156 UNASKED ADVICE. 



know of for such a case. When the horse is quite sound 

 bring him to work by degrees, as his work may lame him 

 again. Time is the great thing here. I have known a 

 blow above the knee to lay a horse up for a whole season. 

 If the blow be on the inside of the leg, the horse should 

 wear a bandage for a good time after he works again, for 

 fear of a fresh rap on the old place. Vinegar and hot 

 water fomentations are even better than the water alone, 

 both for blows and sprains. Inferior grooms always re- 

 commend a blister after a severe bang on the leg, though 

 they would be puzzled if they were bid to explain the 

 benefit which they expect from the process. Individually, 

 I am opposed to blisters in a general way ; rest is the 

 thing for injuries to sinews, nor is nature the muff that 

 some would-be clever ones consider her to be. 



Taking misfortunes rather alphabetically, the next that 

 occurs to me is a broken knee, or knees. This is of 

 course not an accident peculiar to hunters; rather, 

 indeed, are they exempt from it, which is odd, consider- 

 ing what atrocious hacks many good hunters are. But, 

 as such an accident may happen, I may as well mention 

 what I consider to be the treatment which brings the 

 animal out again in the shortest possible time, for this is 

 a point of importance with hunters, whose season of 

 work is limited, and to be made the most use of. Of 

 course a very bad broken knee, which involves serious 

 damage to the joint, is a case for the consideration of the 

 nearest good veterinary surgeon. But a moderate case, in 

 which the cut is not very deep, may be managed at home, 

 thus : first, the wound must be bathed with warm water, 

 until no dirt or gravel can by possibility be left in it ; next 

 the horse should, after due preparation, have a mild dose 

 of physic, and it will be well to rack him up for the first 



