40 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



which is applicable to all stables, but we 

 believe it may be asserted that none 

 should be above 6o p , or below 50 , if it 

 can be avoided. There are days in the 

 summer season, when the air out of doors 

 in the shade stands at 90 or 95 °, and, of 

 course, in such weather, it is impossible, 

 even with the doors and windows wide 

 open, to keep the stable at a lower de- 

 gree, or even within several points of 

 those above stated. So also, with a ther- 

 mometer scarcely above zero, it will be 

 difficult to keep the air wholesome, and 

 yet to prevent its temperature falling 

 lower than 45 , which, at such seasons, 

 feels very warm to those who come in 

 from the external air. But, with these ex- 

 ceptions, we think the rule which we have 

 laid down is a good one. The warmer 

 .the stable, the better the coat looks, till it 

 is exposed to the weather, and even if it 

 ds so, it will take no injury if the horse is 

 •kept moving, but if not, it soon becomes 

 •chilled, and not only does the general 

 health suffer, but the appearance also. 

 There is, however, another, and very seri- 

 ous objection to hot stables, consisting in 

 their ill-effect upon the legs and feet, 

 which inflame much more readily in a 

 warm atmosphere than in a cool one. We 

 .have often known horses stand severe rat- 

 tling for months together, while standing 

 .in a stable which was so cold as to make 

 their coats as rough as badgers, but when 

 •removed to warmer quarters, they have at 

 once gone "all to pieces," their legs or 

 feet becoming inflamed from missing the 

 refrigerating effect of cool air after their 

 daily work. The body may easily be kept 

 warm enough by extra clothing, and, if 

 necessary, a hood and breastplate may be 

 worn all day and all night, but not even 

 wet bandages will cool the legs if they are 

 surrounded by hot air. On the whole, 

 therefore, for the private gentleman's sta- 

 ble, including those for hunters, hacks, 

 and carriage horses, we should advise a 

 regular temperature to be preserved as 

 near 55° of Fahrenheit as possible. In 

 coming in from the external air this will 

 appear very warm to the sensations, but it 

 is far below the high state of heat at which 

 many of our stables were kept, until 

 within the last few years. We have often 

 known 70 to 75 of Fahrenheit insisted 

 <on as the lowest which would suffice to 

 get a hunter into condition, but practice 



proves the reverse, and that with plenty 

 of clothing he will do in a cool stable of 

 the temperature we have recommended, 

 far better than in one possessing a higher 

 range. The celebrated "Nimrod" (Mr. 

 Apperley) was a great advocate for a hot 

 stable, which he thought ought never to 

 be reduced much below 70 or 75 ; but 

 his opinions, valuable as they undoubtedy 

 are in the main, cannot be looked upoi? 

 as in all points to be relied on. 

 . HORSE. — Crib-biting is a diseased con- 

 dition of the stomach, for which there has 

 never yet been a cure discovered, except 

 on the principle of restraint. It may, 

 therefore, be considered under the present 

 head. In crib-biting the teeth are ap- 

 plied to some fixed object — generally the 

 manger, so as to afford a fulcrum for 

 the muscles of the neck to act from, 

 and by preventing this, or by contriving 

 so that the contraction of the muscles 

 of the neck shall give pain, the vicious 

 habit is got rid of for the time. The 

 most common method is to buckle a 

 leather strap so tightly round the neck, 

 just behind the jaw, that when the horse 

 attempts to crib, he tightens the muscles 

 of that part, and these being pressed 

 against the strap, occasion such pain that 

 the act is not completely carried out, and 

 even if it is on the first occasion, the at- 

 tempt is not repeated. The strap is buck- 

 led sufficiently tight to do this without 

 much impeding the act of swallowing, or 

 the flow of blood from the head, through 

 the jugular veins to the body; but in con- 

 firmed cribbers no ordinary pressure will 

 suffice, and then the head often becomes 

 affected from the impediment which is 

 caused to the return of the blood from 

 the brain to the heart. To remedy this 

 defect Mr. Cook Saddler, of England, 

 two or three years ago, invented a neck 

 strap, containing a number of prongs, 

 which pass through holes in a spring 

 guard, and unless this is strongly pressed, 

 they do not touch the skin. It is applied 

 by throat straps to an ordinary head col- 

 lar, and in slight cases it is found to an- 

 swer most perfectly; but when the vice 

 has become confirmed, and the desire to 

 indulge in it is very strong, the pain occa- 

 sioned by the prongs is endured, and no 

 effect at all is produced. It is not, there- 

 fore, of much use, as the common strap 

 does no injury in those cases where Mr. 



