1 86 DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT 



exercise, saving a horse in a big run, regular 

 feeding on the best of hay and good oats, all 

 help to keep a horse sound in wind, limb, and 

 even eyesight. 



There is a sound reason for every disease. This 

 cannot be emphasised sufficiently. A few instances 

 may be given which show this quite clearly. 



A horse carries a weight which is too much 

 for him. Plucky though a horse may be, if he 

 is over-weighted he shuns work and temporarily 

 or permanently breaks down. He stands over at 

 the knees ; he throws a spavin or a curb. Both 

 these are nature's retaliation for ill-treatment. 

 Curbs, however, are thought by some riders to 

 be an evil, with this amount of good — they are 

 frequently found in horses with crouched hocks, 

 which belong to good jumpers ; and hunters fired 

 for curbs most deeply often fetch big sums of 

 money, despite the tell-tale lines of the iron. 



It is palpable that if most owners bore this fact 

 in mind, as regards diseases having causes which 

 any reasoning mind can detect, that horses would 

 be better looked after. Capped hocks would be 

 fewer in number ; bad shoeing would produce 

 fewer corns. Horses, after coming into stable in 

 a muck lather and getting cold water, and thereby 

 catching chill, often suffer from inflammation 

 which flies to their feet, and fever in the feet is 

 the result. Subsequently, at different times, they 

 trot out like a cat on hot bricks. Their feet are 

 in pain from inflammation, which, had they been 

 looked after well in the first instance, might have 

 been avoided. 



