THRUSH. 319 



rally deepened fissure the thriishy discharge proceeds. A plethoric state of the hody 

 may be a predisposing cause of thrush, but tlie iauuediate and grand cause is mois- 

 ture. This should never be forgotten, for it will lead a great way towards the proper 

 treatment of the disease. If the feet are habitually covered with any moist applica- 

 tion — his standing so much on his own dung is a fair example — thrush will inevitably 

 appear. It is caused by anything that interferes with the healthy structure and action 

 of the frog. We find it in the hinder feet oftener and worse than in the fore, because 

 in our stable management the hinder feet are too much exposed to the pernicious 

 effects of the dung and the urine, moistening, or as it were macerating, and at the 

 same time irritating them. The distance of the hind feet from the centre of circulation 

 would also, as in the case of grease, more ex])ose them to accumulations of fluid and 

 discbarges of this kind. In the fore feet thrushes are usually connected with contrac- 

 tion. We have stated that they are both the cause and the ell'ect of contraction. The 

 pressure on the frog from the wiring in of the heels will produce pain and inflamma- 

 tion; and the inflauunation, by the increased heat and suspended function of the part, 

 will dispose to contraction. Horses of all ages, and in almost all situations, are sub- 

 ject to thrash. The unshod colt is frequently thus diseased. 



Thrushes are not always accompanied by lameness. In a great many cases the 

 appearance of the foot is scarcely, or not at all altered, and the disease can only be 

 detected by close examination, or the peculiar smell of the discharge. The frog may 

 not appear to be rendered in the slightest degree tender by it, and therefore the horse 

 may not be considered by many as unsound. Every disease, however, should be con- 

 sidered as legal unsoundness, and especially a disease which, although not attended 

 with present detriment, must not be neglected, for it will eventually injure and lame 

 the horse. All other things being right, a horse should not be rejected because he 

 has a slight thrush, for if the shape of the hoof is not altered, experience tells us that 

 the thrush is easily removed; but if this is not soon done, the shape of the foot and 

 the action of the horse will be altered, and manifest unsoundness will result. 



The progress of a neglected thrush, although sometimes slow, is sure. The froor 

 fiegins to contract in size — it becomes rough, ragged, brittle, tender — the discharge is 

 more copious and more offensive — the horn gradually disappears — a mass of hardened 

 mucus usurps its place — this easily peels off, and the sensible frog remains exposed 

 — the horse cannot bear it to be touched — fungous granulations spring from it — they 

 spread around — ^the sole becomes under-run, and canker steals over the greater part 

 of the foot. 



There are few errors more commoner more dangerous than this, that the existence 

 of thrush is a matter of little consequence, or even, as some suppose, a benefit to the 

 horse — a discharge for superabundant humours — and that it should not he dried up too 

 quickly, and in some cases not dried up at all. If a young colt, fat and full of blood, 

 has a bad thrush, with much discharge, it will be prudent to accompany the attempt 

 at cure by a dose of physic or a course of diuretics. A few diuretics may not be inju- 

 rious when we are endeavouring to dry up thrush in older horses : but the disease can 

 scarcely be attacked too soon, or subdued too rapidly, and especially when it steals 

 on so insidiously, and has such fatal consequences in its train. If the heels once 

 begin to contract through the baneful effect of thrush, it will, with difficulty, or not 

 at all, be afterwards removed. 



There are many recipes to stop a running thrush. Almost every application of 

 an astringent, but not of too caustic nature, will have the effect. The common 

 jEgyptiacum (vinegar boiled with honey and verdigrease) is a good liniment; but 

 the most effectual and the safest — drying up the discharge speedily, but not suddenly 

 — is a paste composed of blue vitriol, tar, and lard, in proportions according to the 

 virulence of the canker. A pledget of tow, covered with it, should be introduced as 

 deeply as possible, yet without force, into the cleft of the frog every nig-ht, and 

 removed in the morning before the horse goes to work. Attention should at tlie same 

 time, as in other diseases of the foot, be paid to the apparent cause of the complaint, 

 and that cause should be carefully obviated or removed. Before the application of 

 the paste, the frog should be examined, and every loose part of the horn or hardened 

 discharge removed ; and if much of the frog is then exposed, a larger and wider piece 

 of tow, covered with the paste, may be placed over it, in addition to the pledget intro- 

 tiuced into the cleft of the frog. It will be necessary to preserve the frog moist whilu 

 the cure is in progress, and this may be done by filling the feet with tow, covered by 



