to exhibit ordinary cau- 

 tion. 



A defective horse is dear at any price, 

 whilst the value of a good one is, as com- 

 pared with a bad one, as infinity to noth- 

 ing. In choosing a horse, let the buyer 

 be never so good a judge, and his inspec- 

 tion never so minute, he must take some 

 things on trust. A perfect knowledge can 

 only be obtained on trial, which should 

 always be taken, if possible, but which is 

 not always to be had. For instance, 

 some horses, when turned of six or seven 

 years old, are subject to a dry, chronic 

 cough, which comes on at uncertain 

 times, perhaps twice or thrice a day, 

 sometimes after feeding or drinking; or 

 changes of temperature may induce it, as 

 when he comes into or goes out of stable. 

 Occasionally a dose of physic, and in 

 some cases a little attention to his diet, 

 will prevent re-occurrence of his cough 

 two or three days, or even weeks, when 

 it will reappear. 



With a respectable dealer, after using 

 your eyes and discretion, you had better 

 depend on the warrantry, and his charac- 

 ter, than by any unnecessary display of 

 suspicion, offensively question his honesty. 

 Nevertheless, as the trade is taken up by 

 needy gentlemen of good standing in so- 

 ciety, and broken-down black-legs of re- 

 spectable connections, who are ever ready 

 to give a warrantry not worth a dump, or 

 satisfaction if you are dissatisfied thereat ; 

 if you have reason to suspect the horse, 

 or his master, the directions here laid 

 down will be found useful. Always bear 

 in mind that the observation of one symp- 

 tom should induce the examiner to follow 

 up the inquiry into those other symptoms 

 which are characteristic of the suspected 

 disease, defect, or unsoundness. 



The best time to view a horse is early 

 in the morning, in the stables, as then if 

 there is any stiffness in the joints, or tend- 

 ency to swelled legs, it will be most ap- 

 parent. 



The horse should always be examined 

 from a state of rest. If there are any 

 symptoms of his having been previously 

 exercised, such as sweat about his with- 

 ers, or his legs have been recently wash- 

 ed, it is advisable he should be left in his 



