44 



HORSE—DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



mouth with a twisted snaffle it may gener- 

 ally be stopped at once. 



HORSE, Shouldering is an attempt to 

 crush the leg of the rider against a wall, 

 which some ill-tempered horses are fond of 

 doing. It is easily avoided by pulling the 

 horse's head round to the wall instead of 

 from it. 



HORSE, Running Away is too well 

 known to need description. In some 

 horses it is a species of temporary mad- 

 ness, and scarcely any bit, however severe, 

 will stop them. When there is room and 

 scope enough, the remedy is simple, but, 

 unfortunately, runaway horses generally 

 'choose a crowded thoroughfare to indulge 

 their fancies in. A gallop to a stand-still, 

 with the free use of the spur or whip at 

 the latter part of it, will sometimes pre- 

 vent a recurrence of this vicious act ; but 

 where the tendency is very strong it 

 will have little effect. Punishing bits only 

 -make some high-couraged horses worse, 

 but the majority of runaways would be 

 dangerous with a plain snaffle only, and 

 yet there are some which will go quietly 

 enough in it, while the adoption of a curb 

 will rouse their tempers at once. Of course 

 they can only be ridden with great care 

 and judgment, and must never be roused 

 unnecessarily. Fortunately the mouths of 

 horses now are made so much more care- 

 fully than in former times,and their man- 

 agement is so much better understood, that 

 we seldom hear of or see an accident from 

 this cause, either in the saddle or in har- 

 ness. The most essential part of the 

 treatment of a runaway is the proper 

 selection of a bit, which would be suffi- 

 cient to control him without exciting op- 

 position from the pain it gives. 



HORSE, Stumbling arises from a variety 

 of causes, and the nature of any particu- 

 lar case should be thoroughly investigated 

 before any remedy is attempted. Some- 

 times it is merely dependent upon low or 

 "daisy cutting" action, and then it is 

 possible that it may not be attended with 

 danger. We have known many horses 

 which would stumble at least every half- 

 mile, but yet they would travel for years 

 with sound knees, the other leg being al- 

 ways ready to catch the weight. In other 

 cases a stumble would only occur at rare 

 intervals, but if the trip was made it was 

 rarely recovered, and a fall was almost 

 sure to follow. Again, it happens with 



some horses that when they are fresh out 

 of the stable their action is high and 

 safe, but after a few miles the extensors 

 of the leg tire and they are constantly 

 making a mistake. Inexperienced judges 

 are very apt to examine the action of the 

 fore legs alone, while that of the hind 

 quarter is of quite as much importance 

 to safety, and is more so as regards the 

 ease of the rider. Lameness is a frequent 

 source of a fall, from the tendency to put 

 the foot too soon to the ground in order 

 to take the weight off the other. And 

 lastly, upright pasterns will produce 

 stumbling, when the shoulders are so 

 formed that the foot is put down too near 

 the centre of gravity. 



The best plans for remedying these 

 several conditions are as follows : If the 

 cause is weakness of the extensors, no care 

 can be of much service ; all that can be 

 done being to be on the look out for a 

 trip and then to take the weight off the 

 fore quarter as much as possible by sitting 

 well back, at the same time using such an 

 amount of sudden pressure on the bit as 

 to cause the horse to exert himself, with- 

 out any attempt to keep up the head by 

 mechanical force, which is an impossibil- 

 ity. When laziness is the cause, the stim- 

 ulus of the spur or the whip will suffice, 

 and it often happens that a horse is safe 

 enough at his top pace, while a slower 

 one is full of danger. In lameness, of 

 course, the only remedy is to wait till the 

 foot or feet are sound again. 



HORSE, Cutting depends either upon 

 the legs being set on too near together, or 

 on their joints not acting in a proper 

 hinge-like manner. Many horses cut when 

 in low condition, but are quite free from 

 the defect when in flesh, and in such cases 

 it is only necessary to let them wear a boot 

 until they have had time enough to be- 

 come fresh. Wherever horses " go close" 

 care should be taken that the shoes do not 

 project beyond the hoof, and the clenches 

 of nails should be carefully watched, the 

 groom seeing that they are filed down 

 by the smith if they stand up at all above 

 the level of the horn. Cutting may take 

 place either on the prominent part of the 

 fetlock-joint, or midway between it and 

 the knee, or just below the latter, which 

 is called " speedy cutting," and is very apt 

 to cause a fall. A boot should be fitted to 

 the leg in either case, and worn till the part 



