538 EXCESSIVE BLISTERING TOO COMMON. 



ing is understimated ; quite the reverse, but unfortunately too many seem to 

 forget that cleansing the foot is an important part of good grooming, and 

 aside from the healthful results to the feet from the action of the water upon 

 them, the animal learns to stand quietly while being shod, which materially 

 lessens the chance of abuse from the blacksmith. Another advantage is 

 that stones, bits of glass and nails are sometimes discovered, also raised 

 clinches and loose shoes, and besides, the regular cleansing of the feet pre- 

 vents such diseases as thrush, quittor, rotten sole, scratches and grease heels, 

 all of which have their primary and exciting cause in dirt. 



'* While handling a horse's feet, be careful never to become angry and 

 abuse him ; it only increases his restlessness, and the probability is that you 

 are holding him in such a way as to cramp the muscles of the legs. To 

 punish him because he endeavors to jerk away his foot to escape pain is 

 positively inhuman, but it is too frequently done. 



" All stabled horses should have their feet packed regularly and kept in 

 such a condition that the frog (which received its name from the ancient Greeks 

 because it will not remain healthy without moisture), may be large, full, 

 well spread, and feel to the touch like India rubber, and the horn of a con- 

 sistency that ' cuts like cheese ' under the farrier's knife. To do this they 

 should be packed every night, if necessary. As there is quite a difference of 

 opinion among horsemen in regard to the relative merits of the different 

 hoof packings, try, therefore, yourself, and ascertain the one that suits you 

 best." H. L. Robbins in "Our Animal Friends:' 



EXCESSIVE BLISTERING TOO COMMON. 



"Although firing is an operation which gives excessive pain to the horse 

 and is often needlessly performed, the sum total of suffering by firing to 

 which the horse is subjected at the hands of puzzled veterinary surgeons is 

 far overbalanced by the more simple but more common operation of blister- 

 ing. When the nature of a joint disease is unknown, and yields not to ordi- 

 nary treatment, the refuge of the bold clinical observer and stable-yard 

 adviser is to fire the animal. Putting aside suffering, the advice is safe ; for 

 the natural retort to any questioning is, ' If firing does not cure him, nothing 

 more can be done.' Firing, however, is a troublesome undertaking, while 

 rubbing in a strong blistering concretion is a trifling matter. And if the 

 horse does suffer pain for a few days after, it is of little account to the 



