HINTS ON SELECTION, CARE AND .MANAGEMENT OF HORSES. lOQ 



and while we cannot undertake a description of the numerous blemishes 

 and diseases to which the horse is subject, we may call brief attention 

 to the nature and relative consequence of some of the more common 

 troubles : 



"Founder" (Laminitis in its various forms) is caused by over- 

 heating, over-feeding, or drinking to excess. Although a systemic 

 disturbance, it is usually manifested in the feet, and a horse once foun- 

 dered is very likely afterward to have frequent trouble in these parts. 

 "Sweeny" (Atrophy or Shrinking of the shoulder muscles) is another 

 manifestation of injury, which can be "cured," but is always liable to 

 reappear on slight provocation. A sweenied horse, no matter how thor- 

 oughly he may have been "cured," it is always safe to reject. 



Corns may be easily detected by tapping sharply with any blunt- 

 pointed instrument on the sole of the foot, in the angle formed by the 

 wall at the quarter and the inflected portion bounding either side of the 

 frog; they never appear in any other place. Bad corns are very hard to 

 cure, and a horse thus afflicted had best be thrown out; but mild corns 

 caused usually by poor shoeing can be easily and permanently cured, 

 and need not weigh heavily against the purchase of an otherwise desir- 

 able horse. Contracted feet, also caused by improper shoeing, may be 

 placed in the same class as corns. Both these troubles, if mild, may be 

 cured, as a rule, by removing shoes, paring down the foot at the 

 quarters, and letting the animal run at grass, barefooted, for a month or 

 six weeks. 



Spavin in all its forms is a trouble we have always been afraid of ; 

 some writer has called it "the sum of all villainy in horse-flesh" and 

 so it is. It affects the hind leg at the hock joint, sometimes as a watery 

 swelling in front called "Bog Spavin," or in the rear on either side of 

 the hamstring, when it is called "Thoroughpin," but in any case, it is 

 liable to affect the small bones of this region, cause abnormal bone de- 

 posit, and become the justly dreaded "Bone Spavin," by which so many 

 originally valuable animals are ruined annually. By all means reject a 

 horse showing any indication of Spavin or of "treatment" for Spavin. 



Curb, affecting the back or point of the hock, is of less moment ; it 

 is generally caused by kicking against something hard, or habitually 

 stepping over something just high enough to strike the heel in passing. 

 If the injury is recent, frequent and vigorous rubbing will effect a cure ; 

 if bone deposit has formed, it will always leave a blemish, but the horse 

 may be and usually is serviceably sound. Splint usually appearing 

 as a hard bunch on the inner side of a front cannon, but sometimes on 

 either side of any cannon, front or rear is another trouble about like 

 curb ; it leaves a blemish, and of course prevents great speed, but for 

 ordinary use the animal is as good as ever. 



Ringbone affects the bones of the pastern making a bony bunch of 



