ADMINISTERING MEDICINE. 19S 



carry the seating or level of the upper side of the shoes so far 

 back that the heels, instead of resting on a flat surface, as they 

 would on a properly fitted shoe, rest on the slopes of the seat- 

 ing, which are in this respect simply two inclined planes, so 

 placed that, at each step taken by the horse, his heels must be 

 pressed together, until a greater or less contraction is made 

 manifest, but at too late a period to enable us to remedy the 

 evil ; for there is no means by which this contraction of the foot 

 can be cured — although, when it exists only to a slight extent, 

 the internal portions of the foot will sometimes accommodate 

 themselves to its new form. So far as disease is the result of 

 bad shoeing, it can be obviated by so forming the shoe that it 

 will afford a sufficient and perfectly secure and level support for 

 the heels. 



ADMINISTERING MEDICINE. 



The most common form in which medicine is given to the 

 horse is by means of the ball, which is an oblong mass of rather 

 soft consistence, yet tough enough to retain its shape, and 

 wrapped up in thin paper for that purpose. The usual weight 

 of the ball is from half an ounce to an ounce, but they may be 

 given of a larger size, if they are made longer but not wider. 

 Every person in charge of horses should know how to give a 

 ball, which is managed either with or without a balling-iron, an 

 instrument seldom wanted, and which sometimes occasions con- 

 siderable injury to the roof of the horse's mouth. Occasionally, 

 a horse cannot be managed by any other means ; but, generally 

 speaking, these instruments only furnish an excuse for bad 

 management. In giving a ball in the ordinary way, the horse's 

 tongue is drawn out of his mouth on the off or right side, ar.-^ 

 13 



