THE HUNTER AT HOME. 177 



incurable. Veterinary assistance is here demanded, but 



rest is the great thing. For sprains of the back sinew, 



which are of all degrees, I know of no better application 



than the absurdly named lotion which I have alluded to 



above. Many people advise the wearing of a high-heeled 



shoe in these cases; I should prefer no shoe at all. 



Firing injured sinews is only too common a remedy. 



I had rather try the rest necessitated by the firing 



alone, without the pain to the horse of the operation. A 



horse fired on the fore legs loses more or less the action 



of them, even if the blemish is not considered. Frog 



pressure is the secret of clean fore legs. My idea that 



firing fore legs is not a certain improvement, is rather 



confirmed by the practice of the racing stable. As a 



general rule it may be said that no race-horse is of any 



use after he has been fired. However, many hunters will 



be fired on the back sinews, whatever a minority of horse 



owners may think on the subject. Now, though I do 



not approve of firing sinews, I do approve of the use 



of the iron for bony excrescences when they are first 



appearing. For spavins I believe firing is the most 



effectual remedy. If a horse is lame by a spavin in the 



middle of the season, if he be sound enough to work at 



all I should not rest him that is, supposing that he goes 



sound when he has travelled a moderate distance. I 



should after each day's hunting blister the hock with 



some absorbent perhaps the ointment recommended in 



the case of ring-bone is as good as any, though it is 



very mild, according to some people's notions and at the 



end of the season I should have the hocks fired. But 



there is no occasion to score the hocks all over, as a 



few lines drawn on the spavin place answers every 



purpose, and of course heal quicker, with hardly any 



N 



