A DICTIONARY. 



261 



" Slin^ins: is a restraint which horses 

 submit to with great impatience, and not 

 without much inconvenience, from the vio- 

 lent excoriations occasioned by the friction 

 and pressure of the bandaging around his 

 body. Graver evils are also brought about 

 by the abdominal pressure : some horses 

 stale and dung with difficulty when sus- 

 pended ; and inflammation of the bowels 

 has not unfrequently come on during sling- 

 ing. The slings are, however, forced on us 

 in some cases, as in fractured bones, the 

 treatment of open joints, and some other 

 wounds where motion would be most un- 

 favorable to the curative treatment. Sus- 

 pension may be partial or complete. Sus- 

 pension of any kind wUl require the appli- 

 cation of pulleys and ropes affixed to the 

 beams, that the whole body of the horse 

 may be supported. A sling may be formed 

 of a piece of strong sacking, which is to pass 

 under the belly, the two ends being fastened 

 firmly to pieces of wood ; each of about 

 three feet long, and which are to reach a 

 little higher than the horse's back : to the 

 pieces of wood, cords and pulleys are to be 

 firmly attached, by which means the sacking 

 can be lowered or raised at pleasure. To the 

 sacking, also, are to be sewn strong straps, 

 both before and behind, to prevent the horse 

 sliding in either direction, without carrying 

 the sacking with him. Upon this so-formed 

 cradle he is to recline. K horses when they 

 are fresh should be placed in this machine, 

 most of them would either injure themselves, 

 or break through all restraint. However, by 

 tying up their heads for three or four nights, 

 their spirit is destroyed. The slings may 

 then be applied without the fear of resist- 

 ance : it is the best method not to pull the 

 canvas firm up, but to leave about an inch 

 between the horse's belly and the cloth, so 

 that the animal may stand free, or throw his 

 weight into the slings when he pleases. In 

 this fashion a horse may remain for months 

 in the slings, and at the end of the time dis- 

 play none of the wear and tear so feelingly 

 described by old authors. 



." Castration. — This practice is of very 

 ancient origin ; and is as extensive as ancient. 



It is founded on the superior placidity of 

 temper it gives. The castrated horse no 

 longer evinces the superiorities of his mas- 

 culine character, but approaches the softer 

 form and, milder character of the mare. 

 Losing his ungovernable desires, he submits 

 to discipline and confinement without resist- 

 ance ; and, if he be less worthy of the paint- 

 er's defineation and the poet's song, he is 

 valuable to his possessor in a tenfold degree. 

 In England, where length in the arms and 

 of the wide spread angles of the limbs is ab- 

 solutely necessary in the horse to accomplish 

 the rapid travelling so much in vogue among 

 us, the exchange of the lofty carriage and 

 high action of the stallion is absolutely 

 necessary ; and, when we have added the 

 lessened tendency of the gelding to some 

 diseases, as hernia, founder, cutaneous 

 affections, etc., we may be content to leave 

 the sexual type with the racer for his breed ; 

 also with the drayhorse for his weight, and 

 the fancy of his owner. Supposing it, 

 therefore, eligible to castrate our horses, 

 what is the proper age for the operation ? 

 What are the relative advantages and dis- 

 advantages of the different methods of per- 

 forming it ? The proper age to castrate 

 the young horse must depend on circum- 

 stances ; as on his present appearance, his 

 growth, and the future purposes we intend 

 him for ; observing, generally, that the more 

 early it is done, the safer is the operation : 

 for, until these organs begin to secrete, they 

 are purely structural parts, and as such are 

 not so intimately connected with the sym- 

 pathies of the constitution. Some breeders 

 of horses castrate at twelve months ; others 

 object to this period, because they think the 

 animal has not sufficiently recovered the 

 check experienced from weaning, before this 

 new shock to the system occurs. In the more 

 common sort of horses used for agricultural 

 purposes, it is probably indifferent at what 

 time the operation is performed ; this con- 

 sideration being kept in view, that the 

 earlier it is done the lighter wUl the horse 

 be in his fore-hand; and the longer it is 

 protracted the heavier will be his crest, and 

 the greater his weight before, which in 



