306 THE HORSE 



ordinary grooming, which has been described at page 273 ; that is to say, 

 provided the feet are not in pain from ill-fitting shoes. 



Exhaustion is sometimes so great that before any food can be taken a 

 cordial must be given, in the shape either of a warm ball, or a quart of 

 warm spiced ale. Generally, however, some gruel, made according to the 

 directions given at page 256, will sufEce, when aided by a warm box and 

 the other comforts which are afforded by the groom, including dressing, 

 clothing, bandaging, etc. 



Blows on the legs are reduced by hot fomentations, continued for half-an- 

 hour at a time, and repeated at intervals of one, two, or three hours, in 

 proportion to the severity of the mischief. Cold applications are too apt to 

 relieve the skin and cellular membrane beneath it at the expense of the 

 joints, and I have never seen them of much service. Nothing, I believe, is 

 so valuable in all blows received in the hunting-field as hot fomentation, but 

 it should be thoroughly carried out, and not done by halves, as it too often 

 is by careless grooms. It no doubt has a tendency to increase the swelling 

 for a time, but in doing this the blood is drawn to the surface, and internal 

 mischief is often prevented. I have had young horses come home with 

 their knees and shins terribly bruised over timber and stone walls, but 

 though the fomentation with hot water has enlarged the knees to a frightful 

 size, there has been no lameness on the next day ; and the swelling has 

 gradually disappeared, leaving the joints as free as ever at the expiration of 

 fort3^-eight hours. On the other hand, I have tried cold wet bandages for 

 similar injuries, but I have invariably found that they gave present relief 

 to a slight extent, but left the limbs stiff and rheumatic often for the 

 next two or three weeks. The addition of a little tincture of arnica 

 to the water for fomentation is a great improvement when it is at hand, 

 and I should always advise the hunting groom to keep a stock of it by 

 him during the season. A wineglassful is enough for half a bucket of 

 hot water. 



Thorns are most troublesome to the groom, and it is often a question of 

 great doubt whether to persevere in the endeavour to remove them, or to 

 leave them alone until they clearly manifest themselves by the inflamma- 

 tion they produce. When the hunter comes home, his legs should be 

 carefully examined while they are wet (that is to say, if his exhausted 

 condition does not forbid the loss of time) ; and if the hand clearly detects 

 any projection, search should at once be made with a view to the removal 

 of the foreign body. Usually, however, the thorn has buried itself, and it 

 is only when it has produced some considerable degree of inflammation that 

 attention is drawn to the spot. When lameness is shown in any of the 

 limbs on coming home from hunting, the groom always is inclined to suspect 

 a thorn as the cause of mischief, and I have known the penknife used in 

 half-a-dozen different places to cut down upon what was supposed to be a 

 buried thorn, which was never discovei'ed, for the plain reason that no such 

 matter was present in the leg. 



Overreaches must be dried up as quickly as possible, and should not be 

 treated like common wounds, for the reason that the horny substance of the 

 foot, when it becomes softened and decomposed by the matter flowing from 

 a wound near it, acts like a poison upon the ulcerated surface. It is better, 

 therefore, to apply a little friar's balsam, or some other astringent, sucli as 



