HUNTERS 



attendant wait upon the sick and the healthy. 

 One of the advantages afforded by the posses- 

 sion of these loose-boxes is that it allows the 

 owner to keep any recently purchased hunter 

 from other members of the stud, until such time 

 as he is satisfied that the animal is free from any 

 communicable trouble such as catarrh ; or any 

 other allied malady, which is so common in 

 horses coming from the stables of dealers, &c. 



All cases of sickness and lameness are the 

 most economically dealt with by throwing the 

 animal off work at once, as rest constitutes the 

 most significant method of dealing with equine 

 diseases. The reason why rest exercises such 

 a salutary influence is mainly due to the fact 

 that a horse, during work, expends a vast 

 amount of energy, mainly through the vigorous 

 muscular contractions which are perforce 

 brought into play; in other words the meta- 

 bolism of the body is particularly active at 

 this period. Destruction is greater than con- 

 struction under the foregoing conditions, and 

 much the same remark applies during excessive 

 febrile disturbance, in which there is a rapid 

 oxidation of muscular tissue. 



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